Our week long class concluded this afternoon, and we had ‘Happy Clappy’ which is show and tell for each topic offered. Each class shared their final pieces of art and told all about their art form to anyone who asked or would listen. This is a shot of our class table, displaying as much as we could fit on the flat surface. It was both astonishing and exhilarating to see our week long efforts shared and appreciated. Everyone in the room learned a lot and had fun expressing their satisfaction and learning with the campus.
In this digital age it was sincerely a pleasure to see people enjoy your work AND hear their praises. Each class learned something different – banjo making, bowl turning, enameling, weaving, painting, tin smithing, fiddling – and it was amazing to see and touch what they produced. There is a look on someone’s face that cannot be expressed as anything other than pride when they tell you about how they made what they made. It was astonishing to think that nothing we saw even existed on Monday, and today – five days later – it was a completed work of art. Hard work, excellent teaching, the right tools and materials, and more time all combined to create these master works of art.
We all work very hard, but what do we actually produce? Emails, memos, live meetings, conference calls do not count as productive outputs. They are only part of a process and actually mostly serve as a vehicle for possibly getting decisions made; they themselves do not actually produce anything. Text messages, pings, photo swaps and posting videos on YouTube may share information, yet they do not actually produce anything. No tangible object ends up as a result of any of these electronic devices. So what have you actually produced this week? What item have you created that did not exist before? How will your efforts live on after this day is done, what do you have to show for it?
I would encourage you to find some way to create something and feel productive. Learn how to do something that you can hold in your hand after your hard work. Feel it, touch it, smell it, handle it with pride and share it with others. Something transforms your self esteem when you hold in your hand something you created the never existed before. A sense of pride and confidence wells within your soul that no one can ever remove.
Learn a craft, build something, design something, create something out of nothing. The end result will not only impact you, it will impact everyone around you. Once you create your first tangible item you will never be the same.
Ann Art Gallery Blog 