Heroes, Part One: Heart and Craft

These are some of my heroes. I love and hate them for being better than me. They have shown me what to do, what not to do, and I think that everyone can learn something from them! Not necessarily from their work but how they went about doing it.

This is heart and craft. Between these people you see the full range, as well as the synthesis.

1) Jackson Pollock - there's something I love about self-destructive alcoholic geniuses. The man's also one of the two greatest abstract expressionists of all-time, along with another hero of mine...

2) Willem DeKooning, whose story isn't as dramatic as Pollock but DeKooning was the true master of the two, whereas Pollock was more of the tortured soul, his artwork bubbling up from the infinite mass of his emotions. DeKooning is more like...

3) Paul McCartney, a craftsman, very, very skilled, able to produce a lot of quality material that is respected for its style and craft, but criticized, sometimes, for lack of heart, but not that often, really, from people who understand what the modus operandi is. And Pollock is more like...

4) John Lennon, extremely personal. A life of pain. Substance abuse to alter their feelings so they didn't have to feel this pain. Too bad he wasn't a true worker like my current main man,

5) Nick Cave, who goes to an office every day to write songs, books, and screenplays like a 9 to 5 job, because that's the way he works, that's the way he is able to be so prolific. And the product is fucking amazing, always quality cuz he knows what's what, what is good.

I'll call this part one of the series, because there are more heroes to talk about and more connections to be made between important people that have shaped my life and others.