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The barest outlines of a Master

We dont have to see a lot of the work of a master craftsman to know we are
witness to extraordinary quality. It is like this in all the arts: the way a wood
worker turns the lathe, a few stokes by a painter, the posture and fully
articulate hands of a dancer... In each, in a moment, we enter their world,
that is rich and complete to overflowing. With just a few simple gestures
from them, we enter into their vision and their nobility, which is the
treasure-house they draw from to share freely with us all.
For every one true master, many more are left grasping for words to describe
the ineffable, that which transcends language. Our responses to their work is
elemental. When we meet art that stirs up wonder, we still somehow have to
exhult, even if it can never reach the majesty of of what is shared, and the
feelings that are awakened in us. At their best, our praisesongs can only
point to the presence of something great and profound among us. If it does
just this much, the light of our seeing moves from one to another, and the
gift has been shared.
Where do you begin if you have discovered a true artist, and if that person
also happens to have been your father? A few of his photographs should be
enough to convey his mastery, that he grasped the significance of his art, and
acheived its full expressive power. A small sample shows also that he was a
master printer, accomplished in his craft, his methods fully in the service to
his art.
But where to begin, I ask myself, when there is this much to show? I so
want to do him justice, that I usually dont feel up to the task of introducing
his work, beyond letting the images speak for themselves. And so here we
are: a son with a heart full of love and gratitude for these and countless other
gifts, feeling himself to be an inadequate messenger of the sublime and
ennobling, of this life affirming work. I realize that I can only do this much.
I can just give the barest of outline of what my father created, but I think this
should be enough to begin to grasp the dimensions of an extraordinary life
and art.
I can only lead you
to the crest of a hill,
where the vision is waiting...