Fridays 1:00-2:00ishPM Atlantic Time Zone
on ZOOM
February 10th, 17th, 24th
March 3rd, 10th
$15 per class or $70 for all 5
*To register send $ to beth@bethlenco.com or
Paypal*
We are living beings with a desire to connect. We are part of the natural living world. We are animals. In the not too distant past, we lost that connection as modern industrial technology took hold. Not every single person lost the connection, but the culture did.
Now we need to reunite and reconnect as if our lives depended on it. Because they do.
In my experience nothing has brought me closer to nature than drawing. In it’s essence, drawing is simple: we pick up a drawing tool and make marks of what we see on a surface. We can’t get much simpler. But from within the complexities of modern living, it is far from that simple. How do we even begin? What do we draw? What tools do we use? How do we sit ourselves down without distractions and make these marks? How do we release the hold of the inner critic and any body memories of shaming we experienced as younger people? How do we learn to like our own marks and enjoy the process no matter what the end result is? How do we draw realistically for pleasure not product?
Well, the answers might be a bit different for each of us, but I can share with you what I have learned from over 30 years of drawing (most of those years being a tremendous struggle as I wasn’t a natural). But something inside me longed and yearned to draw. To make marks large and small that were me, that told me something about my experience of the world. I could not draw while going to art school and I couldn’t learn there. It seemed like the experts were already experts and the others like me fumbled their way. But I would swoon over the elegant senior drawers -all of whom were women. They seemed to carry a self assurance and confidence that I did not possess. Like ballerinas. They also all drew from nature…
Susan Wood, my most favorite teacher said repeatedly -draw what you see. I took that to heart and I draw what I see. She did, and she was marvelous.
Would you like to draw with me? As a way into the natural world? A way back home again and again? Might you find pleasure and connection there? Even joy and bliss?
In these 5 weeks I will pick up pencil and paper with you and draw objects from nature as a way of expression, communion, relationship, happiness, quietude, and sharing.
Come join me.
