I was waylaid, briefly, and of my own choosing, on my way to the island of Gozo. Malta is an archipelago of three islands and Gozo is the second largest. I was told I must visit, and so I did.
My late arrival had me feeling rushed, and when I rush I tend to make mistakes, so instead of jumping in the first taxi or bus into the center, I decided to go by foot.
An interesting thing happens in tourist-rich nations. All of the tourists crowd into the same areas to see what Rick Steves, or some other guru has said they should enjoy. Sometimes you see more when there are fewer eyes.
So I had the first hundred or so square blocks of Gozo’s Mgarr, a small fishing village that spills up the mountain into a complex system of ancient roads, entirely to myself; except for the goats.
I followed the cairns, you always follow the cairns on a primitive trail; they are the stacks of stone markers left by earlier travelers. These stones were carved from limestone quarries nearby, a tradition that goes back to the earliest known free standing buildings in the world.
And that’s where Joe comes in. Joe Xuereb has been honing stones, and honing his own place in the world of artisan crafts-people of our world for over three decades. I have an affinity for anyone who reminds me of my Uncle Norman; the man who taught me to be a carpenter.
I found Joe’s workshop by following a number of signs which read “sculpture studio.” He spent about 40 minutes with me, even after it was clear that I would not be taking any of his sculptures home on my credit card. He said one thing that I had to write down.
While talking about staying true to one’s craft as apposed to selling as many copies as possible, he talked about someone making production demands, and how much stress that would bring with it. He said “you have to be calm, in a calm mood to create.”