June 29, 2023 • 28 mins
When we face life's trials and challenges, how can we find beauty in our brokenness? Curtis Kotake, an artist in the tradition of Kintsugi, joins us on Grace Among Us to share his insight and experience in embracing our scars and learning from them. With this unique craft, Curtis has not only found therapeutic benefits for himself, but also brought joy to others and gained recognition through the impact these bowls have made on many as they "ripple out".
Diving into the world of Kintsugi, Curtis takes broken pieces and gracefully reassembles them into beautiful bowls, symbolizing our journey of growth and healing from life's struggles. We discuss the impact of COVID on his work and how he aspires to leave a lasting legacy through his art. Join us for this heartfelt conversation that will inspire you to discover the beauty in your own scars and experience the power of transformation.
If you'd like a bowl of your own...or one for a gift, please contact Curtis Kotake at 510-414-0800
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Welcome to Grace Among Us, the podcast where we unearth the
many faces and places of graceand share stories of the power
of grace in our human lives.
Our desire is that this willinspire you to see grace in your
own life and share it withothers.
Ebony Gilbert (00:23):
Good day, Carri Richard, I am Ebony Gilbert and
we are here today to have anGuest podcast that we do
bi-weekly.
Today we are very fortunate tohave a special guest, Curtis
Kotake, who is joining us totell us his story, and we think
he is a super dope, superinteresting guy.
He's got a lot of experiencewith grace and we can't wait for
(00:46):
you to hear from him.
And this is somewhat of acontinuation of our podcast.
We did a couple of weeks ago,the earlier episode where we
were talking about these bowls,these broken bowls put back
together, and now we have theguy, the guy who's behind it -
Mr.
Curtis.
Carri, I'll let you introduceyourself very briefly and then
we'll move on and we'll get intoour talk with Curtis.
Carri Richard (01:09):
Okay, awesome, awesome, thanks, Ebony.
My name is Carri Richard.
I am a mindset coach and I helppeople make space and enjoy the
ride, and I get to spend a lotof great time with my dear
friend Ebony talking about oneof my favorite subjects, which
is grace, and, as you said, wehave hiding in the wings for
(01:31):
those who watch the video.
Actually, he's just on audiotoday, Mr.
Curtis Kotake, and I'm holdingCurtis, I'm sorry, I'm holding
up your picture really quick, sothose who are watching and yes,
he makes these beautiful bowlsin the method of and, Curtis,
(01:53):
please tell me if I butcher this- in Kintsugi.
And so I want to Curtis, Iwant to hand it over to you and
I guess just begin if you cantell us how did this practice
(02:16):
find you and maybe a little bitabout the practice.
Curtis Kotake (02:22):
Okay, well, the way it found me is that I think
I needed to be found.
You know, like we all have,we've gone through some tough
things in our life and when Ifound this craft, it resonated
in me.
And so I learned how to do it.
(02:43):
It's not something new Icreated, it's something that has
been around for centuries Andbut I really didn't know much
about it.
But then I learned, I sawsomething about it and I it
resonated with me, it touched meand I thought you know, I can
do this, and so I just learnedhow to do it.
And I think you know, reallyit's just a craft, but I think
(03:07):
what we've been through allthese past years and what we've
gone through in our lives, Ijust hit the perfect craft for
this time and place and time, Ithink.
And so you know my first bowlswere failures, but you know it
(03:27):
was a learning experience.
I kept my first bowl, whichended up.
I couldn't, it didn't come backtogether at all And I actually
threw it in the garbage and Ithought I don't know about this,
and but then I ended up diggingit out because I thought, "you
know, I'll figure it out.
And you know my technique haschanged through the years.
I've only been doing this acouple of years, but it's been
(03:52):
per se a COVID project And I'vegiven bowls out and I probably
have made at least 500 bowls.
Now I've kind of lost count,but you know there's not a
shortage of people that benefitfrom it.
So you know, that's pretty muchit.
Th e first bowl I gave was toa friend who had lost a brother,
(04:20):
and it just kind of took offfrom there and they were really
touched by it And I thought, youknow, it's kind of nice to do
something where it helps in thehealing It doesn't heal, but
it's nice to be part of it, andso anyway, that's pretty much
(04:42):
how it began.
Carri Richard (04:47):
Awesome, awesome.
I love, I love, Curtis, how yousaid that it really found you,
and I guess my question - therewas a piece where you said
Kintsugi resonated with you AndI'd love to hear a little bit
about it for our listeners Andwhat resonated for you , how did
(05:13):
it catch you?
Curtis Kotake (05:15):
Well, I think the metaphor of being broken, and
then, you know, embracing thescars of our life.
And so when I put it backtogether, and then, you know, I
put the gold on it, you know itmakes the ball more beautiful,
right, and so I think it'sembracing our history, embracing
(05:39):
the scars of our life and thenactually becoming stronger
because of it.
I, you know, i had a couplegood friends who passed away on
some 10 years ago And it took mea long time.
I don't know if I'm even overit now.
You know, it's such a shock Andyou know it's just.
(06:01):
It's just, it's nice for me tomake something that brings
actually joy to other people,and so it's therapeutic for me
in the making.
And so, you know, I think, likewith you two, I mean that it's
touched you.
