The Creative Focus at MISSA
In hindsight, I can see that it was a random chain of events that led me to teach drawing at the Metchosin Summer School of the Arts (MISSA) this July.
About a year ago, I met a new friend at a gathering, who crafts silver earrings, and I bought a pair. From her I learned about and was accepted into a Christmas Craft Fair she was helping organize. At this fair I reconnected with a different potter friend and bought her clay dangler earrings. This friend, with me fresh in her memory, sent me a message that the Metchosin School was looking for instructors (the deadline for applications was the next day). On an impulse I followed the trail of earrings and applied to teach beginner drawing there, despite not really thinking I would get accepted.
If I hadn’t by chance, connected with the first friend, I wouldn’t have taught at MISSA. I just love how things work like that – if you are open to new experiences, responding to what is happening around you (and buying earrings from local artists) good things can happen. It’s like life is one big creative process, where one circumstance leads to the next and then the next until it forms a long chain. This ends up being your whole life, a series of chains of events. Obviously not all events are positive, but I think mostly it is important, no matter what, to keep responding to life around you and take these chances – to keep the chain going.
MISSA turned out to be a place where everyone comes together to purposefully engage in this whole life- affirming creative process.
This year, the two week long summer arts program was held at the Shawnigan Lake School, a prestigious private school. The white and brown buildings, with steep roof pitches that felt vaguely European, were connected by winding pathways and surrounded by manicured gardens and water features. My drawing class was held in the “Hobbies” building – one student pointed out, the name of the building revealed how serious the male forebearers considered the pursuit of art (the school was established in 1916).
Most of us stayed in the student dorms on campus and ate meals together under the vaulted ceiling in the spacious dining hall, described as reminiscent of the great hall at Hogwarts. No matter who you talked to at dinner or breakfast, they were engaged in in teaching or taking an art class and were often also often practising artists.
On Saturday evening, we had a chance to walk around different buildings that held classes and see what the others were up to. In the Hobbies building, a new friend, Kerry, was instructing students in linocut. She had for several years struggled to paint, but then came across this type of printmaking and discovered it was way more suited to her. Nearby, there was also a clay class in “underglazing”. A student there took me on a journey through her process, showing me photos that her husband had took, all around the world, that included many puffins and a jagged dead tree in the Namibia desert. In this process, students would choose a photo, put tracing paper on top and then pick out the main lines or patterns in the image. Then using three different colours, paint these lines on their ceramics.
I also visited the weaving studio which was held in the Theatre building, where several looms were set up, each student weaving their own personal garment in rows of wool, subjectively choosing colours and sometimes weaving in a random material that would add a feeling of spontaneity to the design. The quiet airy room held a feeling of magic and mystique.
I walked away with one of the women who in a soft voice explained to me that they were practicing a Japanese style of weaving called Saori, which literally means “zen weaving”. In this practise students are encouraged to explore and improvise – a form of self-exploration. In Saori, she explained, you also are encouraged to wear what you make. She was wearing a beautiful textured and softly coloured tunic. In fact, I learned you could easily spot the weavers in the dining hall by their unique clothing or bags.
At MISSA, you entered a different world, where art and the creative process took precedence over anything else. You could openly talk about your artistic process and find an interested audience. I could see how immersing yourself in a new technique or practise (or learning to draw!) with other creative folk, for a solid weekend or week would serve to foster creativity throughout the year.
I look forward to seeing where this chain of events continues to lead or keep my eyes open for the next chain, as I hope my life continues to be woven with these different colourful experiences.
