From the earliest date,  humans have used vessels to carry water and other essentials.  Starting with our own cupped hands and evolving from found objects such as gourds, hollowed out logs and then, later, pottery and metal.  The decoration of these vessels is perhaps the oldest known artform.  The patterns that have evolved from decorating vessels -circular volumetric objects- gives us the understanding that we are apart of something greater.  In order to understand the decoration on a vessel, the viewer must "see" the pattern in its entirety-- even though it is not possible to physically see around to the other side.
Similarly, Sacred Geometry, Sailing (Voyaging), and Environmentalism share the abstract idea that the participant must have faith in the greater system that is not apparent in one's own singular point of view.

The fact that anyone can simply cup ones hands and create a vessel gives me the knowledge that as an artist, I can apply the use of my hands to create vessels as well.  The creation of this art is not only about the re-discovery of the meaning of making a vessel;  it is about creating meaning as well.

In modern culture, the drinking vessel has been stripped of its meaning to the extent that our fine china (the highest expression of a decorated vessel) sits in our basements and is only occasionally used.  Instead many of us consume our drinkables from single-use containers made of plastic and cardboard which are devoid of any decoration or design except carefully placed corporate messages and we thereby support the  waste of precious resources and contribute to pollution-- and to think we are sanctifying these devoid vessels each time we hold them up to our precious lips!

Vessels of Intention are vessels which are made so that we can share our common ancestry, they are about discovering meaning in tasks as simple as holding a glass of water to our lips to drink, and they are about using our own hands to create something that will nourish our soul.  In these pages you will find instructions on how to make a vessel of intention using the methods that I employ and also, you may find the inspiration to make them yourself, for your own specific purposes.

Of the Vessels that I make, I have a limited number for sale in order to support my continued making of Vessels.   vesselofintention@me.com For me, the practice is also a form of meditation, so I only produce about one Vessel per day (if that).   find me at  Lopez Village 
Lopez Island WA  360-468-3331

Namaste,

Mike Kaminskas

Corona

 I don’t want google to remove this blog due to inactivity, I’m writing this:  the necklace pictured is something I’ve been working on lately and I’m sure you will recognize it from the contents of this blog.  Because I see this blog as a uniform body of work, I’m not going to describe the necklace or the knot specifically, but I will say this knot was first used in China and because it is made up of exactly 64 crossings yet it is a single strand that resolves where it began, I’m sure you will recognize the symbolic reference to computers.  Furthermore, as a survivor of covid19,  I’m wearing this as an amulet to ward off reinfection.  Currently, I’m making one a day as a meditation because I’m not really making very many vessels right now.  I’m going to try and distribute extras (necklaces and amulets featuring this particular knot) to anyone I come into contact with which is not many people right now for obvious reasons!!  Hopefully I will have a nice supply when this is all over

Homeomorphic

Intuitively, two spaces are homeomorphic if one can be deformed into the other without cutting or gluing. A traditional joke is that a topologist cannot distinguish a coffee mug from a doughnut, since a sufficiently pliable doughnut could be reshaped to a coffee cup by creating a dimple and progressively enlarging it, while shrinking the hole into a handle.

This from Wikipedia. . .
Notwithstanding, a vessel of intention is a coffee cup and the line I use is a handle,  my interest lies in the ability to hold something which cannot be held .  Or the equivalence of that which the vessel holds with everything else.

One vessel per day

i make one vessel per day and I post them here on Pinterest

I thought you'd like this Board on Pinterest...

http://pin.it/adEcias

Currently, I am working on a different vessel, the hokulea.com,  but the mission is the same, I invite you to read about it.

                   Malama Honua 2017

Keep walking

though there's no place to get to
Don't try to see through the distances.
That's not for human beings.
Move within, but don't move the way fear makes you move

I've had this vessel on my work table for 4 months.  After finishing it today, I have become aware of a different type of journey. To understand this realization, you have to know something of how I make vessels.  You see, the strands wrap around the vessel kinda like a hug: the strands, like arms wrap around the mason jar meet up and wrap back. . .  Sometimes 3 or four Times!  I like to think of the crossing in the same way ones arms meet at the heart, making the hug have its meaning.  This vessel is different.
Instead of crossing, the strands bounce back where I have chosen to tie a line of square knots.  This makes a kinda reflection since the strands bounce back at the same angle they came in , rather like a reflection.  To my surprise, when I finished the vessel, all the strands meet up in the same way they do when they wrap around!  This all now makes sense to me, it is like a hug sent out: what you send out comes back all the same.