She touched the clay with a sensuous gesture which implied a satisfaction physical in its intensity, and not for the first time I thought how strange artists were. With their capacity to seal themselves away in a private world and retreat deep into a forest of mental forms which no ordinary person could penetrate, they seem almost inhuman as they slaved constantly to explore humanity. Harriet caressed her work like a mother; I suspected it would always mean more to her than any infant of flesh and blood, and that it was probably no accident that she was childless. Yet I felt that she must know more about the deepest emotions of maternity than some mothers, and I saw then that although she was obviously capable of profound passion, every ounce of it was so fond of Aysgarth. Any affectionate, amusing, intelligent male who made no time-wasting demands would be a highly prized acquaintance.
"I always wanted to do those hands of his," she said, "but I could never see the right way to present them. Then about a year ago they began to haunt me. I dreamed about them, thought of them night and day - until finally I saw how they had to be done."
"And after that did everything go smoothly?"
"Good God, no! Quite the reverse. Creation has to be the greatest pleasure in the universe, but it can be pretty damned harrowing when the work's in process."
"You never thought of giving up?"
"Don't be ridiculous! When things go wrong I don't chuck in the towel. I just slave harder than ever to make everything come right. Making everything come right, that's what it's all about. No matter how many disasters happen, no matter how many difficulties I encounter, I can't rest until I've brought order out of chaos and made everything come right. Of course I made a lot of mistakes. I turned down various blind alleys and had to rework everything to get back on course. But that's normal. You can't create without waste and mess and sheer undiluted slog - you can't create without pain. It's all part of the process. Its in the nature of things. You theologians talk a lot about creation, but as far as I can see none of you know the first damn thing about it. God didn't create the world in seven days and then sit back and say: 'Gee-whiz, that's great!' He created the first outlines of his project to end all projects and he said: 'Yes, that's got a lot of potential but how the hell do I realize it without making a first-class balls up?' And then the real hard work began.
"And still continues. Theologians don't believe God withdrew from the world after the first creation blast and forgot about it"
"Of course he couldn't forget! No creator can forget! If the blast-off's successful you're hooked, and once you're hooked you're inside the work as well as outside it, it's part of you, you're welded to it, you're enslaved, and that's why it's such bloody hell when things go adrift. But no matter how much the mess and distortion make you want to despair, you can't abandon the work because you're chained to the bloody thing, it's absolutely woven into your soul and you know you can never rest until you've brought truth out of all the distortion and beauty out of all the mess - but it's agony, agony, agony - while simultaneously being the most wonderful and rewarding experience in the world - and that's the creative process which so few people understand. It involves an indestructible sort of fidelity, an insane sort of hope, an indescribable sort of... well, it's love, isn't it? There's no other word for it. You love the work and you suffer with it and always - always - you're slaving away against all odds to make everything come right. Every step I take - every bit of the clay I ever touch - they're all there in the final work. If they hadn't happened, then this wouldn't exist. In fact they had to happen for the work to emerge as it is, So in the end every major disaster, every time error, every wrong turning, every fragment of discarded clay, all the blood, sweat and tears - everything has meaning. I give it meaning. I reuse, reshape, recast all that goes wrong so that in the end nothing is wasted and nothing is without significance and nothing ceases to be precious to me."
-Chapter 17 Section 2 Absolute Truths by Susan Howatch
Teach me how to trust you Jesus
free her heart
heal Bea
heal me
Pocahontas - Steady As The Beating Drum
"I always wanted to do those hands of his," she said, "but I could never see the right way to present them. Then about a year ago they began to haunt me. I dreamed about them, thought of them night and day - until finally I saw how they had to be done."
"And after that did everything go smoothly?"
"Good God, no! Quite the reverse. Creation has to be the greatest pleasure in the universe, but it can be pretty damned harrowing when the work's in process."
"You never thought of giving up?"
"Don't be ridiculous! When things go wrong I don't chuck in the towel. I just slave harder than ever to make everything come right. Making everything come right, that's what it's all about. No matter how many disasters happen, no matter how many difficulties I encounter, I can't rest until I've brought order out of chaos and made everything come right. Of course I made a lot of mistakes. I turned down various blind alleys and had to rework everything to get back on course. But that's normal. You can't create without waste and mess and sheer undiluted slog - you can't create without pain. It's all part of the process. Its in the nature of things. You theologians talk a lot about creation, but as far as I can see none of you know the first damn thing about it. God didn't create the world in seven days and then sit back and say: 'Gee-whiz, that's great!' He created the first outlines of his project to end all projects and he said: 'Yes, that's got a lot of potential but how the hell do I realize it without making a first-class balls up?' And then the real hard work began.
"And still continues. Theologians don't believe God withdrew from the world after the first creation blast and forgot about it"
"Of course he couldn't forget! No creator can forget! If the blast-off's successful you're hooked, and once you're hooked you're inside the work as well as outside it, it's part of you, you're welded to it, you're enslaved, and that's why it's such bloody hell when things go adrift. But no matter how much the mess and distortion make you want to despair, you can't abandon the work because you're chained to the bloody thing, it's absolutely woven into your soul and you know you can never rest until you've brought truth out of all the distortion and beauty out of all the mess - but it's agony, agony, agony - while simultaneously being the most wonderful and rewarding experience in the world - and that's the creative process which so few people understand. It involves an indestructible sort of fidelity, an insane sort of hope, an indescribable sort of... well, it's love, isn't it? There's no other word for it. You love the work and you suffer with it and always - always - you're slaving away against all odds to make everything come right. Every step I take - every bit of the clay I ever touch - they're all there in the final work. If they hadn't happened, then this wouldn't exist. In fact they had to happen for the work to emerge as it is, So in the end every major disaster, every time error, every wrong turning, every fragment of discarded clay, all the blood, sweat and tears - everything has meaning. I give it meaning. I reuse, reshape, recast all that goes wrong so that in the end nothing is wasted and nothing is without significance and nothing ceases to be precious to me."
-Chapter 17 Section 2 Absolute Truths by Susan Howatch
Teach me how to trust you Jesus
free her heart
heal Bea
heal me
Pocahontas - Steady As The Beating Drum