Jenny Hoople over at Authentic Living has a cool post on The Beauty of Imperfection–Wabi Sabi, where she describes the Japanese philosophy of the beauty of our transitory world, where everything decays, and is all the more precious for it. I’ve explored the Navajo concept of Hozho, and like Wabi Sabi, it captures much of what I love about mosaics. Jenny uses natural materials in her jewelry, knitting and other arts, and loves the accidental veins of color in stones and I resonated with her question:
I think a lot of people feel this way, but perhaps we are a minority? If we weren’t, then diamonds wouldn’t be so popular. I’m always amazed by the gems and minerals collections in museums, those rough rocks with brilliant splashes of color and interesting crystal formations. What’s even more amazing is that the perfect, cut gems draw a bigger crowd, are kept in a special dark room with lights for better viewing, and are supposed to be worth more. That is so weird.
I am part of this probable minority. I love gold smalti, the fabulous Italian chunks of glass with an exquisitely thin layer of gold sandwiched under a layer of colored glass, but I love the gold smalti “nails” even more–seconds from the factory, and are irregular, chipped, scratched, crazed leftovers. They are hard to get because the smalti factories pride themselves on making firsts.
I started the River of Life Cross without knowing it would have a river in it. I was using gold nails, with a base of aqua glass. As I pulled out the most compelling pieces, I realized that some of the gold was completely missing in places, and could flow together like a river of pure watery blue through the body of the cross. I listened to the the missing places, the imperfections and flaws, and let them shine forth in their own Wabi Sabi beauty.
This is how I imagine God seeking us in our imperfections, seeking our creativity and human loveliness in the midst of decay. What is your favorite imperfection in your world?
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Hello, I’m coming from SITS. I used to go to mosaic workshops once a week for about a year. Your blog reminded me how much I loved it.
This cross is so beautiful Margaret! Just recently I attempted a pen and ink sketch and all I had to use at the time was an old pen nib which splattered ink on different parts of the sketch. After it was completed, I decided that I rather liked it with the splotches. I also like using the back sides of fabrics or fabrics with frayed edges in my work. I love the way that you are reminded of God’s grace over the imperfect as you work. This is a wonderful post Margaret.
Valerie, thank you for your kind words! And for sharing your explorations with old pens and frayed edges–very cool.
Angeliki–that’s fabulous that you used to go to mosaic workshops every week! I hope you have the opportunity to do mosaics again.