michelangelo

did you know michelangelo was the first rock star of the art world? he had 13 to 20 assistants at any given time. he was also creating up until 8 days before he died! this was also amazing because he was using the medium of marble with his feeble hands! he and davinci had a fierce competitive thing happening. too bad they couldnt get past it. i would love to have seen them work together on something! i dont mean side by side, i mean together! he felt he really NEEDED to understand the workings of the human body in order to communicate it properly. he would do autopsies late at night at a friends morgue. although the church was not thrilled about this, it paid off when he finished the statue of mary holding Jesus(Pieta). He was so concerned about the finished product being the best that it could be, that he wouldnt rush the painting of the cistine chapel. he wouln't rush, even when struck by the pope with his staff! he wanted his work to be excellent. i would say there is no human on earth that could dispute that he achieved it . may we look to others (like michelangelo) to inspire us to go just a bit further than we currntly are in all of our endeavers. so we can't carve moses, but we CAN make those dishes shine! plus, i can't wait to play playdough with my kids again! i feel a rockin daisy comin on! ok, the art community may not be impressed,but im pretty sure my two year old will! sooo...get to crackin!(or creating) dawne

Unrealistic Expectations...

ok, so i have been struggling with teaching my children artistic endeavers without perfection. they totally get it. i am the one that expects perfection from my work. they throw themselves into each project with no hesitation. they enjoy the process. and the messy end result, according to them? perfection! (no matter the mistakes). sometimes they teach me more than i teach them. i really like this quote. see if it helps you, too... "nothing will take the place of working at our craft. that is why it is important not to become frustrated when our skill level doesnt match our expectations. it takes time to reaquaint ourselves with our re-awakened talent. instead of expecting perfection, we should expect to make mistakes and learn from them-to use them as part of our personal growth process. to my knowledge, no masterpiece was ever created during the first attempts to grow familiar with a particular medium. if we learn to enjoy the developmental process and not be afraid to make mistakes,eventually we will learn the truth of the craft. true exitement comes when we realize that the more we exercise our gift the more joy and satisfaction we feel and the more skilled we become. its all a part of the journey. so,we might as well enjoy it! ---thomas blackshear(illistrator,painter,and,creater of the limited edition prints "forgiven","coat of many colors","lord of all,"and "watchers in the night")