I was giving the house a bit of a spruce up, as I am want to do on a Sunday morning, vacuuming away and humming along merrily, when a quick flick of the vaccuum cleaner cord brought my world crashing down on me…literally. It was like one of those slow motion shots in a movie as, realising the cord had somehow flicked up onto the bench and knocked my all-time favourite teapot off, I threw myself across the room to try and save it. I sailed through the air - it was one of those super human moves people do in times of emergency, desperation and stress - and did manage to grasp the bottom of it, but alas, not in time to save it from smashing into a million (well ok,about 9) pieces on the floor.Devastated is an understatement. I stood there for about 20 seconds in absolute stunned disbelief… and then burst into tears! Yes, I know that might seem a bit pathetic, a bit melodramatic even, over a teapot, but I have had that teapot for SIXTEEN years - I don’t think I’ve owned anything for 16 years! And it was given to me by two of my oldest and dearest friends. It was the first thing that piqued my interest in ceramics, the first ceramic object I ever really loved and cherished. And it’s not even about the teapot necessarily. Sure, it’s a nice enough teapot, but it’s about all the stories embedded in it. That teapot has moved with me from country to country, house to house, studio to studio, and I have drunk tea with just about every person I know from that teapot! Working with ceramics you have to develop a fairly philosophical approach to breakages. They’re inevitable, and I don’t normally get too upset about it. But not this one…this one was baaaaad. I was meant to grow old with this teapot. A sad and sorry Sunday it was indeed...
THE teapot, on the left...back in the glory days...
8 comments:
Oh I really feel for you, I know that feeling too.
xx
that was a totally normal ceramicist reaction. i would have done the same. including the disregarding life and limb bit to save it.
I'm sorry to hear about your mishap with the beloved teapot. Maybe it can be super-glued back together again?
I saw your artwork on Etsy. I love it! I came here to see more. I am sorry to hear about your loss. I have a hard time with the truth that all things are impermanent. But the photo of your dear smashed teapot is beautiful. Take care. Koki
oh how absolutely horrible. I imagine the life of the teapot flashed before you as it went into its death spiral? Did you keep the pieces? I could incase a small piece of it into a resin pendant? and BTW, crying over a broken teapot, TOTALLY normal. :-)
aaaw thanks everyone! I'm coming to terms with it now...! And Miss Dot, that is SO sweet of you, but I think I'm going to glue it back together...it might not be functional again, but it'll make for a good story! Just a bit more history added to it!
Could you not go mad and get a ceramic restorer to mend it for you. Might be pricey, tho'.
Or you could mend it with rivets and make a feature of it, altho unusable.
It's always a bummer when something like that happens.
I'm a bit late...
My experience is: it's always the pieces I like most that crash or...disappear.
I've some nice glued flower-pots over here ;))
What do I try to learn from this:
don't hang your heart on "stuff" (uäärgghh!)
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