Cultivating a Beginner's Mind

Shoshin means "beginner's mind:"  having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner would.  There are specific techniques for cultivating it, including discarding fear of failure, and embracing falling down, as well as getting back up. 

I tried to keep these principles in mind on Saturday, when I attended a wonderful day long class taught by Nathalie Kalbach and Julie Balzer at The Ink Pad.   (Thank you Nathalie for letting me use some of your pictures.  I was paying such close attention that I didn't take many of my own!)

Julie and Nat had us use the same supplies, but they taught very different approaches to collage.  Nathalie's approach was in my comfort zone - having a recognizable focus point and using collage to help tell a story.  Here's what I made. Although I expect to do more with it, I already like it...

Julie taught a more abstract approach - and boy was I out of my comfort zone.  I can't say I'm happy with what I did.  To be honest, at some point I kind of gave up out of frustration.    But as Julie so aptly said, who ever learned anything from their successes?  (She actually said a few other choice words - you have to take a class with her to get the flavor!)   I'm determined to revisit these two pieces, and resist the temptation to add a face or cut one of them up into fun shapes for another piece!  I'm also really glad I'm going to a workshop with Jane Davies in a few weeks - she's also an abstract artist and I definitely need more work in this area!  Plus, I'll be there with my bud - Judy Shea - so no matter what, it will be a blast!

Here's the whole group with their pieces.  It was a big class, and Julie and Nat were great about getting around to everyone and sharing so generously.  I loved watching them work separately and together - and especially enjoyed seeing the respect and affection they showed each other.  Plus, the two of them are pretty funny so we all had a lot of laughs!

Julie and Nat are great teachers - individually and together, and I look forward to taking more classes with them.  In fact, I definitely plan to take Nat's class on June 8th at The Ink Pad to hone my knowledge about acrylics:

How about you?  What classes are making your heart sing these days? 

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