Express Yourself! Workshop: Re-Kindling Your Passion

Sheridan's Pocket Page: Adding Beads to the Warrior's Headdress

 Sheridan recently retired from a long career of working with troubled children. She realized that her heart had gone out of something she had enjoyed doing and therefore took early retirement to renew her spirit. She is now in the place of deciding where to journey to next. This summer Sheridan won my altered book, "Finish This Book", which I created for this summer's Marin Museum of Contemporary Art's benefit auction. She enjoyed the book's theme and particularly liked the little bag of "tools" I had attached to the book for the reader to use to finish the AB. Now that Sheridan's retired she's been exploring art -- specifically collage -- and wanted to sign up for some art classes, including my workshop.

Sheridan's Finished Pocket Page

 At first Sheridan was a little hesitant -- my first exercise is a very simple one, but often people have trouble jumping into it. Lots of times it's because we're taught not to deface books. With Sheridan, she asked me halfway through, "Is this what you want?". That's an example of the inner critic that sometimes comes into play when first starting out with AB's. But really, this is such a normal reaction  -- who isn't a bit cautious in a new situation, a new media, a new teacher? And making art or creating is a very intimate process, you are taking a risk in expressing yourself. But once Sheridan got her feet wet, she literally took off! Goodness -- she's one powerful creative woman with a strong color sense, and a willingness to experiment with different images. The word "atavistic" kept jumping into my mind when I looked at her pages and her creative process -- primal, ancestral, and also with a touch of humor.

First Spread: Lots Happening Here