No Bad Practice.

You often hear the formula: "Practice makes Perfect."

Often after that, some smart self appointed expert pompously adds : "Perfect Practice makes perfect".

Now I would like  to bring up the following story, taken from a book Art and Fear, by David Bayles and Ted Orland

'The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pound of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B", and so on. Those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot -- albeit a perfect one -- to get an "A". 

Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes -- the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.'

Although clearly poor practice cannot make things perfect, if you wait to be able to practice perfectly to get started you won't achieve anything. 

When they were kids, Michelangelo and Vermeer certainly did ugly drawings... But they did not quit ! And they did not wait to paint perfectly to get started. 

"C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron." *

I'd much rather teach goofy students who keep trying hard with a big heart than smart ones who do not dare to try anything by fear of not doing it right...

This is true of every activity involving training and practice :  Zen, Budo, Mosaics, Cooking, etc...

 

Poor practice is better than no practice. 

Takeyuki Miura Hanshi

Think about it,

Stand up and go Home to your Studio or Dojo.  

Practice your Art !

* One becomes a Smith by forging.

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see some of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.

 

If you are interested by my work in general  or if you would simply like to drop me a line, please 

contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com   

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 
You can also

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Delivery !

2 weeks ago I drove from Alabama to Pennsylvania, 16 hours, mostly under  heavy rain...

Riding with me in the car was our Miura Hanshi Mosaic, a piece I was able to build thanks to generous contributions of people who backed my Kickstarter campaign. 

The Miura Hanshi mosaic was presented to Carl Long Hanshi, head instructor of the KNBK, an organization dedicated to the transmission of several traditional Japanese Martial Arts. 

Miura Hanshi was the 19th generation grandmaster in direct line from the founder of one of these arts. The presentation occurred in front of 60 Martial Artists gathered to train together in the Arts Miura Hanshi dedicated his life to transmit to us. 

The Miura Hanshi mosaic was built following the reverse method. It is made of 3 different black granites, ceramic and glass tiles. Its dimensions are 24 x 30" (60 x 75 cm).

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see some of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.

 

A few times each year, I take on commission work.

If you are interested by a custom mosaic, 

portrait or an other decorative piece,
please contact me 

by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or 

by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

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to receive regular updates on the world and techniques

of mosaics in general and on my other projects.

Miura Hanshi Mosaic, all tiles laid !

I finished laying Miura Hanshi's last tiles last night ! 

I worked fast on this piece as I want it ready as early as possible to take pictures, wrap up the rewards for my Kickstarter campaign backers and take with me to Pensylvania for the KNBK Gasshuku in November.

It took me just a little more than 2 weeks to lay this 22 x 30' piece. I hardly worked on any other mosaic while I was building this one.

Miura Hanshi Mosaic, October 3, 2015, DRY

Remember that you are seeing the back of the piece. it will be glued onto a ridgid support before it can be flipped and seen for the first time.

In the afternoon I sprayed the piece with water to show its actual colours.

Miura Hanshi Mosaic, October 3, 2015, WET

Water turned the granite tesserae from a dull grey to a brilliant black. You still cannot see the difference between the two different granites used for the background and for Hanshi's black attire. You'll have to wait until the piece is flipped - which should happen sometimes this week - and cleaned up, which should take care before October 15. 

 

Detail of the head

If you liked this post, please forward it to a friend. If you did not like it, feel free to forward it to your ennemies. 

 

 

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues. 

If you are interested by my work or would like to drop me a line please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 You can also

(and I recommend it !)

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The Miura Hanshi Mosaic, Half Way there...

Hello everyone, 

As per this Monday morning, August31,  2015, the project has collected a total of $2,942.00 or 53 % of a total goal of $5,500.00. Pledges have been coming mostly from United States last week.

I explained all the details of this project in my last update post last week.

The mosaic model.

Here is the link to the project : The Miura Hanshi Mosaic Portrait.



This result is exciting of course. I have been wanting to do this mosaic for a long time. Actually, I started to think about it about 4 years ago, while Miura Hanshi, and Shimabukuro Hanshi were still alive. I wish they both had been able to see it... This will be my way to thank Muira Hanshi for all he taught to the men and women who teach me today ! Now, with your support, it might very well become true.

Beside the financial contributions, I have also received very kind words of people who cannot contribute financially but send words of encouragement, and ask me what tey can do to help. And it is very important, because pledging money is not the only way you can help !

