Monday 3 August 2009

Now I'm quoting myself...!!

"Real originality comes from a heightened aesthetic awareness...to actually express this will take a very refined understanding of one's processes and the skill to carry out the task of making real what you feel.

In my view, the job of teaching is to nurture exactly those 3 aspects."


Oh...and that quote is one of my own...cheeky I know but I was re-reading a thread on the Iron Brush forum and thought that I quite liked what I'd said and it stimulated the previous blog entry ;-)

so much to tell you...

It's been quite a while since I posted anything here, despite my best intentions to try and share my thoughts and experiences as I work through this challenge I've undertaken. The truth is it's been such an intense time that I'm going to need a few months to process what I'm learning so that I can express this in some manner that may make sense to others.

What I have learnt that I am very clear about though is the real value of copying the work of past masters. It is utterly shocking to delve into work of such high calibre with complete attention and to become completely absorbed in the world of a real master. The care and attention paid to the most minute detail is, quite literally, breathtaking and if I'm completely honest it's a little disconcerting. I can't imagine a more effective, nor demanding, method of learning than following so closely in their footsteps.

I've described this tsuba I'm attempting to replicate, based on the little b/w photo and the wakizashi tsuba, as a Rosetta stone. I'm pleased to be able to report that I'm slowly unravelling the delicate language of this particular masters hand...this is a very great privilege and one I'm very grateful for.

I've been forbidden by the film maker from revealing any images of the work in progress so as not to spoil the full effect of the final film but here's a much enlarged view of one small section as it was 2 weeks ago. I'm sure you can figure out what part it is?