I’m Dave Pike and I have lived in Japan since 1994.

If you would like to learn kintsugi in English at the highest level there is no one better qualified than me.　Most places that teach, even in Japan, use glue first and then cover that with lacquer. I don’t. I use lacquer from the beginning.

I have done kintsugi professionally since 2008 and studied with an award winning lacquer artist for many years to get a deeper, more rounded understanding of lacquer, gold and silver, essential to doing kintsugi at a professional level. I have taught workshops and given talks internationally and in Japan, teaching people from Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and North America in my beginners 3 hour workshop,  beginner/intermediate 3 day workshop, and advanced 10 day workshop.
I have presented talks at U.C. Berkeley and other venues.
I have had numerous students with fellowships grants, several with Churchill Fellowship grants, and others who have taken the course for professional continuing education.

I am the only person teaching in English beginner through advanced kintsugi. I can answer your questions about all the problems that you will encounter as you learn, practice and perfect your technique.

I am also deeply involved in wood fired ceramics and Japanese antiques. My long experience, deep knowledge, and bilingualism makes me unique.

My goal is to teach you how to do kintsugi and answer your questions so you too will have enough confidence, hands on experience and knowledge to teach your own workshops. My workshops are rare even in Japan in that we work with lacquer from beginning to end.

You can’t learn in a 2 hour or even 2 day workshop what we will cover in my longer workshops. My workshops aren’t for you if you would like to use glue or want a superficial understanding of this art that dates back to almost the medieval period.

My areas of expertise are kintsugi and all aspects of ceramics.

My teaching philosophy is to use hands on experience and explanation to give you an understanding of the processes and how to solve the problems you will encounter.

I work in my studio every day and try to help people learn the technique through blog posts on this site, videos here and here, and by giving workshops in person and online.

 

If you want to learn kintsugi at the highest level then please contact me.