One reason I love #teaching #art is the incredible people I meet along the way. Yesterday I met with a new client, whom I'll call "Marcy". I was so looking forward to meeting Marcy, because when I'd asked her over the phone, "What kind of art subject would you like to focus on?", she'd announced, "I like to draw Predator!"
It's not a common experience to find a woman over 55 who fanarts Predator, and is comfortable sharing such things, so I was really looking forward to meeting Marcy. That kind of confidence is a beautiful thing. Plus, I had a great stylized image of Predator for us to begin on.
Meeting Marcy gave me even more appreciation for her: as we painted together, she shared with me about the health issues she struggles with: the brain problem that causes glitches in her thinking, ("I learned it's best to just laugh about those," she said), the spinal injury that creates 24 hour pain and has spawned a breathing problem that could suffocate her at any moment ("I figure I better get busy living while I can," she said). Something clicked: "Predator" probably isn't that scary, when you've learned to live with terrifying realities on an everyday basis.
As we worked together on the beginning stages of the Predator painting, I realized: Marcy solidifies one of the premises I usually end up encouraging all my art students with: those who are willing to try art and create art are some of the most risky and courageous people I know. #Courage #Artist #artteacher #artlessons