Most bloggers use the last week of the year to reflect on the year that’s gone
by, but since the top 2000 will be up and runnin’ by then (see post on top!),
I thought I do it now. Not all at once, but I will use the next blog posts to
reflect on something creative I did last year.
(And yes, there will be some new work to show every now and then!)
Like a lot of bloggers, I picked a ‘word of the year’ for 2010.
So let’s see what became of that…
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My word was SMILE!
This is what I wrote about it:
“… this is what I want to do more in 2010: live my life with more light
and sunshine, colour and fun and smiles (and who knows, even laughter!)
I want to look at the bright things in life and approach people with more trust.”
And did I smile in 2010?
Hell yes! I had all reasons too!
Reason to smile #1
I started my own website and wrote (taught) three workshops last year.
Everyone who took a workshop was enthusiastic about it, and it gave me
such a boost and trust that I’m on the right track!
The first workshop that run on my online community.
I remember being a bit nervous when I put this in my
shop, but in no time there were a lot of participants
who loved the class and made wonderful art pieces
with my lessons! Last September, the workshop run
for a second time and right after, I was asked
whether I was willing to teach this again, this time for
Dutchies only. Wowzah, this workshop is popular!
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For my second workshop, I focused on art history.
Since I graduated as an art teacher, which also
includes art history, I thought this would be fun.
I guess it scared people off though. Maybe they
thought it was about ‘studying tough theoretical
stuff’… there were only a few ‘students’ in this class.
That was a bit disappointing since it is a fun workshop!
Yep, the lessons handle some theory and the prompts
are based on art from certain periods, but with several
prompts per lesson to choose from I think it is a versatile workshop!
Anyway, it will run again in January/February if there are enough
people interested in following this workshop. (see side menu)
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After writing two workshops on my own, I thought it
would be fun to ask a ‘guest teacher’ for a change.
Michelle LaPoint Rydell said ‘yes’ right away. This
workshop wants to inspire people to make art journal
pages based on all kinds of emotions. Michelle and I
took turns writing and teaching lessons. There were
different approaches and ways of teaching, but I think
the students liked that. The last lesson was uploaded
last week. Michelle and I will evaluate this workshop
and the process of working later but I think it’s safe to say it was a success!
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So all in all; starting a website with an online community where I
teach workshops was, and still is, a huge reason to smile!
I will go on with it and I am already planning a – somewhat different –
workshop in the Summer of 2011. Of course I will publish the info
on the website (next Spring) but if you subscribe to the newsletter
you will be sure that you won’t miss a thing!
I leave you with a lay-out that hopefully will make you smile too.
I made this in the last workshop with one of Michelle’s lessons.
(we worked on each others lessons together with the students.)
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I hope you have a joyful weekend with a lot of smiles!
I’ll be back next week, with some new work and more reasons to smile!
See you then!