I've posted it before, but this Ojime is one of my favorites. If you look at the leaf on the persimmon, you'll notice a couple of little holes where a bug ate through the leaf. Love it! I think that's a good example of Wabi-Sabi.

No matter how carefully the job was done and supervised, the sampler is flawed...thus deserving to be placed among other wabi-sabi works of art.

Brought back from Japan after WWII by my father - pottery sake bottles

Somehow, I presumed everyone would know I was referring to interesting flaws in beads…When I ask open but imperfect questions, I hope for answers I can learn from. With an open mind I have learned much from each of you. Thank you all very much.

~The concept of Wabi-sabi intrigues me. Although, this idea seems foreign most often. As I approach old age, I find myself trying to find beauty in damage and decay. As in "Beadstore's" ojime, the insect bites in the leaves depicted in his ojime are a perfect example, I feel. After all, the Japanese coined the term: Wabi-sabi."

"Wabi-sabi reminds us that we are all transient beings on this planet—that our bodies, as well as the material world around us, are in the process of returning to dust."

It would seem to me that all hand-crafted beads are wabi-sabi items, and they gain more wabi-sabi with age and wear.

Am I interpreting this principle correctly?

"Wabi
Wabi means things that are fresh and simple. It denotes simplicity and quietude, and also incorporates rustic beauty. It includes both that which is made by nature, and that which is made by man. It also can mean an accidental or happenstance element (or perhaps even a small flaw) which gives elegance and uniqueness to the whole, such as the pattern made by a flowing glaze on a ceramic object.

Sabi
Sabi means things whose beauty stems from age. It refers to the patina of age, and the concept that changes due to use may make an object more beautiful and valuable. This also incorporates an appreciation of the cycles of life, as well as careful, artful mending of damage."

http://mercury.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/nontech/wabisabi.html

Danny Lopacki has made some beads so nearly perfect, that there is no use discussing the difference.

Of course the bead itself shows Danny's typical extraordinary art & craftsmanship. However, note the black spot in the first image. Rather than grind or polish that away, Danny chose to embrace nature's imperfection and boldly display the flaw in an otherwise lovely colored stone.

Just Jan's opinion

Quote:
"I find it is challenging for Westerners to interpret Eastern concepts."

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Honoring a flaw? Seriously...? Honoring the black spot on a white dinner jacket, rather than accepting, leave alone hiding or cleaning it? Gimme a break!

It is one thing to call imperfections being human - they may even be sympathetic in certain cases (ever wondered why?). Still - most people strive for perfection, no matter what they do. Would this "wabadaba" concept be taken seriously, all plastic surgeons would cry for their Mamas to save them from a soupkitchen dinner. All folks would be proud of their big noses and would honor their 55 kg of body fat.

OK - this is the human side. Art is probably another!

Question: Any stone cutter should honor the big black spot of iron ore that suddenly appears, after hours of meticulous cutting work in/on his otherwise flawless stone? He should not throw this stone out of the window, he should not even accept the flaw, nope, he should go on his knees to honor it? Would like to meet this noble man!

Any opera-singer gets frenetic applause, when hitting the wrong tone for every moron in the audience to hear? You bet!

Classic dancers smile in joy and suddenly appear to be extremely sympathetic, when eff'ing up a Cambré?

No way - nobody is happy with any unsuspected flaw, any mistake, any black spot. Not in everyday life and certainly not in art.
"Waabsi-Baabsi" is nothing but a sugar-coating concept to live with the problem. Live with what you cannot fight!

This reminds me of all this "New Age" books with titles like:

"Much happier with Aids - 12 new techniques to ignore death!"

or

"Lost your eye-sight? See the world in a new light!"

I get back to my intro and repeat what somebody posted before me (leave alone he ignores his own statement):

"I find it is challenging for Westerners to interpret Eastern concepts."

.

.

Thanks Art I do indeed leave vugs in many of my beads. Here are two more, I think this adds to the character of the bead, nothing perfect when it comes to hand made beads.

All my best ... Danny

The bead below for whatever reason had original flaws in the stone. The beadmaker instead of disposing of it or otherwise hiding them somehow, chose to embrace nature's imperfections by circling one on each side with the etching lines.

We romantically refer to this type of Dzi as an "Earth-Sky Door". The estimates vary, but over one thousand years ago who knows what it was called. Hopefully a thousand years from now when some future culture excavates our mess, they will appreciate the Wabi-Sabi-ness of this lovely ancient bead.

It reminds me of the human condition, in that no matter how much we strive to perform or improve, we must recognize and ultimately manage our original flaws.

Shut up Skipper, you talk too much...

am I correct in understanding that wabi-sabi refers to deliberate flaws created during the manufacture and not to flaws caused by wear and damage?
Isn't there an American Indian custom in weaving blankets to make a deliberate flaw creating an exit for evil spirits? Beadstore's ojime is SWEET!

Very interesting, Judy!!!

That the Indians had a custom to include deliberate flaws in their blankets - for evil spirits to exit, is an interesting information!

I do not know if you ancient Islamic bead collectors have noticed, but certain "Dhar Verkrun" (eyebeads) are covered with yellow/red "eyes", while a single such cane has reversed colors - red/yellow (from outside in).

I realized this on several occasions and on various such beads. When I had the chance to ask different (!) local "beadwoman" in Mauritania, they told me that only Allah is perfect, never beads. In other words: The single reversed coloured cane was added to the bead on purpose in order to show human imperfection, or, if you will, "god's" perfection!

There ave been many iterations of wabi-sabi over the centuries. Evolution of the concept was taken for granted. Much of the modern Mingei movement in Japan is based on similar concepts but with a wink or two.Literalness is never too important in a culture as malleable as Japan's.Wabi is the refined appreciation of various aspects of the perception of beauty in the simple and imperfect.Does the thing exist solely as an art object or does it have another instrumental purpose? Wabi demands the latter.Sabi is the result of age and the beauties that accumulate in an object with age. Loudness, calling attention to ones self is considered a major flaw , something yet without a patina. Making pottery along these lines is natural for a few but making beads along these lines is very difficult. The malleability of the concept in Japan shows that these are not all or nothing concepts rather guidelines. Put your heart in the right place when you are making and you may begin the journey successfully.

That sounds quite different from what was said so far and makes a lot more sense.

For me, your last line resonates: "Put your heart in the right place when you are making and you may begin the journey successfully."