Art of Flow Discovery Class

This summer I've taken several online classes, but Art of Flow was my first art class. I've been going to First Friday Crafternoons with Edie at our library for a couple of years now--it's two hours of exploration and play. I used to sketch a lot as a child (and get punished for it because it was in the school notebooks, or on the walls, oy) so I stopped. Oh, I still doodled and even made a couple of homemade books with stick figures for the kids when they were little, but my creative energy was focused on writing and then music. What a balm it has been. And now something new!

I can't tell you what a gift it is to be a beginner. To play. The older I get, the more I return to my child-self. 

I came into this class thinking I'd like to paint four seasons since we'd be working with four panels. But I let go of all expectations that first day as we began exploring colors--opposites. Then came tissue papers for collaging. On a whim I painted some words too. Why not? I love words. I collected leaves, grass, and flowers, since I love organic materials and natural textures. But oh boy, did I discover that they are a pain to work with the following day. I probably didn't have the proper glue either...but I pressed ahead. My "believe" panel got ruined when I began glazing, so the next couple of days were spent trying different things to salvage it. I wanted to scrape away all the tissue paper, but I decided to see where it might go. So painted over the bits I didn't like, added more tissue paper. 

I discovered that I liked painting the leaves! I added some feathers and tiny words, sand and seashells. I'm still not completely happy with these, but I learned so much, and a lot applies to my writing life. I'm learning to let go of expectations, to sit with uncertainty, to sit with questions. Below, the evolution, the process. Strangely, they tell me a story in the order I've place them at the end. 

 

There was a private FB group for those of us taking the class and some of the paintings were so breathtaking. It gives me hope for my own journey. Gabbi would do a reading before the start of class and share a poem or quote. Some favorites:

Consider all the unknown possibilities for joy. What will thrill you? What might you love that you don't even know yet? What are you certain there is more of? ~ Rhonda Willers (Isolation Journals) inspired by Emily Dickinson's poem: I dwell in Possibility. 

One thing you must do is accept whatever comes of it without concern for the outcome. Otherwise you will be stuttering when you could be singing! ~ Stephen Wesley Gorton, Gabbi's friend and mentor.

Invariably the resistance to this exercise comes from a desire to be in control, and a fear of being out of control. Concern for the outcome becomes the impediment. The desire for control is the left-brain intellect wagging its finger at you because it thinks that your well-being resides exclusively in the known. ~ SWG

Do whatever brings you to life. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert