Friday, February 8, 2008

Art, Talent and "sang best" Birds

"If you have great talents, industry will improve them. If you have but moderate abilities, industry will supply their deficiency. Nothing is denied to well-directed labor; nothing is ever to be attained without it." Joshua Reynolds

As a coach and a teacher I believe there is no "talent" worth more than hard work. Individually we should approach all the things important to us with our best effort and we should never let the lack of perceived talent hold us back. Even the greatest genius in any field more than likely got there with tremendous sacrifice and effort. Having said that I appreciate genius in others in any field. I don't find that inhibiting. It does not stop me from "being all that I can be." What it does for me is speak to something great, sometimes intangible which at its core is absolutely beautiful. Whether its a work of art, an athletic feat, a grand meal, a symphony or a scientific discovery I enjoy genius and find it inspiring. It makes life more enjoyable to know that I am seeing something special and unique especially when I know that regardless of how much effort I apply I could never get there. It is pure joy equaled only by the joy I feel when I create or do something special with my talents. Whether others enjoy it as much as they do the works of a genius is not important. In the case of art I will never be a DiVinci or a Picasso, but I can compose "great art" for me and maybe even for others. But at the end of the day I'm sure glad there are geniuses because they make my life more beautiful. 

"Use those talents you have. You will make it. You will give joy to the world. Take this tip from nature: the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except those who sang best." Bernard Meltzer

But to those "sang best" birds I hold my glass high and say; "Amen!"

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Assignment #1

I took this class because despite lots of experience with digital arts and computers I feel there are gaps in my knowledge and abilities which inhibit my artistic expression. My goals for this class are to explore my more traditional artistic skills and translate them into a digital format. I consider myself an artist on many levels and developing that will make the class go well for me.