Beautifully Imperfect

2nd August 2017

Some years ago I first came across the Japanese phrase Wabi Sabi.  It was a concept that instantly resonated with me, a name for the idea I’ve always leaned towards.  For as long as I can remember I have been taken with the small details and imperfections of things.  The wobble in a seam, the potter’s finger dent in a hand thrown pot.  The tiny ridges and flaws in a woven fabric.  The burrs and knots in a piece of wood.  The unevenness of a handwritten note, the bumps on an old plastered wall and the peeling layers of paint on a shed.  I like to see the human touch in the things I own, the marks of age, the thoughtful repairs, the humanity within the piece.

 

blog post celebrating wabi sabi, beautiful white pottery

 

All of my own products are made here in the studio, the pieces measured and cut by hand, embroidery layed out by eye and guided through the machine by hand.  Each piece is finished to a very high standard but there are inevitably small imperfections, the mark of the maker.  The linen I use contains small slubs and flaws, that’s one of the things I love most about it.  I believe that herein lies the beauty.  It is these maker marks that set the handmade apart from a machined, mass produced piece of work.  In spite of the fact that there are some of my products have been made hundreds, even thousands of times over, each one has it’s very own character.  The making process ensures that each one will differ ever so slightly from the next.  The personalisation details of course, but also the stitching of each seam, the vintage buttons, the handcut appliqued pieces.

 

close up of beautifully imperfect white pottery

 

It is these small differences that I take joy and pride in and thankfully my customers do too.

 

blog post celebrating natural, flawed beauty

 

Beautifully flawed.

 

handmade linen tissue holder

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As proud owner of a few of your items (and having gifted some to lovely creative friends) I agree that it’s the perfect little imperfections that make your, and other makers’, items so special!

Thank you Else. I’m so pleased you get it! I love the connection with the maker that buying handmade brings and it’s really good to know that other people share that feeling.

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