Teaching

 

I've never really seen a photo of myself teaching.  But this weekend several were taken.  And I realize I gotta smile more while teaching.  haha!  I never worry about what to say or how to say it.  But I do get terribly teary when I get to a certain point.  So perhaps my frowny faces are from trying to not be a blubbering idiot while instructing.  Above I'm sharing the tiny sketchbook I take to school.  Trying to share how I get from idea to canvas.  I think for some people that is the hardest obstacle to overcome.  "What do I paint?" they always ask.  The technique we use in my workshops takes the stress of how to draw out of the equation.  But what to draw really should be something that comes from within.  The end results from the weekend were lovely.   

I hate to draw personally.  But love to paint.   So my style is this.  I sketch lots of little ideas out in my sketchbooks.  When it comes time to paint I use one of the sketched ideas to then sketch onto a panel.  It's all very quickly done.  I try not to worry too much about the details.  And then comes the paint.....oh how I love to pick up gooey color from the palette and place the first stroke on the board.  It's like little pieces of happy being placed onto the panel.

After the class was done Saturday I realized a lot of what I usually about say about painting I left out.  Perhaps it was not being in my own studio that got me off my game.  Although somehow everyone completed an amazing piece of art to take home.  And perhaps my heart and head knew that these students needed to hear something a little different. 

Now I'm back to reality.  To my little classroom filled with crazy imaginations.  To little anxious creative minds.  To the smell of tempera paint and brown paper towels (they smell funny).  I'm going to work on smiling while teaching.  But mostly I'm going to work on inspiring.