Inspiration is all around and some of us, like designer George Nelson, are bestowed with the talent to turn it into something real.

The 2011 limited-edition Select tray table features a veneer inlay patterned on one such inspiration. Nelson’s 1962 Flock of Butterflies clock transformed bent, polished aluminum into a simple design that evokes butterflies in flight.

Here is George Nelson explaining, in his own words, how a night of fun inspired another icon of mid-century design, the ball clock.