I just landed back in Amsterdam this morning after taking the boys to Chicago for some holiday cheer. We enjoyed plenty of family time and a little ice skating on the incredible skating ribbon at Maggie Daley Park. We definitely ate too much holiday food (and perhaps just a little too much Chicago style food overall, but oh do we miss good Tacos in A’dam).
I had the opportunity to photograph several soda fired stoneware ceramic vessels that I made while in Lubbock and then sent to family in Chicago. I gifted the jar shown above to the Chicago Poetry Center for their yearly auction, and hope it enables this awesome organization to fund another residency in the Chicago public schools.
Vase, The Lightning Field site recording | soda fired stoneware | November ©2022
Tray, Cabinetlandia site recording | soda fired stoneware | November ©2022
Jug, Mimbres site recording | soda fired stoneware | November ©2022
Unfortunately, two of the pieces broke in shipping, but they afforded me the opportunity to practice one of my favorite Japanese techniques: Kintsugi, the art of golden joinery. Kintsugi is an interesting process that is sometimes done as a zen practice of renewal by purposefully breaking a ceramic item. The natural fractures highlighted with gold then become a physical manifestation of the beauty of fixing what is broken. I did these repairs on New Year’s Day, which seems appropriate.
Dish, Two Buttes site recording | Kintsugi repaired soda fired stoneware | November ©2022
Bowl, Plains of St. Augustin site recording | Kintsugi repaired soda fired stoneware | November ©2022