Fragile Art

by Marjorie Brody

Have you ever visited a Chihuly gallery? In addition to glass bowls, vases, and baskets, Dale Chihuly and his team of artisans create magnificent glass sculptures, or as they say in the art world, glass installations. Each piece demands time and patience, creativity and skill. The pieces pick up light and reflect color. They are dazzling and are unique and yet . . . And yet, created from blown glass, they will always remain fragile.

Can you imagine spending hour after hour, day after day, creating something that may easily be broken?

One part of me says, “What’s the sense of working that hard only to have someone carelessly—or even accidentally—shatter your masterpiece? All your effort, all your investment, destroyed.”

The other part of me says, “Creating is its own reward. Celebrate the process, don’t just admire the end result.”

The glass blower and the author have striking similarities. Both blow life into their work to give it shape. Both rely on turning up the heat and pushing their subjects to the breaking point. At their best, both create a sense of delight and wonder in others.

This week, as I move forward with my work in progress, I’ll remind myself to enjoy the process. I’ll remind myself that, like blowing glass, writing a novel demands time and patience, creativity and skill. I’ll remind myself, with a huge sigh of relief, that a well-told story is sturdier than blown glass.

Marjorie Brody is an award-winning author and Pushcart Prize Nominee. Her short stories appear in literary magazines and the Short Story America Anthology, Vols. I, II and III. Her debut psychological suspense novel, TWISTED, was awarded an Honorable Mention at the 2013 Great Midwest Book Festival and won the Texas Association of Authors 2014 Best Young Adult Fiction Book Award. TWISTED is available in digital and print at http://tinyurl.com/cvl5why or http://tinyurl.com/bqcgywl. Marjorie invites you to visit her at www.marjoriespages.com.