simple.

Today was one of those rare days when I felt compelled to stay inside and organize, clean, and beautify my living space. As I worked on my house, I listened to Christmas music and NPR, lit candles, and never managed to get out of my pajamas. As I was organizing, I found some tiles a local architecture firm had given me. I'll be tackling a huge mosaic project in the spring, and they were nice enough to offer the tiles free on Craigs list. Most of the tiles I'd already broken up into pieces for the mosaic, but there were a few small ones that I didn't want to break. As soon as I saw them, I knew they'd be part of my art for the day. This piece is very simple - only 3 pieces. It is made up of two tiles, and one bead I had bought years ago for a necklace I never made.

This little creation reminds me of some wisdom my dad told me years ago that has always stuck with me. There was an image on a magazine cover done by a famous contemporary artist. I think it was Time magazine, and I can't remember the artist, but the image was simply a white cover with a black dot strategically placed. Apparently, the magazine got a lot of letters saying that the image wasn't art, and that "anyone could have done that", etc. My dad told me in defense of the artist something like this: "There is wisdom in knowing when to stop and let it be." There have been many times when I've created something, and should have stopped, but I kept on embellishing, and in the end, felt I'd ruined the piece. With this one, I stopped. It is just right, and I love it.