Anyone know of any good books (in English) on Kintsugi? I am looking for more of a guide or how-to book on the subject, and less of an art history/art picture book.
Thanks!
bellmont
Feb 15th, '16, 22:01
Posts: 1796
Joined: Sep 15th, '09, 16:11
Location: Wilton, New Hampshire USA
Re: Good Kintsugi Books?
I am looking for a book on the subject, is the manual in this kit the only English guide out there?
Feb 16th, '16, 10:33
Posts: 1796
Joined: Sep 15th, '09, 16:11
Location: Wilton, New Hampshire USA
Re: Good Kintsugi Books?
I have books in Japanese on it. Haven't seen one in English. Limited interest subject so not a big market.
Other than the caveats about using urushi (REALLY nasty hyper-allergy stuff) and technical about the curing (humidity control) and even the Kashew brand alternative....... it is not a hard concept. The execution is the issue and like most handcraft endeavors.. takes a lot of practice to do well.
Before you go with real gold (VERY expensive) practice with some of the fake gold powders.
Two basic approaches.......
1.) is mix the powdered gold with the urushi / epoxy and then the gold color is throughout the cross section of the repair. More durable. Harder to do to get the proportions correct. Uses more "gold" per repair.
2.) do the repair and let the surface of the urushi/epoxy get tacky, and then press gold leaf onto the tacky surface. Uses far less "gold"...... but the gold is only on the surface so can wear away more easily.
Got buy some cheap pottery at Walmart. Smash it. Get some epoxy and some fake gold powder. Try it out.
Don't go the urushi route unless you are pretty committed to the idea. And are willing to get a nice rash... even if you think you can be careful enough not to get it. (You will!)
best,
..................john
Other than the caveats about using urushi (REALLY nasty hyper-allergy stuff) and technical about the curing (humidity control) and even the Kashew brand alternative....... it is not a hard concept. The execution is the issue and like most handcraft endeavors.. takes a lot of practice to do well.
Before you go with real gold (VERY expensive) practice with some of the fake gold powders.
Two basic approaches.......
1.) is mix the powdered gold with the urushi / epoxy and then the gold color is throughout the cross section of the repair. More durable. Harder to do to get the proportions correct. Uses more "gold" per repair.
2.) do the repair and let the surface of the urushi/epoxy get tacky, and then press gold leaf onto the tacky surface. Uses far less "gold"...... but the gold is only on the surface so can wear away more easily.
Got buy some cheap pottery at Walmart. Smash it. Get some epoxy and some fake gold powder. Try it out.
Don't go the urushi route unless you are pretty committed to the idea. And are willing to get a nice rash... even if you think you can be careful enough not to get it. (You will!)
best,
..................john
Re: Good Kintsugi Books?
Thanks John, I appreciate the tips. I actually don't have anything broken right now I was just looking into kintsugi as a side hobby.
peace,
bellmont
peace,
bellmont
Re: Good Kintsugi Books?
There are no books in English that I am aware of.
Now this might sound as heresy, but I actually now only use food grade industrial epoxy and silver powder or gold leaf. ( with a coating over the leaf for protection).
In my humble opinion, kintsugi in Japan was made for items that are ceremonial, not daily use.
As I do not know how my pottery buyers are going to use my pottery, I want all materials safe and meeting current health standards.
Usually it is not the original buyer that is the "problem" but the family, friends, and whoever "inherits" the pot.
I remember finding one of my ceremonial chawan being used by a young lady in the family for drinking orange juice, then slung in the dishwasher!
For those not interested in Japanese tea ceremony- a chawan is a tea bowl for traditional tea ceremony, meant for matcha drinking, with hottest water being about 80 degrees celcius, used occasionally, very reverently, rinsed without soap by hand.
Naturally, that style of pot and glaze are not meant for dishwashing or drinking acidic liquids out of.
Anyways, after that rude awakening I sat down, read some MSDS, and for kintsugi I only use industrial epoxy graded food safe by current safety standards.
As was pointed out above by John, best advice with Kintsugi in the west is to experiment and start small and cheap.
There is a Dutch concoction called "New kintsugi" that is a cheap starting point with food safe glue, they have some examples and guides on the site.
Hope any of this is of value, but alas, no direct answer to your request that I am aware of.
Now this might sound as heresy, but I actually now only use food grade industrial epoxy and silver powder or gold leaf. ( with a coating over the leaf for protection).
In my humble opinion, kintsugi in Japan was made for items that are ceremonial, not daily use.
As I do not know how my pottery buyers are going to use my pottery, I want all materials safe and meeting current health standards.
Usually it is not the original buyer that is the "problem" but the family, friends, and whoever "inherits" the pot.
I remember finding one of my ceremonial chawan being used by a young lady in the family for drinking orange juice, then slung in the dishwasher!
For those not interested in Japanese tea ceremony- a chawan is a tea bowl for traditional tea ceremony, meant for matcha drinking, with hottest water being about 80 degrees celcius, used occasionally, very reverently, rinsed without soap by hand.
Naturally, that style of pot and glaze are not meant for dishwashing or drinking acidic liquids out of.
Anyways, after that rude awakening I sat down, read some MSDS, and for kintsugi I only use industrial epoxy graded food safe by current safety standards.
As was pointed out above by John, best advice with Kintsugi in the west is to experiment and start small and cheap.
There is a Dutch concoction called "New kintsugi" that is a cheap starting point with food safe glue, they have some examples and guides on the site.
Hope any of this is of value, but alas, no direct answer to your request that I am aware of.