VARIATIONS ON A THEME - © Sue O'Kieffe circa 2005Three of my first mandalas
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TALENT
Talent, in common parlance is "what comes easily." So, sooner or later, inevitably, you reach a point where the work doesn't come easily, and - Aha! It's just as you feared.
Wrong. By definition, whatever you have is exactly what you need to produce your best work. There is probably no clearer waste of psychic energy than worrying about how much talent you have -- and probably no more common.
~from Art and Fear, Observations on the Perils of Artmaking, David Bayles and Ted Orland:
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I must admit I do get queasy when people tell me I am talented. I think it is more than remembering the haunting voice of my mother who told me at 5 I would never be good enough to be an artist.
When we talk about talent, it's as if it is a given rather than the gift that it is. And it's a gift that must be nurtured in order to grow.
I was proud of these first mandalas I created two years ago. I like looking at them now and then to remember creation really is about the journey.
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I will be back next Sunday with another Photoshop tutorial. Life won over my best laid plans this week.
