Report of Japanese Arts and Crafts workshop - Kintsugi -

Sorry for taking so long to write about this event.

Here is a report on the Japanese Craft Workshop that took place on Sunday 3 April.

Because of the short notice and the fact that the first craft was kintsugi (metal-joining), there were only three participants, including myself. So, I think we were able to take our time and satisfactorily kintsugi.

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The mug on the left was a one-off piece made by a friend of participant A's in France, and it had a very good grip, but it had a big chip on it and had been used as is for a long time.

The plates in the middle and on the right were a gift to the café. They were just right for serving a special lunch, but in an accident two of the five plates were broken, and I kept wondering whether I should throw them all away. On the right side, the cracks were so bad that I had given up, but the instructor said, "Let's do it!" and he helped me.

First, the cracks were attached with a special glue and the missing parts were filled with quick-drying clay. After it dried, it was actually very difficult. Anyway, we sanded and smoothed the unevenness so that it wouldn't disappear. This was probably the most time-consuming part. My arms hurt!

And then a short break for a snack😋

When we regain our strength, we knead a mixture of gold powder and nikawashi, and fill in the cracks. This is where the beautiful lines of gold unique to kintsugi are formed.

Here is the mug after restoration. The colour matches so well.

And this, oh my! These are the plates that were cracked to pieces!

It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but the colouring, combined with the gold lines, has taken the plates to a whole new level of charm💖.

We will continue to serve special weekly lunches on these plates. Enjoy!

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Now, I'm going to invite an instructor to conduct a workshop like this once a month, which is associated with Japanese art techniques.

Next time in May, we are planning a workshop on flower arrangement, as it is the beautiful season of flowers.

Please keep watching this space!!!