Color Pencil over Gesture. It was a contemplative day in the art classroom. Students were drawing self portraits and I had time to join them. Our discussion was on 'Reflection'. The image we see of ourselves in the mirror is not what people see when they look at us. They see the reverse. The mole on my cheek is on the other side of my face, if you were to look at me in person. This leads to discussions of perception and reality. It can be fun and humbling. We cannot live only by sight. We must have a faith of some sort. This reminds me of the Michael Feldman Public Radio Program called: "Whad'Ya Know?" It opens with the audience shouting: "Whad'd Ya Know?" and Michael replying: "Not Much! You?". We do not know much, I think, as much as we like to pretend think we do.
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My attention for data is about 17 minutes and it needs to be entertaining. Doodling helps me focus. "Draw what you see!" Also, the mind will retain what the seat can endure.
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This quick sketch of an impressionist painting is a reminder to me of how we cannot see anything until we are taught to see it. I was enjoying the painting because of the way Tarbell captured light, when a man and his wife joined me. The man said to his wife: "This is a wonderful painting, but I wonder whose lap the baby is on.". I was shocked because I was not able to see the baby till he mentioned that there was one. I noticed that it was indeed difficult to tell whose lap it was on. It was a transformative and humbling experience.
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He helped me publish my first article. He encouraged us to be quick, light, and meticulous. He was a good soul. Sketched during lecture.
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Pen over pencil with contemplations that hint at child development and parenting strategies. A very wise person told me that it is our life's work to forgive our parents. Another wise person told me that sometimes there is no forgiveness, just forgetting.
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Lighthouses offer a plethora of possibilities for metaphors. This was an exercise in composition and uses for watercolor.
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A quick sketch from a memory of an encounter on a visit to Maine.
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I drew my school using vector tools in PowerPoint.
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Sometimes a bench to sit down on after a long hike is just enough for that part of the journey.
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Often I am given to making marks on paper that reflect the objects I see coming towards me as I gaze out the front car window. I do this exercise as a passenger of course. The goal is not the end product, but the process of connecting what I see with motor control. The product is an indication of movement and energy. Give it a try!
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Depression is a focus on the past. Anxiety is a focus on the future. Breathe in presence. Exhale stress. Focus on what you can do. Do.
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This one is from a photo.
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We are dependants, all of us.
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HB pencil.
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Quick sketches for the processing of incomplete thoughts. Everything is created twice, first in thought, second in form. I am still thinking and still forming and still being formed.
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Notes from an early teaching moment.
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How do you teach someone to draw? I like to draw my beautiful and curious kids when possible.
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Finding edges is a conversation between values. That sounds political. Like Ruskin's observation that drawing is soiling the paper delicately.
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A value study sample for students. Grey out the paper. Erase light areas. Darken shaded areas. Refine. Lots of success on this one.
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It might be that Spirit arranged it for a little personal time with you.
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A wonderful reflective poem from Wendell Berry entitled "How to be a poet" is a fantastic foundation for an art curriculum. The last of three stanzas reads as follows:
Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.