Thoughts on Craft, Experimentation, Art Process and Expertise

As of late, I’ve been thinking a lot about the kind of expertise that comes from years of experience, years of honing one's craft and the beauty that results from plugging away, day after day, year after year, at something. Learning, practicing, failing, and honing–a cycle on repeat for many years–leads to this kind of expertise. It’s the antithesis of so many things that seemed to be encouraged and valued today, of sound bytes and fast, harmful mass production. 

Over the years, I’ve worked with many students and I understand the desire to want to be good at something right away. It seems that so many things online suggest we can learn anything on our own and quickly. And a few people can. Most of us can’t. Most of us need years of practice and study before we become adept at our craft. And the thing is, this is actually where the joy is found. It is those years of practice that we begin to prefer process over outcome and we begin to find and trust our own voice. At least that has been my experience. 

I took a two-day metal smithing workshop this fall and was reminded of what it is like to be at the beginning stages of learning a skill. Taking that workshop gave me a deep appreciation for those who work in metals and a sense of the level of expertise and skill involved to make even the simplest form, let alone something complex. 

Sometimes, even as we grow in our craft, we get stuck in one of the phases of the cycle for a while. We might take a break from honing and do some experimenting for a time, or learn a new skill to add to our repertoire. I think this is where I’ve been for the past several years and now I’m returning to honing my craft, to finding ways to take some of that experimentation into the work I make best. Periods of experimentation and failure can be frustrating but this really is where the work grows. That energy gets absorbed into the work in a way that’s hard to describe in words.

Learning to cut copper.