I've been thinking about the question of there being something that we--me, you--have been created for. That, while we can try to do other things, it's not really a best fit. That there might be this one thing (or one thing for a while?) that creates such a "best fit." And that you know it when you are there by the pure joy you feel.
I think mine is making things. One very, very good example would be last week: Down at in my metal bone yard, picking thru things, a few ideas in mind, but nothing specific...and then it all comes together. 15' of 8" pipe, some old rusty 1/16th sheet metal carved out of an an old tank, and a bunch of metal band saw blades. It just feels more right than anything else I do, or have done. Cutting torch, a bunch of fresh 6013 1/8th" welding rod and no plans, nothing on paper, just free-form and whimsical.
I think mine is making things. One very, very good example would be last week: Down at in my metal bone yard, picking thru things, a few ideas in mind, but nothing specific...and then it all comes together. 15' of 8" pipe, some old rusty 1/16th sheet metal carved out of an an old tank, and a bunch of metal band saw blades. It just feels more right than anything else I do, or have done. Cutting torch, a bunch of fresh 6013 1/8th" welding rod and no plans, nothing on paper, just free-form and whimsical.
Oh, and the shoes. After hanging onto my children's shoes over the years, we offered them up at a garage sale last year. Just a few pair sold and the rest were destined for the local thrift store, but they didn't want them. Everything else in my truck was headed for the landfill, but I just could not throw these shoes out. I brought the box home and stuck it away in the barn, confident that I'd find some use for them. While decorating the metal tree with 40 pairs of little footwear, the title of the sculpture came to me: "Children and thorns."
