Discover the Artist Within

This evening was the first class of "Discover the Artist Within" which I teach at Evergreen. It is always fun to see who shows up and why they are there.

Tonight's group recognized the power of art to heal as many students found themselves pleasantly distracted from the chaos of their lives. One student mentioned that she felt transported to another realm and it felt good.

In the artistic development of children, the first art representation is a scribble drawing. I have found that starting adult students off with a scribble drawing, eyes closed, helps them to reconnect with childhood and reopen that door to creativity. It was interesting to note that a couple of students were uncomfortable with this lack of control and realized the parallels to their life. Another insight was the felt need to fill the paper and frustration that the art medium, colored markers, caused because it was not capable of doing this. Where did this need for control come from?

By the end of the class, there were several "ah has" and a unanimous "this was fun!" I find it curious that adults forget how to have fun.

Watercolor Pencils

What a GREAT portable art medium!

I just returned from 10 days in Mexico..........FABULOUS!!!
Best of all I managed to find time to create two mandalas paintings while sitting by the ocean listening to the sounds of the waves crashing as well as being visited by dolphins.

I cannot expound enough about the simplicity of carrying along a set of watercolor pencils, field watercolor pad, a couple of brushes, and some water.
You can literally set up anywhere!

Here is the spot I chose.



See the flat area overhanging the water? That is where I painted. Nice, huh?!

I will post the mandala paintings as soon as I find a day in Olympia, Washington that it is not raining or snowing. I hope I do not have to wait until Spring! I did photograph the paintings while in Mexico, but total sunshine washed out some of the color........can you believe, too much sun!