love your work.
your interviews...not so appropriate for sharing in class...
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Monday, January 23, 2017
Monday, December 5, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
pure feeling
2:00 to 2:12 is what i'm alive for. seriously. honestly.
it's why i'm still here to write words into the darkness of the internet.
that absolute raw emotion that knows no words, no images,
it is just feeling.
it is raw and real and it can be painful or joyful or more often
it can be beyond emotional categorization.
that
is
being
alive.
that is being human.
that is what we're here to experience.
that
right
there.
Friday, October 21, 2016
intentional gratitude
this morning, after drinking the first cup of coffee and feeding the pup pup and helping my husband get ready & out the door for his day, i start in on the task of writing 20ish personal thank you's to each of my students.
next week is our last week of art class, and although we only spent 6 weeks together (for a very short hour and 15 minutes each class)...i'm attached and sad to see them go. they taught me so much, and although i am exhausted at the thought of what i have poured into them (energy, time, thought, care, art lessons, adorable projects...) they always give it right back ten-fold...
sometimes it's a tight hug given freely and without prompting the moment they see me (and probably when they see the look of tired on my face)...
sometimes it's an ah-HA moment when a little concept of some kind suddenly clicks in their brain and they rejoice at the knowledge that it happened...
sometimes it's them repeating my teaching right back to me when I forget it myself. "oh, Miss Renai, you're not happy with such and such YET!" oh yeah, sure enough. good job sweet baby loves.
and in an intentional effort to be more thankful and aware of all the many blessings in my life, I have been working hard to say and write and deliver more "thank you's" to the people in my life that make it the wonderful thing that it is. and it's not just the big things...it's also the ladies at the WFM clinic that always answer the phone and are so professional and kind and helpful every time I call. Yep, they get a thank you card, too.
so as i begin the long task of coming up with a unique sentence or two to describe and thank each of these students for sharing space and time and their bright lights with me...i wonder what you are thankful for today? it's like cleaning out your closet. when you open your eyes to everything that's good and wonderful in your life and take the time to develop gratitude for it all, you discover all these other amazing things that you hardly even noticed before.
thank you.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
love!
please read & share her article if you love it...i think it's pretty fantastic 
http://www.glassheel.com/single-post/2016/08/31/Buried-Treasure---The-Admiration-Of-Inspiration
I met Janna working as a summer intern...to me then, at 16ish years old, she was this fantastic, creative, professional, caring, giving lady who I thought man, if I could be like her, maybe even have a gig like hers, and get some of those sweet colored markers she has up in her office,
I think life might be pretty good. she laughed a lot, mentored me in the sweetest way, and now she's off doing something new and amazing :)
<3
http://www.glassheel.com/single-post/2016/08/31/Buried-Treasure---The-Admiration-Of-Inspiration
I met Janna working as a summer intern...to me then, at 16ish years old, she was this fantastic, creative, professional, caring, giving lady who I thought man, if I could be like her, maybe even have a gig like hers, and get some of those sweet colored markers she has up in her office,
I think life might be pretty good. she laughed a lot, mentored me in the sweetest way, and now she's off doing something new and amazing :)
<3
dammit Kara!
just when I think everything is good and fine and you're done teaching me, I teach something and find myself remembering you with such love and then (inevitably) missing you. thanks for making this video so I can hear your voice when I'm missing you...
Sunday, October 16, 2016
similar but different
as m would say <3
dude, I must admit...dance parties have saved my butt on more than one occasion in the classroom.
when absolutely nothing is going as planned or well, I am always tempted to tell my little friends to drop everything, push chairs in, make sure there is space around their body, and then I turn on some loud song and we dance out the frustration / anger / tired / annoyed / too much energy / not enough energy / sadness until we can make art again. sometimes it's just for them, sometimes it's just for me...but I must say not once have I hosted a mid-art class dance party that didn't benefit everyone :)
dude, I must admit...dance parties have saved my butt on more than one occasion in the classroom.
when absolutely nothing is going as planned or well, I am always tempted to tell my little friends to drop everything, push chairs in, make sure there is space around their body, and then I turn on some loud song and we dance out the frustration / anger / tired / annoyed / too much energy / not enough energy / sadness until we can make art again. sometimes it's just for them, sometimes it's just for me...but I must say not once have I hosted a mid-art class dance party that didn't benefit everyone :)
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Friday, October 14, 2016
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Sunday, August 2, 2015
3 more weeks!
