Nathaniel was a very good sculptor. To prepare the sculptures , he marked the stone with charcoal and a pencil, then used a hammer to break it.
He also uses other specialised tools like toothed chisels, claw chisels, and ropes to create the final shape of his art.
The price of these stone sculptures on the market ranged from $500 to $600. Pricing was based on the design, size, and beauty of the piece.
Carving and shaping marble requires special tools and many hours of work. The sculptures made by him have been admired across the region. His income from these sculptures was very good.
But suddenly, one day, he gets a trembling disease in his hand, and he remains ill for a long time.
Due to this disease, the work of making his sculptures came to an end.
His son Nikolas had gone abroad to pursue a specialisation course in sculptors. It was his first year now, while the course was to be completed in 4 years.
When he knew that his father's health was very bad and that his work had also stopped, and they had no other source of income,
Nicolas decides that he will help his father and do his work till he recovers.
Taking this decision, he immediately came back from abroad and started to make sculptures like his father.
In a short time, he learned to make sculptures and made some sculptures.
He showed these sculptures to his father. The father pointed out many flaws in the sculptures. He decided to remove those shortcomings.
Nicolas worked too hard and showed the idols again to his father, but his father again pointed out the flaws.
When Nicolas becomes disappointed, he again removes the shortcomings of the sculptures, and this time he sends these sculptures to sell in the market. The sculptures made by Nicolas fetched a satisfactory price.
Nicolas becomes very happy after getting money and starts making new sculptures.
After a few days of hard work, he completes about 20–25 sculptures.
When he shows these sculptures to his father, Nathaniel again finds many flaws in them.
Nicolas feels a little bad now, but he keeps this in his mind and comes back home by selling the sculptures on the market at a very high price.
Nicolas tells his father, Nathaniel, that he has sold those sculptures on the market at a very high price. He also told his father that his customers admired the sculptures.
Like this, whenever he shows sculptures to his father, he finds fault with them. Nicolas gets annoyed by these things and tells his father that, apart from you, no one tells me that the sculptures are bad.
Now Nicolas has stopped showing sculptures to his father and started to sell them at a good price on the market. In no time, he became intoxicated by his success and started making mistakes in making sculptures.
The demand for his sculptures has also started to decrease in the market.
Now, Nicholas remembers his father's advice and regrets not following his father's advice. Nicolas went to his father and said, "Dad, I have made a mistake.I did not follow your advice, for which I am very sorry. Please guide me on how I can make more beautiful and precious sculptures.
Please tell me why you always used to find defects in my sculptures while those sculptures were sold at a good price in the market.
"
Nathaniel smiled at the son and said, "My dear son, there is no dearth in your dedication and hard work, but one who becomes satisfied with his work doesn't work hard anymore." A sculptor or craftsman should never boast about their work.
If an experienced person finds any shortcomings in your work, then accept them. No person is perfect in life. Knowledge is unlimited. You yourself have to judge the sculptures made by you, whether there is any deficiency in them or not.
I am your father. I always think about your well-being. To move ahead in life, it is very important that we listen to the advice of others and follow it.
So the key to being successful in life is to never be satisfied with your work. It motivates you to do better work. You had ignored the key to this success, so your progress stalled.
In the end, Nathenial gave another suggestion to his son: make your sculptures in such a way that no one can find any flaw in them, even with a zoom lens.
I promise then you will progress a lot in the future.
Nicolas thanked his father and made great progress by following his advice.
Picture https://pixabay.com/photos/skulptur-ottoburg-innsbruck-austria-1183327/