An artist lost and found

A great painter, their art brilliantly executed, the subject perfectly captured within the frame. The works are admired, bought at high prices and fame and fortune is enjoyed.

One morning, the artist awakes and makes a decision to attempt sculpting instead. The work is terrible. The skill with a chisel is poor and the light and shadows of the subject so expertly captured on canvas don't materialise in the stone. Critics ridicule the efforts and friends and family plead with the artist in an attempt to convince a return back to what is known, safe and loved.

But the artist is resolute and continues on questioning each failure, attempting new methods, improving skills and experimenting with different materials and tools. The artist walks around and around the subject watching how the light and shadows shift across the surface and with each step, each circle, the artist's perspective of the subject changes and soon, the experiment ends.

The artist returns to the easel with a fresh canvas in place looks at the subject as the painter he was and walks around the subject as the mediocre sculptor he discovered and the artists eyes are forever changed. Depth and perspective take new forms, shadows and highlights became partners in a dance and what is there provides inspiration for what could be. Reality has shifted. Each new work addresses the change in perspective, in understanding and far surpasses the naive attempts of the past. Like the idealistic thoughts of a teenager on life compared to that of a parent who has laughed, loved and felt the stinging pain of a thousand losses.

The world hails the artist's return and credits the new found enthusiasm and the even more beautiful expression on their encouragement and feedback but the artist stays quiet. The artist sees the beauty and depth but the attention isn't drawn to it because of the opinions of others. Rather, a previously hidden world was opened through intentional struggle and adversity, introduced stresses that required self-reflection and environmental sensitivity. The sculpting work will never sell for much, but the lessons learned are priceless.

The frustration of beginnings, the disappointment in failure, the gratitude for small wins, the small cracks of light revealing hidden truths, the suffering through the new while the convenience of the old lays within reach. These are some of the lessons. Comfort zones don't want to be broken willingly, same as yesterday thinking is happy to continue on tomorrow unchallenged. Good results can shift downwards quickly, public opinions swing wildly. The artist doesn't mind as their art is theirs, the expression personal, success lays in the continual process, not the result.

The fear to let go of what we know, what we enjoy, what we are good at, limits our ability to question our perspectives and take a robust stance. Our expertise become narrow and in time, weak, if we stop exploring our subject deeply and experimenting with other ways, mediums, tools and perspectives. We are not all painters. We may be police or politician, student, teacher, engineer, manager, line worker or bartender but, we can always widen our view, walk other paths and be an artist of our craft.

Taraz
[a Steemit original]