Columns

One of my more ornate pins today, reflecting the varied activities I needed to get through: brainstorming, coaching, reviewing, goal-setting, corporate communication and a few other things besides.

The communication piece had a special kick to it, because two smirking colleagues (names hidden to protect the guilty) challenged me to incorporate the word "haberdasher" into my piece. The incentive need not be shared here, but I succeeded by inserting the word into an alarming analogy that also included Costco. Ah, corporate life: it's sometimes the little things that deliver the deepest satisfaction...

To my complete surprise, Columns is another Thomas Mann pin, which I didn't realise until I looked at its back today for this blog. It's a painterly piece in brass, nickel, silver, steel, acrylic and bronze, which I think Janice, my lovely mother-in-law, gave me some years ago (she's lovely for many reasons, not just pin-giving). The leaves are hand-painted, but the other colours come from the materials themselves. With so much happening in such a small space, Columns has an unexpected harmony which continues to captivate me.