A reflection on some custom work

Oddly (or maybe not; other creative types might be able to relate to this), the projects I do that have the most heart, the custom work that means something, a piece that you try to put the soul of the person ordering into and wind up putting yourself into as well… is the work that scares me the most.

I was recently trusted to make a set of mugs for a customer who is also a friend; a set of mugs with a cat that had recently passed. As a pet lover who has lost beloved animals, as a friend, and as a Maker, I felt a huge responsibility to … well, frankly, to not mess it up. Into this piece I poured the love that I could plainly see in the photos I was sent, the humor and loss that came through in the emails, the respect I have for this person as a friend, and my soul as an animal lover… and I was overjoyed this week when meeting up and handing over the finished product and they were everything that was wanted when envisioned by my friend.

I am reminded that it’s the things that scare me the most that have the highest emotional pay-off. I’m humbled and honored that I was asked to make something that would keep this fuzzy kitty alive in my friends memory, and that the mugs are exactly what they wanted. Sometimes you have a piece that you feel you didn’t even have a hand in; that it’s something that was made through you and not by you… this is one of those pieces.