Izzyie Sandoz; “A Trip to the Button Shop”
- Escribe Maria
- Jan 7, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 20, 2022
Artist Feature: Izzyie Sandoz / Prose and Photography / Class of 2022
By Ana Haapala
Note: this story is loosely based off of one of my personal experiences, and all names of people and places have been changed to protect identities.
Is there anyone here? Or is it just you?
A light comes on, and every wall, every little nook and cranny, is full of buttons.
“Hello? Anyone here?”
“Oh, hello dear.”
“Hi...”
You pick up a handful of shiny, square purple buttons from a box.
“These are very pretty.”
“Aren’t they? I bought them from a vendor in West Virginia.”
There is something about this shop, this unique environment, that gives you an odd sensation. Does she remember where each button came from?
For a few seconds, all you hear is silence, so do you really hear anything?
“Can I help you find anything?”
“What?”
You are momentarily startled from your bubble of nothingness.
“Is there anything I can help you find?”
“Oh, I’m just looking...maybe...”
You stare at the wall, lined with little bottles and jars, each filled with a different type of button. So many. Your can feel your head twirling.
“If it’s a button you’re looking for, we’ve got you covered.”
“I know.”
You were aware of that. Somehow, you can’t help but smile a bit.
Buttons like colorful jewels; flat, leathery buttons; buttons with eyes and noses, staring into your innermost emotions.
“Those are handmade, you know. By a very skilled artist.”
She points to the buttons with faces, that cannot seem to take their eyes off of you.
“They are exquisite. I wish I could afford one.”
You look up at her, and her face is weathered with age, covered in uneven layers of foundation and highlighter, revealing that her eyesight might be ailing.
Her golden brown hair falls past her shoulders, and her cobalt eyes look back at you from underneath layers and layers of black mascara.
“I used to be an artist, dear.”
“Used to?”
“I taught art in schools. I’d give my students such yummy snacks.”
Her voice is like velvet; smooth and thick. The way she tells her story is quite individual. “Snacks?”
“Yes, indeed...but if I heard one of them say ‘Shut up!’ I wouldn’t give whoever said it any snacks. Which was disappointing for them, because everyone loved Susie’s snacks.” You watch Susie, silhouetted by thousands of button varieties. You are aware she is overrun by memories as she exchanges words with you.
And you are aware she might not do this often.
“Well, I’ll stop saying ‘Shut up!’”
You point out a small, green button with petals like a blossom.
“I’d like this one.”
“Good choice.”
“It will look very nice sewn on to my jacket.”
You smile as you hand her a few dollars. Her nails are polished bright red; a color so bright it nearly causes your eyes to fall shut automatically.
Thanking her for the button and her time, you exit the store, her eyes following your movements the entirety of the way out.
*
Two weeks have passed, and you have been busy with the natural hum of life.
You stand on the concrete stairs against a worn brick wall, and the people next you hurl needles and knives constructed of words at someone who looks different than them. They do not stop, and you grow increasingly infuriated.
“SHUT UP!”
They stop. They turn to face you. You can hardly bear the sight of them after what they have said.
“I can’t eat a snack today.”
“What the...”
They are plainly befuddled. Your heart takes pleasure in seeing them this way.
“Susie from the Button Shop says you can’t have a snack if you say ‘Shut up.’”
“Who cares about what Cindy from the Earwig Factory says?”
“I do. And her name is Susie...from the Button Shop.”
Later that day you pass by the Button Shop.
Or what it used to be, anyway.
The building’s windows are dark and empty, as if nothing were ever inside its walls, as if it were a body that had never had a soul.
As if the Button Shop had never even existed.
But you still hold the little green button in your hand.
You know.
You did not eat a snack that day.
Izzyie Sandoz is an artist, writer, and current Saint Mary’s Academy senior. Her piece, “A Trip to the Button Shop,” is a mix of memoir and poetry based on a personal experience. It chronicles a past trip to a button shop she took with her grandfather and examines the odd adventure. Sandoz said that while writing this piece, she “was able to reflect on how much this extraordinary experience stood out to [her], and how it wasn’t just another trip to just another store.”
Sandoz often creates art and writing pieces centered around her lived experiences. She mentioned to Escribe Maria that her biggest inspiration is simply the world that she lives in. When she witnesses something that inspires her, or that she believes needs to be examined, she says that her “first instinct is always to turn it into some form of creative expression.” As far as Sandoz can remember, she’s always been creating art and writing to communicate truths about herself and her world. And, as she’s grown up, she’s also participated in activism through her creative outlets as well.
As for her creative process, Sandoz goes with the flow. She stated that she often doesn’t have a clear idea of how she wants a piece to turn out and prefers to see where her imagination and creativity takes her. Above all, Sandoz enjoys having fun expressing herself through art and writing.
Sandoz’s work has received multiple Honorable Mentions from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Her photography is featured above.
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