Ergane Studio

When something is broken, it is often thrown away without a second thought. In the ever more rare event that it is repaired, we want it to be as if it was never broken. We don’t want to know what happened to it. A successful repair is one in which the item is rendered “As good as new”.

The Japanese have an art form, Kintsugi, in which a broken piece of pottery is repaired using gold lacquer. The lacquer highlights the cracks and fills the voids, making them more visible rather than invisible. The idea is that the piece was useful, was broken, was loved enough to warrant repair, and is now made more lovely by it’s history and it’s ‘imperfections’.

Being quite imperfect myself, I am drawn to these pieces and to this idea. I have been experimenting with it in my work. Metal, when it is over-worked, becomes brittle and can break. If you’ve ever taken an expired credit card and bent it back and forth until it snapped, you’ve got the idea. I’ve been taking broken pieces of silver, and soldering them back together with a piece of gold wire across the join. The effect is subtle, but I like it. And I think we can all use the reminder that broken can be an opportunity.

Kintsugi Inspired

Next Week-end! I’ll be there, with dozens of talented local artists.

Wellesley Marketplace

This is a very interesting article on what else is meant by what we wear. Most mornings I’m thinking only of the weather in terms of physically protecting myself. But that isn’t the end of it , even if I’m not consciously thinking about it. We have, after all, chosen the clothes we possess. The way we wear them, the accessories we wear with them have something to say about us and how we want to be seen. Or not seen. We choose what we wear to emphasize some things, and hide others; to convey a message or to keep a secret. We want to look one way for a business meeting, another for lunch with Mum, another for a date; we present chosen aspects of ourselves in a particular situation. Sometimes we are obviously protecting ourselves, sometimes not. Sometimes what we’re protecting ourselves from is clear, sometimes not.

Copper has such a lovely warmth to it, and patinates in such interesting ways. In general, I like my chainmaille nice and shiny, with that new penny glow. The fold formed pieces I prefer to leave with the color variations left behind by the fire of the torch. But then what?

The fold formed pins and pendants are sprayed with a lacquer coating that should protect and preserve the finish for a good long while. That’s easy! Bracelets are more difficult. The adjustable nature of the cuff makes lacquer impractical. It’ll just flake off at the points of movement. So, I treat them with a special wax coating (link) that does a really nice job of preserving the finish, and gives the metal a more natural look than does a lacquer. The wax does not last forever, especially if you wear the bracelet often (as I do). It may need a touch up from time to time, or the finish itself may need a touch up. If you’d like me to do that, I will. Contact me.

The shiny maille is another matter. It will tarnish , just like the pennies in your jar. You do have a penny jar, don’t you? Doesn’t every one? Anyway, that tarnish is easily taken care of at home, with something almost certainly already in your kitchen. Ketchup. Seriously. Spread some ketchup on your copper, let it sit for a bit, and then wash it off. Shiny and new! Try it on a penny first to see. Try it on your copper-bottomed saucepan- I actually first got this tip from a cooking magazine. Works a treat.