I was just reading an e-mail from a Friend. She had been perusing some old art instruction books and noticed that the old books taught techniques that are not found in the newer books. So she made a sketch using the older techniques and found that they were much more labor intensive, but yielded significantly better results. She lamented the fact that the new books do not teach the older, better techniques. I wondered why, but almost as soon as the question formed in my mind, I knew the answer. Our diminished attention spans are at fault. But which came first, our lack of focus, or a world streaming at us in 30 second soundbites? Back before the technology revolution we might be quite happy to spend hours fussing over a sketch, or needlework, or painting...but not now, not with our cellphones ringing, online networks requesting our friendship, and the insidious computer games eating away our days at best in 5 minute increments and at worst hours at a time. There are 200 Chanel's to choose from on TV and if you still cannot find something to watch, then you can have an instant movie on demand...maybe its time to rethink all this connectedness and get back to doing things the slower, but better way.
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