Mo is leaving us.
Over the last 18 years, New York Yankee Mariano "Mo" Rivera became one of the best relief pitchers in baseball history, and he did it with the kind of poise, grace and ease that frequently accompanies the very best.
You are probably wondering why the owner of an art school and gallery is writing about a baseball player when I generally blog about creativity or the art world. The honest answer is that, to me, excellence in almost any endeavor feels like beautiful art.
Mo's most dangerous and artful pitch can be described in one word: simple. He just grabs the ball and throws it to a specific spot in the catcher's mitt the same way, every time. By comparison, most pitchers have three to five different types of pitches with a variety of rotations and speeds. Not Mo. One pitch, one way and it always works (much to the frustration of the batters who have the misfortune of facing him).
Somehow, the truly gifted don't allow themselves to get caught up in the noise of what they "should" do, based on what everyone else is doing. They just do what they do, and they strive to do it brilliantly, with constant refinement and innovation. What they deliver isn't necessarily perfection, but rather a never-ending journey to attain it.
Whether you're talking about sports, music, food, or art, you know greatness when you see it, hear it, or taste it. It's undeniable. It's also the by-product of rigorous study, practice and coaching on top of pure talent.
At One River School of Art and Design in Englewood, New Jersey, we help the art-inspired to realize their own creative brilliance. We teach, coach, and encourage our students to pursue lifelong creative education. Our new summer programs for children, teens, and adults - including courses in self-portraiture, street art painting, anime-inspired art, electronic music production, pre-college portfolio development, and iPad painting - add exciting destinations to our students' journeys.
My hope is that over time , we are able to help our students to maximize their pure creative potential. Find their mojo. Connect with the artist that lives in each of us. And perhaps one day, we'll also help them to discover their one pitch.
Over the last 18 years, New York Yankee Mariano "Mo" Rivera became one of the best relief pitchers in baseball history, and he did it with the kind of poise, grace and ease that frequently accompanies the very best.
You are probably wondering why the owner of an art school and gallery is writing about a baseball player when I generally blog about creativity or the art world. The honest answer is that, to me, excellence in almost any endeavor feels like beautiful art.
Mo's most dangerous and artful pitch can be described in one word: simple. He just grabs the ball and throws it to a specific spot in the catcher's mitt the same way, every time. By comparison, most pitchers have three to five different types of pitches with a variety of rotations and speeds. Not Mo. One pitch, one way and it always works (much to the frustration of the batters who have the misfortune of facing him).
Somehow, the truly gifted don't allow themselves to get caught up in the noise of what they "should" do, based on what everyone else is doing. They just do what they do, and they strive to do it brilliantly, with constant refinement and innovation. What they deliver isn't necessarily perfection, but rather a never-ending journey to attain it.
Whether you're talking about sports, music, food, or art, you know greatness when you see it, hear it, or taste it. It's undeniable. It's also the by-product of rigorous study, practice and coaching on top of pure talent.
At One River School of Art and Design in Englewood, New Jersey, we help the art-inspired to realize their own creative brilliance. We teach, coach, and encourage our students to pursue lifelong creative education. Our new summer programs for children, teens, and adults - including courses in self-portraiture, street art painting, anime-inspired art, electronic music production, pre-college portfolio development, and iPad painting - add exciting destinations to our students' journeys.
My hope is that over time , we are able to help our students to maximize their pure creative potential. Find their mojo. Connect with the artist that lives in each of us. And perhaps one day, we'll also help them to discover their one pitch.
About the Author:
Matt Ross is the owner of One River Gallery and One River School of Art & Design in Englewood, NJ. He's also the COO of SAE Institute USA, a chain of colleges that teach creative media. Ross was the founding CEO of School of Rock, the largest music education company in the world.
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