Honing the Edge to Precision

Today’s post is written by Kool Aid. No, that’s not her real name and no she isn’t going to share it with you. She only told me because I told her I don’t allow guest posts from giant pitchers of dyed sugar water that are likely to punch through one of my walls. Oh yeah.

It’s not too late to jump to Monday’s post and ask questions either about Vegas or questions for Max and Mia.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy!

The awesome photo is taken by Kool Aid of a knife she actually made.

Capturing an idea is often like gathering lightning, as Writer Dad once wrote so beautifully.

Developing that idea, however, is something else entirely. Sometimes it is a steel blank, forged in the flames of creativity; heated and hammered and pounded against the anvil through sweat, muscle and sometimes even crimson blood and salted tears.

That idea slowly surfaces over time as effort gives form to thought.

While working on my BFA in Metal Design, some creative ideas came quickly while others had to be coaxed. Sometimes putting pencil to paper to sketch those 3-dimensional designs of wood or metal was a challenge. We were taught to keep working, to think outside the box, to push an idea further and further. Often, these strategies led to an amazing piece of art; other times they were only exercises in frustration which never allowed me to leave the two dimensions of the doodled page.

I have boxes and drawers heaped with unfinished work; tarnished, scratched and waiting for that last bit of polish and gleam.

But then there’s a spark of an idea and the creative forge is built. Head, hands and heart team to breathe life and fire into the idea and a work of art, a fine metal blade, emerges.

The final stage of making a knife is sharpening that blade. Microscopic metal teeth align perfectly to cast a razor-sharp edge. Both the idea and the knife reach a point where the work is done; you just have to recognize when to stop.

It’s hard, sometimes, when you keep visualizing that last and final piece required to make it “perfect.” You keep pushing and pushing, adding, editing, making changes. You sharpen that blade long past the razor’s edge. The idea gets dragged out and you realize, at some point along the way, you pushed too far and perhaps stripped too much of the metal. You step back and see bits of shavings and dust littering the table and floor and discover that your work – that fantastic idea you’ve been so diligently working on – is losing itself in your quest for perfection.

That spark of creativity is a lifelong learning process. Knowing when to allow the idea to simply exist as a single bolt of lightning, take the time and effort to forge it into something else and then knowing when to rest are all skills developed over time and experience.

In your creativity, are you honing that fine edge or just shaving away bits of metal?

Drink more Kool Aid at Butterflies in my Hand

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