Man, in this digital age where everyone is so focused on the grind, it’s hard to find a person that embraces the value of arts and craftmanship like this man. Salut to you Rajiv.
I was a competitive tennis player as a child, so I can really relate to everything you have said. Another thing I also learned, is that as you progress, sometimes you need a different teacher for the next phase of your practice. It feels sad to move on, but a good teacher will want you to move on too.
Oh Rajiv, you stole my heart with this video. This is exactly how I learnt watercolors. I reached out to Russian artist Sergei Kurbatov and requested him to teach me in-person. I went to his plein air retreat in Tuscany and dedicated everything to practicing. Now I'm a watercolor teacher myself and I'm currently filming a course called Painting Large Watercolors. I'm going to share this video with my students because you've touched upon vital points about mastering any skill. A humble learning mindset and a hunger for getting better can changes someone's life. ❤
Oh, such wisdom....Can you imagine if this message was communicated starting in elementary school. A very accomplished and wise friend (who much like yourself was multi-talented) once told me how learning to play piano in his youth had taught him many life lessons. One of the greatest of these being delayed gratification. That lesson served him well in every new undertaking. Thanks, Rajiv.
This, I think, is the value of having children in activities. It's not that they are going to be the next prodigy or star; it teaches them how to learn something, apply themselves, practice, improve, and trust that someone (the teacher) knows what they are doing and follow their instructions. There is nothing like being terrible at something, going through the process, and successfully learning a new skill.
I always reference my time learning to draw when I was a child. Even to this day I have respect for that little 10 year old girl who decided to learn to draw people. She has been a great teacher in not only art but perseverance, patience, and focus
I absolutely enjoy all your videos. There are so many things I enjoy about your videos, I enjoy listening to your voice, I enjoy watching how you demonstrate what to do and not be concerned if you make a mistake, I enjoy your humor. Today, you brought peace into my world. I've been asking our God to bring me peace and clarity. To bring a stillness to my mind and heart. Thank you for sharing what you have learned over time. Have a wonderful day. 😊
Thank you, Rajiv. I am struggling to learn to knit. When I make mistakes I do not know how to correct them. I am able to make the stitches but I lose concentration. I start over and over. When I can focus properly I will have a product I am proud of. That product will be a testimony to my ability to control my mind.
I'm a knitter too and let me tell you.... here is one thing that might help.... Add a lifeline every x amount of rows (search for knitting lifelines in youtube and you will find a bunch of tutorials).... This takes alot of the pressue off regaring worrying about making mistakes beacuse if you do make a mistake (and cant figure out how to fix it), the lifeline will help you recover your stitches a few rows back so that you dont have to start over from the begining every time you make a mistake. Hope this helps! Keep on knitting ❤
I watch a knitting channel called Nimble Needles. He is an absolutely fantastic teacher, I cannot recommend him enough. Here is a video by him on fixing mistakes: ruclips.net/video/AuH4SafA8d8/видео.htmlsi=Bk1bjeGjEjYrTgrN
I love to learning new things, but mostly I love to be autodidact. I have been off my job for 4 months (I had an accident working) and the people tell me now if I was not boring. I have started learning play piano (I learnt a Chopin sonata), I started listening classical music and studying musical theory, that was a discovery, I have read 25 books in different languages, I was gardening, I was doings creative writing everyday for 20 min, I was cooking and taking a hole Japanese breakfast, I was learning how to do French baghettes (this time with Richard Bertinet), I started oleo painting, I was knitting, plus visiting gardens and museums, going to the beach, and over all studying Japanese and Japanese literature. I even have done a few courses in literature. And I was doing a flower arrangement. So my answer is no, I was not boring. I even dont like this job. Now I have an interview for my dream job, as a librarian in public libraries. So I finally could pass my time doing what I love.
Lovely, Rajiv! I’m learning perfumerie, pattern-making and garment construction, architectural model making, and French. I wish I had more time-and discipline, if I’m being honest. One challenge for me is accepting that I love searching out and investing in fine creative materials! I have to remember that it’s perfectly ok for me to purchase a few cashmere yarn skeins-and it doesn’t have to mean that I’m learning to becoming a knitter. I accept that I enjoy knitting only occasionally, so why not use a very fine, pretty material when I do so!
This should be mandatory viewing for everyone. In today's time of overconsumption, we all should learn something and create as well. Thank you for this 👌
So beautiful! My dad is a great oil painter in a generation of oil painters , he has been taught the skill of making the canvas from scratch and prepping it for the oil painting by his uncle, who was a famous and talented painter in Spain. He always says he will die with this secret unless someone talented that really wants to learn it asks to learn it. Wanna come to my house in Spain Rajjv and take the secret canvas treatment out of him???
I'm a music teacher, and have learned over the years that some students might interrupt because they have ASD1 or ADHD. It is actually very very much harder for these learners to just sit back and not blurt out a thousand questions. I know the other learners may find it distracting, so I try to find ways to minimize disruption. This is true regardless of age of my students. There's no excuse for jerky, inconsiderate behavior...but I now understand that some people struggle really hard to fit into group settings, and frequently they overstep boundaries and annoy those around them. I try to extend grace to all learners.
Thank you for your grace and understanding. I struggle to focus in class. I’m not disruptive, but I annoy myself for wasting good money, when I really want to learn, but can’t stop daydreaming. I wish classes came with a pause button, so I could go back to the point where I became distracted.
@user-ov6bl6iz3e awww hugs. I'm ashamed of my past self, sometimes, because I didn't have a good understanding of all the different learning styles. I didn't have as much patience as I do now. I realize, also, that neurodivergent students often need music, art, and community SO MUCH. And they get tons of rejection, everywhere. Many of my students only feel happy and safe in the arts wing. They feel valued and seen. I have had many ASD kids, lgbtq kids, bullied, ostracized, misunderstood kids, find their community with orchestra. ❤️ but at first, I may have to teach them some self- regulatory skills. And I try now to model compassion during outbursts and inappropriate behavior, while also guiding them to their best work. Helping improve engagement for all students is what I aspire to. I often have fallen short. Granted...I teach ages 9-18. Group setting. I get adults feeling frustrated with other grown-ass people, buuuut they paid for the class too...some may be pretty damn annoying. It's a struggle for sure.
Thank You, Rajiv for bringing value to RUclips with your talents, wisdom and applicable advice on exactly how to follow your curiosity and inner compass. Every video I watch of yours is time well spent, and that cannot be said for the vast majority of content I see on here. Stay well and keep smilin'! :)
Thank you Rajiv!!!❤️ Your attitude and curiosity towards learning is one of the things that makes life worth living. We are here for a short stay therefore it is imperative that we make the most of it. You are doing so beautifully. Thank you again for sharing.
Rajiv how did u not know about you until now??!! 😅 I found your channel bc of your marbeling paper video & I’m loving your channel! 💗💗 I’d like to have a week long play date with you & just create! I’ll bring lots of snacks! 😁💗
The way you talk about learning and the Hindu principle of "flow" is so beautiful! I would love to see a video about how you discipline yourself to fit so many skills into your life. There's so much I want to learn, but when I'm dedicated to one thing I feel I'm missing out on others. Of course, time-sucking social media and entertainment don't help either...I really admire how your life seems organized around creativity, learning, and self-betterment.
