Art is not an exact science, usually not something that can be rigidly defined or quantified.

Instead there’s the freedom to create, to try new things and see if they turn out. They might or might not go down in history as mistakes. It’s simply up to the artist.

I became acquainted with the idea of mistakes in art when I interviewed Jim Dahl in the 1990s about the prairie diorama he was creating for the Lyon County Museum at one of its former locations, the Knights of Columbus building on North Third Street.

After the interview, he invited me to paint a buffalo in a grassland section of the diorama. My first reaction was that he was really taking his chances. I voiced a concern about making a mistake.

Dahl said not to worry, that artists don’t make mistakes. That encouragement made me want to try. It was an opportunity to play a small role in the project.

I chose a grass area for my herd member and began to draw. I did reasonably well with the head and body, but didn’t get the legs right.

Dahl fixed my buffalo with only several strokes of his paintbrush. It became a buffalo that was seated in the grass. It looked like a perfectly natural member of the group.

The diorama stayed on North Third until the museum was moved to a West Main Street location, which was most recently The Note Gallery. There wasn’t enough space for it, so the historical society decided to give it to the Wheels Across the Prairie Museum in Tracy.

More recently, several years ago, I heard a totally different perspective on artistic mistakes from artist John Sterner. I visited his Lakeview High School classroom in Cottonwood to interview students who were part of the Art Stars exhibit at the Marshall Area Fine Arts Council’s gallery.

Sterner said he makes mistakes all the time. They’re a result of trying something different and ending up with a project that doesn’t measure up to his standards.

He believes, however, that artists should make efforts to stretch themselves. Something that both art and science have is the possibility of experiments. They don’t always turn out that way someone hopes.

There’s always a possibility that a new idea will turn out enough to inspire new works of art that revolve around the same style.

I can see both perspectives when it comes to the idea of mistakes. Professional artists could easily say they make mistakes when something doesn’t work. They have hight standards and have had some serious success. Part of what got them there is usually being one’s own critic.

It’s different for amateurs, especially for beginners. For them, anything that represents a best effort should be appreciated.

It’s a step toward higher levels of success after gaining more experience. It can be fun to look back on past projects and to look ahead to new ones.

I made a set of drawings between 2005 and 2013 that featured pencil sketches outlined in marker and filled in with colored pencils. I filled one sketchbook and got about halfway through another.

I kept the books and enjoy looking back at them. It’s possible that I might start again, at least enough to fill the second book. It could be a fun pastime, especially in the winter.

They cover many different scenes. The people resemble the Peanuts characters. I’m glad I took the time to create them.

I don’t think any of them were mistakes. I took the time to carefully draw and had good results. They all turned out reasonably well.

Some people claim they could never create art, that they can do stick people and that’s about it. They might find out differently if they were to decide drawing or painting is worth a try. They might surprise themselves.

— Jim Muchlinski is a longtime reporter and

contributor to the Marshall Independent