Always Something to Learn

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Photo Nov 28, 2 21 09 PM

I am still learning.
– Michelangelo

There is always something to learn. No matter the age, the ability, the level of skill, the success or life realization, we learn and should seek to learn until we die. It would be arrogant to think that there is nothing to learn, or worse, to think we know everything. Even when it seems that we know something or that we don’t need what is taught, even when we are practicing what they are talking about, I believe we can learn something new each day. The day we stop learning, we stop living. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know everything. In fact, I know much less than what I should know at my age. Hopefully, I’ll live long enough to catch up.

Learning doesn’t have to be focused on a specific topic. It is not about being in school forever. Learning doesn’t have to be strictly about ‘serious’ subjects. It could be something trivial and ‘useless’. Seeking knowledge for the sake of knowledge is a lot of fun. We might never use information we have stored in the brain, but we can become the heroes in the next trivia challenge. My grandfather always said that we don’t need to know everything, but a little of everything enough to sustain a conversation with anyone. Knowledge is not about us, is about others. It is about connecting with people. In order to relate to others it is good to know about them. That is a motivation for learning something new every day.

Do Not Overcomplicate Things

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There is a new tendency in our society to overcomplicate things that are by nature simple. Why take 100 steps and many turns to reach something that is reachable with 3 steps? I am not talking about the common core curriculum in case you are wondering, but since you mentioned it, that’s a good example. It happens in music performances too. Watching the Grammy Awards (no, it is not a competition for grandmothers. That would be the Granny Awards; although most of these artists are really old) I can tell how songs that are not necessarily good were over-adorned to make them somehow ‘better’. You know a true musical artist when they can sing and don’t need too much around them to be good. It happens in visual arts as well. We can tell when a painting or a sculpture, or whatever it could be art nowadays is overcomplicated. We see it in how people organize events. I’ve been in too many corporate meetings that get nowhere because people can’t reach a decision on things that are simple.

I grew up in a household where we didn’t have an issue making or doing good things that were indeed simple. For us it has to look good without too much. We never had a need to gold-plate what was already beautiful in its simple form. One of the most important aspects I learned is being satisfied to provide a great atmosphere for our guests by being there and relating to them. I interact with people in all my shows because that’s the right thing to do. It is more valuable than art on the wall, expensive wine, and gold-plated glasses, while the artist stand scare or overconfident in a corner expecting some kind of recognition instead of acknowledging the people who makes the show successful. People need people interaction. I don’t care how much society wants to complicate an event, at the end what people need is people, a friendly conversation, a smile, someone they can relate to.

In 2010 I had my first opportunity to show my work. I learned a few things about putting together a show and I follow that plan for my shows since (see How To Prepare For Your Show) I have now my first chance to give back and organize a show for a few friends. I am not going to participate directly in this show as an artist. Although my work has a permanent exhibit area in the gallery this is their show. It indeed provides curator experience for me which is great. Nevertheless, I do not overcomplicate things. I have a good idea of the work I’ve seen from the artists, designed the blueprint of the show, created a to-do list for them and for me and all we need to do is to work on each of the pieces and put them together. There is no need to over-adorn what is already good. The reception requires a few more details but I already noted the vision for it. Again, it doesn’t have to be complicated. It is going to be great and I can’t wait to give you all the details so you can join us.

The Myth of Hard Work

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Among many variables in the equation of success achievement, hard work is one with the greatest mythology. The myth of hard work follows the very existence of human kind to the point that many forget how to enjoy life because they are working all the time. I believe that talent is improved through hard work. I believe in hard work and I believe it pays off but there needs to be an understanding that hard work is not by itself a guarantee of success. It is just a variable of many in the equation.

