“Guess this is the best you've ever done, isn't it?”
“Are you saying I can do no better or that you can do no better?”
“Why, I couldn't make the like at all!”
“Most anyone willing to put their heart and mind to such a task can make the like but it does take a wanting to get it done.”
“I wouldn't know where to start.”
“Study a thing. That's where you start.”
“But isn't that cheating?”
“If you could only copy it and get it exact the very first time I guess it might be cheating but if you're starting from scratch and trying to create from another's work you'll not create exact but you'll learn from each attempt and by the time you've mastered that one thing if its creator is still alive he will have learned a thing or two new as well.”
“That's a new thought.”
“It's kind of arrogant to look at it as cheating.”
“Arrogant? How's that?”
“It's arrogant to assume there's little or no skill involved and that if you tried to copy a thing you'd get it right the first try.”
“But what if you did?”
“Well, then you'd use your new found skill and build on it. You'd think of a next step. You'd perfect it. Do it one better!”
“You ought to be a teacher. You're inspiring!”
“Are you saying I'm not? Everybody is a teacher. Some may be teaching a thing you don't want or that doesn't catch your eye. Some teach you how not to do. You, yourself, you're a teacher, too.”
“Me? What am I teaching?”
“You've taught me by allowing me to share what I know. By sharing with you I'm reinspired.”
“I think I'd like to buy this. I want to take it home and study it.”
This post has really made me think - thank you! There is so much to this - the learning by doing, being inspired, starting where others have been before, gaining the confidence, and, in turn, the experience, to explore one's way around in that same field to create new work.
Such valuable words - not to mention glorious art! 😊