15 

1] Go to look at the work of the ancient mastercraftsmen. Their work is subtle and mysterious. There is much in these mastercraftsmen that is too deep to grasp with reason. Our only knowledge of them is through the objects that the centuries have guarded.[1]  

2] Their work shows the depth of patient striving; a sensitivity to the subtle nature of form; a respect for the materials with which they worked, that always will inspire admiration. Many examples there are of the object that shows the clarity, fluidity and simplicity of the creative harmony in which these mastercraftsmen were absorbed.  

3] Can we develop within ourselves such patience and sensitivity that our muddled minds become clear? Can we rest in that clarity until we become uncluttered enough to express the fluidity of the Creative Harmony?[2]  

4] The mastercraftsmen seek to be empty rather that full. Because they continuously let go of everything that they have become, the Creative Harmony forever fills them with new creative power.  


  		  footnotes 

1] “The student is not an isolated force. He belongs to a great Brotherhood, bears great kinship to his kind. He takes and he gives. He benefits by taking and benefits by giving. Through art, mysterious bonds of understanding and of knowledge are established among men. They are the bonds of a great brotherhood. those who are of the brotherhood know each other, and time and space cannot separate them The Brotherhood is powerful. It has many members. They are of all places and all times. The members do not die. One is a member to the degree that he can be a member, no more, no less. And that part of him that is of the Brotherhood does not die. The work of the Brotherhood does not deal with surface events. Institutions on the world surface can rise and become powerful and the can destroy each other. Statesmen can put patch upon patch to make things continue to stand still. No matter what may happen on the surface the Brotherhood goes steadily on. It is the evolution of man. Let the surface destroy itself, the Brotherhood will start it again. For in all cases, no matter how strong the surface institutions become, no matter what laws may be laid down, what patches may be made, all change that is real is due to the brotherhood. If the artist is alive in you, you may meet Greco nearer than most people, also Plato, Shakespeare, and the Greeks. In certain books--some way, in the first few paragraphs you know that you have met a brother. You pass people on the street, some are for you, some are not.”  
 
Robert Henri, “The Art Spirit” 
 
2] “I am clearing my mind of all art nonsense, trying to accomplish simplicity and purity of vision for Life itself, for that is more important to me than anything else in my life. I am trying to return to the earlier conditions of my inner life, and take out of experience, as it has come to me in the intervening years, that which has enriched it, and make something of it more than just intellectual diversion. It can be done with proper attention and that is to be my mental and spiritual occupation from now on. In other words, it is the equivalent of what the religious-minded do when they enter a monastery or a convent and give up all the strain and ugliness of Life itself - and if I were younger with the same experience I am not at all sure I wouldn’t do something like that now.” 
 
Marsden Hartley, Notes, 1919-1936