It is very difficult to accept that those who are lazy will achieve success. Only those who work hard are closer to get it. However, this is also a myth. People pay attention to those who pursue their work and aptitudes and constantly seek to improve, to be productive, to get better. Opposite to talent, I believe hard work is necessary to achieve. That again doesn’t guarantee success. If it does, it also consumes people. I am not saying that working hard is wrong. I am just advocating for a balance in life; one that allows people to enjoy the fruit of their labor and permits them to maintain their relationships. Working a lot is not the same as working hard. There is such thing as working smarter.

Planing and time management help develop a better work flow and to be more productive and efficient. Through experience and practice it is possible to achieve the technique to create in a way that looks and feels easier. It is said that hard work makes it look easy. That is because through many years of giving ourselves to our craft we achieved the skills to be effective with our time and efforts. It allows us to love more what we do and to do more of what we love. Recognized or not it makes us feel better about ourselves when we know we put effort on something and even more when we see the results.

The Myth of Talent

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There are too many variables involved in the processes and events related to achieving success. My original intention for this post was to put together two variables: talent and hard work. Specially for artists it seems like these two are either a blessing or a frustration. However, after consideration I decided to focus on the myth of talent by itself instead. Next post I can concentrate in the myth of hard work because each one of these two elements deserve their own discussion.

What is talent? According to the dictionary, talent is “a marked innate ability, skill, aptitude or faculty“. In other words, you do something right naturally. We know that talent by itself is not enough to grant you success in most cases. Talent requires for us to work on it, learn and perfect what we naturally do. I’ve been drawing since I was 4 years old but if I didn’t practice and learned new things I could be probably drawing the same way I did back then. I’m pretty sure my drawing skills changed with time and practice. I’m pretty sure that since my first sculpture in 1997 my natural ability has changed because I’ve been practicing and learning. The innate ability is important for sure but if we love it and want to be better at it we need to put some effort to improve. 

Cultivated talent is sadly not enough to grant you success. It is just one variable in the equation. Judging for some artwork out there selling for a lot of money, some might argue that talent is not necessary. Someone marked a canvas with a crayon and since someone said it is art and it is backed up by an effective marketing machine then it is art, becomes famous and successful. Someone painted a box like a third grader project and because they made it into a ‘prestigious’ gallery then we can call that success. Honestly, I’ve seen successful art that my kids can do better. It is very frustrating when we see ‘overrated’ get recognition when ‘overqualified’ can’t even get the job.

The myth that all you need is talent is just that, a myth. At the end it goes back to the love for what you do and doing what you love. Trying to compete with what people call talent is fruitless. Do not compare yourself with others that make things different from you. Don’t let an elitist few to put you down because you don’t make the cut into their purpose. Follow your own purpose. Develop and improve your talent. Add knowledge and experience to it. It could pay off eventually but it will satisfy you always.

Empty Page

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Writing a daily post for this blog is one of the most fun challenges I imposed to myself. When I considered the idea of writing a blog I thought about writing one long post a month. Can you imagine how boring that can be for a hyperactive brain like mine? If I decided to post once a month in a matter of a week I would have written all the posts I need for the year. Once a month is not an option for me. I considered posting once a week. That could be more reasonable. I only need 52 posts to cover the year which means I can write the content of a year in about 2 months. That could possibly turn out boring rather quickly. I prefer the choice of a daily post not for entertaining purposes but maintaining the original goal in mind: to write for a year in preparation to writing a book.

While sculpting and preparing my new collection, I am also writing the concept ideas for the book while maintaining an empty page for what may come along in the process. I think I know what I want and what the book should look like but it is still to early in the process to have a definite concept design. The collection is acquiring a cohesive message. It is fun to sculpt and research at the same time. I found myself these days taking notes of different ideas during the sculpting process and it felt good. I am not only connecting with the piece in progress but adding scenes to the greater story in which each of the pieces already created play an important role. They are all part of a bigger story, our story, the story of mankind. An empty page is important because we know about the past (or so we say), and we know about the present (although that’s also a matter of perspective since the present only lasts long enough to be the past), and the future is somewhere out there.