You know it's easy tounderstand the metaphor And so,
(06:24):
and it's an easy thing to doreally, but I just, like I said,
I think I just hit something atthe right time.
You know, I've seen it on TVshows now, in fact, a customer
today told me about there was acartoon show for kids.
It's called something Luna, andthat was a little part in that.
(06:45):
There was a part in Ted Lassothat I just saw a couple nights
ago that referred to theKintsugi Bowl, and it's like you
know.
I think I just hit something atthe right time.
Carri Richard (06:59):
You're ahead of the curve, Curtis.
I love that.
Yeah.
So I'm holding up the bowl,one of the bowls that you made.
Ebony's got one too, and andthis can you, can you talk about
.
You said it's, it's a couplethousand years old And like the
concept.
(07:19):
I'm going to keep it realsimple, because the concept is
like, not only the bowls get putback together, but where the
break was, is actually decoratedwith gold.
It's actually made moreprominent than trying to be
(07:41):
hidden, and so can you speak tothat Like what the philosophy is
behind this process.
Curtis Kotake (07:48):
Well, yes, yeah, that's.
You know the scars of our life,how, how they shouldn't be
hidden, and so my bowl it's inthe tradition, traditional
Kintsugi, you know, would bemore flush to the bowl, where my
beads, you can actually feelthem.
(08:09):
And I actually do that onpurpose because I want, when you
hold the bowl, you can feelwhere the breakage was, and you
know that's.
You know that's the whole thingas far as the brokenness in our
life And then how we, it'spart of our history and we go on
(08:31):
, but we've become strongerbecause of it.
And, I think, through all ourtrials and tribulations of our
life, we've become stronger.
If not, if anything, maybethrough some of the things that
we've gone through, we canactually help other people go
through it as well.
So you know, you know that'spretty much you know, part of
(08:59):
the.
you know the feelings of what Ido.
It's not a century old thing,it actually goes back to like
the 15th century in.
Japan.
So it's really not that old,you know.
But you know somebody had tostart it and that's where it
started.
Ebony Gilbert (09:21):
Curtis, can I ask you a question?
When you decided to make thebreaks, the flaws visible and
not have it flush with the restof the bowl, was that deliberate
or did it accidentally occur?
And you're like I like this,Let's make this a thing.
Because I really that y ou canfeel it in your hand.
Curtis Kotake (09:46):
When I, when I first started making them and
stuff, um, um, the beads wereeven as prominent as they are
now.
I think you know I've changedthrough the years and I've
actually, I've done it to whereI you can feel the bead I,
(10:09):
don't know, it's just, a way Ido it.
If you were to go online, youcan look and, people do things
differently.
This is this is my method Andit's just, like the bowls that
you two have, maybe a coupleyears now, what I'll be doing is
(10:32):
a little different.
Maybe then, the technique thatwhat you guys got, who's to say
you know things change.
You know, why I look at mybowls when I first started, like
when I go visit my friends andstuff that I've given bowls to,
and I look at them and it'samazing how much different it is
now.
So, but you know that's themetamorphosis of, of, you know,
(10:58):
of change, right?
I?
mean we don't all do the samething, for that's life, man, and
so, but you know, it's been aproject where, it's great, it
makes me really, it makes mefeel good, makes people that I
give both to feel good and itmakes people that I give both to
(11:21):
who they give it to feel good.
Like you know, ebony, you I'msure you're happy to get your
bowl from Carri, right, it'sjust, it's just an on it's, you
know, because it's a way oftelling people that I care.
I think too, you know um youknow, um, yeah, it's just.
It's just a way of expression.
(11:41):
I think that sometimes I thinkwe're afraid to show And so, you
know, you know I'm being oldernow.
I'll be 65 this year, I feel alittle more free to express
myself to people.
Ebony Gilbert (12:00):
I love it And I'm part of that second category of
someone buys your bowl andgives it to someone else.
Carri gave me mine to yourpoint and I was really touched
And I received it at a time thatI wasn't feeling very well, I
felt a little broken, So itreally really touched me in a
deep way.
And then I read the card thatwas in it and I'm not a very
(12:24):
sentimental person when it comesto gifts, but I left it on my
counter.
It's on my counter and I waitfor people to ask about it so I
can tell them the story And thenI watch how it changes them.
So it's like this, it's likepart of the dining room kitchen
experience.
Now I'm sitting at the counter.
Pick up the Curtis bowl and letme talk to you about it.
(12:44):
It's a talking point at thispoint.
It's a whole conversationstarter and I am so grateful to
you and the evolution of how youmake these bowls Because I
think the way the bowl that Ihave was made I feel like it was
specially designed to speak towhat I was going through in life
and the card I received it,Which sounds pretty ridiculously
(13:07):
ridiculous.
Curtis Kotake (13:10):
No, no, no, no.
Every bowl which I like is likeraindrops.
Every bowl is different, youknow they may break similar, but
I would say there's never beentwo bowls out of all the 500
I've done.
Some break more, some breakless, you know, but no two ever
break the same.
They may break similar the wayI break them, but you know, part
(13:35):
of the fun is when I break them, when I open up the towel.
You know it's like what itlooks like, because every time I
break it, every time I break itand I hear it, i'm thinking, oh
boy, this is going to be a lot.
Sometimes it's not, sometimesit is, but then it's always a
little challenge to put it backtogether.