15 more days!
it's like the end of a marathon,
where you start to notice that you're totally exhausted,
and maybe your form isn't the best anymore
because you're totally exhausted,
and you start making a few more mistakes...
but the cheering gets louder,
and you start to think about the delicious snacks after you cross the finish line
and oh yeah, the finish line is so close!
you've accomplished so much!
you can do it!
you can do it!
you can do it!
*rah rah rah*
fall is a-coming!
it's like the end of a marathon,
where you start to notice that you're totally exhausted,
and maybe your form isn't the best anymore
because you're totally exhausted,
and you start making a few more mistakes...
but the cheering gets louder,
and you start to think about the delicious snacks after you cross the finish line
and oh yeah, the finish line is so close!
you've accomplished so much!
you can do it!
you can do it!
you can do it!
*rah rah rah*
fall is a-coming!
Monday, July 20, 2015
Monday, July 13, 2015
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Thursday, June 4, 2015
blue sky
i find these little pockets of sadness and fear inside myself. usually they burst open unexpectedly, and usually at inconvenient times. i have an intense fear of losing the people (and animals) that i really love, and i borrow sadness when i fear the (inevitable) future when their hearts no longer reside on the earth. and instead of focusing on my belief that hearts and people and animals do not disappear when they leave the earth, i easily become trapped in the sadness. and i know that part of this is the kid-gloves artist thing, the bit about the unavoidable fact that i feel things intensely. i rarely feel a little happy, or a little sad, or a little frustrated, or a smidge disappointed. instead i feel feelings intensely, with my whole being, and it is hard to stuff them down or let them go. so i feel them.
and today, i look to the blue sky and consider awareness. consider that i could perhaps, with great love and great practice, learn not to get stuck in the cloud of feeling and emotion. perhaps, one day, i can carefully and with very great love gently press through the translucent cloud of feeling to see that there is blue sky beyond. the clouds are transient, the clouds are encompassing but do not have to be. i am not clouds, i am blue sky. i am blue sky that experiences clouds, and the clouds are not good or bad they just are. some days they are good. some days i fight through them. but i am not them, i am the blue sky. and when i realize continuously that i am bright blue sky, i will more easily accept and let go of the clouds.
and today, i look to the blue sky and consider awareness. consider that i could perhaps, with great love and great practice, learn not to get stuck in the cloud of feeling and emotion. perhaps, one day, i can carefully and with very great love gently press through the translucent cloud of feeling to see that there is blue sky beyond. the clouds are transient, the clouds are encompassing but do not have to be. i am not clouds, i am blue sky. i am blue sky that experiences clouds, and the clouds are not good or bad they just are. some days they are good. some days i fight through them. but i am not them, i am the blue sky. and when i realize continuously that i am bright blue sky, i will more easily accept and let go of the clouds.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
advocacy
dear future students,
it is your responsibility to stand up for your students, their art, their individual creativity, and the value of art itself. at some point, you will have to be the cheerleader. that's just the way it is. that's part of the job. that's part of the joy. that's part of the struggle.
but hey, nobody said you had to be an art teacher when you grow up.
you're the one who signed on for this! (thankfully, YOU! you get to slowly, patiently, with great love expose people to the power of art and creating :)
i was teaching a canvas painting party when a parent whispered to me "you better check in with the girl at the end". in the middle of putting away paint or washing a brush or trying to get paint out of my hair before embarrassing myself, i partially couldn't hear this parent's comment and partially had no idea what was wrong with the girl at the end. so i casually stroll to the end of the table, and not finding any sort of bug, meltdown, or lack of supplies...i continued teaching from this location that was supposedly having an issue.
and then parent #2 (neither of which were the parent of this child!) says "will she be ok? will her painting turn out ok??" at which point i realize that oh, we're referring to these larger than normal lily pads here that this one wonderful and beautiful artist created?!? these perfectly OK, unique, yes maybe a little off on perspective but hey, that shit is hard lily pads?! we're asking if this 8 year old's canvas painting is going to be OK like it's life or death if her painting looks like my stupid example?! and now, parents, your comments literally have every other student at the table looking at this unique painting and back at their own to make sure they haven't gone awry?! and now the girl at the end with the unique and wonderful and individual painting is starting to feel self conscious and like she did something wrong?!?! HOLD THE PHONE, PEOPLE.
and kara kelley hallmark's words just came flying out of my mouth. not loud or angry or upset, just so quickly that i did not even plan or expect this response to come from me. but i started going on about Claude Monet, who inspired these paintings, and how he was part of the Impressionists who were a group of painters who did everything "wrong". they painted outside, they painted light and color, their paintings got rejected from the Salon exposition time and time again, but they believed so much in what they were studying and creating that they made their own art show and their own group of artist friends and did their own fucking thing.
