'Pearlescence and Patience' is a fictional narrative specially commissioned by Zoe Williams and Spike Island Bristol to accompany Williams' exhibition, 'The Flight of O' which took place at Spike Island (30th April – 6th June 2010). The text, included in the publication 'The Flight of O,' designed by Modern Activity, was written in the form of a literary fairy tale and responded obliquely to images and materials used or emulated in Williams’ work. The text was informed by research into Williams’ use of the craft of inlaying, its historical practice in the applied arts and the themes of flight, transformation and material luxury versus nature, as developed in fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault.