Artistry

I am a Heavy Metal Holy Man, a gentleman barbarian, a clockwork pudding, and a madman. But beyond those and in fact because of them, I am an artist. It took me a great many years to accept that label because quite frankly I always associated artists with the visual arts. Film and paint, that sort of thing. But as time went on I began to think of it in an entirely different way.

I began to think of art not as a what was created, but as a level of quality and mastery, and one of the philosophies that shape the work. There are Artists, and there are Mechanics. Those that understands things intuitively and those that understand things logically and apply it to their work. Now, everybody uses a mix of logic and intuition but it's the fastest way to explain the difference.

One of the first things that lead me down this line of reasoning, was something my mother would always say. When talking about Doctor's she'd talk about the difference between Healers (those that are willing to think outside the box) and Mechanics (those that see it as a machine that needs to be fixed). Now I took that idea and basically applied it to everyone.

The guys just doing their job? Those are the Mechanics. Now there's a bit of confusion once you're dealing with actual Mechanics but you see some artistry amongst them as well. Those that design or those that are willing to find new and interesting ways to do something.

Because that's one of the main points of what makes an Artist. They're willing to try and push themselves, and once they reach the end of the form, they keep pushing. They seek to change the form itself into order to improve it. They create a dynamic relationship between themselves, their work, and the world. So it's entirely possible to be an artist even if you aren't devoting yourself to art. Just like you can be a serviceable mechanic within the arts.

This went in a different direction then I had originally intended. It'd sat down with the intention of writing a small but blatant plug for my newest venture Clockwork Chaos Publishing. But I got sidetracked. I was going to write about looking into that blog will begin to show you what the world would like like if I was god. But you get my philosophical leanings instead. Who knows? Maybe you'll get that blog I wanted to post later. But not today.