Finishing one project and about to start another, I resolved to do some filing.
Upstairs in the studio, there’s an ancient wooden chest which holds my sketches.
And you know how it is.
Pictures leap out at you.
They take you back in time.
They remind you of the lessons you’ve learned.
Yes, this happened a very long time ago. It happened when our studio was 2, and now it’s 10: so 8 years ago this happened, which, when you think about everything that’s gone on with banks, and stocks, and businesses going bust everywhere, and money in general, and interest rates, and friends, family … – 8 years is a long, long, long time ago indeed.
Dear friends and colleagues – it is our shared fate to endure remarks like this:
So you do stained glass do you? Oh, I’d love to paint stained glass – it’s just I don’t have time
How often I hear this … and what about you?
… As if it were merely the world-changing busy-ness of the speaker’s life which – unfortunately for us – prevents them from giving birth to artworks that would put Harry Clarke to shame.
And what is the implication here?
Is it that we do glass painting because we “have the time” (- when really it’s because we choose to make the time, thank you).
No one gets better at something unless they really work at it. Even Charlie Parker worked hard – boy! how he worked. He made the time to be the best saxophonist he could become.
As do we all work hard – for the things we choose to do.
It’s just that some folks work hard at watching TV or planning their next holiday …