But you know, i'm pretty goodat it now, but it does.
(13:57):
It does spark conversation,which is good too.
I have I golf and there'ssomebody in my club, the
president of my club.
He's a physician and he they godown to Southern California,
him and the four or five othercouples, and they were at a
winery and they use the Kintsukimotif, I guess, on their label,
(14:20):
and so that's our conversationwithin the group.
So Randy, my golfing buddy, heended up, I don't know, I think
he got, you know, like to giveto other people as well, like 10
bowls, you know, and because hewanted to give them away as
Christmas gifts And it's likeperfect, you know, you know, but
(14:47):
you don't know.
Remember that.
But yeah, it's interesting how,where, the, where the bowls end
up.
I never thought I'm not anartist, i wouldn't say, but it's
funny how I come acrosssomething, to where people will
put it on their kitchen table.
How many people can say that?
And yeah, you know.
(15:09):
You know, I look at my bowls.
You know I have a workstationin my garage and then I have a
workbench and I look at my bowlsevery single day, you know,
just to see what I have thecolors.
I like variety.
You know, I probably have as ofnow, you know, maybe 40, 45
(15:33):
bowls, and then I would saythere might be six that are
duplicates.
Yeah, and so you know, the huntis part of the fun of where I
find, where I find them, and youknow, you know so.
I'm part of these I always feellike I'm part of the bowl
history and it's like the onesthat you have, it was part of my
(15:57):
history now as part of yourhistory, and then say in the
future, you, you know, give tosomebody else will be part of
their history too, with you.
And so I always tell people, ifyou do, you know, re-gift your
bowl, you guys sign it, you signthe card, you know.
(16:17):
So, yeah, I mean it's amazinghow a bowl can have such meaning
, but it's funny how it's kindof taken off as far you know
what it's meant for me in thegiving and stuff.
And so I mean here I am talkingyou two, right, you know who
(16:41):
would have thought?
Carri Richard (16:44):
Good, I'll go.
It's so beautiful, Curtis.
I love to hear the process andI love, like I can imagine you
putting the bowl in the toweland like crushing it or dropping
it or taking a hammer to it orwhatever that process is, and
it's like it's broken.
It's broken, you have no ideawhat you're going to get, and
(17:04):
it's then working and kind oflike gracefully and gently
putting it thoughtfully, puttingit back together.
Just like you know, gracethoughtfully puts us back
together And it's such aconnection point because I know
(17:25):
my greatest connections, i knowtoday I used to try to hide all
the flaws, but the more I'm, I'mopen to the flaws that I have.
That's how I connect deeplywith other people.
right
Yeah.
Curtis Kotake (17:42):
Right, you know I think, um, like I'm very in
tune to when I hear the wordbroken.
You know you hear things on thenews and you know sometimes
you'll hear where people saythey're broken.
I want to send them a bowl.
(17:58):
Yeah.
Curtis Kotake (17:59):
When I hear of athletes going through, you know
things and stuff I want to.
You know I wish I knew how tosend them a bowl.
You know, anytime, you know Ihear things or see things It's
like and I wish I could giftthem one.
You know I, you know I've sentbowls to hospitals.
I've heard there's one inparticular and it was in Montana
(18:24):
.
It was during COVID at thebeginning, and how stressed out
nurses were And this one guy wasmale nurse and he was saying
how broken he was.
Well, I found out what, whathospital he worked at And so I
sent him one.
So, yeah, I mean you know.
So when you hear the word broken, that may resonate in you.
(18:45):
Now, when you hear people saythat word, you know because of
you know understanding the whole, you know embracing the
brokenness and and you knowbrokenness isn't forever You
know it becomes a scar and thenand then you know we learn and
grow from it and hopefully webecome better because of it.
So, yeah, it's amazing howphilosophical I've become the
(19:12):
older I've got.
I know And one of the thingstoo, i think with COVID you
never knew if it was going to bewhen we got it I have
comorbidity, high blood pressureand stuff.
(19:33):
And I'm thinking I wantedsomething that was going to
outlive me And I know, for somereason that touched me too, that
it's like I have grandkids andstuff.
But then I wanted somethingthat when people see it, they'll
think of me, so I'm notforgotten.
And so, yeah, I mean it's justCOVID, the isolation.
(19:59):
I mean, shoot, all of thatwe've been through, to continue
to go through with differentthings.
And yeah, I mean I just wantedto be part of my legacy, i guess
.
And so, shoot, I just sent bowlsto my friend's sister, to her
(20:23):
cancer support group, and so,yeah, I think they're called
bowls, and so for her to handout and they were all.
I didn't want to send twodifferent bowls, but then I do
have bowls that are similar indesign, and so I thought I'm
going to give her two of those.
But the color inside the bowlsare different, and so, even
(20:46):
though the bowls inside weredifferent, like they are, the
exterior is what bonds them asfar as, because it's all the
same on the outside.
And so I do a lot of thinkingon what I do.
Now.
I know it's kind of weird.
I mean, if you want to know mein my younger years, you'd be
(21:07):
thinking, gosh, what happened tohim?
Carri Richard (21:13):
Breaking all these bowls.
Curtis Kotake (21:16):
Yeah, i know, when I first told people that I
break Bolz, it's like you dowhat?
