Zephon
Legacy Name: Zephon

The home resembled a traditional Japanese style building. It sat on it’s own property surrounded by a concrete wall protecting it from outside influences and it often felt like time stood still when within those walls. Roka, wooden floored passages surrounded the home with both fusuma and shoji which were wooden and paper sliding doors on either side of the halls in certain parts of the home. The floors were all wood and inside was many rooms while some were bedrooms others were bathrooms, living spaces, a kitchen and so forth.

At the entrance to the home was a genkan which is a small area on the same level as the ground outside where shoes were taken off and left that then raised up to another level which the main house was on. There was a small cabinet for shoes to be stowed away for those that lived there a little mat placed right before the floor height changed.

The bathroom was a wooden one, often called an ofuro, it consisted of a large wooden bathtub in the middle of the room, it was heated from below by gas. There was a small stool and area outside of the tub where one should wash off before entering the ofuro itself.

There was a very large ‘backyard’ area which also consisted of a smaller looking building in the back of the property. Various amounts of green shrubbery with stone lanterns along the stone walkway. There was a medium size koi pond with bonsai and cherry blossoms hanging over it. The pathway lead to the smaller building which was similar in style to the main home.

After sliding back the paper doors and turning on the lights the place was filled with various cups, bowls, and pottery. The light peaked through the window and the inside was completely wood. There were a couple of small wooden tables that were low to the ground, meant to be used while kneeling or sitting indian style. There were plenty of bowls on the tables some meant for water some meant for paint, white papers strewn across the tables and piled up in a corner meant to be laid down before working.

A ceramic tea set was resting on the table with two cups set up. A variety of brushes sitting inside of a cup on one of the tables, fine, medium and thick brushes all huddled close together along with a couple of polishing tools. Large cabinets with many small square drawers filled with paints, lacquer, and powder.

All of the pots and bowls here were all broken, cracked, and imperfect. Here was where he practiced the Japanese art of kintsugi. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold. As a philosophy it treats the breakage and repair as a part of the history of an object, rather than to disguise. The general concept of highlighting or emphasizing imperfections, visualizing mends and seams as additive or an area to celebrate or focus on rather than as absence or missing pieces.

His favorite white cat hopped up onto the roka and tip toed into the room tracking in snow that still clung to its fur. Tiny little paw prints painted across the wood as it reached Zephon leg, rubbing against his calf purring, nudging his head into his ankle.

He left the door open to let as much light in as possible while bringing a table closest to the opening. He grabbed a small ceramic bowl that had been cracked into two pieces and set it down on top of a white sheet. The white cat crawled into his lap curling up and he couldn’t help but smile. Looking out at the snow he took a deep breath the brisk smell of fresh snow invigorating him. Despite his bones feeling frozen, fingers frigid, and his heart still aching this was one of the few things that brought him joy.

It brought him closer to his love lost.

Beginning by using a sticky resin to act as a glue that held together the broken pieces of the bowl. Once it dries it hardens the resin can be sanded and buffed until the surface is smooth to the touch. Finally the artist will take the lacquer that has already been combined with the gold powder and is delicately painted to cover the cracks. Each crack and broken piece was an imperfection that he was making beautiful, a substitute for the cracks he felt slowly spreading inside of himself.

Love lost but never forgotten.