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.
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How Birds Give Us a Sense of Wonder
One of the most precious gifts I received as a child was a large picture book of birds painted by the 19th century ornithologist/artist, James Audubon.  It was from my grandparents in ...
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Tapping Into Creativity
It was one of those days where you feel like a walking accident waiting to happen; everything you touch either breaks, falls or doesn’t work. My accompanying state of mind was scattered ...
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The Art of Noticing Things
Have you ever played Boggle and found every word there was possibly to find, only to suffer the shock that your opponent found fifteen words you didn’t see at all?  In life ...
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Where is Inspiration?
One question an artist often gets asked is: “where do you find your inspiration?” I usually say “nature” instead of the real answer which is much longer and harder to pinpoint.
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Seeing More
As many of my students have told me, their lives seem richer because they are seeing better and seeing more.  It’s helpful to remember that we don’t teach reading and writing to produce ...
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Seeing More
Drawing is a very direct path from your eye to pencil to paper, there is no technological barrier such as a computer or a camera.  I think this immediacy has a way of revealing mysteries, ...
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