At work things get broken. Some break in the store, and others break in transit. A basic fact of retail life.
This angel, which you can’t see entirely, had a wing broken on the way to stuff. She holds a bird, and the base she is standing on is simply inscribed with the word “peace”. She was cast as one piece – wings and all – in all-weather resin. She stands almost 3 feet tall.
I seldom bring broken things home from stuff. Not because I don’t enjoy the things we sell – broken or whole – but because I am not crafty and don’t salvage broken things very well. I can re-purpose things beautifully however – pitchers as vases, wind turbines as sculpture, vintage soda boxes as recycling bins – and our house is full of those playful and useful twists.
But when I found this angel in two pieces in the shipping box, I knew she was going home for a little artistic triage. One wing was broken off, and right then I knew exactly what she would look like when I was done. I knew I could take a hacksaw to the other wing and, from there, fill the holes with twigs to make her fly again. The hacksaw part was easy. It was the twig part that took six months to achieve from the date of her second amputation.
I wasn’t happy with my initial twig findings. I went looking but never found just what I was looking for – pretty much the case when you’re hunting for something specific that you have seen only in your mind’s eye. Then, on a walk with my dog on a still chilly spring morning, I found the trimmings from pruning in the little arboretum just south of the main shelter house at Loose Park. I knew they were perfect. I was also pretty sure I would not really be able to decide right them what few small pieces I needed, so I took the whole pile. My type A personality was in full bloom while I was wrapping them in a cotton sheet and delicately shoving them into my car. The dog didn’t even blink when I made him ride in the front seat with me so as to not hurt the trimmings.
When I got home, I chose well, snipped wisely, bundled the two sides carefully, and secured them in the two holes my angel was harboring with Spanish moss. My husband has lived through a few of my artistic and crafty endeavors, and he knew that chance of this ending well was slim. But what cracked him up was that I kept a small pile of “replacement twigs” for the future.
That was over a year ago. I keep my perfect angel where I can see her in all seasons. She makes me incredibly happy.
In this picture, you can see her in all her winter glory. Enjoy.
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