One very important thing you can do is SHARE the project around you. 

This is very easy to do : 

Go to the Project Page by clicking HERE

Under the video find the line "Share this Project" 

Click on it, and a wide box will open under it. 

This box has several sharing options to different social networks, from left to right Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler & Pinterest. The most important are Facebook and Twittter.

So now if you click on the Facebook Share button, a window will open on your screen.

 
This is the regular Facebook Sharing window. Please share to your timeline. It would greatly help if you'd add a small line such as "Check my friend Frederic's awesome Mosaic and Martial Arts project !"



For those of you who use Twitter, you can use the same procedure to share, Twiter will directly generate the tweet on a window, you just have to send it !

Thank you, 

Frederic

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues.

If you are interested by my work or would like to drop me a line 

please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

   You can also

(and I recommend it !)

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

The Miura Hanshi Mosaic, update

Hello everyone, 

Here is the update on the Miura Hanshi Mosaic. As per this Monday morning, April 24, 2015, the project has collected a total of $1,436.00 of a total goal of $5,500.00. Pledges have been coming mostly from United States and France.

For those of you who did not read my last post, here is what it is all about : 


I launched last week a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to realize a mosaic portrait of Sword Master Takeyuki Hidefusa Miura, Hanshi. Miura Hanshi left this world in 2012. He was the 20th Grand Master of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu, the style of Sword I practice, and I would like to realize this mosaic as a tribute to his life of dedication to the transmission of this Art. 

The mosaic model.

The portrait I want to make of Miura Hanshi will be of him practicing "Tameshigiri": the actual cutting of targets with a real katana. Miura Hanshi was well know for his almost supernatural ability to cut rolls of papers with his sword.

Without men like Miura Hanshi, invaluable arts would be lost to humanity, and I want to realize this mosaic as a tribute to his life and dedication to transmit to us the Art and Spirit of generations of Samurais before him.  When this mosaic is complete, I will donate it to the Headquarters of the KNBK – the organization that carries on Miura Hanshi's teachings.

Here is the link to the project : The Miura Hanshi Mosaic Portrait.

Miura Hanshi cutting rolled paper

If you are not familiar with Kickstarter, this is how it works :

There is a period of 30 days to raise the money (5,500.00). If you think the project is worthy and want to back it, please pledge some money. This is very easily done on the front page of project's Kickstarter website. You get rewards depending on the amount you pledge. This is also well described on the project's Kickstarter website.

 

When you pledge, the money is kept by Kickstarter in a special account. 

At the end of the 30 days (September 15, 2015) if the total amount has been pledged Kickstarter sends me the money and I get to work. If the total amount is not raised, you get fully reimbursed. 

I hope you find this project a valuable one and that you will participate to the cause. 

An other way to help would be to share this post to your facebook page and/or Twitter account, or any other social network you use. 

If you have any questions, please ask them, preferably through the Kickstarter site, so everybody can read them, and my answers.

Thank you

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues. 

If you are interested by my work or would like to drop me a line 

please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 

   You can also

(and I recommend it !)

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

 

Raising Funds for the MIURA HANSHI Mosaic project.

I have just launched my first Kickstarter campaign to 

raise funds to realize a mosaic portrait of Miura Takeyuki Hidefusa, Hanshi, 20th grandmaster of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu (MJER) Iai Jutsu. 

This is the style of Japanese Swordsmanship I practice and teach. 

When the mosaic is complete, I will donate it to the KNBK, the Organization which keeps Miura Hanshi's teaching alive. 

Here is the Link to the MIURA Mosaic Project

 

If you are not familiar with Kickstarter, this is how it 

works : There is a period of 30 days to raise the 

money (5,500.00). If you like this project, 

you pledge some money. Depending on the amount 

you pledge, you get rewards described on the 

project's kickstarter website. When you pledge, the 

money is kept by Kickstarter in a special account.

At the end of the 30 days (September 15, 2015) if 

the total amount has been pledged Kickstarter sends 

me the money and I get to work. If the total amount 

is not raised, you get fully reimbursed.

 

I hope you find this project a valuable tribute to Miura 

Hanshi and that you will participate to the cause. If I 

can complete this project, I would like to later realize 

more portraits of other Martial Arts masters, 

beginning with Shimabukuro Hanshi.

Please ask me all the questions you want, preferably 

through the Kickstarter site, so everybody can read 

them, and my answers.

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues. 

If you are interested by my work or would like to drop me a line please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639.