Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do.
Make good art.
I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician? Make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor? Make good art. IRS on your trail? Make good art. Cat exploded? Make good art. Somebody on the Internet thinks what you do is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before? Make good art.
Probably things will work out somehow, and eventually time will take the sting away, but that doesn’t matter. Do what only you do best. Make good art.
Make it on the good days too.
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Real time is slower than social-media time, where everything feels urgent. Real time often includes periods of silence, reflection, growth, space, self-forgiveness, processing with loved ones, rest, and responsibility.
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Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all.
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Ich bin der Meinung, dass die ganze Digitalisierung, die jetzt ja auch immer mehr Bestandteil unseres Daseins ist, Erfahrungsvermögen verdunkelt. Es gibt Bilder die verlöschen eins nach dem anderen ohne Spuren hier oben [anm.: im Kopf] zu hinterlassen. Es geht wahnsinnig schnell. Und vielleicht deshalb können oder wollen wir so viel konsumieren. Die sinnlich wahrnehmbare Welt verströhmt eine Aura, meine ich, die nicht digitalisiert werden kann. Wir müssen achtgeben jetzt, dass wir die digitale Welt beherrschen und nicht von ihr beherrscht werden.
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I’d say slow down, find a quiet place and create time for solitude so you can hear yourself. It’s so noisy out there. And find the good ones around you –the patient, compassionate and interested– then elevate the conversation as often as you can. The things that nourish you are also the things that will nourish your work, give it purpose, depth and soul. It’s hard to say what those things may be, but life has taught me over and over that you don’t need to know if you are willing to ask.
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The word ‘studio’ is derives from ‘study’. Our object is not to know the answers before we do the work. It’s to know them after we do it.
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We shape our tools and our tools shape us. We are a product of our world and our world is made of things. Things we use, things we love, things we carry with us and the things we make. We are the product of our world, but we are also its designer. Design is the choices we make about the world we want to live in. … When we are gone, all that’s left of us is what we’ve made. The things you and I make may not leave a visible footprint on the earth, but everything we make takes up space, creates noise, competes for attention. What do we want to spend more time with? What do we want to shape us? What nurishes us? What do we want to see grow? I think we all have an idea. I think we all have something we want to make for no other reason than we want it to exist. Something small but meaningful. … Things that nudge the world a little bit in what we hope is the right direction. We got to put a dent in the universe. This is a great job.
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Macht schöne Dinge. Macht Dinge, die man benutzen kann. Macht einfache Dinge. Hütet Euch vor zu viel Kunstfertigkeit. Hütet Euch vor zu viel Wissen. Das Werk sollte gesund sein. Achtet die Handarbeit. Seid darauf bedacht, den Preis niedrig zu halten. Macht Gefäße, die Ihr selbst gern benutzt. Das Werk sollte bescheiden sein. Innere Klarheit ist die Grundlage der Schönheit. Beachtet die Eigenschaften des Materials. Beobachtet die Natur intensiv. Das Gefäß zu formen entspricht der Formung der eigenen Persönlichkeit.