Blake Matthews

June 28, 1910 - January 13, 2000
My father would have been 100 years old today. He lived a long and good life, dying just a few months before his 90th birthday. He was a gentle man, quiet and witty. He loved skiing, dancing, camping, sketching, big band music, desserts and sherry. He worked as a salesman most of his life but told me once that he would have liked to have been a draftsman. I could easily imagine him in that profession. He always sketched and we spent many lovely times together drawing outdoors. This pen and ink drawing was done by Blake's son-in-law, Gordon Pritchard.

Singular Objects-The Broken Bowl

I keep this bowl on a shelf in my studio, an example of the beauty of imperfection. It is very old and at one time in its long life it was broken. Whoever owned the bowl then thought it worthwhile to repair. At that time, before the advent of epoxy and polyester resins, the method of repair was the use of rivets or metal clamps fitted through drilled holes to hold the broken pieces together. This method seems to add more destruction to an already damaged item, the contrast of materials...metal against delicate china, is striking.
And yet, despite the unsympathetic restoration, I love this bowl. It has survived, with help. If I had broken the bowl I would have trashed it. At one point in my life that is what I would have done, but not now. I am thankful to the person who thought that this broken bowl was salvageable. It is still beautiful. perhaps even more beautiful now. And it is something that I treasure.