Last Live Workshop Of 2018 Was So Fab!
Last week was a whirlwind of busy connection and experiences, the kind of days artists live for and are beautifully exhausted by. For the past three years I have had the tremendous pleasure of teaching an online class based around creative awareness. This week that course came to a close and I am retiring it. The day was bittersweet because many of these Creatives were with me all three years, have been a huge part of my life, and I am forever changed by them.
In all artists lives, we have to seek out the balance between opportunities we love and ones we need to let go of. It was time. Not for the reasons that were obvious, but for the deep knowing that in order to make room for professional growth I cannot keep the pace I have which has brought me such love. My heart took a hit, but I know like I am breathing it was the right one for me.
Along with that ending was the incredible experience of teaching our last 4 day workshop of the 2018 year. Shauna Meiri and I met with 5 talented artists in the studio and dove in to the practices which serve our points of view. We explored testing out mediums, techniques, ideas, and then challenged one another to do it again and keep the cohesiveness going by working in multiples. When artists come to workshops here they come seeking answers to their personal path forward. This week did not disappoint.
A Beginning WIP |
For the past couple of days I have been taking a bit of a respite to finalize plans for teaching in 2019. There will be new online opportunities, different scopes for workshops in my own studio, nationally, and abroad, and new offerings that are free or self study. Teaching is my life, and I cannot imagine letting go of it entirely, so the changes coming forward are design to reach a specific group of creatives with a passionate desire to explore creative narratives and loose expressions on an intensive level.
Since my visit to Italy, I have come to really value the art of slow living. The sky was brilliant the last day of our workshop. Nothing like the skies here in lower Alabama just before dusk. I also had a minute to really savor the friendship I have developed with Shauna Meiri. Full time working artists often lead quite alone lives when it comes to work, but she has been a beautiful light in my world and I am so thankful for those moments.
Thanks to Lisa Warren for the great pic! |
Slow down and breathe through a day or two friends. I have come to believe it is one of the most powerful ways to move through the world in a way where we can actually experience the world as it was meant to, with the lenses of an incredibly beautiful life.