Gradually however, skills are acquired and the tools become a familiar interface with the materials. When working, the mind must be totally involved in the process. If thoughts are anywhere but on the work, it shows immediately. Most tools are dangerous if you are not focused, they demand attention. Consciousness is forced to remain in the present.
Every action requires thoughtful consciousness and every action shows directly in the work.
It is the effort to discipline the mind to attention that is most challenging. Because the work provides such direct feedback, it serves as frozen record of your consciousness. The work is also a receding horizon, the more you learn, the more you realize how much there is to learn. It is an inner journey expressed through the object that is created. While it is the process that involves the craftsman, the object, once complete, begins a journey on its own.