That's right. I said it. You may not agree, and that's fine. Opinions like this are just as subjective as the statements which spawn them and we can only decide for ourselves what we believe to be true.
How do we define "mastery"? This doesn't have to relate to jewelry, of course, but any creative or artistic endeavor, skill or trade. And more importantly, who defines it? Who, I wonder, is so versed in anything that they can declare themselves or anyone else a master of it? These are the questions I ask myself and put before you, dear reader. I don't have an answer. I've never met a master of anything and would definitely not consider myself one.
I think, on some level, there is this idea that being a master of some skill somehow means there is nothing left to learn. That all the world can teach us has been absorbed. One definition of the term mastery is "control or superiority over someone or something" and I'm not sure how anyone could possibly ever control the creative flow that results in artistic work. I'm not sure I like to box the idea of creativity into something tangible enough to be mastered at all.
Can you have skill? Of course. And skill can be learned. Skill can be honed and perfected. But I'm not sure that, for me, equates to a mastery over something, especially not a creative endeavor when often its success or failure is entirely dependent upon our own (or others) interaction with the endeavor... the opinions we form about it. And we all know what they say about opinions.....
How do we define "mastery"? This doesn't have to relate to jewelry, of course, but any creative or artistic endeavor, skill or trade. And more importantly, who defines it? Who, I wonder, is so versed in anything that they can declare themselves or anyone else a master of it? These are the questions I ask myself and put before you, dear reader. I don't have an answer. I've never met a master of anything and would definitely not consider myself one.
I think, on some level, there is this idea that being a master of some skill somehow means there is nothing left to learn. That all the world can teach us has been absorbed. One definition of the term mastery is "control or superiority over someone or something" and I'm not sure how anyone could possibly ever control the creative flow that results in artistic work. I'm not sure I like to box the idea of creativity into something tangible enough to be mastered at all.
Can you have skill? Of course. And skill can be learned. Skill can be honed and perfected. But I'm not sure that, for me, equates to a mastery over something, especially not a creative endeavor when often its success or failure is entirely dependent upon our own (or others) interaction with the endeavor... the opinions we form about it. And we all know what they say about opinions.....
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions."
~Leonardo da Vinci
~Leonardo da Vinci
So I ask you, and would love to hear your opinions below, how do you define mastery? Do you believe it's attainable? And if it is, should it be? I've never considered myself a master of anything and, for me, that's not a bad thing. It's not a judgment against myself. I could make jewelry, draw, photograph, paint, write for the next 20 years and still never be a master of any one of them. I'm not sure I'd want to be. Somehow, for me, there is a loneliness there... in the idea of mastery. I'd much rather surround myself with the joy of failures, of endless discovery and I always.... forever....want my art to teach me something new every day. I always want to be its student. How about you??
