Art is Not About Perfection

The thing is, art and craft—photography, weaving, poetry, painting, sculpture—are not about perfection. Art is about presence. It’s about getting quiet, showing up to listen and taking messy action on that inspiration. For me, art is a meditation: a way of getting quiet enough to hear and act on inspiration’s whispers.

Some people say making art is creating something from nothing. But I believe there is always something that launches the art making—a spark that catches the eye or words that need to be said. In poetry, that spark is often a raw emotion or a fragment of thought. In weaving, it might be salvaged yarn, a texture, or a rusty washer collection. The artist’s work is to notice these sparks, to listen closely, and to shape them like clay—gently and intentionally—into something new. Into poems of light. Into cloth with memory. Into images that hold feeling.

But the magic doesn’t stop there.

The real alchemy begins when the finished piece is sent out into the world. When someone else encounters it—someone who sees something of their own self reflected in the work—a new spark is created. It becomes a kind of chain reaction: world to maker to viewer, a bridge is created. Just as the original ‘spark’ ignited something in the artist, the finished art ignites something inside the viewer. A profound connection is made within oneself and with the world.

So no, art and craft are not about achieving perfection. I believe they’re about becoming more fully human. About allowing ourselves to feel, to imagine, to pay attention. Art makes us more alive, more vibrant, more whole.