The following few posts will be my after-action review of the workshop that I held in the Portland area last Spring. The axiom goes that the teacher learns as much, if not more, than the students in the process of teaching. Here is my chance to express what I learned at my own workshop titled "Never See Your Pastels The Same Way Again."
Workshop Photos.
Our workshop goals were these:
- Produce a pastel (painting) that says something new.
- Gain an appreciation for universal elements of art via Modernist and Colorist ideas.
- Lose something precious; find new strength.
Art workshops can be demanding on the artist-student, and I have attended ones where I have lost sleep at night because of the challenges to integrating new ideas that the instructor introduces. So deep and integrated are our creative ideas and patterns that grafting truly new knowledge onto them is an emotional move.
I liked the advice I read from Wolf Kahn about teaching. He said, "make demands" of your students. If you don't bring anything new to the table, why teach at all?
Find out what happened in the posts to follow.
Workshops.
Next Workshop: Oakland (El Cerrito), California. November 5 & 6, 2011. Contact me via e-mail.
Next Workshop: Oakland (El Cerrito), California. November 5 & 6, 2011. Contact me via e-mail.
Photo credit: Katherine van Schoonhoven.
Posts
5 comments:
Sounds very interesting! Can't wait!
of course, Wolf Kahn is right...! and I like the idea of "losing something precious, find new strength". We artists have to drag the brush right through something that we consider "good" to find something much better. I like how you describe all that!
Perhaps then your precious loss might be that lost sleep of which you spoke. Which brings an idea that might lead to your new gain. Since your art works look quite dreamy, you could have each person do a scene from a recent dream. Do you dream in color?
Johnnny - yes, I do dream in color.
Maggie - I'm glad you're reading!
Celeste - these concepts you display, especially with your daily and experimental paintings.
Great advice for both a workshop attendee and a workshop instructor. I've lost sleep also but for me it's usually because I'm excited about learning and new challenges!
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