And then I explain it to themAnd then I think they first
thought I was nuts.
So I go, yeah, I've beenbreaking Bolz and stuff, and
even that, even to this day Ihave a little ritual where I
(21:36):
wash the Bolz, i actually talkinto a and you are to become
more beautiful, thank you foryour sacrifice.
And then after I wash it, I'llwrap it up in a towel and then
I'll lay it on the floor and thegarage in the towel And then I
(21:56):
have a little hammer like alittle sledgehammer, and then
I'll whack it.
And it's always weird to breaksomething that's not broken.
Even to this day, it's stillhard to break something that's
not broken.
And but then once I put ittogether, and then it's like,
(22:18):
well, you've got new life.
Now you're going to be on akitchen table, you're going to
be on a bookshelf, first in acabinet or something, maybe a
candy dish, for all I know.
And so if you look on thebottom of the card, it says for
decorative use only, not forfood.
(22:39):
It's only because I gave thisguy a bowl and the next thing,
you know, he's telling me he'sgoing to have his chow mein in
it and fried rice And I go if Ihave to call him up immediately
and say don't eat out of it,Howard, it's purely decorative.
So that's why I put that littlenote.
Yeah, yeah, my friend Howard,And so that's why I put that
(23:03):
little thing.
I don't want people thinkingthat you're going to have it for
your soup Plus.
I don't know if it's leak proof.
Carri Richard (23:12):
Well, hey, hey, Curtis, I know, just like you
said, these are, these are aprocess that you do, you know
over time, And so these are notmass produced.
And I'm saying that because ifthere's somebody who's
interested in getting a bowl, ormaybe purchasing a couple for
(23:34):
friends or gifts, how can theyreach you?
Curtis Kotake (23:40):
Um, they can text me.
You can give them my number.
I'm not, i'm not that worriedabout that Okay.
Carri Richard (23:49):
We will you know, we'll post it in the notes, So
okay for anybody listening orwatching.
We will give you all theinformation to get in touch with
Curtis, and Ebony, how aboutyou have any any more questions
(24:10):
or?
Ebony Gilbert (24:11):
Well, first thing , I need like 20 of them.
Carri Richard (24:16):
Why don't you take that offline with Mr.
.
Ebony Gilbert (24:20):
Maybe 21 somewhere in the neighborhood.
Secondly, this has been such apleasure and you are so much
cooler And I had you on prettyhigh pedestal Curtis but you're
so much cooler than I could haveever imagined.
You mentioned that you're notan artist and I would just argue
against that.
I collect, I collect art.
(24:43):
Every wall in my house iscovered in art.
I see your bowl on the counterand nobody looks at my art.
It comes straight to your bowl.
So you are the biggest,greatest artist in my home and I
am so grateful for it.
I'm so thankful for being heretoday and explaining your
process, and now I'm going tobrag to all my friends that I've
met you and you really are ascool as I say you are.
(25:06):
Yeah, absolutely.
Curtis Kotake (25:10):
You're welcome.
Thank you so much for thecompliment.
Like I said, I mean, you know,maybe it's a sparkling, shiny
object, you know when you seethe gold.
But I think when you learnabout it, then it's that whole,
you know, because you knowthey're pretty good to look at.
But then I think, like when Igive the bowl away, of course I
(25:32):
have the card.
It explained it better than Icould, I took that from the
internet And but it's it's.
I think once you read the cardand I tell a lot of people, you
know, i give them, you know toit as you give them a gift, and
then it's like, well, read thecard at your convenience.
Don't read it like right now,because I think sometimes I
(25:54):
think you need to sit down andthen absorb it And, and that's a
lot of then I don't hear forthem from them later, you know,
and what it means to them.
And so I just, i just love thatit touches people.
I've always been kind of asentimental guy And I love how
(26:18):
it touches people And so youknow, yeah, i might be doing
this for the rest of my life.
Ebony Gilbert (26:26):
I love it.
Carri Richard (26:27):
Yeah, I do too.
I got an order and putting inalso, but we'll talk about it
But, Curtis, I just want tothank you so much.
I just want to celebrate howthat you let it catch you, you
let Kintsugi catch you and youfollowed your heart And, like
(26:47):
you said, some of your bowlswere failures and you just kept
doing it And it is just.
It's just such a gorgeousrepresentation of, how beautiful
we all are, flaws and all.
So, we so appreciate you andthank you so much for coming on
this show.
Curtis Kotake (27:08):
Well, thank you so much for having me And it's
nice that I can, you know,spread the word on what I do.
And then and now, you know, i'msure that have you, i'm sure
you've probably heard referencesto it, maybe in different media
sources, i don't know But youbecome a lot more aware of when
(27:34):
you see it and when you hear it.
Now, absolutely Yeah, yeah,yeah.
Well, thank you, you're welcome.
Okay, thank you.
Carri Richard (27:45):
All right.
Curtis Kotake (27:45):
I'm glad to put one.
I'm glad I finally was able toget on.
Carri Richard (27:49):
Well, thank you for your patience.
Curtis Kotake (27:51):
Absolutely.
Carri Richard (27:52):
Great Ebony.
Anything, any follow, any wrapup.
Ebony Gilbert (27:59):
There's beauty in the brokenness.
There you go.