I’m always struck by the quality of Rajiv’s questions when he is in a setting with an expert, like in the opening with the watercolor painter. He does often seem like a master student, engaging with what he is seeing and asking just the right questions about it.
Thank you for sharing. I have had similar experiences and here is one of them: You can if you think you can, even if takes many years. an excerpt from chapter 13. July 2, 2013 at 10:22pm Each of us, in our own ways, gradually acquired the many skills necessary. For me, the acquisition of some skills was illusive. It took me years of daily practice to master the skill of pulling handles. Sure, I admit that I put wispy poorly applied handles on pots for years. However, I felt bad about every single one. Yet, every one was the best that I could do at that moment in time. I knew they didn’t feel right or look right. Thankfully I had the vision to see and to know that. Every day, I spent at least an hour pulling handles over a slurry pail, letting each one fall to its deserving death, to be recycled and resurrected again for another exercise. Usually, it was the first thing I did in the morning after attending to the clay mixing barrels and wedging the day’s supply of clay. On most mornings I would pull about ten pounds of practice handles. I also exercised pulling handles directly off of pots. I threw pots of various sizes and shapes especially for handle pulling practice. It is easy to see that I devoted a good bit of studio time to support the practice of pulling handles. It was that important to me. Still, it was drudgery. Some part of me knew, however, that one day I would arrive at the point where my practicing would allow me to be able to pull any type of handle, of any shape, width, or length that I wanted or needed. For years this did not happen. Every day the results seemed to be the same. It was extremely frustrating but I stayed with it like religion. I don’t know why, but my expectations were wrong. I have dabbled with music my entire life. Practicing on a regular basis has always brought continuing bits of progress in a stepping stone fashion. Difficult fingerings and maneuvers became gradually easier and smoother with repetition. Learning one thing would open a small door to make learning another thing easier. There seemed to be connections and links between one musical learning path and other musical paths. When I learned to draw, it was very much the same way. I had this expectation of incremental progress with handle pulling but it didn’t happen. Slow improvement with small advances were frustrating enough but almost no improvement or advancement, over a long period of time, was often just torture. Sure, there was some improvement over the years since I left school but it was minimal. One morning I began the daily ritual of practice and it was totally different. I am pretty sure that I did everything exactly as I normally would, but that day it felt different. That was it, it was a feeling not a product and not an intellectual act! That day I felt the clay. I felt it with my fingers. I felt it with my hands. I felt it with my eyes. I didn’t just look at the clay and see the clay; I actually felt the clay with my eyes. The whole process was about feeling. It was a day of epiphany. I never thought it would all come together in a single moment but it did. The day before every handle I pulled was serviceable but lacking in grace, authority, and fluidity. Suddenly I felt like I could pull powerful handles of any width, cross section, or length. So, that’s what I started to do. I pulled all the little handle plugs I had fashioned for the morning’s practice and stuck them to edge of a worktable. I rolled up a cone of about three pounds of clay and tried to see how long I could pull a handle. It was longer than thirty inches because it touched the floor when I stuck it to the table top. I took what was left of the cone and did it again and again and again. It wasn’t just a long handle but the cross section was pleasantly hefty and two dorsal ridges evenly spaced for the whole length. The two dorsal ridges were indicative of the Alfred, New York style of handle. The handles each had a pleasing, slow, gradual taper from one end to the other. I pulled handles that were of an English style with one dorsal ridge. I pulled round handles and round handles with multiple ridges. I pulled handles with a square cross section. I pulled handles with my right hand. I pulled handles with my left hand. I tired to see how wide I could pull a handle with either hand. I stuck a large wide cone of clay to a table top to see how wide and how long I could pull a handle using both hands. I brought out the tray of handle practice pots and attached little noses of clay of various widths to the pots and pulled handles directly from the pots. I had never been able to successfully do that to my own satisfaction before. Instantly I realized that it would, from that day forward, be the method I would use to attach handles almost all of the time. Although it had nothing to do with pulling handles, I decided that day that I would try to once-fire pottery from that point on, no more pointless bisque firings. Not only had I acquired the control of the clay in pulling handles that day but I think I became a different person. Or at the least, I had become a very different version of the person I had been the day before. I could feel the clay and that made me feel as though I had been pulling handles for ever like the handles I had been pulling that day. My fingers and hands experimented with subtle pressures and movements. My whole being became filled with a mystical spiritual joy. Within a few hours I had stuck a handle to every available surface and every available pot. My apron was covered with slurry. I held the clay as high as I could to keep from tiring. Slurry covered both arms and when I raised my arms high; the slurry ran into my armpits. It was a glorious feeling. By noon that day I could no longer remember not having the feeling, which was just the day before, when I didn’t have total control of the clay in pulling handles. Maybe it would be better to say that I couldn’t remember a time when I was not one with the clay. I couldn’t remember a time when I couldn’t feel the clay in such a way that I knew what the clay wanted or needed. I could no longer remember what it felt like to not be able to pull beautiful handles. At some point my oldest daughter, Heather, had entered the room but I hadn’t noticed her. I have no idea how long she had been quietly watching me. Time has always been a mystery to me. I heard her small voice say, “Dad, you’re starting to scare me”. Startled, I turned and asked, “What do you mean”? “You’ve got handles stuck everywhere. What are you doing”, she asked? “I’m just happy”, I said, “Yesterday I couldn’t pull handles like this and today I can”. “I think I better go tell mom”, she said in a dramatic worried manner and disappeared back into the house. She was truly concerned. I’m sure she thought I had completely lost my mind. She is over forty years old now and she still loves telling the story about me sticking handles everywhere in the workshop. It may seem very strange but I knew what the feeling would be like the first time I saw someone else skillfully working in clay. I knew it was something I had to do. I knew I had to get that feeling. The feeling was like the memory of something remote and long ago. When it all came together on one day it was like a physical muscle memory that had been reclaimed from time. I think I knew what it would feel like because it was suddenly such a familiar feeling. At some point in time I think I had done it all before. I spent the following several days designing and making items constructed with just pulled handles. I made bud vases and candlesticks and wall sconces. I practiced attaching handles that ended in a smooth fluid billowing flow, like the waves of a ribbon. I practiced applying wide sturdy handles, horizontally, to the sides of large planters. I pulled short, medium and long handles of various profiles from the undersides of pots to become legs. I involved myself totally in a sort of orgy of handle pulling and application. As an adult I’m not sure that I was, ever before, so excited by any other activity or skill acquisition. For a short while it was all consuming. Eventually things once again became more balanced. Handle pulling accepted its rightful place as one of an arsenal of useful potter’s skills. However, physically, aesthetically, and spiritually, pulling handles remains at the top of my list of favorite pleasurable pottery activities. It also always gives me great pleasure to pickup someone else’s pots to more closely examine and admire the beauty of a well pulled and expertly attached handle. Sadly, it is not often that I experience such handles.
