I grow weary of not being done. Work in progress notwithstanding, it is tiresome to always know that there is more that I have to learn from a place that wearies me anyway. I suppose it's an off centered analogy, but I often disagree with the hands of the sculptor. I rely on God to guide me and to give me peace. I rest in knowing that I will, as a finished product, be much more valuable than the raw material I once was. However, every sculptor makes mistakes.
Stone must be chipped away. Each unwanted piece discarded as it becomes a product of the sculptors imagination. A wrong placement of the chisel, or to much pressure could destroy the work as a whole. It seems such an unforgiving medium. Each blow must be ultimate perfection--calculated and precise. Corrections cannot be made save by diminishing the size of the piece, or altering the concept of the work itself. The picture in the artists mind must be formed by taking away bits that are unwanted, and finding the beauty inside the stone. The stone itself adds to the beauty of the work but even the most plain of stones can be captivating when sculpted by the hands of a master.
Metal is molded by force. Fire, blows, bits and peices bonded together to make an end result, and the remaining pieces cut out and scrapped, perhaps to be used in another piece. The sculputor must see the potential of a flat piece and mold it by strength into the shape it can be. By adding pieces here and there, the work is completed. But what remains of the original?
Clay... Moldable, remakeable, versatile, changeable, forgiving. All of it applies. The artist can shape and form the way it needs to be. Each part of the process showing the vision in the mind of the sculptor. When the mistakes are made, the process can be easily restarted. The entire project can be forced back into a shapeless lump and everything redone from the ground up.
Sometimes I feel like overworked clay.
Stone must be chipped away. Each unwanted piece discarded as it becomes a product of the sculptors imagination. A wrong placement of the chisel, or to much pressure could destroy the work as a whole. It seems such an unforgiving medium. Each blow must be ultimate perfection--calculated and precise. Corrections cannot be made save by diminishing the size of the piece, or altering the concept of the work itself. The picture in the artists mind must be formed by taking away bits that are unwanted, and finding the beauty inside the stone. The stone itself adds to the beauty of the work but even the most plain of stones can be captivating when sculpted by the hands of a master.
Metal is molded by force. Fire, blows, bits and peices bonded together to make an end result, and the remaining pieces cut out and scrapped, perhaps to be used in another piece. The sculputor must see the potential of a flat piece and mold it by strength into the shape it can be. By adding pieces here and there, the work is completed. But what remains of the original?
Clay... Moldable, remakeable, versatile, changeable, forgiving. All of it applies. The artist can shape and form the way it needs to be. Each part of the process showing the vision in the mind of the sculptor. When the mistakes are made, the process can be easily restarted. The entire project can be forced back into a shapeless lump and everything redone from the ground up.
Sometimes I feel like overworked clay.
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