Out with the Old, in with the New?

So I had to make a tough decision this year. I will not be renewing my domain name (no point sharing it here if it isn't going to exist anymore, lol). It will expire on January 19 (2024 in case you're reading this years from now).

I think I will be posting the artwork that was previously on that page onto here, as time suits me. Then everyone can still enjoy seeing my artwork and those who want to have it hanging on their walls can make a purchase as well. It will take time as I'll have to find the Paypal buttons/links to add in there.

What else have I been up to? Not a lot. I pretty much took 2023 off as an artist, and focused on continuing to create videos on YouTube (Donna's Adventures if you are curious). There's a lot of nature and hiking themed videos. With the whole pandemic I've really enjoyed getting closer to nature and re-discovering/taking a closer look at my "backyard" so to speak.

Speaking of backyard, we are fighting a battle right now with a coyote that has discovered our deck has a gaping hole in the latticework, and realized it would be a great home. There's been prints all over the backyard and copious amounts of poop. Big poop. Not sure what it's been eating but it's been eating well. Not the thin pointed poop full of fur that I usually see the creek valley or natural areas. I tried taking my cat out there to make a presence but it was too cold for him. He stood in the tracks yowling while I quickly distributed some loose fur around along the trees then whisked him back indoors. Poor little guy.

I told him he was helpful even though he got cold. I think my cat likes being helpful, although he's usually more of a help in the kitchen with cleaning up food scraps, especially meat.

I went back outside and scooped up all the fresh poop the coyote had somehow produced overnight (how can one animal poop so much?) and even the urine that was frozen solid in the snow.

My cat was also very excited as my husband and I headed out there with a staple gun and coils of chicken wire to try to close up the hole. It should work, for now. He sniffed my gloves thoughtfully when I got back in, nudging the fingers.

If nothing else I will try to get out there to make a human presence known and hopefully the coyote will get the idea that he should find somewhere else to live.

That's all for now. Hope to be on here again soon.

Life is not a static thing, neither is a blog. Kintsugi project to fix broken pottery

Not sure if you're a regular of this blog, or if you've binge-read a whole bunch of posts. But I've been looking through my old posts and fleshing out the stories within them, and adding updates, photos, and videos that I've created that fit along with the blog page themes.

So, if you have read the blog a long time ago, you might be interested to go re-visit some of the old pages. Think of it like a virtual Easter egg hunt. Except without chocolate.

A few years ago I traveled with my sister to Mexico for a week. We had a great time, and I bought a couple of pottery bowls. Unfortunately when I got home, one of the bowls had shattered into a number of pieces.

Upset, but not deterred, I decided to fix the bowl. I read online about kintsugi, the Japanese method of fixing broken pottery to make it useable again, and creating more of a one of a kind piece than before. The word translates to "golden joinery." I think they use nails to actually fix the pieces together and real gold, but I didn't want to try anything that detailed.

The neat thing about kintsugi is that it sometimes is considered a bit fashionable, and I read about some people/potters that would purposely break their pieces just to fix them and create a unique piece.

So, I bought some good glue, and gold paint. Not real gold paint, and it's probably not food safe, but I used it anyway. I decided I would not put the bowl in the dishwasher and it would be used more as a decoration.

I started by gluing the pieces together, and then adding the paint to finish sealing the pieces and fill in the gaps where the pottery had turned to dust.

Piece by piece, the bowl came back into shape. I was pleased with the final result, as it has a handmade look mixed with the handmade painting. A bit rough, but I wanted it like that.

It's now a cool decoration in the living room, and I use it for chips and other non-liquid foods. The other bowl is still intact, and is one of my favourite bowls for making my morning oatmeal with.

After finishing, I also ended up making another small fix on a small Japanese cup decorated with a cherry blossom that I had inherited from a friend a long time ago. The handle had broken off, and so I glued that back on. It turned out pretty good.

You never know what you can do until you try.

What do you think? Have you used kintsugi to fix a broken item? Would you try to do it, too?