Doug Kerr
Well-known member
I continue to be amazed at the way in which every day, more and more important work and issues appear in OPF. The range of techniques, outlooks, and accomplishments of the participants is just stunning.
Asher, you, in having decided to earnestly "preside over salon", have without a doubt been a great stimulus to this.
I find more and more of the participants willing to devote considerable effort in expressing suggestions as to how the work could be further improved, or take a different route. And I find that the "contributors" seem to continually advance in the maturity of how they accept the evaluations, suggestions, and recommendations of their colleagues. Thus improves not only the bread but the oven as well. We hone art and craft, and we hone the craft of criticism - at both ends of the process.
I think all here should be proud of this extraordinary resource.
In private correspondence, I have earlier described, as a metaphor for the process here, the remarkable fact (drawn upon for many years by telescope makers) that two glass blocks, rubbed on each other (in a certain way of course), with abrasive compound between, do not force one another into characterless flatness, but instead grow into perfect portions of spheres - one concave and one convex.
In a neat corollary, one discussion of the process says (and I paraphrase), "And it can even be done in the house, perhaps in a spare bedroom, assuming that your spouse can put up with the noise it creates, especially in the early stages."
So grind on, gang, and don't let your artistic hearts shudder at the notion of a perfect sphere.
Asher, you, in having decided to earnestly "preside over salon", have without a doubt been a great stimulus to this.
I find more and more of the participants willing to devote considerable effort in expressing suggestions as to how the work could be further improved, or take a different route. And I find that the "contributors" seem to continually advance in the maturity of how they accept the evaluations, suggestions, and recommendations of their colleagues. Thus improves not only the bread but the oven as well. We hone art and craft, and we hone the craft of criticism - at both ends of the process.
I think all here should be proud of this extraordinary resource.
In private correspondence, I have earlier described, as a metaphor for the process here, the remarkable fact (drawn upon for many years by telescope makers) that two glass blocks, rubbed on each other (in a certain way of course), with abrasive compound between, do not force one another into characterless flatness, but instead grow into perfect portions of spheres - one concave and one convex.
In a neat corollary, one discussion of the process says (and I paraphrase), "And it can even be done in the house, perhaps in a spare bedroom, assuming that your spouse can put up with the noise it creates, especially in the early stages."
So grind on, gang, and don't let your artistic hearts shudder at the notion of a perfect sphere.
