Thursday Post 11-20-08

Dedication

“In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept destructive criticism. Without 100% dedication, you won't be able to do this.”
Wilson Mizner quotes (Playwright, 1876-1933)

Evans, Troy. From Desperation to Dedication: An Ex-Con's Lessons on Turning Failure into Success. BenBella Books: Dallas, 2007.

Troy Evans is a former drug-addict, drop-out, irresponsible father who attempted a bank robbery and was sent to prison for seven years. He wrote this book on the steps one can take to remain dedicated and focused on improving one's life and prospects. During his time in prison he obtained two degrees with a 4.0 GPA, and when he got out he became a responsible father and an acclaimed public speaker, giving about eighty lectures a year. CNN and Good Morning Americahave both profiled him.

Dedication has definitely been a theme in my work, for my subjects have dedicated their skin to pieces of their identity. In doing this they also dedicated time, pain, and money in their dedicated pursuit of achieving these tattoos. Also, through my dedication through not-always-improving work and frustration with models and my own equipment I have finally begun to achieve images that I like. Even though I was producing "shit" and "trash" and felt like I should just give up and do something else - still lifes or abstracts - especially when the doctor told me I needed to take a break from all Photoshop work because of the shooting pains I was getting from my elbow to my wrist (probably from masking around hair more than anything) I kept at it and I'm finally happy with my images, though they do still need a bit of tweaking.