::VERONICA FUNK::
  • Journal
  • Portfolio
    • A Room of One's Own
    • Alberta Bound
    • Portraits >
      • Ahead of Her Time
      • Extraordinary Women
      • Grandmothers
      • Heroes
      • Mastrius Women
      • Nasty Women
      • Pocket Portraits - 100 Women Artists
      • Postcard Portrait Project
      • The Women
      • Women of the West
      • Woman's Work
      • Wunderland
    • 52 WEEKS >
      • Art Journals
      • Gratitude
      • Storytellers
      • Wild
      • Wildflowers
    • Fashion Plates
    • Sacred Vessel
    • Simple Pleasures
    • Sketchbooks
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Galleries
  • Free Resources
    • Info for Artists
    • Workshops >
      • Painting Animals
      • Painting Art Journals
      • Painting Backgrounds
      • Painting Bees
      • Painting Canoes
      • Painting CityScapes
      • Painting Flowers
      • Painting Hearts & Houses
      • Painting Landscapes
      • Painting Portraits
      • Travel Journalling
      • The Business of Art
  • Contact

Journal.

Never Give Up

4/17/2013

 
Picture
Yesterday I spent my evening painting at Cre8tive Ways and I'm happy to share that this current piece is 2/3 of the way complete.  And I'm really, really liking it.  I find that as I work my feelings towards the work-in-progress waxes and wanes...periods of adulation followed by abject disgust...and back again.  This circle tends to happen several times throughout the period of work which is, I think, probably why people become discouraged and give up most art forms.  And perhaps it is the dedication to slogging through the ebbs and flows of the work that gives an artist a small vestige of mystique.  The commitment to following through, no matter what the cost (usually to self esteem, I imagine).

I'm glad I'm getting somewhere as there are four other pieces in my studio that have caused me much pain and sorrow.  I feel rather bogged down by them.  It was especially nice to get into a different environment to work.  Fresh space, fresh eyes.  Looking forward to sunny days when I can work outside once again.  And every time I feel discouraged I am reminded of the words of Winston Churchill, "Never, never, never give up."  And because I live with a bit of a sports nut...I mean fan...who believes sports analogy applies to every situation in life, I often think of this speech...
"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. 

Unfortunately, so is losing.

"There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers.  It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to  win, and to win, and to win.

"Every time a football player goes to play  his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right  up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads.  That's O.K. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more  importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body.  If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's  never going to come off the field second.

"Running a football team is no  different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political  party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat  the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.

"It  is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games  draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. To know  the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win.

"And in truth, I've never known a  man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't  appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really  yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

"I  don't say these things because I believe in the 'brute' nature of man or that  men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human  decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest  fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has to
work his heart  out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."

-Vince Lombardi


Comments are closed.
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Journal
  • Portfolio
    • A Room of One's Own
    • Alberta Bound
    • Portraits >
      • Ahead of Her Time
      • Extraordinary Women
      • Grandmothers
      • Heroes
      • Mastrius Women
      • Nasty Women
      • Pocket Portraits - 100 Women Artists
      • Postcard Portrait Project
      • The Women
      • Women of the West
      • Woman's Work
      • Wunderland
    • 52 WEEKS >
      • Art Journals
      • Gratitude
      • Storytellers
      • Wild
      • Wildflowers
    • Fashion Plates
    • Sacred Vessel
    • Simple Pleasures
    • Sketchbooks
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Galleries
  • Free Resources
    • Info for Artists
    • Workshops >
      • Painting Animals
      • Painting Art Journals
      • Painting Backgrounds
      • Painting Bees
      • Painting Canoes
      • Painting CityScapes
      • Painting Flowers
      • Painting Hearts & Houses
      • Painting Landscapes
      • Painting Portraits
      • Travel Journalling
      • The Business of Art
  • Contact