A pedestrian on 57th Street sees a musician getting out of a cab and asks, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” Without pause, the artist replies wearily, “Practice, practice, practice.” How true that old joke is, and how thankful I am for the hours practiced by incredible musicians I have enjoyed seeing perform in that hallowed hall like those in So Percussion and the JACK Quartet. Just as musicians can repeatedly approach the same piece of music and play it differently, I can repeatedly approach the same kind of flower and photograph it differently. With two full years of “Flowers for Mom” and over 730 daily flower photos, stay tuned to see into which halls all of that practice will take me!
This summer has been a musical one for me as I have witnessed some incredible concerts including several by the Silkroad Ensemble. The power of the arts is undeniable, and anyone who chooses to develop skills in an arts discipline is making their own life richer as well as those of the people who experience their art. When in the audience of a Silkroad performance, one can witness brilliant musicians playing an assortment of instruments from around the world. While the performers come from distinct cultures with extremely different musical training, they share a common goal of listening to and learning from each other to make wonderful music.
It may not be a realistic expectation for you to put in major hours on a daily basis to practice an art form, yet you can find a way to include being creative in your life. I believe activities like baking a cake, arranging flowers, and building a tree house count as practice time because you are being innovative and making something that has never before existed as you can compose it. In addition, when you do these things with your own hands, you better understand and appreciate others who also bake cakes, arrange flowers, and build tree houses in their individual way.
As said by the American artist, Robert Rauschenberg, “I feel strong in my beliefs that a one-to-one contact through art contains potent peaceful powers and is the most non-elitist way to share exotic and common information, seducing us into creative mutual understandings for the benefit of all.” Find a way to get your creative juices flowing. Revel in the time spent doing so, and applaud others who choose their own way to create and innovate.
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