Beauty in Ashes

I spent $3.50 USD for a new electric hot plate (good deal!). It was a contraption made out of concrete, a clay plate with coiled wire inside, and a cord with open wires at all of the connecting points. A true disaster waiting to happen. I had the bright idea of setting it on my desk (formica/particle board) to melt a pot of wax. After a while a strange smell started emanating from the stove. I thought maybe the wires just had to burn off a little of their coating (that's what I had to do with my new kiln wires). It began to smell a bit more serious! One of my co-workers thought that maybe the two wires were crossed and that their shorting out would cause the smoke. I scoffed as I sputtered in the smoke filled room. It smelled like burning tires. Not pleasant at all. Finally after about 20 minutes of increased smoke I decided to turn it off (even though the wax was not entirely melted). When I moved the hot plate, this is what I saw. After berating myself repeatedly. I spent the rest of the afternoon surrounded by my co-workers coming by to see the damage. Now I am further humiliating myself by putting it on my blog . . . but the result is truly a piece of art. Is this not one of the most beautiful burn marks you have ever seen?