An unhappy email from Sunny informed us that my BFF’s pottery piece exploded in the kiln – she was so sorry and hoped she would feel up to coming in to throw a new piece. Sunny, you are the sweetest. My bestie and I weren’t sad or upset at all – this art explosion is a perfect part of the story, mirroring exactly who we are and our story together!
The bottom of her cup had a giant, perfect bubble that cause the bottom to blow off during the firing. But the rest of the cup was intact, still with a functioning bottom, as in it would hold water. It also had a chipped lip. Her piece isn’t ruined, instead it now has more dynamic interest!
It is perfectly imperfect, more beautiful because of its raucously inflicted imperfections. The careful, decidedly difficult detail work of the week prior that left us needing forehead Botox, looking for ways to get a handle on whatever the heck we were trying to do? BAM! The universe had far better plans. That sort of rigid control with expectation of a perfectly smooth outcome has no place in our lives together.
She and I were born with dysplastic hips and have spent the last 3 years on a roller coaster of surgeries and recoveries. Together. We know by now that insistently pushing into an expectation only leads to upset. When we let go and embrace what comes, no matter what that is, finding humor and fun along the way, life is so much better. The results are better. We see intense beauty where others see disappointment.
Her cup is fantastic and perfect, covered in new shapes that we couldn’t have dreamed of creating with our own hands. Where we lacked vision (and skill) the art delivered on its own. This isn’t a piece to be scrapped – it’s a piece to glaze and cherish!
Before the first class, she and I talked about turning our pieces into kintsugi pieces, purposely. Hers did it naturally – even better.
So, we happily glazed yesterday. We chose two colors and painted our pieces opposite – one color on the inside and the other on the outside. Can you guess what colors these are? Glazes never look like what they’ll turn out as, an art explosion in themselves.
Sunny will fire these next week and we’ll finally have finished products. It has been a delight to do these classes and project, learning and trying new things, pushing ourselves. Now we are left deciding what we do next, because this time together has been the absolute best and we want more of it! We have some fun ideas so stay tuned!
The Rest of the Story:
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I don’t see imperfection, I see character and uniqueness!
Thank you! That’s how we feel, too.