Handmade Goods (& Loving Your Imperfections)

I'll start with a caveat: I am not condoning incomplete, shoddy or sloppy work. Artists definitely need to invest time, energy and thoughtfulness in their crafts, and make products  that are mindful of their use and how they will withstand use. With that said, let's get to the meat of this blog post, shall we?

Handmade goods, by their very definition, suggests an element of imperfection. We are not machines. And, despite our gifts and skills, we are definitely, most assuredly, not crafting gods. We are, however, very very human and humans are fallible. We make mistakes. I dare say we sometimes embrace our mistakes, for better or worse, and when it's worse... it's really worse, isn't it? We are our own worst enemies, our greatest critics, our own impenetrable wall of doubt and discouragement. We see every flaw, every wire out of place, every crooked weave. We see these things, I believe, as a reflection of ourselves, much to our detriment: "This isn't good enough, so I am not good enough."

But let me tell you this.... stop it. Seriously. We are not the sum of our mistakes. Unless your work is intentionally lazy and thoughtless, I'd even wager our imperfections are the sum of our charm and character and human-ness.

This is one of the very first photos I ever took when I become infatuated with photography, and after I'd dedicated months to learning it's technical requirements. It's blurry, it's dark, it's a grainy mess of pixels. But this, to me, has meaning. It's one of the few images I've held on to over the years because it represents part of my artistic journey, and it was taken during a time in my life to which the imagery, I believe, really speaks. If I feel that... if I believe that... wouldn't our audience feel the power of that belief? Are we not mutable, reaching bodies of energy, projecting our fears and wishes, dreams and nightmares, to those around us? Isn't that ultimately what art is? A reflection of our deepest emotions?

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." - Marilyn Monroe

We don't want to be machines, do we? We don't want our work to reflect a sterility in our lives, do we? So, embrace your imperfections. Yes, even in the crafts you make or the products you sell. It may not be a popular opinion among artists, or business people, but I'm giving you permission to make mistakes and, not only forgive yourself for them, accept them as a representation of your journey.

Your imperfections are beautiful! Your journey is beautiful. Live it and love it, folks!