That’s wonderful, excellent choice! Its awesome that you chose something creative, beautiful to look at, and also functional! Yours is my favorite of all the comments I read. Enjoy Sunday!
So much to love about you, Rajiv, the way of beauty I would call 'the romantic life', the essence of it, flows so easily through you. Saraswati must have graced your birth with such aromatics. Thank you for all you share... ever grateful. 🙏 ❤
I find your advice valuable, but there is an underlying assumption here that others can afford to go to the teacher of their dreams. I’m sure I’m not only speaking for myself when I say that I struggle with having the desire to want to learn a new skill, but lack the means. I take guidance as it comes, but for the most part, I find myself having to learn things on my own. Learning by trial and error can frustrate and sometimes halt the creative flow.
Your knowledge and talents are incredible. Great mind set only few in the world have. Your energy willingness to keep learning and sharing is a great motivation and asset to many. May you be continued to be blessed. 🙏❤️🙏your respect to your culture and knowing the deep meaning of each of the things are amazing. Trusting all people who are watching your videos are being very proud of their own culture and deep appreciation towards it. ❤️
Learning the harp (starting in 2008) really set me off in a new direction - first it was a harp with no levers, then partial levers (love those Harpsicle harps!), then full levers with Dusty Strings. I found two harp therapy programs and graduated from them so I could play in healthcare, and then - I never thought I'd go there - but a good harp buddy of mine was dying, and she wanted her Lyon and Healy Chicago Petit (40 string) pedal harp to go to a good home, so we made space for it in our tiny house in Honolulu for it. I play lever harp for hospital, and hospice. And, two weeks ago, I just started playing with watercolors, and I don't know why, but I'm really diggin' it! I'm 68, and my artistic bent is finally coming out! Hugs from O'ahu, Rajiv!
I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say Rajiv. The saddest thing is someone with natural talent who shuts there mind and is not willing to learn more; because their ego gets in the way or their successes come so easily. There is always someone with more skill, more talent, more practice and mastery to learn from. Blessings to you for your attitude, Muffy from Oz.
I understand that this style of apprenticeship is still alive and well in Japan. I have some pottery and it makes me so happy. Starting again has always been the hardest part for me, or being afraid to start when I don’t know if the first path will be the right one. Sometimes a little music or struggling with a friend helps. ❤
Yes, you have taken the time to learn all these things, but OUR benefit is that someone like you, who has such a drive and motivation to learn also has a drive and a motivation to teach and motivate. I don’t know you personally. I feel like I do. But in my room in my home in NC on a comfortable quiet evening I can watch a beautifully made video from someone beautiful inside and out and become inspired, be entertained, be educated, be motivated.. to learn a new thing.. or simply to be more open myself, to educate more, to motivate, to do for someone else.. as you do. ☺️💕
That's my goal, to motivate the people watching these videos. Motive them to simply feel motivated, at the very least. Thanks for your comment, and for watching.
Thank you, for yet another beautiful video to calm my mind. And also bringing back memories ... When I was a teenager, I had a retired cabinet maker (I did not know that at the time) say to me "I hear you are into woodwork", I replied, "yes, I want to be a cabinet maker", he said "Would you like me to teach you how to use the scrollsaw?" I said "Yes please. I just have one question, what is a scrollsaw?" 😂 We didn't have google back then, so I just had to wait for my first class to find out. All I knew was I was going to be doing woodwork with him on Saturday mornings (because I was still at school). Well my first lesson came and I saw it for the first time, we went through a quick how to turn it on and off and then he ruled a straight line on a piece of wood and told me to cut a straight line. So 15 year old me gets on there and cuts a straight line. He then told me it usually takes a year or 2 for people to learn how to cut a straight line, and was amazed that I did it the very first time, he had never seen anyone do that before. So we had a lot of fun, being able to skip the basics and go straight into making projects, I was still learning a lot.
After school, I did a pre-apprenticeship cabinet making course and learned how to use all the machinery by my teacher who was also a retired cabinet maker, and with exams where you have to get 100% to move on to the next part of the course. I finished that. Then I had seizures and can't use the machinery, too dangerous. So no, I'm not a cabinet maker.
That’s really sad because you would have been a very good one. I hope you found another career path that uses your obvious abilities and positive, tenatious mindset and also brings you joy😊!
Respect is one of the most important traits, which lack of it could ruin a healthy society... After so many years living here in the United States, I still feel uncomfortable calling an elderly person or a teacher, "you" or by their first name.
I've said it before, you are amazing! Your dedication to learning new skills is beyond compare. Thank for sharing this experience of patience and understanding that practice makes perfect!❤
Thaks for this Rajiv. It seems the willingness to give things a go plays a big part -"Beginner's Mind" - plus enthusiasm. People give up too easily with "I can't draw" etc.
I lived in India for the first 26 years of my life. At age 22, I wanted to learn the sitar from a renowned artist near my house. I did not know where he lived, but I had a general idea of the area. I went from one block to another, asking where he lived, and reached his home, where he taught the sitar. He was gracious enough to teach me the sitar, and I was one of the students whom he taught personally instead of his senior students. And what you said about practice is true; you need to practice so that you become better day by day. I started to learn pottery when I came to the US, took a few classes, and then stopped. Your video has inspired me to look into the classes again, and I will be enrolling in the pottery classes again this May because all the classes are full until May. You are an inspiration, Rajiv. I love your videos.
Actively looking for a piano teacher now - yes, I can plunk my way through a Mozart minuet, but I know I can only go so far on my own - thank you for the reminder!
Learning new things keeps one young! I’m currently doing a full restoration on a vintage loom in preparation to learn how to weave. My neighbor who is a professional weaver asks why I just don’t buy a new loom and start to weave but I now know more about looms than she does and its restoration has prepared me to lean into the craft more deeply with the knowledge I’ve acquired about my new tool. Thank you for investing in the content you produce. I just love your channel.
Dear Rajiv, I love your videos and look forward to the next subject. You have inspired me, especially at this time in life, thank you! I’ve studied Ikebana, jewelry making and a couple of other arts. I’m a bit older lady with an ill husband, because of your inspiration, my handwriting has improved. Thank you again for your incredible contribution and content, you are a wonderful teacher!!❤️💕❤️
The wonderful thing about a sacred gift is it flows in two directions; it came from another time, another generation gifted to us and on into the circle beyond our moment here to be found anew .. The time together is a gift for both teacher and student ....
Hinduism is the ultimate truth: Maathru Devo Bhava Pithru Devo Bhava Aacharya Devo Bhava Athidhi Devo Bhava. Honour thy Mother as God. Honour thy Father as God. Honour thy Teacher as God. Honour thy Guest as God How beautiful
Thank you for this Video, very inspiring to check my own attitude towards learning and discipline…. I personally have a problem with learning because of my fear of missing out on something else I could learn or because I’m inspired in the beginning and than question myself when it is getting to hard „Uff do I really want this?“ A sort of maybe lacking the will to sacrifice my time and Energie and wanting Skills the easy way? Do you have any Tipps for perseverance? Or maybe want to make follow up video? Because that subject you started with in this video Leads to many other subjects. Thank you again! 🙏
Sometimes in India they also say that the guru finds you if it’s really in your fate to ‘know’ . This is so fundamental that it makes learning under a guru much like a gift from a different realm. And that thing about doing the right practice - that’s where having the ‘right’ guru is so important. Not the best or the biggest expert in the field, but the teacher who is right for you.
