Creation

It's rough. It's unfinished. But it's a start.

I am taking a beginner metalsmithing course in fabrication. We start with a piece of sheet metal and saw it, hammer it, texture it, shape it, solder it, rivet it, file it, polish it, buff it and make something useful from it. It has been a wonderful new experience for me so far. My first project, a small copper box, is still a work in progress. As you can see from the photo, it's not the prettiest object you could lay eyes on. But to me, it's beautiful. I still need to rivet the lid pieces together and then create a hinge for the lid and attach it to the box. Before all that, I need to file it more and then polish it up. The solder is not especially tidy, but, hey, it's my first soldering experience. I'm just thrilled I soldered successfully! I am learning a lot and, in time, hopefully my abilities will grow. Every class scares me a little bit and humbles me a lot. Learning new things is challenging, often intimidating. But it's good to do things that scare you sometimes, make a few new synaptic connections, gain some experience and WAKE UP your brain! I'm lovin' it.

"Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely."- Auguste Rodin

"Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned."- Mark Twain

Catharsis

We all feel as if we could explode sometimes. Tensions of daily life rend our emotions, tear us apart. We seek a release when the pressure becomes too great. But explosions are destructive, only leaving messy debris in their wake. How do we unleash our anguish, our anger, our despair in a productive manner? How can we turn these seemingly negative feelings into a force for good? Use that tension as a violinist might use a taut bow-- create something melodious with it, something exquisite and memorable. The sculptor, Henry Moore, once stated, "It is a mistake for a sculptor or a painter to speak or write very often about his job. It releases tension needed for his work." What an interesting observation he made. Artists actually NEED tension! The tension we feel inside should be harnessed as a tool for creation, a way to express inexpressible emotions.