Torn, Placed, and Golden

I've always wanted to try kintsugi. I haven't yet, but I think about how therapeutic the actual physical breaking of something must be with the intentional fracture, the gold poured into the wound, and the reassembly of what was. There's something profound in that process. What I have found, though, is my own version of it in decoupage.

This afternoon I spent some time making. My first with this cup was a few days ago and it turned out to be a failure. I laughed, pulled the napkin right off, and decided to try something different. That's how making goes sometimes. You don't always mourn what didn't work. Sometimes you just start again. Life…

And what came out of starting again is what made me stop and think. Kintsugi takes the same pieces that broke and returns them to where they were, with gold marking the places they have been. The history is honored. The break is visible. That's the whole point.

Decoupage is something different. I'm choosing pieces that have never been together before. Different patterns, different shapes, and different sizes,. I don't always know how they are going to look together when I start. I tear them apart and there is something in that tearing that feels like a release, and I begin placing them, layering them, deciding what speaks and what doesn't, covering gaps, filling spaces. Then I finish, I look, and sometimes there are still gaps.

So what do you do with the gaps? Sometimes you find a small piece and you patch it and that's exactly what's needed. But this time I picked up my gold pen. And I started filling in the gaps. And then I started outlining pieces. And then I started connecting them tracing lines between the differences, turning what could have been points of weakness into something that held the whole piece together. That's when it hit me.

These pieces didn't start together. They weren't made for each other. But their common thread, the bule and white, made room for connection. And the gold didn't hide the imperfection. It highlighted it. It said: this is where the differences meet. This is where the gaps were. Look how beautiful it is anyway.

Time is often spent consciously (or subconsciously) looking for people who match us: same patterns, same background, same story. But community has never really been about matching. It's been about connecting. It's the gold lines traced through the gaps. It's the blue and white that says we have enough in common to belong together even when everything else is different.

That's what I want the Studio to be. Not a place where everyone is the same, but a place where different people bring their different pieces and we make something beautiful together imperfections and all. If you've been looking for that kind of space, come make with us. Decoupage is coming again in May and I would love for you to be there. Bring yourself exactly as you are. We will figure out the rest together.