I have a bronze statue of that goddess in my bedroom. I see her every night before I go to sleep and every day when I wake up. I do not have a remotely Hindu background, but fell in love with her when I read everything she stands for. When I glance at her, I remember who I am. Thank you, Rajiv. I relate to this video very much.
Hi. I've just wanted to say, I really am inspired by your channel. Everything is so calming and inspiring. It somehow just feels like I can do the thing I've been meaning to do. Moving ahead with my Piano concerto. Which is daunting as I have never tried to compose with orchestra... But I'm going to write what I feel, and not feel less than! Also, please do more flower arrangements. You now have me obsessed with those dramatic flower prints. And just watched Mean Girls. You were hilarious. You're so inspiring with learning new skills. Ps. Please more flowers this spring.❤
Watched the canvas reframing, awesome like all your detailed videos. Perhaps I have a tip for your friend the framer. My father was a forester and he told me that the wood of the Sugar Pine tree, which grows in the area of Mt. Lassen California, has the least coefficient of movement wet to dry which makes it ideal for windows, back when they were made of wood. That should also be an asset for his framing construction. Just seeing the Mature Sugar Pine with it's foot long cones at the tips of its branches is a memorable sight. The geology is also amazing in that area due to Mt. Lassen's eruptions , you can find rocks that float.
Hello beautiful soul. Even though im older than you, you sure hold a higher place of wisdom. What an inspiration you are. A fresh breath of mint, that takes me to a place of wanting.... To achive my fullest To reach to higher perfectionism Blessings
This is brilliant… my old art teacher from Poland had a sign printed in black paint on cardboard: please hold your question for after the class. Bathroom down the hall. He would hold up this sign and not miss a beat!
Something you said about having the guts to destroy your flower pot when deep down you know it's not to your standard, reminds me of a sculptor in the Agatha Christie novel "The Hollow" who can't sleep because she realizes that part of the nasty personality of the model whose head she was sculpting had made it into the final result. So she squashes the clay.
For anything we attempt, we first have to remember we are human. So limited in anything we do. Accepting our mistakes for they are the way of learning. Repetition is a good thing, taking the time to practice doing whatever we want to perfect, over and over, disciplines us. Then realizing that being perfect is not of this world. It may take years of dedication but so many are too much in a hurry and cease to accomplish their intended goal. Patience is golden, and listening is vital to all we learn from good teachers. Teachers are eager to pass on what they have learned. Thank you, Rajiv, for you see I know you are a great teacher.🌅🌟
Thank you Rajiv, your 15:42 advice are the best! I love your way to work I found it very ispirational ❤ Can you think to do a video on tha basic tools and the basic tecnique on watercolors painting?
Same here. Finding the right teacher is thr most challenging part of learning a new skill. It's worth it when you find them though. Some of my interests i still need to find teachers for.
I am dying over your comments 12:56 - I am trying to learn voice stenography and our class only meets once a week and information is vital! But tell me why we have to interrupt the whole class for someone's computer issue they could easily fix on their own? This a class with word doc hand outs with screenshots too. But man I feel so seen with your sentiments.
your water color teacher doesnt use the real primary colors. you can never get pink with that palet. the real primaries are: cyan, Magenta and lemon yellow. ruclips.net/video/NVhA18_dmg0/видео.html
YES! This! Just shut up and listen to the teacher. Watch. Absorb. Asking question after question, and getting answers to each question just teaches people that they can keep asking and getting answers, none of which will teach the actual skill, but just sponsor more curiosity. Love what you shared. It's priceless.❤
Nice ! Well said. And also is it not necessary to have some connection between teacher and student? Even if teacher is capable and student is skillful, if there is lack in connection and good communication,then that bond and learning is not so enjoyable. Is it not? And it's hard find such teachers in this busy world. Love these points and explanations. Thank you!
You are so inspiring! My mother ( who is no longer with us) always told me what is in you mind (or brain) nobody can take it away from you in opposition of material things..so true
Thank you Rajiv, I needed to hear your message before seeking pottery classes in NYC. I was, randomly seeking now I will seek intently and not just whose in the “yellow pages” (LOL) social media.
Thank you Rajiv, I am reminded of your message before I return to painting again. Not so easy to find the right instructors. I will persevere. Love to hear more about your process. Tells more about your creative daily routine.
I wish for you a long, healthy, and continued creative and beautiful life dear Rajiv; and I hope I am blessed to live a long life so that I can continue to watch and learn from you, and be rejoiced by you. You are precious ❤️🙏🏻
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Man, in this digital age where everyone is so focused on the grind, it’s hard to find a person that embraces the value of arts and craftmanship like this man. Salut to you Rajiv.
I was a competitive tennis player as a child, so I can really relate to everything you have said. Another thing I also learned, is that as you progress, sometimes you need a different teacher for the next phase of your practice. It feels sad to move on, but a good teacher will want you to move on too.
So true. Insightful comment. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this perspective! I never really thought about it that way before. 🌷
True. I am a contortionist and after several different coaches, I’ve finally found the right one.
Oh Rajiv, you stole my heart with this video. This is exactly how I learnt watercolors. I reached out to Russian artist Sergei Kurbatov and requested him to teach me in-person. I went to his plein air retreat in Tuscany and dedicated everything to practicing. Now I'm a watercolor teacher myself and I'm currently filming a course called Painting Large Watercolors. I'm going to share this video with my students because you've touched upon vital points about mastering any skill. A humble learning mindset and a hunger for getting better can changes someone's life. ❤
What a beautiful comment
Having a reverence and respect for your teacher, which seems to have disappeared. A reverence in how you also listen and learn.
Oh, such wisdom....Can you imagine if this message was communicated starting in elementary school. A very accomplished and wise friend (who much like yourself was multi-talented) once told me how learning to play piano in his youth had taught him many life lessons. One of the greatest of these being delayed gratification. That lesson served him well in every new undertaking. Thanks, Rajiv.
This, I think, is the value of having children in activities. It's not that they are going to be the next prodigy or star; it teaches them how to learn something, apply themselves, practice, improve, and trust that someone (the teacher) knows what they are doing and follow their instructions. There is nothing like being terrible at something, going through the process, and successfully learning a new skill.
