Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Expression, Sept-Oct, 2005 by Mary Utterback

We all have one piece of art in our studio that speaks to us. It says something like this: What the heck were you thinking? For me, this item is a bead I attempted to make and failed miserably. I call it a bead, while others point and laugh whenever they can steal a glance at the oddly shaped, gooey piece that mimics a hairball my cat spit up last week. And yes, someone said that.

I keep my bead hidden in the bottom drawer of my desk so no one will publicly laugh at my creation. It's fibers and wire all wrapped up in Ultra Thick embossing Enamel, although some of the fibers and wire are poking out the ends, and now the UTEE is beginning to break off. It was supposed to be beautiful and take people's breath away ... that it did but more so in that gasping, "were you on drugs when you made this" way.

Having never made a bead before, I thought, "If I wore a bead I made, surely everyone will love it and ask me to make oodles and oodles of beads for all to admire."

Oodles and oodles of beads there were not.

I (painfully) share this mortifying experience with you because we all have something tucked away in the back of our art room, embarrassed to show our art friends, terrified to expose in public, scared that children will scream and run in fear!

It's not that I mind that I tried to create and failed. It's my wallowing in self-loathing because I don't have enough guts to wear my bead that really gets to me. Instead of showcasing my bead proudly like I do my gourd drum (that sits radiantly in my office like a blue-ribbon pig at the 4H contest), I keep my little bead hidden away in my desk, under heaps and heaps of files and manila folders. Why?

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Instead of hiding those art "mistakes" (no mistakes, just opportunities, right?), it's time we take them out, dust them off and embrace our mistakes ... er, creations. You might get a few snickers, but then again, you might get a few smiles too.

In this issue, we have some great projects for you to try ... successful or not, they're sure to get those hands moving and that imagination turning. If it's jewelry you crave, try your hand at creating faux abalone shell jewelry on page 46.

If it's memories you're looking to capture, check out our fruit-yielding canvas boards with photos and texture on page 60 and mini memory books for all you paper lovers on page 50.

And don't miss the assemblage screens on page 54, a great way to combine what you've already got with some new ideas on what to do with them.

Now I've got to go get my bead from my desk so all my co-workers, neighbors and friends can tell me how lovely it is. On second thought, maybe I'll just start off wearing it around the house first and gradually work up to the office.

Mary Utterback

Editor