Are you familiar with Wabi Sabi? Do you incorporate that into your work? How?

First off, let's define it:

Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic philosophy that finds beauty in:

• Imperfection

• Impermanence

• Natural aging and wear

It's about the art found in imperfection, dying "things", and the beauty that those bring us from Nature. Everything carries a story.

This is one of mine.

While watching over someone's house in AZ for a short while, I decided to collect natural elements on her property and later incorporated them into a mixed media tile which I gave to her as a thank you gift for giving me a chance to get out of the rainy Oregon winter and enjoy the dry hot climate of Cave Creek. Her love (and mine) of horses was the main impetus. Surrounding this metal horse with craggy tree bark in matching grays, tiny seeds, dropped from a tree in between her main home and the hacienda I was staying in as well as dried leaves that were on the ground, local rocks that were so colorful all added depth! A flat, textured pod and some kind of spiky delight gave this piece a chance to bring to life wabi sabi elements! The best bit of making it feel alive were the trio of green flat pointy leaves and that beige, wrinkly piece of a cactus that were the final touches. Beauty and truth in imperfection.