Just love this guy
I always reference my time learning to draw when I was a child. Even to this day I have respect for that little 10 year old girl who decided to learn to draw people. She has been a great teacher in not only art but perseverance, patience, and focus
I absolutely enjoy all your videos. There are so many things I enjoy about your videos, I enjoy listening to your voice, I enjoy watching how you demonstrate what to do and not be concerned if you make a mistake, I enjoy your humor. Today, you brought peace into my world. I've been asking our God to bring me peace and clarity. To bring a stillness to my mind and heart. Thank you for sharing what you have learned over time. Have a wonderful day. 😊
Thank you, Rajiv. I am struggling to learn to knit. When I make mistakes I do not know how to correct them. I am able to make the stitches but I lose concentration. I start over and over. When I can focus properly I will have a product I am proud of. That product will be a testimony to my ability to control my mind.
As a knitter may I suggest that you don't try to perfect each stitch. Making and accepting mistakes are part of the path to learning.
I'm a knitter too and let me tell you.... here is one thing that might help.... Add a lifeline every x amount of rows (search for knitting lifelines in youtube and you will find a bunch of tutorials).... This takes alot of the pressue off regaring worrying about making mistakes beacuse if you do make a mistake (and cant figure out how to fix it), the lifeline will help you recover your stitches a few rows back so that you dont have to start over from the begining every time you make a mistake. Hope this helps! Keep on knitting ❤
I watch a knitting channel called Nimble Needles. He is an absolutely fantastic teacher, I cannot recommend him enough. Here is a video by him on fixing mistakes: ruclips.net/video/AuH4SafA8d8/видео.htmlsi=Bk1bjeGjEjYrTgrN
He is so adorable, his parents raised a well rounded young man. ( sounds like a grandmother) 😂
I love to learning new things, but mostly I love to be autodidact. I have been off my job for 4 months (I had an accident working) and the people tell me now if I was not boring. I have started learning play piano (I learnt a Chopin sonata), I started listening classical music and studying musical theory, that was a discovery, I have read 25 books in different languages, I was gardening, I was doings creative writing everyday for 20 min, I was cooking and taking a hole Japanese breakfast, I was learning how to do French baghettes (this time with Richard Bertinet), I started oleo painting, I was knitting, plus visiting gardens and museums, going to the beach, and over all studying Japanese and Japanese literature. I even have done a few courses in literature. And I was doing a flower arrangement. So my answer is no, I was not boring. I even dont like this job. Now I have an interview for my dream job, as a librarian in public libraries. So I finally could pass my time doing what I love.
Lovely, Rajiv! I’m learning perfumerie, pattern-making and garment construction, architectural model making, and French. I wish I had more time-and discipline, if I’m being honest.
One challenge for me is accepting that I love searching out and investing in fine creative materials! I have to remember that it’s perfectly ok for me to purchase a few cashmere yarn skeins-and it doesn’t have to mean that I’m learning to becoming a knitter. I accept that I enjoy knitting only occasionally, so why not use a very fine, pretty material when I do so!
This should be mandatory viewing for everyone. In today's time of overconsumption, we all should learn something and create as well. Thank you for this 👌
Everything you have said and summed up is a metaphor for life. Thank you for your videos and thoughts, Rajiv. 🙋🏼♀️🇨🇭
So beautiful! My dad is a great oil painter in a generation of oil painters , he has been taught the skill of making the canvas from scratch and prepping it for the oil painting by his uncle, who was a famous and talented painter in Spain. He always says he will die with this secret unless someone talented that really wants to learn it asks to learn it. Wanna come to my house in Spain Rajjv and take the secret canvas treatment out of him???
I'm a music teacher, and have learned over the years that some students might interrupt because they have ASD1 or ADHD. It is actually very very much harder for these learners to just sit back and not blurt out a thousand questions. I know the other learners may find it distracting, so I try to find ways to minimize disruption. This is true regardless of age of my students.
There's no excuse for jerky, inconsiderate behavior...but I now understand that some people struggle really hard to fit into group settings, and frequently they overstep boundaries and annoy those around them. I try to extend grace to all learners.
I am annoyed easily by stupid questions when I'm paying good money to hear what the teacher has to say.
@rajivsurendra I'm easily annoyed when I'm trying to teach and someone keeps interrupting my focus. 😆 alas.
Thank you for your grace and understanding. I struggle to focus in class. I’m not disruptive, but I annoy myself for wasting good money, when I really want to learn, but can’t stop daydreaming. I wish classes came with a pause button, so I could go back to the point where I became distracted.
@user-ov6bl6iz3e awww hugs. I'm ashamed of my past self, sometimes, because I didn't have a good understanding of all the different learning styles. I didn't have as much patience as I do now. I realize, also, that neurodivergent students often need music, art, and community SO MUCH. And they get tons of rejection, everywhere. Many of my students only feel happy and safe in the arts wing. They feel valued and seen. I have had many ASD kids, lgbtq kids, bullied, ostracized, misunderstood kids, find their community with orchestra. ❤️ but at first, I may have to teach them some self- regulatory skills. And I try now to model compassion during outbursts and inappropriate behavior, while also guiding them to their best work. Helping improve engagement for all students is what I aspire to. I often have fallen short.
Granted...I teach ages 9-18. Group setting. I get adults feeling frustrated with other grown-ass people, buuuut they paid for the class too...some may be pretty damn annoying. It's a struggle for sure.
Bless teachers like you!!! They saved me from myself! ❤😊❤
You are amazing!!! Is there anything you can’t do? My god you have talent 🇨🇦
Thank You, Rajiv for bringing value to RUclips with your talents, wisdom and applicable advice on exactly how to follow your curiosity and inner compass. Every video I watch of yours is time well spent, and that cannot be said for the vast majority of content I see on here. Stay well and keep smilin'! :)
Thank you Rajiv!!!❤️
Your attitude and curiosity towards learning is one of the things that makes life worth living. We are here for a short stay therefore it is imperative that we make the most of it. You are doing so beautifully. Thank you again for sharing.
My absolute favorite creator on YT!
Rajiv how did u not know about you until now??!! 😅 I found your channel bc of your marbeling paper video & I’m loving your channel! 💗💗 I’d like to have a week long play date with you & just create! I’ll bring lots of snacks! 😁💗
The way you talk about learning and the Hindu principle of "flow" is so beautiful! I would love to see a video about how you discipline yourself to fit so many skills into your life. There's so much I want to learn, but when I'm dedicated to one thing I feel I'm missing out on others. Of course, time-sucking social media and entertainment don't help either...I really admire how your life seems organized around creativity, learning, and self-betterment.
I second this! Would love a video on this topic!
I’m always struck by the quality of Rajiv’s questions when he is in a setting with an expert, like in the opening with the watercolor painter. He does often seem like a master student, engaging with what he is seeing and asking just the right questions about it.
Your wealth of knowledge and skill set is spectacular!
I love you Rajiv!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for sharing. I have had similar experiences and here is one of them: You can if you think you can, even if takes many years. an excerpt from chapter 13.
