|
Theresa's Tidbits: Artisans provide beauty for the world
Theresa Seraphim
for Spotlight
It is better to create than to be learned; creativity is the true essence of life.
-Barthold Georg Niebuhr
When one writes about a broad range of topics, as your humble Spotlight scribe does, one inevitably comes across the artisans – those who take an everyday item and make something unique and beautiful out of it.
It could be a piece of driftwood, which becomes the face of Santa. It could be diapers, which, when put into cake form, provide a practical, lovely gift for a mother-to-be or new mother. It could be an elk hide, which can become a teepee or a pair of moccasins. It could be bits of cloth, which, when sewn together, form a pattern in a colourful quilt. These are just a few examples of the creativity that exists in this area – indeed, anywhere – and it is not to be underestimated.
The items created by artisans’ inspirations are nothing less than a legacy.
A good example of this would be a Mother’s Day story in the Edmonton Journal, which talked about a 43-year-old woman with terminal ovarian cancer who sewed family pictures into a quilt for her daughter.
Is that a keepsake, or what? The daughter will treasure that quilt for her entire life, and feel the connection to her mother and the rest of the clan, and it’s a safe bet she will pass it on to her daughter, as well.
Creating something means bringing into existence something which wasn’t there before. By calling forth one’s gift – be it working with wood, or cloth, or whatever – and following the inspiration, the artisan makes an invaluable, lasting contribution, which is no small thing in our society in which the intellectual left brain seems to have won out over the creative right brain.
Anyone saying, “I want to be a doctor/lawyer/teacher etc.” is applauded, while anyone saying, “I want to be a painter/sculptor/woodworker” is greeted with, “How will you survive? You will need a day job.” Unfortunately, this is all too true. Unlike times past, today’s society seems bent on the “practical” careers, rather than ones involving creativity.
And yet, it’s what’s provided by artisans which truly lasts, because by being true to their inspiration, they have shown us the beauty inherent in ourselves and our world. We need to be reminded of that.
Thank you to all of you – and keep up the good work.
< Previous
Home
Next >
|
