(un) ruffled

from the art desk

Recently I went to the mall & saw a beautiful denim ruffled shirt in a shop window. Ooh! I want it! I thought. Then I remembered what happens every time I buy a ruffled shirt…

This is one that I got once—that looks very good when I’m not wearing it. Look at all those little stitches! Antique things always remind me about the work that was put into them, and how even something necessary can be turned into a piece of art.

I always become intimidated when I see an artist who is much better than I am, since I think, “I could never do that,” but it’s also very inspiring. How sad would life be if no one was ever more skilled than you at anything? If there was never any kind of work that, when you got right up to it and saw it, it took your breath away?

So that’s what I always think of when I see something that was made by a person more skilled than I will ever be. That I’m so lucky to live in such a world (and I only wish I could be alive forever to experience all the beautiful things there are).

—S.B.