Artist Resource: Developing Mastery
Mastering our craft comes from ever reaching for new goals. We call it grit. Perseverance. Stick-to-itiveness. In her TED Talk, Harvard University's Sarah Lewis calls it "embracing the near win."

As artists, our minds are adept at this.

	"Psychogeographies" Dustin Yellin

We reach for a concept, touch upon it with our work, then pivot and move in a new direction. Dustin Yellin, a contemporary artist in Brooklyn, began his path to mastery as a boy. He buried a fork, a pen, and a dollar bill in a box in his back yard. This simple act led him to explore using boxes and to question what a box is. Today he creates complex layered drawings within transparent containers.

Sculptor Janet Echelman found an idea for sculpture a fter not receiving a shipment of paints in time to meet a deadline

"As if it Were Already Here" Janet Echelman

. She discovered an alternative in a pile of fishing nets on a beach. Today she designs high-tech installations among sky scrapers inspired by those hand-crafted nets.

Having a goal is admirable; but the goal is not an end point. It is merely a milestone in a longer journey. Sarah Lewis tells us to embrace the near win and continue in our process.

What is your near win that has started you in a new direction? Where did your journey begin and where are you now? Comment in the BiB Alumni Network Facebook Group to tell others about your journey.

Althea Bilodeau is a fiber artist who uses wet felting techniques to create clothing and accessories from natural fibers. Althea Studied weaving, garment construction, and costume design at State University of New York at Albany. Her hand-dyed silk charmeuse fabrics have been featured in dresses designed by American Fashion Designer, Chris Benz.

Visit Althea's elegant website   to view a gallery of her work.