Posted by pancho from pool0284.cvx25-bradley.dialup.earthlink.net (209.179.217.29) on Monday, December 02, 2002 at 11:10AM :
In Reply to: Re: Parhad... The Lyin, Cheatin, Quitter posted by Mosadegh from ? (167.88.192.30) on Monday, December 02, 2002 at 10:41AM :
It's more complicated than just money...I always believed money was the LEAST of our problems. Look at Lina's case...they got the money finally...but were we better prepared and organized we could have done it a lot faster.
In my case I've lost the spirit of the thing. Besides which I miss my family too much. As I was going to have to travel up here several times, I thought it best to make the Lamasu here at the foundry. Additionally because it would be hard to haul the thing up here to be cast into bronze. While the court business was done in a day, I've been staying for weeks to hustle donors and do the work. I've spent almost half this year away from my family.
I just can't justify the total cost of it anymore. This is also something we impose on anyone interested in working within our community...we expect them to kill themselves to prove they aren't "tainted" by desires for that "easy buck" you hear tell so much about.
I am as ready and capable now as I was 20 years ago, even better able for all the practice. In 20 years I could have built monuments, cheaper than anyone could get them anywhere, and placed them in cities all around anywhere we wanted to.
Instead I've had to put up with things that go well beyond just sculpting. For one thing I had to raise the money as well, which meant time spent calling and begging and travelling around to see people and be seen. And now there is all this additional burden placed on my back...for what? I'm a sculptor not a one man miracle machine..."let's kick his other leg out and see what he does."
My time is over. This thing has to be fought now to get these sorts of people out of the way...or get them to keep their bloody paws off of our artists. Unlike what Jackie said in her email..."until now the atrists thought they were doing us a favor".....I say it loud and clear,,,they are INDEED doing all of us a favor...a great big tremendous favor...for which they didn't deserve to be kept from selling their artwork at Jackie's convention because she got her shorts twisted by me.
The path for others has to be made a little smoother...that's my new monumental task.
I just don't feel like begging any longer. We do that...we turn Lina into a beggar...we tun our artists into beggars...and we ourselves are beggars in the world...asking for alms, pity, recognition THROUGH pity.
I am an Assyrian. I wont beg from anyone...least of all other Assyrians.
-- pancho
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