The Japanese believe that when something has suffered damage and has a history, it becomes more beautiful, so they repair broken objects with gold. Instead of trying to hide defects and cracks, these are accentuated and celebrated, as they have now become the strongest part of the piece —because the repaired pottery is even stronger than the original, and more beautiful.
The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. —Ernest Hemingway
Digital painting done in Photoshop using a Wacom Intuos pro as main tool and stock photos as reference and texture.
Posting things at midnight might become a regular thing now lol
I drew this awhile ago for art therapy, and I decided to render it. Going through grad school and being in the home stretch of my dissertation, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my experiences. Grad school definitely hasn’t been easy - especially with the different barriers that exists that no one wants to discuss or acknowledge.
Looking back on the trauma I’ve experienced in my lifetime, the memories are still painful. I remember when the concept of kintsugi was introduced to me; I’ve held on to that philosophy so tightly. It’s kept me grounded every time I curse how broken I feel on my bad days.
Many people have told me things like what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger,” “you’re incredibly brave,” or “you’re powerful.” The thing is, I never wanted to be any of those; I just want to live my days feeling safe - to not feel pain.
These are not experiences I can erase from my life. They will always be painful. But each day, it becomes a little easier to run through those memories
“The Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum.”
That’s my resolution (revolution)for 2017: building myself up again, fixing the puzzle.
I wanted to be unbreakable. I needed to be whole and strong. But I’m only human. We all are. Falling into pieces is only natural, when something strikes. But then we get up. We pick up the pieces, we check the bruises.
And there’s beauty in them. There’s a huge value in our flaws and scars. All we can do is try and learn from them. Making out of them something to be proud of. Making them Art. Gold.
“There is a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in.” - Leonard Cohen-
Sherlock simply tells John he loves him one day. Suffering with PTSD, alcoholism, internalized homophobia, trust issues and more, it takes John a bit longer to reply.
![handyhandman:Is that…the expression of someone whose friend was just [redacted]…?!](https://64.media.tumblr.com/5ab49e61bbb29462043169d4d84d9a7e/727c8f61b709346a-9a/s1280x1920/f747410a612d011db1ed0fa67aca725d1d933e86.png "handyhandman:Is that…the expression of someone whose friend was just [redacted]…?!")
