Name Your Triumph

"When looking at any significant work of art, remember that a more significant one probably has had to be sacrificed." - Paul Klee

"The best artists make the most mistakes." -Andrew Kish, III Watercolorist

Thinking of physical failures as triumphs takes a lot of courage. It makes more sense to just call something a failure and laud it as that to everyone you meet. But, does it really help anyone? 

I am not talking about an honest acknowledgement that the pieces of art you are concerned with do not have flaws or lack the ability to communicate the message you want to get across. I am talking about a piece of art standing on its own as a piece of art. It is no less valid to laud a child's simplistic crayon drawing as art as the work created by a person with a PhD in oil painting. Communication is one thing, beauty is another. 

In my pursuit to create good art I have learned the value of sacrificing my longing for perfection for the greater good of communication. The truth is I have created some pretty amazing works that had to meet their death at the end of an eraser or a swab of a paint brush. I have to count on this to sustain me as I create. Mistakes are necessary. Mistakes, you could say are the life of art. The further I go into this process the more I see that it is vital to my growth and the easier it is to decide what to keep and what goes. 

We have to consider our "failures" as fodder for growth. We have to celebrate the whole of the process so that we can perpetuate our movement toward the creative end we pursue. It is well worth it. So, I share my triumph with you. I have accomplished 17 hours of work in the 5 day span from 1/23/12-1/27/12 in the midst of a part time job and other responsibilities, challenges, and events. Praise God! I will do much better this week. 

Granted not all of these pieces were a beginning to end process, but they are all part of the process and therefore qualify as art. In the mainstay pieces I will share with you the final products in the months to come. Hold tight to your work and consider every victory along the way.