And the Ugly Duckling becomes a.......

There’s always one that gives you trouble. One that doesn’t look like the rest, doesn’t fit in. One you think about turning your back on because it’s hopeless.

I’m talking about my troublesome gourd. Two weeks ago, I was looking forward to putting the finishing touches on my work for my upcoming Exhibition in Vermont. But this one gourd just wouldn’t reveal what it wanted to be. (When Gourds Speak…or Not) This gourd was an Ugly Duckling among the beautiful sculptures that were all ready for the show.

It looked just plain weird. It wasn’t brightly gilded or full of intriguing designs like all the others. It seemed to just stand there with its arms crossed, defying me to figure it out. I thought about trashing it.

But then I remembered a lesson I learned from Dana Velan, a professional artist I knew when I had my studio in Montreal. “There’s no such thing as mistakes,” she told me. “If a work in progress looks strange, it could be simply because it’s something you’ve never encountered before – a new form, a new idea. Don’t stop just because things get ugly, work through them to get to the other side.”

So I confronted it again. Focused on what was right with it, rather than what was wrong and slowly, ever so slowly, it started revealing itself.

It said it wanted Pine Cones. “Like I have time for this!” I thought. But I honored its request. And spent several late nights carefully attaching 400 pine cone petals to the bottom half of the piece.

It looked great. I thought I had it made. Until I started working on the base. Nothing looked right. I kept adding this, trying that….still nothing. So I walked away from it. Gave it some breathing room and a day to assimilate the changes I’d made so far.

“Begin again.”

That was the message I got. I didn’t want to keep going with this. I still had lots to do before the show and I was spending ‘way too much time with this one piece.

“Begin again.”

My stubbornness kicked in. I just HAD to figure this out. So without knowing where I was heading, I undid all the work I’d done on the base so that I could begin again.

I scraped away all the layers…..and waited, hoping for a clear indication as to what I needed to do next. The answer finally came early the next morning, just as I was waking up. Forget about a shower and breakfast, I threw on my workclothes and went straight to the studio. Hours later, it was finished.

I took a step back and scrutinized the piece. It was so completely different from all the rest of the sculptures. I knew that it was finished, but it was just so……….well, unusual. I didn’t quite understand it, yet I couldn’t take my eyes off it. It kept drawing me in, but then it was taking its time to fully reveal itself. This piece really made me work. I decided to name it Organica.

I varnished it and packed it up with the rest of the sculptures to bring to my photographer Jim McLaughlin for the photo shoot. I really didn’t want him to see it – I hadn’t shown it to anybody and I was afraid he was going to say something like, “What the heck is that?”

Although he would never say such a thing – but I’d see it in his eyes.

When its turn finally came, I unwrapped it and placed it in front of the camera.

He loved it. And out of all the pieces we photographed that day, Organica was the easiest.

So I’ve talked about this gourd long enough over the past several weeks. And I’m sure you’re wondering what it looks like.

As I’m writing this, I’m deciding whether or not to show you.

It is a very unique piece.

You may not like it.

You might think it’s weird. You might think I’m weird…….

Well, I guess that’s its purpose. I know all about Ugly Ducklings – I’ve been one myself. And sometimes when you reveal your true self, it doesn’t guarantee an immediate happy ending like in the fairy tales, with everyone oohing and aahing about how you’re now a beautiful swan. You risk losing some people. You risk having them think you’re different or strange. It may take some time for them to truly grasp who you are. Some never do.

But there are always those who do understand and that’s what makes it worthwhile.

So whether you like it, hate it, think it’s weird, or completely resonate with it, ………

Here’s Organica. And the Ugly Duckling becomes a…….

"Organica" by Serena Kovalosky. Photo: mclaughlinphoto.com

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