The great architect Frank Lloyd Wright was discovered staring at one of his then recently completed artistic homes. A man watched him watching it and asked, "Pardon me, sir. What are you doing?
The wise Wright said, "I'm communicating with my beloved bricks!"
Sounds a bit odd, right? I teach classes in Web Design and pass on the idea that designers, should admire their work from a distance of time and space, little things pop out that can be "fixed". The great Michaelangelo talked about the figure hiding inside the block of marble and his job was to help it emerge. He likely communicated with his beloved marble.
The best artists are all about Create and Tweak -- Blurt and Edit. Writing is not so much writing as rewriting. So many of my students pay their tuition and walk away after six weeks never having practiced what I preach. Perfectionists so often hesitate to begin because they know the first efforts will be less than World Class Caliber.
The story of Fred Rogers on Tin Pan Alley teaches the great value of doing and redoing creative things until you improve your ability to "do". Enjoy diving in. Then enjoy the polishing process. Don't succumb to the temptation to give up. That's crazy. Even a cursory study of the life of the Dutch master Van Gogh can teach creative folks a lot about hangin' in there. His paintings sell for multi million dollar sums today--and yet he never sold a single one as a living artist. JRH
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