I DON'T WANT TO TEACH YOU ART

This week I've been working with some great ladies helping them to understand the role creativity can have on your work. Not all creatives are artists, but all artists are creatives. Facilitating and leading these Creative Art Sessions made me think about my own foray into becoming a maker of art.

When I first encountered art making, I had reservations. I was nervous and insecure. And with good reason. The first few art classes I took were epic fails. In one class I tried to paint a bowl of fruit except my bowl of fruit looked nothing like the fruit bowl or like any of the paintings of the other talented artists in the room.  At another time, the art teacher gave me a brush and said paint what you feel. I didn't know what that meant. I had no context to understand how I was supposed to take anything in my head or my heart and put it on canvas as anything other than some kind of stick figure or scribbles. 

These demoralizing art classes could have been enough to keep me from ever picking up a brush again, but fortunately, I later had the opportunity to learn some awesome art techniques, how to trust my intuition, (what I feel) and how to take direction from things that inspire me which have helped me on my way to creating art. 

Cut to many years later, I've come up with my own style and unique combinations of techniques and art practices learned from many different sources. And in the coming months you will see my online classes become available on my website, but I don' t want to teach you art, I want to teach you to paint what you feel.  And in the words of Picasso, teach you to paint what you think.

xo, jan
@janmccarthy
www.janmccarthy.com