May I Offer You a Cup of Tea? For Those of Us Who Love Living on the Island of Misfit Toys -

I look into these photos from this morning and think, “This could be my self portrait.”

I showed my art in process to Emma and she cocked her head to the left and said, “They don’t really match.”

I cocked my head to the right and responded, “Yeah, that’s sort of the point.” Or perhaps I should say one of the points.

It started with the tea cup.

I bought it at an estate sale for several reasons: first of all, she was without a saucer, which I learned in kindergarten from my teacher, Miss Wick, is a horrific faux pas. I didn’t want to leave the poor tea cup all alone in a sea of teacups with saucers there being offered to other estate sale shoppers. I also noticed the insects she was wearing on her sides. Having never seen a teacup with insects on her side, I knew this was definitely my tea cup.

Her throne base comes from my daughter Katherine’s watch box. Well, it was my daughter Katherine’s watch box. She left the box on the kitchen counter so I snatched it up, realizing it would be perfect for some future project. I fetched some Asian book pages – foolishly accepting they were in Japanese because somehow to Universe would send me characters to match the Nippon on the bottom of the teacup which I learned gives my sweet little friend a birthdate between the 1920’s and 1930’s.

My twelve-year-old son, Samuel, who has become our family expert in all things Asian language related looked at it and declared it to be Chinese. Ooops. My poor not yet assembled art piece had another flaw even before I “stitched her together.” I got the paper from one of the Friends of the Library book sales. I still have more that is becoming more art as I type. Art-in-progress: how I adore that, too!

The saucer where she sits was bought as a prop for a play I was in last May: The Nerd. I broke lots of sweet saucers so I had to have plenty to mash up. The only problem is this particular saucer and her sisters were apparently made to not break, so I saved them…. for whatever perfect project happened to appear. She is covered in book page leaves because of the insects, naturally. They need some “leaves” to prance among, right?

You add together all these mismatched, misshapen remnants and get a sum total of… very close to me and perhaps, close to you, too.

I made this for all of us who feel mismatched or unmatched at all – certainly too much to be understood or appreciated by anyone.

Who would want a cracked, stained tea cup from two generations past sitting atop some Asian language that can’t be understood and grass leaves made of a children’s text book from the 1970’s and a English composition book from 1934?

I would. So I took her pictures and imagined what it would be like to gather with a bunch of other mismatched souls who by some miracle match me enough that we can fully appreciate the quirkyness of one another.

Oh, can you imagine the reflection of that crew if you held a mirror to us?

I’ll take that view, and that cup of tea, anyday.

*****

Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at First Friday on September 6 in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different mixed media channels, especially if you relate to being mismatched and/or living on the island of misfit toys, teacups and people. You are love!