GUIDE
Painted bronze and wood, 1979, 26" x 6" x 20".
At some point my figures began to need arms to complete a gesture, to react to their world. I started making figures with flat, fixed bronze arms. The Guide figure had already been cast armless. Because I couldn’t bear to toss it into the reject box, I made it a pair of wooden arms. Once I saw them, they made sense. The puppet-like arms could move, subtly changing the pose, the mood; the wood contrasted with the formality of the bronze. What I had seen as a flaw ended up being a blessing in disguise, an opportunity to choose a new path.
Sometimes I have to fail or make a mistake before I will begin looking for a different solution, risk trying something new or consider challenging the premise of what I am trying to do. Sometimes it is an unexpected gift, a thought or an image burbling up through the confusion that sends me off in a new direction. But mostly I just muddle along, trying this and that until it begins to feel true.
-Janet Geib Pretti
