Part One: Jack (or Jill) of All Trades
Pursuing a Variety of Arts-
Multidisciplinary Artists
Jack of All Trades, Master of None
The original version, "a jack of all trades", has often been used as a description of a person who is good at fixing things and has a good level of broad knowledge. I would consider my husband who built our Virginia house, raises Bonsai plants, and worked in a university- a “jack of all trades.” Someone who is a master of integration: an individual who knows enough from many learned trades and skills to be able to bring the disciplines together in a practical manner. This person is a generalist rather than a specialist.
But maybe women are often unnoticed “Jills of All Trades.” Usually juggling kids, jobs, household chores, errands and extended family care. Our creativity is channeled but often not in a singular or focused way.
Painting with Gouache, I started with painting a few cacti in a local botanical garden and a whole desert setting and birds emerged as I love stories and characters and they show up in many of my works.
I have tried various creative pursuits like some people try on new outfits or diets.
Until finally I understand what my aunt Elisabeth once said to me. I had asked her how she got interested in studying lichens. Those tiny overlooked algae/fungal creatures we might see but ignore on rocks. To me that was such a bizarre point of interest to have later in her life. She said that the subject doesn’t matter as much as the curiosity about the subject and your passion for it. This conversation has stayed with me and influenced me greatly.
We’re never too old to play and explore.
Maybe now that I’m coming closer to the age of sixty, post menopausal, or maybe it’s the result of passing through COVID times or the anticipation of a precarious world of climate change. Or maybe it is even closer to my own body- maybe my surviving through cancer and witnessing the failing health of parents and peers. Whatever the reason, I have settled into the routine of painting each week, focusing on one particular art form. Time to go deep and discover the richness of commitment and practice.
It would be easier to say I’m too old to start painting or get lost in the pangs of regret that I didn’t start sooner (which arise) but it is the daily practice that feeds and informs me. And now I appreciate that all my other past creative endeavors inform my current painting practice. That same curiosity and experimentation that I felt hopping from one craft to another persists as I like using several mediums- mostly acrylic, gouache, and watercolors.
I tore up my mask! Already. writing daily in a diary, making art, and dealing with my critical voice.
Creative pursuits that have shaped my course.
Maybe you’ve tried a few of these-photography, videography, theater, singing, jewelry making, belly dancing, sewing, poetry and fiction writing, and stained glass. Wow, let’s stop there, I’m getting dizzy just recalling all my past passions- usually with courses in university, adult education, or simply using a library book and elbow grease.
Challenge for you:
1 .Record your thoughts about the saying “Jack of all Trades, Master of None”. What do you believe about this term?
2. Make a short list of things you’d like to try doing. Think like Jill, the explorer. Don’t worry if you’ll be good or bad or an expert at it or what others might think. What is your secret to-do bucket list? What might you try? Salsa dancing, climbing Machu Picchu, taking a pastry class?