Homage to Ian and Jo Lydia Craven

Celebrating the beauty in imperfection and impermanence, 🔗Wabi-Sabi.

These pieces were by the late 📽️Ian and Jo Lydia Craven, which I accidentally broke some years ago after we moved from Asheville to Philadelphia, and then to Kennett Square. I couldn’t throw them away. I refused to! Their spirits were in every one of their works.

I have been seeing others trying to imitate their work, but there is no comparison. Jo Lydia is a master potter, and Ian is a master glazer.

When we lived in Asheville, we visited the Craven Studio on Wall Street in Asheville. I gingerly handled each of their pieces. Jo Lydia came over and took her plate from my hand and demonstrated the toughness of their porcelain pieces by smacking the porcelain plate on the display table top, BAM, BAM, BAM! I was dumbfounded. “They look delicate, but they are tough!” She said with confidence. That was so Jo-Lydia.

We would visit them now and then, and after each visit we came home with new adventure stories of theirs. They were priceless. The Cravens were, what Southern Folks would call, Special Folks. We missed them so much.

PS: I think the 📽️popcorn bag, eventually evolved into Jo Lydia’s “tee-tee bag” piece when she had breast cancer. She made a few tee-tee bag pieces in honor of the pillow that she would use to rest her breast on it because there was so much discomfort from the radiation treatment.

By Ian & Jo Lydia Craven

By Ian & Jo Lydia Craven

For a few years, I wished for a 🔗Kinstugi workshop to come in Kennett Square because I wanted to repair the Craven pieces that I have accidentally broke after we moved to Philadelphia from Asheville. I eventually forgot about my wish. Then in July, I received an email from 🔗Centered Clay Studio announcing a Kinstugi workshop. Without hesitation, I reserved and paid for my spot.

I believe I was the only one who did not have to purposely break a ceramic piece for this workshop.

Unfortunately, my improper handling of the urushi sap came at a cost to my health. My arms, thighs, waist, and neck were covered with rashes caused by the urushi sap, which is the same as poison ivy!

I literally suffered for this art. My skin has just recovered a week ago from a four-week nightmare. It was so bad that I wished I could live in a tub of calamine lotion until it was over. When I went to see my doctor, he exclaimed, “Those are gnarly rashes!”

So if you decide to attend a Kintsugi workshop, beware! You are handling sap that is highly irritating to the skin. So pay attention to safety procedures and be mindful of where and what you touch to prevent cross-contamination!

Despite it all, it was worth it. I would to do this again, and I would be extremely careful. Extremely, extremely careful. I have one more Craven piece to repair using this Kinstugi technique.