when we read about it in books it sounds so eloquent and proper and right...but c'mon people, going against the grain is NOT eloquent or proper or encouraged or delightful. it's hard work. it sucks. it's hard on the ego. it doesn't make you very many friends, or very many fans, or very much money. BUT, it is these people who propel society forward. it is these crazy ideas that change art. it is these people who are willing to paint their water lilies however they see fit that enhance humanity and make it ok for others to be themselves, to try their ideas, to take a leap of faith, to make and change and see what happens. sometimes it works. sometimes it doesn't. but you should never let the fear of failure keep you from trying something new. we're all going to fail, but without the big chance you can't get the big reward.
and you know what parent #1 & parent #2 and every other student at the table did at the end of my shpeal? they shut their mouth and worried about their own painting. because they knew it was true, they knew Monet wasn't making many friends at the end of the table painting his water lilies hundreds of times like a crazy man, and they saw that they weren't making any friends in my book by being critical and less than loving to a fellow artist.
so, my dear future students who will become wonderful art teachers, be prepared to educate everyone about art. not just your students, but their parents, other teachers, administrators, community members...on and on and on. but even beyond being prepared to do this, be excited to do this. parent #1 and parent #2 weren't trying to be hurtful...they believe art has a right and wrong like math. they don't realize that art is wonderful and open ended and expressive and unique and challenging and should be encouraged and supported and encouraged some more. because it's good for us, for all of us, to know that life doesn't have one right answer. there are lots of right answers, you just have to find the one that is right for you.
love always,
rae
it is your responsibility to stand up for your students, their art, their individual creativity, and the value of art itself. at some point, you will have to be the cheerleader. that's just the way it is. that's part of the job. that's part of the joy. that's part of the struggle.
but hey, nobody said you had to be an art teacher when you grow up.
you're the one who signed on for this! (thankfully, YOU! you get to slowly, patiently, with great love expose people to the power of art and creating :)
and then parent #2 (neither of which were the parent of this child!) says "will she be ok? will her painting turn out ok??" at which point i realize that oh, we're referring to these larger than normal lily pads here that this one wonderful and beautiful artist created?!? these perfectly OK, unique, yes maybe a little off on perspective but hey, that shit is hard lily pads?! we're asking if this 8 year old's canvas painting is going to be OK like it's life or death if her painting looks like my stupid example?! and now, parents, your comments literally have every other student at the table looking at this unique painting and back at their own to make sure they haven't gone awry?! and now the girl at the end with the unique and wonderful and individual painting is starting to feel self conscious and like she did something wrong?!?! HOLD THE PHONE, PEOPLE.
and kara kelley hallmark's words just came flying out of my mouth. not loud or angry or upset, just so quickly that i did not even plan or expect this response to come from me. but i started going on about Claude Monet, who inspired these paintings, and how he was part of the Impressionists who were a group of painters who did everything "wrong". they painted outside, they painted light and color, their paintings got rejected from the Salon exposition time and time again, but they believed so much in what they were studying and creating that they made their own art show and their own group of artist friends and did their own fucking thing.
when we read about it in books it sounds so eloquent and proper and right...but c'mon people, going against the grain is NOT eloquent or proper or encouraged or delightful. it's hard work. it sucks. it's hard on the ego. it doesn't make you very many friends, or very many fans, or very much money. BUT, it is these people who propel society forward. it is these crazy ideas that change art. it is these people who are willing to paint their water lilies however they see fit that enhance humanity and make it ok for others to be themselves, to try their ideas, to take a leap of faith, to make and change and see what happens. sometimes it works. sometimes it doesn't. but you should never let the fear of failure keep you from trying something new. we're all going to fail, but without the big chance you can't get the big reward.
and you know what parent #1 & parent #2 and every other student at the table did at the end of my shpeal? they shut their mouth and worried about their own painting. because they knew it was true, they knew Monet wasn't making many friends at the end of the table painting his water lilies hundreds of times like a crazy man, and they saw that they weren't making any friends in my book by being critical and less than loving to a fellow artist.
so, my dear future students who will become wonderful art teachers, be prepared to educate everyone about art. not just your students, but their parents, other teachers, administrators, community members...on and on and on. but even beyond being prepared to do this, be excited to do this. parent #1 and parent #2 weren't trying to be hurtful...they believe art has a right and wrong like math. they don't realize that art is wonderful and open ended and expressive and unique and challenging and should be encouraged and supported and encouraged some more. because it's good for us, for all of us, to know that life doesn't have one right answer. there are lots of right answers, you just have to find the one that is right for you.
love always,
rae
Saturday, May 16, 2015
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