Thoughts on Mistakes

I was lead to a blog post from 2009 that struck a cord in me. You can click above to read the entire thing, but I am going to paraphrase it here. Mark Love, the author, wrote about Risk and how there are two types of risk or mistakes one must endure: physical and mental. He wrote in the context of being an artist and craftsman, and I can't agree more. Some may use different words, perhaps emotional instead of mental for some.

Physical mistakes involve things that you have done yourself, such as bang your elbow on the door jam, broken a piece you are working on, or perhaps chipping a tool. We take these sorts of mistakes in stride. We know that is bound to happen sooner or later, and while maybe not totally prepared, we know what we have to do to over come it.

Mental mistakes are a little harder to pin down. It is that which we do to ourselves, that had we had the time to think about, we probably could have avoided. This would include such actions as cutting something too short, or reversing numbers in your head due to fatigue. These types of mistakes are harder for us to overcome, simple because we are the only ones at fault.

For me, it has always been the mistakes that I struggle with. Call it second guessing if you want, but I am sure I am not alone. When it comes to the types of art I create, it strikes even closer to home. A great piece and a mediocre piece are separated by a very thin line, with mental and physical mistakes precariously balanced on that line. It can teeter at any moment, towards any direction. When it does it always causes me to question myself because I know that at any moment "I’m only as good as the thing I’m about to do." The pieces that have come before only indicates how good I was, not how good I am, or where my potential might lead.

I've had a few good pieces wrought with my hands, some I am very proud of. When I start a new one, they are always on my mind, making me wonder if I'll surpass my previous achievements, or if I've already hit my stride and am now on the down slope? I don't ever know the answers until I complete a piece, and it is that personal challenge that keeps me going, full steam ahead, damn the mistakes.

Return of the SolidWorks Haiku!

I have written some haikus related to SolidWorks in the past, you can read them at: http://mysticmango.blogspot.com/2007/03/solidworks-haikus.html

Now it is 2010, and time for some new ones. I have a co-worker that is having emense trouble with his upgrade of SW2010, and this inspired the following:

Warm days of Winter
My new CAD burns me daily
Damn computer crash

The excitement builds
Install SolidWorks upgrade
Now I cannot work

Excitement of fall
upgrade is without peril
CAD offers no joy

CAD vixes me so
Chasing solutions in vain
Oh the joys of work

A Working Stiff Again

I finally made my return to the ranks of the employed. I started a job on the 26th of October, working for an LED company called Lighting Science Group. I landed this 3-6 month contract through Aerotek, a temp agency. I have never used them before as a client, but have used them to acquire new talent in previous positions. I never had a problem with the candidates they sent us. Now I only hope that when my contract is over, LSG will decide to take me on permanently.

It's great to be working again, but I am already missing the free time I had for my carving and painting. I hope I can find the time again. I have two bone pieces that need my attention, as well as my first landscape painting. I am just so mentally drained after work now, I don't feel like doing anything. I suppose that I don't need that creative outlet at the moment.

In Florida

Well, it have been about 3 months since I arrived, or close enough. I am still unemployed, and still actively searching. This down time has been good in some respects, as it have allowed me to do some art that I have been wanting to do for a long, long time. I have carved 5 tikis out of palm logs, and have carved about 10 pendants from bone. I attempted a painting, but my soul just wasn't into it.

I'll write more when the mood hits me.

The Return of the Living Tiki

Its funny how some things are present your entire life and you take them for granted. Growing up on the Space Coast of Florida, I took rocket launches, sunrises over the Atlantic and blue skies for granted. Soething else I took for granted were tikis. As a kid I had a pendant, probably of Ku, with red rhinestone eyes. I was always interested in primative art, tribal masks, and tiki gods. I find it strange that something like that could just fade from my memory over the years. I wonder what memories covered my tiki memories, covered them like a layer of dust that just got thicker and thicker over the years. It got so thick that I no longer acknowledged those memories, or at least didn't give them much consideration.

That was until about 18 months ago, probably February 2007. That is when I did my first acrylic painting, and the subject matter was a tiki. From that point on, the dust and cobwebs of my memory began to stir. That sediment that hid such an important part of my life had broken loose, allowing me access again to something important to my life. I know all that dust will have to settle somewhere, but I'll worry about those other lost memories in due time, when I am ready to rediscover them.

I have discovered that I am not alone in my love of tiki. My roommate, Greg, shares the same interest. Another friend Jason has recently rediscovered his (with our help). What I find interesting is that there are even more people out there that have the same and even deeper interest, and all of those people can be found in one convinient location: Tiki Central.

www.tikicentral.com

What bothers me is that it took me so long to rediscover tiki, and I'm talking real tiki. You see, there is a difference in what people consider tiki, and that difference is geographical. If you grew up on the East Coast of the USA, you were probably influenced by the Caribbean, parrots, pineapples, and toothy-faced tiki carvings. If you grew up on the West Coast of the USA, you were probably influenced by Polynesia, primitive art, Don the Beachcomber, pineapples and real tiki. At least, as real as real tiki can get since it is a post WWII import and interpretation. I've experienced both now, and I'll take the West Coast version, thank you very much.

July 4th, 2008

We just managed another successful Independence Day celebration at my friends house in Palmdale. The $2000 fireworks run in February (to Pahrump, NV) paid-off in a big way. We started the neighborhood show around 9:30pm and finished up around 10:30pm... just in time for the police and code enforcement to park at the corner to observe "nothing" happening at the house. There were fireworks going off all around us, but we were by far the loudest and most active the entire night.

No one got hurt or arrested, and no fires started, it was a great night.

I understand the reasons for fireworks being illegal, but we should have the right to celebrate our Independence! Sparklers and Smokin' Snakes just isn't going to cut it. Many people just use this day as an excuse to BBQ, drink and blow stuff up, but for me it goes deeper than that. Imagine the colonist and how they felt when it was announced that we were officially cutting our ties with Great Britain.

John Adams himself wrote about Independence Day, "It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

SolidWorks Haikus

Being in the manufacturing and engineering field, there are certain tools I use on a dailey basis. One of these tools I have used for the past 10yrs is SolidWorks. It is a 3D solid modeling program. Over the years it has grown more functional and feature rich. A downside to this it that is has also bloated in size and requires far more computer resources that it once did. This is to be expected.

All that aside, it is a great program and it has inspired me to write a few haikus.


Old files from the past
SolidWorks pushes forward
New does not save old

Poor display of lines
Flow forth from Autumn drivers
Update and rejoice

AutoDesk gray skies
Parametric is the way
SolidWorks sunshine

Age of Computers

Its easy to see that the Age of Computers is well entrenched in our lives. Everyone from kids to seniors are using them today. Some jobs rely on computers more than others, especially engineering. What I find interesting is that even though I have been around and using computers for the last 20 years, there are times when I find that I must still break open my "art kit" to get something accomplished.

My art kit contains a bunch of colored markers, india ink, paint brushes (for the ink), quill pens, mechanical pencils, lead holders, and drawing templates. Although I am well-versed in the use of 3D modeling software and graphics programs, sometimes what gets the job done is a nice hand rendering of an object. I think that's cool.