Thursday, January 22, 2009

Now why didn’t I think of that!

Now why didn’t I think of that!

I love wood and can make almost anything. But this is one thing that I couldn’t imagine. A Table and Chair that stand over 30 feet high. Wow.

Yes it is real. It was installed in Hampstead Heath, England during the summer of 2005. The artist is Giancarlo Neri from Italy.

The next one came to me via an email sent from a friend. This Italian Artist/ wood carver does the most unusual things in wood. The scope of his work is simply staggering. His name is Livio de Marchi another Italian. Go figure!
His work is absolutely amazing to a fellow wood carver.

But one nagging question - Now why didn’t I think of that!

There is something amazing about a new idea. It is usually triggered by another idea… then time to ruminate on or with that idea… a place to do it in or carry it out… and then the big jump to do it.

Architects do this all the time. The House Builders do a modification of it when they build a house and make the changes to satisfy the home buyer. And a wood carver does it all the time.

Even the wood carver that is just beginning makes that wonderful step from the known to the unknown, from the ordinary to the extra ordinary… when he makes a mistake.

Some of my simple art philosophies I have adopted state…
* Art is a quiet place for a loud idea…
* Art is an idea with a line around it…
* Art is tasting with your eyes, seeing with your hands, feeling with your heart and expressing with your soul…
* Art is a big jump…
… and finally…
* Art is one mistake covering another mistake with enough nerve to charge for it…


Now what is the difference between the artists that I have shared here and me? Not sure exactly except maybe TIME and APPLICATION of one’s life. Add a little “I can do that…”, mixed with “Why not..!” and it is possible.
Now starting 2009 – what have you always dreamed of doing? What is it that you have tucked away for “some day”? Is there anything that just might be if you were to give it a try?

The saddest thing for me is regret. Regret is filled with a whole stack of “what if”, “some day”, “maybe”, “I wish I could” and a million other thoughts that simply died or were shelved for NEVER… IMPOSSIBLE… NOT ME I COULDN’T.

That may be the saddest thing that I have ever witnessed.

Not long ago I conducted a funeral for man I never knew. Yet as I stopped by his home to visit his family I saw the man. He was there by what he did… or had done.

There in his garage was a partially restored antique automobile. He had taken the paint off and repaired the dents and bad spots on the ancient vehicle. It was ready for painting soon.

The son told me that his dad had spent hours on that old thing. He had poured his time and energy into getting this done. But now he was gone.

As we looked at the old vehicle I asked the son what would happen to it. He told me that they had contacted one his dad’s friends who would take it away. Then he said, “None of us as his kids have any inertest in doing anything. We never got what dad had – that “will” to do something out of the ordinary. Dad was one of a kind.”

I couldn’t fathom not passing on what you love to do. Yet that had not happened in this case. None of the kids were interested in anything but their own small world. It may be the most extreme situation that I have ever witnessed.

My question is what happened to creativity? What happened to genius? What happened to “what if?”

I am working on a series of answers with three more planned sculptures. The basis of one is a couple watching a TV forever. That is their Hell. They sit on a couch, stare blandly at a forever screen with nothing on it. Expressions must be nothing – that is the hard part that I am dealing with.

Will it happen? Yes it will. I have six sculptures done so far – only six more to do before the gallery is notified.

I have run out of space. I am struggling with time. But I have not lost the will.

So to answer my own question… “Now why didn’t I think of that?” – I did… and I will… and I am going to… and it will be now!

Today is the start of the rest of my life! And I am gonna… so help me I am just gonna do it! You just watch and see… just watch and see…

~ Murray Lincoln ~

Sources:
http://www.artnet.de/event/74214/the-writer-giancarlo-neri.html
http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/demarchi.htm

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Cool ideas!
Bruce