July 2, 2013 at 10:22pm
Each of us, in our own ways, gradually acquired the many skills necessary. For me, the acquisition of some skills was illusive. It took me years of daily practice to master the skill of pulling handles. Sure, I admit that I put wispy poorly applied handles on pots for years. However, I felt bad about every single one. Yet, every one was the best that I could do at that moment in time. I knew they didn’t feel right or look right. Thankfully I had the vision to see and to know that. Every day, I spent at least an hour pulling handles over a slurry pail, letting each one fall to its deserving death, to be recycled and resurrected again for another exercise. Usually, it was the first thing I did in the morning after attending to the clay mixing barrels and wedging the day’s supply of clay. On most mornings I would pull about ten pounds of practice handles. I also exercised pulling handles directly off of pots. I threw pots of various sizes and shapes especially for handle pulling practice. It is easy to see that I devoted a good bit of studio time to support the practice of pulling handles. It was that important to me. Still, it was drudgery. Some part of me knew, however, that one day I would arrive at the point where my practicing would allow me to be able to pull any type of handle, of any shape, width, or length that I wanted or needed. For years this did not happen. Every day the results seemed to be the same. It was extremely frustrating but I stayed with it like religion.
I don’t know why, but my expectations were wrong. I have dabbled with music my entire life. Practicing on a regular basis has always brought continuing bits of progress in a stepping stone fashion. Difficult fingerings and maneuvers became gradually easier and smoother with repetition. Learning one thing would open a small door to make learning another thing easier. There seemed to be connections and links between one musical learning path and other musical paths. When I learned to draw, it was very much the same way. I had this expectation of incremental progress with handle pulling but it didn’t happen. Slow improvement with small advances were frustrating enough but almost no improvement or advancement, over a long period of time, was often just torture. Sure, there was some improvement over the years since I left school but it was minimal.
One morning I began the daily ritual of practice and it was totally different. I am pretty sure that I did everything exactly as I normally would, but that day it felt different. That was it, it was a feeling not a product and not an intellectual act! That day I felt the clay. I felt it with my fingers. I felt it with my hands. I felt it with my eyes. I didn’t just look at the clay and see the clay; I actually felt the clay with my eyes. The whole process was about feeling. It was a day of epiphany. I never thought it would all come together in a single moment but it did. The day before every handle I pulled was serviceable but lacking in grace, authority, and fluidity. Suddenly I felt like I could pull powerful handles of any width, cross section, or length. So, that’s what I started to do. I pulled all the little handle plugs I had fashioned for the morning’s practice and stuck them to edge of a worktable. I rolled up a cone of about three pounds of clay and tried to see how long I could pull a handle. It was longer than thirty inches because it touched the floor when I stuck it to the table top. I took what was left of the cone and did it again and again and again. It wasn’t just a long handle but the cross section was pleasantly hefty and two dorsal ridges evenly spaced for the whole length. The two dorsal ridges were indicative of the Alfred, New York style of handle. The handles each had a pleasing, slow, gradual taper from one end to the other. I pulled handles that were of an English style with one dorsal ridge. I pulled round handles and round handles with multiple ridges. I pulled handles with a square cross section. I pulled handles with my right hand. I pulled handles with my left hand. I tired to see how wide I could pull a handle with either hand. I stuck a large wide cone of clay to a table top to see how wide and how long I could pull a handle using both hands. I brought out the tray of handle practice pots and attached little noses of clay of various widths to the pots and pulled handles directly from the pots. I had never been able to successfully do that to my own satisfaction before. Instantly I realized that it would, from that day forward, be the method I would use to attach handles almost all of the time. Although it had nothing to do with pulling handles, I decided that day that I would try to once-fire pottery from that point on, no more pointless bisque firings. Not only had I acquired the control of the clay in pulling handles that day but I think I became a different person. Or at the least, I had become a very different version of the person I had been the day before. I could feel the clay and that made me feel as though I had been pulling handles for ever like the handles I had been pulling that day. My fingers and hands experimented with subtle pressures and movements. My whole being became filled with a mystical spiritual joy. Within a few hours I had stuck a handle to every available surface and every available pot. My apron was covered with slurry. I held the clay as high as I could to keep from tiring. Slurry covered both arms and when I raised my arms high; the slurry ran into my armpits. It was a glorious feeling. By noon that day I could no longer remember not having the feeling, which was just the day before, when I didn’t have total control of the clay in pulling handles. Maybe it would be better to say that I couldn’t remember a time when I was not one with the clay. I couldn’t remember a time when I couldn’t feel the clay in such a way that I knew what the clay wanted or needed. I could no longer remember what it felt like to not be able to pull beautiful handles.
At some point my oldest daughter, Heather, had entered the room but I hadn’t noticed her. I have no idea how long she had been quietly watching me. Time has always been a mystery to me.
I heard her small voice say, “Dad, you’re starting to scare me”.
Startled, I turned and asked, “What do you mean”?
“You’ve got handles stuck everywhere. What are you doing”, she asked?
“I’m just happy”, I said, “Yesterday I couldn’t pull handles like this and today I can”.
“I think I better go tell mom”, she said in a dramatic worried manner and disappeared back into the house. She was truly concerned. I’m sure she thought I had completely lost my mind. She is over forty years old now and she still loves telling the story about me sticking handles everywhere in the workshop.
It may seem very strange but I knew what the feeling would be like the first time I saw someone else skillfully working in clay. I knew it was something I had to do. I knew I had to get that feeling. The feeling was like the memory of something remote and long ago. When it all came together on one day it was like a physical muscle memory that had been reclaimed from time. I think I knew what it would feel like because it was suddenly such a familiar feeling. At some point in time I think I had done it all before.
I spent the following several days designing and making items constructed with just pulled handles. I made bud vases and candlesticks and wall sconces. I practiced attaching handles that ended in a smooth fluid billowing flow, like the waves of a ribbon. I practiced applying wide sturdy handles, horizontally, to the sides of large planters. I pulled short, medium and long handles of various profiles from the undersides of pots to become legs. I involved myself totally in a sort of orgy of handle pulling and application. As an adult I’m not sure that I was, ever before, so excited by any other activity or skill acquisition. For a short while it was all consuming.
Eventually things once again became more balanced. Handle pulling accepted its rightful place as one of an arsenal of useful potter’s skills. However, physically, aesthetically, and spiritually, pulling handles remains at the top of my list of favorite pleasurable pottery activities. It also always gives me great pleasure to pickup someone else’s pots to more closely examine and admire the beauty of a well pulled and expertly attached handle. Sadly, it is not often that I experience such handles.
Life lessons with Rajiv. A perfect way to begin my Sunday. Thanks, Rajiv❤
I just learned how to make baskets!!
That’s wonderful, excellent choice! Its awesome that you chose something creative, beautiful to look at, and also functional! Yours is my favorite of all the comments I read.
Enjoy Sunday!
I want to learn basketweaving too!
@@rajivsurendra it's way easier than expected!
So much to love about you, Rajiv, the way of beauty I would call 'the romantic life', the essence of it, flows so easily through you. Saraswati must have graced your birth with such aromatics.
Thank you for all you share... ever grateful. 🙏 ❤
Thanks for watching!
That was a lovely video, beautiful teachings and work.
