Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Location: Books & Such Main Office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Yesterday, I wrote about Deep Travel and how it can open our eyes to see in a more focused, new way. Another way that seeing can expand the vistas of creativity is how we view shortcomings or setbacks.
Have you heard of Dale Chihuly? Dale is a glass-blowing artist. In 1976 he was in an automobile accident that threw him through the windshield, causing him to lose sight in his left eye. Despite the challenge of seeing his work without the depth and perspective of two eyes, he continued as a glass-blower. But then he injured his shoulder scuba diving; those combined accidents forced him to step down from his coveted master glass-blower position. It appeared Chihuly’s career in the art of glass would be over when a life-changing moment occurred.
Listen to what happened in Dale’s own words: “Once I stepped back I enjoyed the view.”
He lost his vision in one eye, he lost his esteemed position, yet he likes what he sees.
What he saw was his art from a new angle. The unwanted change gave him a different perspective. Dale could not have imagined that his limitations would position him to see limitless possibilities. And yet, that’s just what happened.
Here’s a listing of the types of designs Chihuly has created in his career. You’ll see that his physical disabilities haven’t disabled his ability to see creatively:
Regina Hackett, as the Seattle Post-Intelligence art critic, provided a chronology of his work during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s:
- 1975: Navajo Blanket Series, in which patterns of Navajo blankets were painted onto glass
- 1977: Northwest Coast Basket Series, baskets inspired by Northwest coast Indian baskets he’d seen as a child
- 1980: Seaform Series, transparent sculptures of thin glass, strengthened by ribbed strands of color
- 1981: Macchia Series, featuring every color available in the studio
- 1986: Persian Series, inspired by Middle East glass from the 12th- to 14th-century, featuring more restrained color and room-sized installations
- 1988: Venetian Series, improvisations based on Italian Art Deco
- 1989: Ikebana Series, glass flower arrangements inspired by Ikebana
- 1990: Venetian Series returns, this time in a more eccentric form
- 1991: Niijima Floats, six-foot spheres of intricate color inspired by Japanese glass fishing floats from the island of Niijima
- 1992: “Chandelier” starting modestly but by the middle of the decade involving a ton of glass orbs and shapes that in some works look like flowers, others like breasts, and still others like snakes
For his exhibition in Jerusalem in 2000, in addition to the glass pieces, he had enormous blocks of transparent ice brought in from an Alaskan artesian well to form a wall. Lights with color gels were set up behind them for illumination. Chihuly said the melting wall represented the “dissolution of barriers” between people.
What do you view as one of your shortcomings or setbacks? Lack of education? Lack of time? Poor book sales?
How could you see those shortcomings or setbacks not as barriers but as doors to a new way of seeing?
What would happen if you stepped back and took another look?
What a marvelous challenge!
I was thinking, after I posted yesterday, about a cruise I was fortunate to take. (Sometimes when advance ticket sales fall short, cruise lines sell last-minute tickets at a fraction of the cost, so we got to go.) It was a fantastic opportunity, but as we returned I overheard a fellow passenger remark to her mother, “I can’t WAIT to go to McDonald’s and get a hamburger. I’m sick to death of that fancy stuff they served us.”
Perhaps Deep Travel is more a matter of attitude than opportunity? Like Chihuly, maybe it’s determining to see things with fresh eyes, even if we’ve only got one left?
What do you view as one of your shortcomings or setbacks? Lack of education? Lack of time? Poor book sales?
How could you see those shortcomings or setbacks not as barriers but as doors to a new way of seeing?
What would happen if you stepped back and took another look?
Lack of education seems to matter in the Platform department of publishing–even in fiction. However, that was my choice, and my life took adventurous turns because of it. Plus, with my experiences before and after Jesus, I can relate to the lost and found, and it is to those who’ve been hurt in either place that I write.
Another interesting post!
Lack of education is one of my shortcomings. Since I’ve always been a “learner,” this really used to bother me. At some point, the Lord dealt with my pride and I started seeing it as a great motivator. On any given topic, I start from the point of “I know nothing about this… let’s go learn it!” Thus begins a journey into books and websites on warfare, weaponry, and fashion, medical texts, and massive theological volumes, all of which I have scoured for my WIP. It’s great fun!
The details of Chihuly’s story resonated with me because my husband also lost sight in one of his eyes due to an accident (his involved a cat… ouch). I have always been amazed at how little this hinders him. His disability used to cause great shouts of lament from the softball field of our church league. “The guy with one good eye got me out??” 🙂
Insightful post and questions!
During our years in seminary, my husband I viewed our upbringing (both in nominal- or non-Christian families) as a handicap to our future ministry. So many of the other students came from the perfect Christian home and had the perfect Christian education–or so we thought. How could we attempt to lead others from such broken beginnings?
Through the years, God’s used our weaknesses as avenues for his strength and a way to identify with our congregants in ways others cannot. As Nicole shares, that can become a writing strength as well.
I believe my own emotional and spiritual makeup as a tender-hearted, perceptive intercessor is my biggest weakness and greatest strength as both a person and writer. Under God’s control, I tell great stories because I’m uber-aware of everything I see, hear, and feel. Left to myself, I wallow in angst and obsess over the unimportant.
Daily surrender to Christ turns liabilities into assets–every time.
I have a “setback” of devoting much of my life to being a mother and a missionary before settling into writing. But the privilege of finally being able to write the stories that have so long been in my mind fires me with a special passion that I might not have had otherwise.
Poor book sales remind me that it is faithfulness God asks for, not success. Thank you, Janet.
Wow, thanks for posting links to those pictures! That Persian ceiling took my breath away.
I’ve dealt with a lot of special needs in my lifetime, both my own and those of people close to me. That experience enriches my writing and makes it natural for me to include people with disabilities in my writing.