I WILL KEEP BROKEN THINGS

These fragments of a tile were once part of a highly decorated floor at Chertsey Abbey, Surrey. Pavements of decorated ceramic tiles were a medieval innovation. They were used to add richness and splendour to great churches initially but they were subsequently used in secular contexts, including castles and royal residences. Click

In the early years of my marriage I always threw broken china away because I wanted everything to be perfect. Over the years I've grown to love cracked and broken things. My marriage is in tact (in case you wondered:-) and I have drawers and bowls full of fragments from china, glass, wood, shells and other natural gatherings. 

Ancient Shards by Christina Wiese. See website here

Christina Wiese

I love this poem about broken things by Alice Walker.

I will keep broken
things:
the big clay pot
with raised iguanas
chasing their
tails; two
of their wise
heads sheared off;
I will keep broken things: 
the old slave market basket brought to my door by Mississippi a jagged
hole gouged
in it's sturdy dark
oak side.

I will keep broken things:
The memory of
those long delicious night swims with you;

I will keep broken things:

In my house
there remains an honored shelf
on which i will keep broken things.

Their beauty is
they need not ever be "fixed."

I will keep your wild
free laughter though it is now missing its
reassuring and
graceful hinge.
I will keep broken things:

Thank you
So much!

I will keep broken things.
I will keep you:
pilgrim of sorrow.
I will keep myself.

- Alice Walker, "I will keep broken things"

Fragments, Monestry of Hadda, Afghanistan, 4th century. Click

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with a mixture of lacquer and powdered gold or silver. The philosophy behind this reparation is that things should not be discarded just because they are broken. There is beauty in broken, cracked and chipped objects.

Exquisite chipped bowl. Click for more here

Weathered and broken Woman's Grave Marker, Philippines. Click

Egyptian Woven Fragment: 13th - 14th century. medium: Linen, silk, metal wrapped thread. Click

Mary Ann Lehrer Plansky stitches exquisite fragments inspired by ancient cloths, the antiquities of forgotten tribes, archaeological artifacts and ruins. My heart races when I read the stories behind her pieces. Do yourself a favour and visit Mary Ann's blog here.

Mary Anne Lehrer Plansky's beautiful work. Click

Sand & Bone by Mary Ann Lehrer Plansky. Click

Jan Goodey has created an intriguing ceramic series, "The Museum of Conjecture."

"The Museum of Conjecture" by Jan Goodey . 

" ....every broken thing is an opportunity for reinvention and reinterpretation. Putting the pieces together in a new way, or for a new purpose or by adding new or different parts encourages a "Science of Incomplete" to emerge." - Jan Goodey

Shards. Vessel series by Jan Goodey