See I *knew* it was Song to the Moon! I recognized it in this video before going to watch your newest 😁
I find your advice valuable, but there is an underlying assumption here that others can afford to go to the teacher of their dreams. I’m sure I’m not only speaking for myself when I say that I struggle with having the desire to want to learn a new skill, but lack the means. I take guidance as it comes, but for the most part, I find myself having to learn things on my own. Learning by trial and error can frustrate and sometimes halt the creative flow.
Your knowledge and talents are incredible. Great mind set only few in the world have. Your energy willingness to keep learning and sharing is a great motivation and asset to many. May you be continued to be blessed. 🙏❤️🙏your respect to your culture and knowing the deep meaning of each of the things are amazing. Trusting all people who are watching your videos are being very proud of their own culture and deep appreciation towards it. ❤️
Brilliant advice! Thank you ❤
Wonderful, Rajiv. These important lessons that you share are not really known to most people these days.
yes and a sad reality
Sacred gifts. My take away from this video. Thank you.
Learning the harp (starting in 2008) really set me off in a new direction - first it was a harp with no levers, then partial levers (love those Harpsicle harps!), then full levers with Dusty Strings. I found two harp therapy programs and graduated from them so I could play in healthcare, and then - I never thought I'd go there - but a good harp buddy of mine was dying, and she wanted her Lyon and Healy Chicago Petit (40 string) pedal harp to go to a good home, so we made space for it in our tiny house in Honolulu for it. I play lever harp for hospital, and hospice. And, two weeks ago, I just started playing with watercolors, and I don't know why, but I'm really diggin' it! I'm 68, and my artistic bent is finally coming out! Hugs from O'ahu, Rajiv!
14:17
"We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak."
-Epictetus-
I would love to master the skill of pottery! I so much enjoyed this video. Interesting story how you met Guy.
I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say Rajiv. The saddest thing is someone with natural talent who shuts there mind and is not willing to learn more; because their ego gets in the way or their successes come so easily. There is always someone with more skill, more talent, more practice and mastery to learn from. Blessings to you for your attitude, Muffy from Oz.
I understand that this style of apprenticeship is still alive and well in Japan. I have some pottery and it makes me so happy.
Starting again has always been the hardest part for me, or being afraid to start when I don’t know if the first path will be the right one. Sometimes a little music or struggling with a friend helps. ❤
Yes, you have taken the time to learn all these things, but OUR benefit is that someone like you, who has such a drive and motivation to learn also has a drive and a motivation to teach and motivate. I don’t know you personally. I feel like I do. But in my room in my home in NC on a comfortable quiet evening I can watch a beautifully made video from someone beautiful inside and out and become inspired, be entertained, be educated, be motivated.. to learn a new thing.. or simply to be more open myself, to educate more, to motivate, to do for someone else.. as you do. ☺️💕
That's my goal, to motivate the people watching these videos. Motive them to simply feel motivated, at the very least. Thanks for your comment, and for watching.
Thank you, for yet another beautiful video to calm my mind. And also bringing back memories ... When I was a teenager, I had a retired cabinet maker (I did not know that at the time) say to me "I hear you are into woodwork", I replied, "yes, I want to be a cabinet maker", he said "Would you like me to teach you how to use the scrollsaw?" I said "Yes please. I just have one question, what is a scrollsaw?" 😂 We didn't have google back then, so I just had to wait for my first class to find out. All I knew was I was going to be doing woodwork with him on Saturday mornings (because I was still at school). Well my first lesson came and I saw it for the first time, we went through a quick how to turn it on and off and then he ruled a straight line on a piece of wood and told me to cut a straight line. So 15 year old me gets on there and cuts a straight line. He then told me it usually takes a year or 2 for people to learn how to cut a straight line, and was amazed that I did it the very first time, he had never seen anyone do that before. So we had a lot of fun, being able to skip the basics and go straight into making projects, I was still learning a lot.
After school, I did a pre-apprenticeship cabinet making course and learned how to use all the machinery by my teacher who was also a retired cabinet maker, and with exams where you have to get 100% to move on to the next part of the course. I finished that. Then I had seizures and can't use the machinery, too dangerous. So no, I'm not a cabinet maker.
That’s really sad because you would have been a very good one. I hope you found another career path that uses your obvious abilities and positive, tenatious mindset and also brings you joy😊!
Respect is one of the most important traits, which lack of it could ruin a healthy society... After so many years living here in the United States, I still feel uncomfortable calling an elderly person or a teacher, "you" or by their first name.
I've said it before, you are amazing! Your dedication to learning new skills is beyond compare. Thank for sharing this experience of patience and understanding that practice makes perfect!❤
Thaks for this Rajiv. It seems the willingness to give things a go plays a big part -"Beginner's Mind" - plus enthusiasm. People give up too easily with "I can't draw" etc.
I lived in India for the first 26 years of my life. At age 22, I wanted to learn the sitar from a renowned artist near my house. I did not know where he lived, but I had a general idea of the area. I went from one block to another, asking where he lived, and reached his home, where he taught the sitar. He was gracious enough to teach me the sitar, and I was one of the students whom he taught personally instead of his senior students.
And what you said about practice is true; you need to practice so that you become better day by day. I started to learn pottery when I came to the US, took a few classes, and then stopped. Your video has inspired me to look into the classes again, and I will be enrolling in the pottery classes again this May because all the classes are full until May.
You are an inspiration, Rajiv. I love your videos.
The hours don’t matter if the quality of practice isn’t there
I am going to tell my kids this was Martha Stewart.
Even though I may be older I feel like I'm more of a thambi listening to what you have to say. Thank you so much.
Thank you for watching ;-)
Actively looking for a piano teacher now - yes, I can plunk my way through a Mozart minuet, but I know I can only go so far on my own - thank you for the reminder!
Thank you for this. Wise information on learning something new. You are a teacher yourself. And your such a lovely soul ❤👏🏼
Learning new things keeps one young! I’m currently doing a full restoration on a vintage loom in preparation to learn how to weave. My neighbor who is a professional weaver asks why I just don’t buy a new loom and start to weave but I now know more about looms than she does and its restoration has prepared me to lean into the craft more deeply with the knowledge I’ve acquired about my new tool. Thank you for investing in the content you produce. I just love your channel.
Dear Rajiv,
I love your videos and look forward to the next subject.
You have inspired me, especially at this time in life, thank you!
I’ve studied Ikebana, jewelry making and a couple of other arts.
I’m a bit older lady with an ill husband, because of your inspiration, my handwriting has improved.
Thank you again for your incredible contribution and content, you are a wonderful teacher!!❤️💕❤️
Aw that's so nice to know. Thank you for your message, Ginny.
The wonderful thing about a sacred gift is it flows in two directions; it came from another time, another generation gifted to us and on into the circle beyond our moment here to be found anew .. The time together is a gift for both teacher and student ....
Another beautiful video. I am embarking on a new skill as we speak. Thank you for the inspiration and encouragement!
Thanks for watching.
Hinduism is the ultimate truth:
Maathru Devo Bhava
Pithru Devo Bhava
Aacharya Devo Bhava
Athidhi Devo Bhava.
Honour thy Mother as God.
Honour thy Father as God.
Honour thy Teacher as God.
