the mockingbird

I can't quote it from memory, but Tom Robbins refers to the mockingbird as nature's first artist--I think it was in Skinny Legs and All. That's the one with the spoon and the dirty sock and the RV shaped like a giant turkey leg, right? No matter, I got to thinking about the mockingbird earlier tonight when I was thinking about professional chefs--the high end chefs who many consider to be artists. I suspect most of them cook to their own palate because how can you cook to anything else? To translate that to my own experience as an artist (if I really am an artist... but that's a topic for another blog), I have things which I find pleasant to my ear, certain styles and sounds which resonate deeply with me. Sure, I feel more comfortable when I'm working within those sounds, but I really stretch my legs and grow when I step out of that comfort zone and do something different. One of the best ways for me to do that is to imitate someone else; take someone else's style and apply it (to the best of my ability) to the work I'm doing today; be a mockingbird.