Carri Richard (28:03):
Yes, the glue of grace.
All right, thank you everybody.
See you next time.
Okay, great job.
(28:13):
Thank you so much for joining us.
If you enjoyed this episode,please let us know.
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We hope you're leaving withanother pointer to grace, a new
perspective that will light itup in your own life.
Until next time, be well, bebold, be kind to yourself and be
(28:36):
on the lookout.
Welcome to Grace Among Us, the podcast where we unearth the
many faces and places of graceand share stories of the power
of grace in our human lives.
Our desire is that this willinspire you to see grace in your
own life and share it withothers.
Ebony Gilbert (00:23):
Good day, Carri Richard, I am Ebony Gilbert and
we are here today to have anGuest podcast that we do
bi-weekly.
Today we are very fortunate tohave a special guest, Curtis
Kotake, who is joining us totell us his story, and we think
he is a super dope, superinteresting guy.
He's got a lot of experiencewith grace and we can't wait for
(00:46):
you to hear from him.
And this is somewhat of acontinuation of our podcast.
We did a couple of weeks ago,the earlier episode where we
were talking about these bowls,these broken bowls put back
together, and now we have theguy, the guy who's behind it -
Mr.
Curtis.
Carri, I'll let you introduceyourself very briefly and then
we'll move on and we'll get intoour talk with Curtis.
Carri Richard (01:09):
Okay, awesome, awesome, thanks, Ebony.
My name is Carri Richard.
I am a mindset coach and I helppeople make space and enjoy the
ride, and I get to spend a lotof great time with my dear
friend Ebony talking about oneof my favorite subjects, which
is grace, and, as you said, wehave hiding in the wings for
(01:31):
those who watch the video.
Actually, he's just on audiotoday, Mr.
Curtis Kotake, and I'm holdingCurtis, I'm sorry, I'm holding
up your picture really quick, sothose who are watching and yes,
he makes these beautiful bowlsin the method of and, Curtis,
(01:53):
please tell me if I butcher this- in Kintsugi.
And so I want to Curtis, Iwant to hand it over to you and
I guess just begin if you cantell us how did this practice
(02:16):
find you and maybe a little bitabout the practice.
Curtis Kotake (02:22):
Okay, well, the way it found me is that I think
I needed to be found.
You know, like we all have,we've gone through some tough
things in our life and when Ifound this craft, it resonated
in me.
And so I learned how to do it.
(02:43):
It's not something new Icreated, it's something that has
been around for centuries Andbut I really didn't know much
about it.
But then I learned, I sawsomething about it and I it
resonated with me, it touched meand I thought you know, I can
do this, and so I just learnedhow to do it.
And I think you know, reallyit's just a craft, but I think
(03:07):
what we've been through allthese past years and what we've
gone through in our lives, Ijust hit the perfect craft for
this time and place and time, Ithink.
And so you know my first bowlswere failures, but you know it
(03:27):
was a learning experience.
I kept my first bowl, whichended up.
I couldn't, it didn't come backtogether at all And I actually
threw it in the garbage and Ithought I don't know about this,
and but then I ended up diggingit out because I thought, "you
know, I'll figure it out.
And you know my technique haschanged through the years.
I've only been doing this acouple of years, but it's been
(03:52):
per se a COVID project And I'vegiven bowls out and I probably
have made at least 500 bowls.
Now I've kind of lost count,but you know there's not a
shortage of people that benefitfrom it.
So you know, that's pretty muchit.
Th e first bowl I gave was toa friend who had lost a brother,
(04:20):
and it just kind of took offfrom there and they were really
touched by it And I thought, youknow, it's kind of nice to do
something where it helps in thehealing It doesn't heal, but
it's nice to be part of it, andso anyway, that's pretty much
(04:42):
how it began.
Carri Richard (04:47):
Awesome, awesome.
I love, I love, Curtis, how yousaid that it really found you,
and I guess my question - therewas a piece where you said
Kintsugi resonated with you AndI'd love to hear a little bit
about it for our listeners Andwhat resonated for you , how did
(05:13):
it catch you?
Curtis Kotake (05:15):
Well, I think the metaphor of being broken, and
then, you know, embracing thescars of our life.
And so when I put it backtogether, and then, you know, I
put the gold on it, you know itmakes the ball more beautiful,
right, and so I think it'sembracing our history, embracing
(05:39):
the scars of our life and thenactually becoming stronger
because of it.
I, you know, i had a couplegood friends who passed away on
some 10 years ago And it took mea long time.
I don't know if I'm even overit now.
You know, it's such a shock Andyou know it's just.
(06:01):
It's just, it's nice for me tomake something that brings
actually joy to other people,and so it's therapeutic for me
in the making.
And so, you know, I think, likewith you two, I mean that it's
touched you.
You know it's easy tounderstand the metaphor And so,
(06:24):
and it's an easy thing to doreally, but I just, like I said,
I think I just hit something atthe right time.
You know, I've seen it on TVshows now, in fact, a customer
today told me about there was acartoon show for kids.
It's called something Luna, andthat was a little part in that.
(06:45):
There was a part in Ted Lassothat I just saw a couple nights
ago that referred to theKintsugi Bowl, and it's like you
know.
I think I just hit something atthe right time.
Carri Richard (06:59):
You're ahead of the curve, Curtis.
I love that.
Yeah.
So I'm holding up the bowl,one of the bowls that you made.
Ebony's got one too, and andthis can you, can you talk about
.
You said it's, it's a couplethousand years old And like the
concept.
(07:19):
I'm going to keep it realsimple, because the concept is
like, not only the bowls get putback together, but where the
break was, is actually decoratedwith gold.
It's actually made moreprominent than trying to be
(07:41):
hidden, and so can you speak tothat Like what the philosophy is
behind this process.
Curtis Kotake (07:48):
Well, yes, yeah, that's.
You know the scars of our life,how, how they shouldn't be
hidden, and so my bowl it's inthe tradition, traditional
Kintsugi, you know, would bemore flush to the bowl, where my
beads, you can actually feelthem.
(08:09):
And I actually do that onpurpose because I want, when you
hold the bowl, you can feelwhere the breakage was, and you
know that's.
You know that's the whole thingas far as the brokenness in our
life And then how we, it'spart of our history and we go on
(08:31):
, but we've become strongerbecause of it.
And, I think, through all ourtrials and tribulations of our
life, we've become stronger.
If not, if anything, maybethrough some of the things that
we've gone through, we canactually help other people go
through it as well.
So you know, you know that'spretty much you know, part of
(08:59):
the.
you know the feelings of what Ido.
It's not a century old thing,it actually goes back to like
the 15th century in.
Japan.
So it's really not that old,you know.
But you know somebody had tostart it and that's where it
started.
Ebony Gilbert (09:21):
Curtis, can I ask you a question?
When you decided to make thebreaks, the flaws visible and
not have it flush with the restof the bowl, was that deliberate
or did it accidentally occur?
And you're like I like this,Let's make this a thing.
Because I really that y ou canfeel it in your hand.
Curtis Kotake (09:46):
When I, when I first started making them and
stuff, um, um, the beads wereeven as prominent as they are
now.
I think you know I've changedthrough the years and I've
actually, I've done it to whereI you can feel the bead I,
(10:09):
don't know, it's just, a way Ido it.
If you were to go online, youcan look and, people do things
differently.
This is this is my method Andit's just, like the bowls that
you two have, maybe a coupleyears now, what I'll be doing is
(10:32):
a little different.
Maybe then, the technique thatwhat you guys got, who's to say
you know things change.
You know, why I look at mybowls when I first started, like
when I go visit my friends andstuff that I've given bowls to,
and I look at them and it'samazing how much different it is
now.
So, but you know that's themetamorphosis of, of, you know,
(10:58):
of change, right?
I?
mean we don't all do the samething, for that's life, man, and
so, but you know, it's been aproject where, it's great, it
makes me really, it makes mefeel good, makes people that I
give both to feel good and itmakes people that I give both to
(11:21):
who they give it to feel good.
Like you know, ebony, you I'msure you're happy to get your
bowl from Carri, right, it'sjust, it's just an on it's, you
know, because it's a way oftelling people that I care.
I think too, you know um youknow, um, yeah, it's just.
It's just a way of expression.
(11:41):
I think that sometimes I thinkwe're afraid to show And so, you
know, you know I'm being oldernow.
I'll be 65 this year, I feel alittle more free to express
myself to people.
Ebony Gilbert (12:00):
I love it And I'm part of that second category of
someone buys your bowl andgives it to someone else.
Carri gave me mine to yourpoint and I was really touched
And I received it at a time thatI wasn't feeling very well, I
felt a little broken, So itreally really touched me in a
deep way.
And then I read the card thatwas in it and I'm not a very
(12:24):
sentimental person when it comesto gifts, but I left it on my
counter.
It's on my counter and I waitfor people to ask about it so I
can tell them the story And thenI watch how it changes them.
So it's like this, it's likepart of the dining room kitchen
experience.
Now I'm sitting at the counter.
Pick up the Curtis bowl and letme talk to you about it.
(12:44):
It's a talking point at thispoint.
It's a whole conversationstarter and I am so grateful to
you and the evolution of how youmake these bowls Because I
think the way the bowl that Ihave was made I feel like it was
specially designed to speak towhat I was going through in life
and the card I received it,Which sounds pretty ridiculously
(13:07):
ridiculous.
Curtis Kotake (13:10):
No, no, no, no.
Every bowl which I like is likeraindrops.
Every bowl is different, youknow they may break similar, but
I would say there's never beentwo bowls out of all the 500
I've done.
Some break more, some breakless, you know, but no two ever
break the same.
They may break similar the wayI break them, but you know, part
(13:35):
of the fun is when I break them, when I open up the towel.
You know it's like what itlooks like, because every time I
break it, every time I break itand I hear it, i'm thinking, oh
boy, this is going to be a lot.
Sometimes it's not, sometimesit is, but then it's always a
little challenge to put it backtogether.
But you know, i'm pretty goodat it now, but it does.
(13:57):
It does spark conversation,which is good too.
I have I golf and there'ssomebody in my club, the
president of my club.
He's a physician and he they godown to Southern California,
him and the four or five othercouples, and they were at a
winery and they use the Kintsukimotif, I guess, on their label,
(14:20):
and so that's our conversationwithin the group.
