Introduction:
This is an old rap from my Kennebunkport, Maine days, 1970-1972, which has never before been written down. I laid it on Norman Stevens on July 29, 2013 when he phoned to introduce the beach glass project.
Rap:
The Ocean is my Master. The ocean takes whatever falls into it and processes it without intent —– the true Zen artist. I will never equal my teacher because, being human and, moreover, a Yankee, I am constrained to make objects useful to my neighbors.
The Clincher:
After forty years of splitting out spoons, I have become more persnickety about what I will carve to a spoon and increasingly liberal in my love of split wood. So far, my new “pure” sculpture has been universally rejected by galleries because I have not “done” enough.