I had a great conversation with a designer today that re-affirmed a belief with me that most people are copy-cats. The general populous seem to want pretty much the same thing that everyone else has. The most recent thing that comes to mind is the smart phone rage. Everyone has to have one because everyone else has one. I think of it as the “herd mentality”. I can’t remember a time when I thought differently about the idea that owning something that was created by human hands and likely the hours spent on ideas as well as carrying out the painstaking details is worth waiting for. Since I am not an artist, I marvel at any person’s ability to create basically something from nothing.
Even more amazing to me is the artwork created a hundred years ago and more. Keep in mind artists in those times worked without all the modern conveniences including lighting and heating. Having visited Europe on several occasions, I can say without a doubt that some artists worked for years on just one small project. Maintaing not only determination but also keeping the vision of something being under the brush or chisel must have been daunting. One of the great sculptors was asked once how he was able to create such beauty from a raw chunk of stone. His answer was, “The piece of art was trapped in the stone—all I did was release it from its bondage.” Now that was a man of vision!
I visited with a woman this morning about her son’s artistic ability and where he is with his work. She said he hadn’t painted anything in a very long time. I was sad to hear that because I believe there are many people out there with great gifts yet the fear of failure holds them back. We must all remind ourselves that all things are hard in the beginning.
The photo above is of a very old hand painted plate that belongs to one of my dear clients. Upon closer inspection I found an example of someone’s free hand in creating beauty. It is yet another work of art that exhibits the beauty of one.
