Mo is leaving us.

In the last 18 years, NY Yankee Mariano \”Mo\” Rivera became one of the greatest relief pitchers in baseball history, and he did it with the kind of poise, grace and ease that commonly accompanies the best of the best.

You are probably wondering why the owner of an art school and gallery is writing about a baseball player when I usually blog about creativity or the art world. The honest answer is that, to me, excellence in virtually any undertaking feels like beautiful art.

Mo\’s most dangerous and artful pitch can be described in one word: simple. He just grabs the ball and throws it to a specific spot in the catcher\’s mitt the same way, every time. By comparison, most pitchers have 3 to five different types of pitches with various rotations and speeds. Not Mo. One pitch, one way and it works (much to the disappointment of the batters who have the bad luck of facing him).

Somehow, the truly gifted don\’t allow themselves to get caught up in the noise of what they \”should\” do, based on what everyone else is doing. They just do what they do, and they strive to do it brilliantly, with consistent refinement and innovation. What they deliver isn\’t always perfection, but instead a never-ending journey to achieve it.

Whether you\’re talking about sports, music, food, or art, you know greatness when you see it, hear it, or taste it. It\’s undeniable. It\’s also the by-product of intense study, practice and coaching on top of pure talent.

At One River School of Art and Design in Englewood, New Jersey, we help the art-inspired to attain their own creative brilliance. We teach, coach, and encourage our students to pursue lifelong creative education. Our new summer programs for kids, teens, and adults – including courses in self-portraiture, street art painting, anime-inspired art, electronic music production, pre-college portfolio development, and iPad painting – add exciting destinations to our students\’ journeys.

My hope is that over time , we are able to help our students to maximize their pure creative potential. Find their mojo. Get in touch with the artist that lives in all of us. And perhaps one day, we\’ll also help them to find their one pitch.