The Eye of the Beholder

I’m working on a leaded stained glass piece for practice and fun. It’s a window with curved pieces – all my work has been straight lines so far. Marsha has told me that fitting curves and circles can be hard, but this has been my first attempt. The straight lines are relatively easy but, she’s right, bending the lead and getting the curved glass pieces to fit just right can be challenging. If one piece is ‘off’, it will push all of the others ‘off’ too.

But I thought I was close enough. One line was a little skewed, but I thought nobody would notice. I soldered the pieces together last night and showed Ken.

“Hmm,” he says
“What?” I say
“Is that crooked?”

Arrgh. Enter my frustration and sadness that he noticed practically right away. I was a bit crushed since I was so proud that it was all put together. And also enter the dilemma that was presented:

I like his critique. He has a good eye for seeing when things are straight and he knows what he likes. If I get his seal of approval, I know I did a good job. However, that also puts him in a very awkward spot if the piece isn’t straight or if he just doesn’t like the style of the piece. In situations like last night, what is he to say? ‘No, it’s not straight and is totally noticeable.’ Or enter another situation of ‘The colors aren’t right’., ‘The frame you chose is too big’, etc….

How do you reconcile wanting and not wanting to know the truth?

Options I see include:

1. Don’t ask, don’t tell
2. Listening to his critique and handling it like a normal person without getting sad
3. Have him lie to me

I don’t like options 1 & 3. I want him to be truthful because it only makes the pieces better. But this whole situation sounds like a version of the classical “Do I look fat in this glass?