This year they asked me to teach a Chinese basic Chinese cooking class. Thankfully the fundraising I'd been doing a few weeks back prepped me for it and desipte my anxiety all went fairly well.
I managed to finish most of my projects and just have a few bracelets to finish up. Not bad for a days labor!
I have to say my favorite was my afternoon class with a talented artist - Dina Wakley. She introduced many of us to one of her passions, art journaling. She's amazing and I've always loved how expressive and free her work is. She's published one book on it and is working on her second as well as does classes all over the world (literally!) to help other discover this form of art. I have to be honest and say that I was worried though that her talent would find a wall with me.
For anyone who knows me well I tend to over think things a lot! My frist attempts at scrap booking we painful, not just in the finished work but all the way through the HOURS it took for me to finish a page. I was worried about balance, accents, placement, color.... The list does not end! The only thing I seem to do naturally is journal so eventually I gave up and went to blogging instead - pictures and words all contained efficiently in one place. I still love my blog and I love that my kids spend hours gazing at the memories I've tried to compile, but I miss the artistic aspect. But thanks to Dina I think I've freed the muse within!
Most of what she did was to introduce us to some different mediums and create color backgrounds on paper. There was just enough direction so you didnt stare at a blank page hopelessly but not so much to squelch your own crative jucies. It was a blast to play around with ink, paint, stencils, etc with no preconceived idea of the end product which was exactly what I needed to do. It was in the process that ideas would take on a life their own. The clors, the lines, stencils I had randomly chosen would grow and take on a tone or a feeling. Dorky as it sounds it spoke to me and listened and took a little leap. This is what I ended up with and it's a far cry from the carefully structured self I show, but I like how free it is!
This is my first attempt. Inside the figure I wrote, "don't think too much, just learn to be free. You know your true self inside!"
This one if my favorite and journaled, "Your mind and Imagination can take FLIGHT!"
So I'm thinking I found a new love .... And now I just need the time and materials to explore further! Thanks Dina for it! It was more than a class, it was an adventure with new possibilities!
Most pictures courtesy of Shannon Baker, the main organizer of the event. Check out her blog for more details.
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