In the Eye of the Beholder

Writers: AL, Arale
Date Posted: 12th July 2012

Characters: Briata, Pilkon
Description: Briata tries to explain artistic value to her fellow apprentice.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 9, day 4 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentor Approved

Briata

Pilkon smiled as he spotted his fellow apprentice approaching. They were
very nearly finished restoring this particular tapestry and he was glad.
Tapestry work was not his favorite.

"Hello Pilkon." Briata greeted, a friendly smile offered as she
approached. One hand rest over her belly which was getting larger. She
had less than two months left, and the baby seemed quite active and
eager. Still, the babe had more time to stay in her womb, and really,
she didn't mind being pregnant. "Are you ready to resume?"

"I suppose, if we must," he replied with a dramatic sigh and a put-upon
grin. He rose from his seat as Briata approached hers, holdbred manners
still in place despite living in the Weyr for a few turns now. "If you
think you're up to it?" He teased her even as he pulled her chair out to
make it easier for her to take her seat at the work station.

"Of course." Briata tired more easily, but she tried to make sure she
got to bed earlier. It meant she couldn't work as late on her
projects, but she knew that her baby was more important. "Thank you."

"Certainly," Pilkon took his seat again with a smile. The smile
dissolved into a grumpy frown as he picked up the edge of the tapestry
he was currently working on, picking out worn, frazzled threads to be
replaced with new threads.

"What's wrong?" Briata asked. She ran her hand over the section she
was working, checking the stitches and the way the threads fit
together.

"I'll just be glad when we finish is all." If he had to work on a
tapestry, he'd rather be working on a new one.

"Why is that?" Briata could probably figure it out, but they might as
well have conversation. She began to work on one of the tears,
smoothing out the threads, weaving more into them to repair the small
section that had worn out.

"I don't even -like- this tapestry! Look at it? Whoever designed it
must have been sitting in the sun for too long." The tapestry showed a
stylized harvest scene; people, each composed of overlapping
triangles, reaping oddly colored grains, picking square and triangular
fruits and vegetables and carrying oddly shaped bundles. "Who would
even commission something like this?" He grumbled.

"Perhaps you're just looking at things the wrong way." Briata
suggested, a smile flitting over her lips as she repaired the worn out
area.

"Just how many ways are there to look at something like this?" He
lifted the edge of the tapestry he was working on.

"Something made an impression on the artist." Briata explained as she
carefully pieced the threads back together. "The world was seen
through his or her eyes, but not in the usual way. Rather than depict
what was seen as how it was seen, the artist has gotten down to the
most basic elements of that moment in time, captured here in the
tapestry."

"I suppose," Pilkon replied doubtfully. "I think the 'artist' spent
too much time in the sun, personally. But, either way, we should be
done with this one soon and it'll be someone else's eyesore to deal
with." He grinned then, adding, "Maybe the Master will let you keep
it. You can hang it up in your quarters and admire whoever's unique
world view all day."

"Not an eyesore. Just a different way of seeing the world." But
Briata wouldn't argue the matter further. People saw things
differently. "I doubt it. I think it's being restored for someone
already."

"I hope they view it like you do then," he replied with a shrug and a
grin. This was certainly one of those 'agree to disagree' moments his
mother would lecture him and his brothers about when they were
children. He'd always been prone to arguing, especially when he was
sure he was right.

Still, the debate had made the time move a little faster, and that was
a plus.

"I doubt they would have requested it if they didn't. Or at least saw
some other beauty in it." There was a tinge of amusement in her
voice. "Come now...let's truly get to work. We don't have too much
time left." And with that, she tried to focus on the task she had been
set to do.

Last updated on the July 15th 2012

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In the Eye of the Beholder