Honour thy Guest as God
How beautiful
Thank you for this Video, very inspiring to check my own attitude towards learning and discipline…. I personally have a problem with learning because of my fear of missing out on something else I could learn or because I’m inspired in the beginning and than question myself when it is getting to hard „Uff do I really want this?“ A sort of maybe lacking the will to sacrifice my time and Energie and wanting Skills the easy way? Do you have any Tipps for perseverance? Or maybe want to make follow up video? Because that subject you started with in this video Leads to many other subjects. Thank you again! 🙏
Such sage and inspiring advice for any new venture, especially those of us who are lifelong students.
Sometimes in India they also say that the guru finds you if it’s really in your fate to ‘know’ . This is so fundamental that it makes learning under a guru much like a gift from a different realm. And that thing about doing the right practice - that’s where having the ‘right’ guru is so important. Not the best or the biggest expert in the field, but the teacher who is right for you.
I have a bronze statue of that goddess in my bedroom. I see her every night before I go to sleep and every day when I wake up. I do not have a remotely Hindu background, but fell in love with her when I read everything she stands for. When I glance at her, I remember who I am. Thank you, Rajiv. I relate to this video very much.
This is deeply beautiful.
Hi. I've just wanted to say, I really am inspired by your channel. Everything is so calming and inspiring. It somehow just feels like I can do the thing I've been meaning to do. Moving ahead with my Piano concerto. Which is daunting as I have never tried to compose with orchestra... But I'm going to write what I feel, and not feel less than! Also, please do more flower arrangements. You now have me obsessed with those dramatic flower prints. And just watched Mean Girls. You were hilarious. You're so inspiring with learning new skills. Ps. Please more flowers this spring.❤
Watched the canvas reframing, awesome like all your detailed videos. Perhaps I have a tip for your friend the framer. My father was a forester and he told me that the wood of the Sugar Pine tree, which grows in the area of Mt. Lassen California, has the least coefficient of movement wet to dry which makes it ideal for windows, back when they were made of wood. That should also be an asset for his framing construction. Just seeing the Mature Sugar Pine with it's foot long cones at the tips of its branches is a memorable sight. The geology is also amazing in that area due to Mt. Lassen's eruptions , you can find rocks that float.
Thanks Rajiv!!
Hello beautiful soul.
Even though im older than you, you sure hold a higher place of wisdom.
What an inspiration you are. A fresh breath of mint, that takes me to a place of wanting....
To achive my fullest
To reach to higher perfectionism
Blessings
Hi Rajiv. As always great video.
Do you happen to know hand embroidery? If so please make a video of that. Thank you
This is brilliant… my old art teacher from Poland had a sign printed in black paint on cardboard: please hold your question for after the class. Bathroom down the hall. He would hold up this sign and not miss a beat!
Something you said about having the guts to destroy your flower pot when deep down you know it's not to your standard, reminds me of a sculptor in the Agatha Christie novel "The Hollow" who can't sleep because she realizes that part of the nasty personality of the model whose head she was sculpting had made it into the final result. So she squashes the clay.
For anything we attempt, we first have to remember we are human. So limited in anything we do. Accepting our mistakes for they are the way of learning. Repetition is a good thing, taking the time to practice doing whatever we want to perfect, over and over, disciplines us. Then realizing that being perfect is not of this world. It may take years of dedication but so many are too much in a hurry and cease to accomplish their intended goal. Patience is golden, and listening is vital to all we learn from good teachers. Teachers are eager to pass on what they have learned. Thank you, Rajiv, for you see I know you are a great teacher.🌅🌟
Thank you Rajiv, your 15:42 advice are the best! I love your way to work I found it very ispirational ❤ Can you think to do a video on tha basic tools and the basic tecnique on watercolors painting?
In a world that seems to be outta control, thank you Rajiv for being a bright light of inspiration and hope. ❤
Another fantastic video! I was wondering if you have a technique for caring for your leather items?
Same here. Finding the right teacher is thr most challenging part of learning a new skill. It's worth it when you find them though. Some of my interests i still need to find teachers for.
I am dying over your comments 12:56 - I am trying to learn voice stenography and our class only meets once a week and information is vital! But tell me why we have to interrupt the whole class for someone's computer issue they could easily fix on their own? This a class with word doc hand outs with screenshots too. But man I feel so seen with your sentiments.
Let me know when you're ready to learn ballet, Rajiv! Blind ballet teachers are the best ballet teachers.
I love you
I love you too.
your water color teacher doesnt use the real primary colors. you can never get pink with that palet. the real primaries are: cyan, Magenta and lemon yellow. ruclips.net/video/NVhA18_dmg0/видео.html
Rajiv, you are so cute! If I were younger, you would be my Baby-Boo! ☺💕😘
YES! This! Just shut up and listen to the teacher. Watch. Absorb. Asking question after question, and getting answers to each question just teaches people that they can keep asking and getting answers, none of which will teach the actual skill, but just sponsor more curiosity. Love what you shared. It's priceless.❤
Exactly! "Just shut up and listen," is what I have to say to myself sometimes when I'm in a class.
First read this in another comment but definitely felt it here too. Rajiv is such a Renaissance man and it's amazing to watch.
Can you do an episode about therapy?
Very good advice throughout. Thank you.
💎
Nice ! Well said. And also is it not necessary to have some connection between teacher and student? Even if teacher is capable and student is skillful, if there is lack in connection and good communication,then that bond and learning is not so enjoyable. Is it not? And it's hard find such teachers in this busy world.
Love these points and explanations. Thank you!
Rajiv, why you don't comment our comments
Do you teach an online class the skill of writing like you do on your board? #RajivSurendra
You are so inspiring! My mother ( who is no longer with us) always told me what is in you mind (or brain) nobody can take it away from you in opposition of material things..so true
I was told the same thing by my long-deceased Catalan grandmother😢
@@OsmanthusFlower great minds think a like...
The voice is saying i want you to be my teacher
Thank you Rajiv, I needed to hear your message before seeking pottery classes in NYC. I was, randomly seeking now I will seek intently and not just whose in the “yellow pages” (LOL) social media.
Parts of this video brought tears to my eyes.
Hello Rajiv. Thank you for this lesson. What more can I say? Thank you and have a lovely Sunday. Greetings from Portugal
Beautiful relationships!
I love your channel SO much you have no idea
I need to take some quiet time to let all this sink in…thanks
Thank you Rajiv, I am reminded of your message before I return to painting again. Not so easy to find the right instructors. I will persevere. Love to hear more about your process. Tells more about your creative daily routine.
lol yes! Ego is such an annoying thing that people have that I have to deal with and I don’t have the patience to deal with people with a big ego
Watching a second time!
I wish for you a long, healthy, and continued creative and beautiful life dear Rajiv; and I hope I am blessed to live a long life so that I can continue to watch and learn from you, and be rejoiced by you. You are precious ❤️🙏🏻
Thank you, Lillian.
Gracias gracias gracias Thankyou!
Thank you. Your personal experience and authenticity really makes this wonderful.
He is the definition of lovely