At the beginning of each year, I’m always in a mood to try new things…maybe its the enthusiasm of a clean slate for the start of the year. I’ve been gearing up for a major purge of my studio space and started with clearing off my large table - the first time in years that I have more than 6” of clean space to actually work without knocking something over or getting glue smeared on papers that I don’t want ruined. I knew that I had a couple of collages I had started that I now wanted to revisit and was happy that I had space to design without obstructions. As my image suggests above, I always want to keep moving forward, if only small steps at a time. But first a little warm-up exercise to get creative juices flowing.
An art friend alerted me to the the online workshop that Lori Siebert was offering - Artful Junk Birds. She thought the birds looked like something I would make since I have no shortage of found objects, discarded metal bits, tons of ephemera and an inclination to tinker. How right she was…
I started with gathering up materials…the one thing I did not have was the air-dry clay that is used for the body of the bird (online shopping rectified that!) but I had plenty of everything else…
I’m the first to admit that I am not a clay person…though I enjoy working with my hands, molding the clay felt a little foreign but I didn’t let that stop me. I did learn that I need to pay more attention to bird anatomy - my creatures are definitely a little wonky!
The best thing about this process was the chance to play and mess around with no constraints of what the end result would be, no deadline for completion and no audience to please other than my own aesthetic.
And that’s the joy of taking a class…and one of the reasons why I love to not only take a class on a topic I am not familiar with but also why I love to teach. There’s no expectation that anything will happen other than an opportunity to play and to learn. And sometimes the learning is the realization that its not for you but you gave it a try…I have taken a couple of painting classes…they were fun, especially time spent with others, but its not my thing…but I still gave it a try.
In her most recent newsletter Janine Vangool, publisher, editor and designer of Uppercase magazine, had the perfect explanation on why take a class…
“There's so much out of our control these days, but I do believe that education is an antidote to overwhelm, distraction and languishing. Making a conscious choice towards learning a new skill—not assuming that we know it all—being curious to discover new ways of thinking, seeking better and deeper understanding about ourselves…this curiosity and the ability to learn, adapt and change makes us more resilient and more optimistic.”
(and by the way…if you don’t know about Uppercase magazine, you should…its a great quarterly art publication for the creative and the curious…find out all about it here and you can sign up for Janine’s weekly newsletter which is a treasure trove of delight!)
I’m toying with the idea of getting back to offering small group in-person classes here at my workshop studio in Everett…possibly this summer. But did you know that you can request your own art workshop session?
I have two sessions already scheduled for the months ahead…one is a group of women who will meet here in my studio for their own fun workshop; the other is a summer retreat where I will teach several sessions over a couple of days for a group of friends celebrating a birthday.
The process is easy…gather up a group of friends...decide on a date and location (it can be at your location or here at my studio) and leave the rest to me! I'll bring everything that's needed for a 2-4 hour mixed media collage workshop...a workshop that isn't so much about creating a masterpiece or perfecting any one technique...but is about letting your hair down, having a few laughs, getting your hands a little dirty and finding that everyone is creative...sometimes you just need a little nudge. If you’re interested, feel free to email me at amy@studiofourcorners.com and let’s talk about what’s possible.
In the meantime, I hope you take the time to create something…anything…go ahead, give it a try.
