THE ARTIST

Brian​ Ohlsen ​is the owner of Ohlsen Clayworks and the Broken Bowl Project. He got his first experience on the potter’s wheel in the early 1990's under the instruction of Martha Griffith, ceramics teacher at the Fine Line Arts Center in St. Charles, IL. He then worked to enhance his handbuilding skills while at Creative Claythings in Chicago.

Brian has worked extensively with Raku firing and in 2016 was introduced to the Japanese art of Kintsugi through his friend, entrepreneur Paul Pustelnik. The two started the Broken Bowl Project as a way to help spread the healing metaphor of Kintsugi with high end artwork. After Paul's untimely passing, Brian has worked to expand his artwork and Kintsugi technique. 

Brian’s pieces have been featured in video, film, print, and online content, and have been sold world-wide.

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THE PROCESS

Every Broken Bowl Project piece starts as a ball of clay on Brian's potter's wheel or hand building table. Once formed and trimmed, they are put in the kiln for an initial bisque firing, and then glazed. Depending on the type of glaze used, the pieces are then fired a second time in either an electric or raku kiln. This melts the glazes to create the beautiful color finishes. Finally, after all this, the Kintsugi process can begin. Brian starts by carefully breaking the pieces. He begins with a plan in mind, but like life, pottery is unpredictable and the breaks tend to follow their own path, resulting in each piece being unique from the others. Next, he carefully mends the pieces back together. While the traditional Japanese process uses a toxic Urushi lacquer to coat the seams, Brian uses a safer, specially mixed strong epoxy instead. Once the seams are coated, they are covered with a fine gold, silver, or brass powder that we import from Japan. Multiple steps are then taken to clean and bring out the beauty of the imperfections. The final result is a unique piece of artwork that is "More Beautiful for being Broken".