Kintsugi-Inspired Beach Stone Necklace

by Tamara Summers.
(Sarnia, Ontario, Canada)

Kintsugi-Inspired Beach Stone Necklace

Some simple beach stones just have grand dreams and intentions of becoming necklace pendants – they really do!

I come across them occasionally as I search for treasures on the beach to make jewellery and art with.

They’ve taken decades, if not longer, to create a hole within themselves to accommodate a bale very easily, and then, when that’s complete, they lie on the shore just waiting for a treasure hunter, like myself, to come along.

Then they wave their hands in the air and shout “Hey, hey, over here, me, me, me…!” 😀

“Okay then, come along home with me and I’ll see what I can do with you…”

I noticed that this stone had some markings on it, what would commonly be called imperfections.

I immediately felt drawn to use metallic paint to trace or fill those in, and it reminded me of something I had read.

Ontario

Kintsugi or Kintsukuroi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, rather than throwing the item away or trying to minimize the imperfection.

This practice comes from recognizing the beauty in broken things.

My stone certainly didn’t need to be repaired, as it wasn’t cracked or in danger of falling apart, but I thought the metallic paint, and then the coating of lacquer, gave a simple beach stone with a big dream, an elegant and eye-catching look.

It also makes beach jewellery perfect to be worn during the holiday season.

Tamara Summers
Pink Pearls and Potpourri