Mastery
Every piece should be better than the last. How can that be? What about the work you buy? Do I mean to say that what I am doing now is better than what I did yesterday and that the work you bought yesterday is not as good? Not in the least. I am talking about mastery. I am also talking, and am always talking, about art. Art is not just about mastery. But mastery needs to be there. Art is about empathy - the ability to understand one’s subject - and also about self-expression and mastery. Those three parts come together to make a great piece of art. Today I am talking about mastery. Mastery is much on my mind these days.
I have sculpted many, many frogs. One could easily say I am a master of my craft. But in many ways, I have only begun to master my craft. Mastery demands that kind of appreciation and commitment.
I lost my wife, Anne, to breast cancer now just over a year. In my last post I said “it has to be about the frog”, meaning, I have to step up to the plate and make all the money as well as be a single parent. Anne was doing well as a clinical psychologist. I have to significantly expand my business to make up for our loss of income. Necessity and pain are forcing me to take my art to a new level. I’m having to grow in many arenas. Talking to me about the loss of Anne, a friend said, “Either you grow and become more or you don’t.” I must grow and become more, if not for me, certainly for my eleven year old son. But for me too because I yet have work to do in this world. It is up to me to fill the world with beautiful sculpture. This may also be true for my son. He is a wonderful artist. His drawings are incredible. Now, if I can only get him to clean his room.
Speaking of cleaning a room, my sculpture studio has always been a mess. Tools have been hard to find. I’ve always had more art stuff in there than just sculpture supplies. It has been a mess, my studio, a wonderful mess. But those days are over. As serious as I am about my craft, I am unwilling to go a day without having my tools exactly where they need to be. Productivity as well as creativity is essential, especially with the kind of work that I do, art that has so much craftsmanship to it.
Recently my son and I became black belts in the martial art of Tae Kwon Do. Once you become a black belt, the Tae Kwon Do master expects you to be sharp and exceptional in every move. Black belts need not be told to try as hard as they can in every move and to be impeccable. This is expected. Appearance and performance are to be impeccable.
Mastery. Every piece is better than the last. How can that be, and how can every piece be full of mastery? Because every piece is full of commitment to being the best. Every piece is full of heart. Every piece has impeccability. When you buy my art, that’s what you buy.
