Silence is Golden

Whisper of a Flower in Spring

Hardly there but telling a story of a sunlit day with minimal brushstrokes.

That Special Moment.

Every workshop has one. It is the  period you work towards in an all day session. You start  the day with an introduction, demonstrate, give information and instruction and aim to inspire with every single word and brushstroke. An atmosphere where everyone can relax and enjoy the session is vital along with laughter at times over unexpected funny comments.

 Yesterday as always on my workshops we started the session with some warm up simple exercises to get our brushes moving using brushmarks looking at ways colour  works on paper with water. Saying so much with so little. We were not aiming at a finished painting although some seemed to magically appear.

It is a routine I have used on many occasions. A teaching technique and schedule which I am delighted is now being used by artists who have studied with me in their own workshops all over the world. To teach is a gift so to pass on the gift of teaching is a privilege knowing you are creating so much joy reaching out to others you may never have the opportunity to meet through your own work. 

After lunch in my workshops the session always then becomes more serious as everyone looks forward to the main painting time of the day.We have all the individual techniquesfrom the mornings demonstrations  but now we put them together to form the complete composition. And we are always aware we are half way through the day already. Time is flying by.

But there is one point on my workshops that is the most magical to me. A time when you can hear a pin drop in the room. Everyone has  now become so engrossed with their  brushwork that you as a teacher don't even exist. You are almost redundant.Your demonstrations have  pressed a button which cannot be switched off . A fire of enthusiasm has hit each artists soul as they become one with their paper.

You watch silently.

You look around the room as each head is  now in position to focus on their painting. Nothing elses matters. You could be invisible.

And when this happens I often feel  like crying. Purely because getting to this place in our minds to paint can be so hard  for many artists at the best of times. To get there on a workshop surrounded by others is often impossible.

But it does happen. And when it does it is magical.

Yesterday I gently touched an artists arm in the front of the class and asked her to look behind her at the silent room.We both in that moment knew silence is golden.

These moments I will remember forever .

Magic.

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