Art Classes Roswell, GA

"Sometimes, if you want to really see, you have to first close your eyes." - Jill Saur

So, I've been studying the lives of several amazing artists who are blind.  They find great success with their work through feeling deeply and using physical touch to identify the size and shape of what they're drawing and painting.  

Since I've been talking with my students about not being a slave to their photograph that they're working from, and because I want everyone to connect more with what they're doing, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to have my students wear a blindfold and draw an object through sheer touch. I told them that they are so much more creative than they realize and they were about to experience it first hand!  

So, I let them pick from an array of things such as pine cones, apples, bananas, and soap dispensers. Then, when they were ready, they tied on their blindfold and held their object in one hand and drew it with the other. I only took a few photos of their initial experiment (the first two photos below.)  Everyone loved it and I think they were pretty surprised as to how well they did working completely blind!

Everyone had so much fun with the apples and pine cones that they thought they would try their hand on something a little more complicated. :)

Okay, so if you've gotten this far, I might have exaggerated a little as to the group experimenting with something that's a little more complicated!  Everyone thought they would have a little fun with the blindfolds and possibly make the other classes a little jealous as to how fast they picked up on this new way of "seeing".

However, the first experiment was real and perhaps a little bit life altering.  Sometimes, you hear the expression, "Don't try this at home."  But, regarding drawing blindfolded, I am say, "TRY THIS AT HOME."  You'll be surprised at what you're able to do just by the use of touch and inner feeling!

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Painting Classes Roswell, GA

THE PARABLE OF THE POTS from Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups.  All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.  His procedure was simple:  on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group:  fifty pounds of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B", and so on.  Those being graded on "quality" however, needed to produce only one pot - albeit a perfect one - to get an "A".  Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged:  the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity.  It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

David Bayles and Ted Orland continue to say, "If you think good work is somehow synonymous with perfect work, you are headed for big trouble.  Art is human; error is human; ergo, art is error.  Inevitably, your work (like, uh, the preceding syllogism...) will be flawed.  Why?  Because you're a human being, and only human beings, warts and all, make art.  Without warts it is not clear what you would be, but clearly you wouldn't be one of us."

Please enjoy these photos of my students with their beautiful work!  I threw in a few oldies for good measure. :)

To inquire about taking art classes with me, please visit my website.  CLICK HERE

This blog lives at www.DailyArtClass.blogspot.com