Tutor - Richard Walker

1-day workshop

Monday 14 July 2025, 10am - 4pm

Kintsugi (golden joinery) started in Japan around 500 years ago.  When a clay, porcelain or glass item was broken, instead of hiding  any repairs, the art (and idea) of Kintsugi is to celebrate the damage as part of the life journey and history of a piece. This philosophy is a great idea to carry forward today in the ecologically aware conditions that we are exercising on the earth.

Using contemporary materials, this Kintsugi class is a chance to explore the potential of this craft with your own items, under the guidance of visiting tutor and Master Gilder, Richard Walker.  Whether you have cracked, broken or smashed vessels that need repairing, or wish to break something anew within the class in order to repair it, any cracks, gaps or chips can be repaired using pure gold-leaf to turn those imperfections into something beautiful.

Vases, plates, bowls and many more things can be explored.  However, the Kintsugi process is for decoration only, and the utilitarian nature of the vessel may not be something that can be kept.

With broken pottery, the Japanese would accomplish this with the use of staples and natural resins mixed with powdered gold. In fact, people would sometimes deliberately smash precious family pottery and heirlooms in order to have them repaired by a Kintsugi craftsman and elevate the piece in the home!

For our class, we will be using modern water-based materials, as well as super glue and epoxy resins. The repairs can be completed in either pure yellow gold, or if you prefer white gold according to your taste.

You may work on as many pieces as you can find the time for.  You also be invited to take home all the materials that you have been using, so you can carry on Kintsugi in the comfort of your own home.

Please wear clothes and footwear suitable for a studio environment and bring at least one plain ceramic item to repair, as well as at least 1 additional piece that is more experimental - once you have had a taste of the techniques, you are to be encouraged to explore the art of Kintsugi in different areas of your personal practice.  Break rules as well as pottery!  In fact, what if you used wood, stone, glass or even metal within these processes?

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When buying a course or workshop you will be automatically emailed a confirmation which you can print off and include in a card for your loved one. Gift vouchers can also be bought if you aren't sure which course they would prefer. Please email us the name and email address of the person attending on drawingschool@rwa.org.uk 

Before booking we ask everyone please read our updated Terms and Conditions below.  

Participants must be 18 or over.

If eligible, discounts must be applied when first purchasing your class and cannot be given retrospectively. Please contact us if the discount code is not working.

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or mental health issue which you feel may affect your participation in your chosen class, please either email drawingschool@rwa.org.uk or call 07745694563, prior to booking, so we are aware of any needs you may have.

Refund/transfer and Cancellation Policy: We are unable to offer full or part cash refunds, but you are eligible for an RWA gift voucher or transfer, minus an admin fee*, provided you notify us more than 14 days before the start of your class. If we cancel a course or workshop for any reason, then participants will be offered a different date, course/workshop or RWA gift voucher. 

*Admin fee for courses £25, Admin fee for workshops £15