Just came from a delicious lunch with Julia, in a deceivingly sunny Chicago [although I will miss all the fun things to be done in Chicago I will not miss the cold... for that I am thankful to be far far away!] I wish I had my camera to snap some pictures of the sunny gorgeousness outside. I'm suddenly all sunny myself, but I am sure that has less to do with the weather and more to do with hanging out with a dear friend!
I also had the pleasure of listening to the presentation of one of our graduating MA students. A nurse for a number of years [not sure if she is still practicing] she rediscovered the art of drawing and channels her thoughts and ideas in... comics! Her presentation I think was named 'Shut up and Draw' which aptly summarizes her point: drawing is a fun and therapeutic way to express emotions that 5 year olds master, yet grown-ups forget - well, they shouldn't! By drawing we allow our creative side of the brain to take the ideas that mar our minds and playfully rearrange them so as to offer up new alternatives, new solutions and so on. With comics in particular the artist takes a story and condenses it into its most powerful points which are rendered in their respective rectangles. Just by spending time drawing in that rectangle the mind focuses on that finite point in space, meditates on the instant being captured. Suddenly the story takes on far more meaning for the artist. It is fantastic! Not only that but as adults we need to admit the need for a play-space [Prof. Watson's idea] a place where we are beginners again, where failure is part of the game and loses the weight we put on it in our day-to-day lives. I'm ready to build my play-space, I want to be in that responsibility-free environment where mistakes are funny jokes and successes mean a brighter rainbow over a pretty unicorn!
She knows what I'm talking about....
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| From Road trip - New York New York! |
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