So Randy, my golfing buddy, heended up, I don't know, I think
he got, you know, like to giveto other people as well, like 10
bowls, you know, and because hewanted to give them away as
Christmas gifts And it's likeperfect, you know, you know, but
(14:47):
you don't know.
Remember that.
But yeah, it's interesting how,where, the, where the bowls end
up.
I never thought I'm not anartist, i wouldn't say, but it's
funny how I come acrosssomething, to where people will
put it on their kitchen table.
How many people can say that?
And yeah, you know.
(15:09):
You know, I look at my bowls.
You know I have a workstationin my garage and then I have a
workbench and I look at my bowlsevery single day, you know,
just to see what I have thecolors.
I like variety.
You know, I probably have as ofnow, you know, maybe 40, 45
(15:33):
bowls, and then I would saythere might be six that are
duplicates.
Yeah, and so you know, the huntis part of the fun of where I
find, where I find them, and youknow, you know so.
I'm part of these I always feellike I'm part of the bowl
history and it's like the onesthat you have, it was part of my
(15:57):
history now as part of yourhistory, and then say in the
future, you, you know, give tosomebody else will be part of
their history too, with you.
And so I always tell people, ifyou do, you know, re-gift your
bowl, you guys sign it, you signthe card, you know.
(16:17):
So, yeah, I mean it's amazinghow a bowl can have such meaning
, but it's funny how it's kindof taken off as far you know
what it's meant for me in thegiving and stuff.
And so I mean here I am talkingyou two, right, you know who
(16:41):
would have thought?
Carri Richard (16:44):
Good, I'll go.
It's so beautiful, Curtis.
I love to hear the process andI love, like I can imagine you
putting the bowl in the toweland like crushing it or dropping
it or taking a hammer to it orwhatever that process is, and
it's like it's broken.
It's broken, you have no ideawhat you're going to get, and
(17:04):
it's then working and kind oflike gracefully and gently
putting it thoughtfully, puttingit back together.
Just like you know, gracethoughtfully puts us back
together And it's such aconnection point because I know
(17:25):
my greatest connections, i knowtoday I used to try to hide all
the flaws, but the more I'm, I'mopen to the flaws that I have.
That's how I connect deeplywith other people.
right
Yeah.
Curtis Kotake (17:42):
Right, you know I think, um, like I'm very in
tune to when I hear the wordbroken.
You know you hear things on thenews and you know sometimes
you'll hear where people saythey're broken.
I want to send them a bowl.
(17:58):
Yeah.
Curtis Kotake (17:59):
When I hear of athletes going through, you know
things and stuff I want to.
You know I wish I knew how tosend them a bowl.
You know, anytime, you know Ihear things or see things It's
like and I wish I could giftthem one.
You know I, you know I've sentbowls to hospitals.
I've heard there's one inparticular and it was in Montana
(18:24):
.
It was during COVID at thebeginning, and how stressed out
nurses were And this one guy wasmale nurse and he was saying
how broken he was.
Well, I found out what, whathospital he worked at And so I
sent him one.
So, yeah, I mean you know.
So when you hear the word broken, that may resonate in you.
(18:45):
Now, when you hear people saythat word, you know because of
you know understanding the whole, you know embracing the
brokenness and and you knowbrokenness isn't forever You
know it becomes a scar and thenand then you know we learn and
grow from it and hopefully webecome better because of it.
So, yeah, it's amazing howphilosophical I've become the
(19:12):
older I've got.
I know And one of the thingstoo, i think with COVID you
never knew if it was going to bewhen we got it I have
comorbidity, high blood pressureand stuff.
(19:33):
And I'm thinking I wantedsomething that was going to
outlive me And I know, for somereason that touched me too, that
it's like I have grandkids andstuff.
But then I wanted somethingthat when people see it, they'll
think of me, so I'm notforgotten.
And so, yeah, I mean it's justCOVID, the isolation.
(19:59):
I mean, shoot, all of thatwe've been through, to continue
to go through with differentthings.
And yeah, I mean I just wantedto be part of my legacy, i guess
.
And so, shoot, I just sent bowlsto my friend's sister, to her
(20:23):
cancer support group, and so,yeah, I think they're called
bowls, and so for her to handout and they were all.
I didn't want to send twodifferent bowls, but then I do
have bowls that are similar indesign, and so I thought I'm
going to give her two of those.
But the color inside the bowlsare different, and so, even
(20:46):
though the bowls inside weredifferent, like they are, the
exterior is what bonds them asfar as, because it's all the
same on the outside.
And so I do a lot of thinkingon what I do.
Now.
I know it's kind of weird.
I mean, if you want to know mein my younger years, you'd be
(21:07):
thinking, gosh, what happened tohim?
Carri Richard (21:13):
Breaking all these bowls.
Curtis Kotake (21:16):
Yeah, i know, when I first told people that I
break Bolz, it's like you dowhat?
And then I explain it to themAnd then I think they first
thought I was nuts.
So I go, yeah, I've beenbreaking Bolz and stuff, and
even that, even to this day Ihave a little ritual where I
(21:36):
wash the Bolz, i actually talkinto a and you are to become
more beautiful, thank you foryour sacrifice.
And then after I wash it, I'llwrap it up in a towel and then
I'll lay it on the floor and thegarage in the towel And then I
(21:56):
have a little hammer like alittle sledgehammer, and then
I'll whack it.
