A few things have happened and progressed since my last update.

Both of the cracked pieces (the lattice-patterned blue vase and the double-handled cup) that I applied raw urushi to cured and had another dose of raw urushi painted on to allow it to seep further in and fill any gaps that might have been missed the first time. This second layer was added 4 days ago in the hope that it would be cured today but they’re both still tacky. I suspect that this is just the reality of using raw urushi rather than anything I’ve done wrong.

The rash on the back of my hand got progressively worse over the course of about 10 days before easing off. I have quite sensitive skin as it is so I suspected I’d have a severe reaction but I’m glad to have found out. At it’s most severe, it wasn’t any worse than my eczema has been before although I probably have a different scale to most people having lived with it for my entire life.

The repair of a Bordallo Pinheiro olive dish is now well underway with the pieces joined and 3 layers of lacquer. I’ll continue to build this up until the groove is smooth and well cured. I’ll make up a couple of squares of lacquered tile to practice gold application with so that I can get the timing right.

Blue mug with the mugi-urushi freshly applied

My learning with hon kintsugi has been going as too. I have used mugi-urushi to repair two ceramic teaspoons, a blue mug and a small dish. The handle of the mug is slightly off-true which is frustrating but I was nervous about timing and getting the glue on my skin again. I think given practice, I’ll gain confidence with both elements. All pieces cured far enough in 4 days to allow me to clean them up with a knife and I’ve put them back in the muro to cure further before applying abi-urushi.

#5: The old fashioned way

#6: Trial and error. Mostly error.

#4: New stuff