And it's always weird to breaksomething that's not broken.
Even to this day, it's stillhard to break something that's
not broken.
And but then once I put ittogether, and then it's like,
(22:18):
well, you've got new life.
Now you're going to be on akitchen table, you're going to
be on a bookshelf, first in acabinet or something, maybe a
candy dish, for all I know.
And so if you look on thebottom of the card, it says for
decorative use only, not forfood.
(22:39):
It's only because I gave thisguy a bowl and the next thing,
you know, he's telling me he'sgoing to have his chow mein in
it and fried rice And I go if Ihave to call him up immediately
and say don't eat out of it,Howard, it's purely decorative.
So that's why I put that littlenote.
Yeah, yeah, my friend Howard,And so that's why I put that
(23:03):
little thing.
I don't want people thinkingthat you're going to have it for
your soup Plus.
I don't know if it's leak proof.
Carri Richard (23:12):
Well, hey, hey, Curtis, I know, just like you
said, these are, these are aprocess that you do, you know
over time, And so these are notmass produced.
And I'm saying that because ifthere's somebody who's
interested in getting a bowl, ormaybe purchasing a couple for
(23:34):
friends or gifts, how can theyreach you?
Curtis Kotake (23:40):
Um, they can text me.
You can give them my number.
I'm not, i'm not that worriedabout that Okay.
Carri Richard (23:49):
We will you know, we'll post it in the notes, So
okay for anybody listening orwatching.
We will give you all theinformation to get in touch with
Curtis, and Ebony, how aboutyou have any any more questions
(24:10):
or?
Ebony Gilbert (24:11):
Well, first thing , I need like 20 of them.
Carri Richard (24:16):
Why don't you take that offline with Mr.
.
Ebony Gilbert (24:20):
Maybe 21 somewhere in the neighborhood.
Secondly, this has been such apleasure and you are so much
cooler And I had you on prettyhigh pedestal Curtis but you're
so much cooler than I could haveever imagined.
You mentioned that you're notan artist and I would just argue
against that.
I collect, I collect art.
(24:43):
Every wall in my house iscovered in art.
I see your bowl on the counterand nobody looks at my art.
It comes straight to your bowl.
So you are the biggest,greatest artist in my home and I
am so grateful for it.
I'm so thankful for being heretoday and explaining your
process, and now I'm going tobrag to all my friends that I've
met you and you really are ascool as I say you are.
(25:06):
Yeah, absolutely.
Curtis Kotake (25:10):
You're welcome.
Thank you so much for thecompliment.
Like I said, I mean, you know,maybe it's a sparkling, shiny
object, you know when you seethe gold.
But I think when you learnabout it, then it's that whole,
you know, because you knowthey're pretty good to look at.
But then I think, like when Igive the bowl away, of course I
(25:32):
have the card.
It explained it better than Icould, I took that from the
internet And but it's it's.
I think once you read the cardand I tell a lot of people, you
know, i give them, you know toit as you give them a gift, and
then it's like, well, read thecard at your convenience.
Don't read it like right now,because I think sometimes I
(25:54):
think you need to sit down andthen absorb it And, and that's a
lot of then I don't hear forthem from them later, you know,
and what it means to them.
And so I just, i just love thatit touches people.
I've always been kind of asentimental guy And I love how
(26:18):
it touches people And so youknow, yeah, i might be doing
this for the rest of my life.
Ebony Gilbert (26:26):
I love it.
Carri Richard (26:27):
Yeah, I do too.
I got an order and putting inalso, but we'll talk about it
But, Curtis, I just want tothank you so much.
I just want to celebrate howthat you let it catch you, you
let Kintsugi catch you and youfollowed your heart And, like
(26:47):
you said, some of your bowlswere failures and you just kept
doing it And it is just.
It's just such a gorgeousrepresentation of, how beautiful
we all are, flaws and all.
So, we so appreciate you andthank you so much for coming on
this show.
Curtis Kotake (27:08):
Well, thank you so much for having me And it's
nice that I can, you know,spread the word on what I do.
And then and now, you know, i'msure that have you, i'm sure
you've probably heard referencesto it, maybe in different media
sources, i don't know But youbecome a lot more aware of when
(27:34):
you see it and when you hear it.
Now, absolutely Yeah, yeah,yeah.
Well, thank you, you're welcome.
Okay, thank you.
Carri Richard (27:45):
All right.
Curtis Kotake (27:45):
I'm glad to put one.
I'm glad I finally was able toget on.
Carri Richard (27:49):
Well, thank you for your patience.
Curtis Kotake (27:51):
Absolutely.
Carri Richard (27:52):
Great Ebony.
Anything, any follow, any wrapup.
Ebony Gilbert (27:59):
There's beauty in the brokenness.
There you go.
Carri Richard (28:03):
Yes, the glue of grace.
All right, thank you everybody.
See you next time.
Okay, great job.
(28:13):
Thank you so much for joining us.
If you enjoyed this episode,please let us know.
We love to hear from you andshare it with a friend.
Also, please be sure tosubscribe so you're notified
when a new episode is posted.
We hope you're leaving withanother pointer to grace, a new
perspective that will light itup in your own life.
Until next time, be well, bebold, be kind to yourself and be
(28:36):
on the lookout.
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