I can hardly believe I have allowed this much time to pass since my last post about my first workshop series, which ended, oh, a few months ago...

I led a four-week Creative Journaling Workshiop Series this past April with three incredible participants and I have to saya the experience was just about perfect.  My initial plan was to chronicle the entire process of creating, organizing and leading the workshops to document this new creative journey I was contemplating.  Towards the end of last year I was toying with the idea of developing a teaching side to my work as an artist and hosted two "trial run" workshops, which were basically two separate evenings with two groups of willing guinea pigs to try some ideas and basically pick everyone's brains.

My intial idea was to offer single night workshops that would be held at someone's home.  In a nutshell, if someone wanted to host an art night, they gather their friends and I show up with armloads of art supplies to lead a night of creative fun.  The feedback I got from both of my trial groups was consistent - skip the one night events and create something more in-depth and more ongoing.

Great!  So I did just that and put together a four week series, which I announced to everyone who participated in my December groups (there were about twenty women.)  I initially offered an evening session, which no one signed up for, so I then put the word out about an afternoon session and that got more interest, so that is the direction I went.  I did not go heavy on the marketing for this first series because I wasn't even sure I wanted to do this on an ongoing basis, so the fact that I had such a small group to start out with was just fine with me.  As I said, this experience was pretty much perfect.

In a nutshell, the workshops were wonderful.  We all had a lovely time and I really enjoyed helping these amazing women tap into their own creative well.  I am so happy I was able to do this with them.

BUT...once they were over I immediately moved on and didn't think much about anymore workshops.  The main reason for this is that I had to finish my book, but even if that weren't taking up so much of my time and attention, I don't think I'd be diving into another workshop series anytime soon.  As happy as I am I dipped my toe into these waters, I realize now I am not ready to make this a significant part of my work.  If I had the opportunity to teach at another event every so often I think that would be ideal, as having to market my workshops and get the word out on a consistent basis is a lot of work I am not interested in doing at the moment, at least not for teaching. 

I will most likely take what I learned from this first experience and apply it to future teaching experiences after my book is released.  I would like teaching to be a part of what I do, but a smallish part, something that complements my work and my book.  Teaching takes an entirely different kind of energy than painting, writing or other inwardly focused creative work, and for now I want to continue developing my own artistic work more than anything. 

So that is the story!!  Rest assured I'll keep everyone posted on any future teaching projects I do. 

I am offering a four-week Creative Journaling Workshop Series in Los Angeles beginning Thursday, April 3, 2008.  Classes will be held from 1:00 - 4:00pm every Thursday.  Each week we will work on a different theme, all centered around your creative process and visions:

Week One :: I Leap :: Thursday, April 3, 2008
Our first evening together will be all about play. We'll start off with a review of basic collage techniques and then move right into the good stuff - letting your creativity run wild.
Week Two :: I Am :: Thursday, April 10, 2008
This workshop is for you to explore who you are, your values and priorities and your wildest creative dreams.
Week Three :: I Can :: Thursday, April 17, 2008
A follow up to I Am, this week is about tapping into what makes you feel brave, strong and yes, creative.
Week Four :: I Will :: Thursday, April 24, 2008
We'll wrap things up by tying everything together and using what you've learned to bring your creative dreams to life.

All materials will be supplied. If you prefer to work in your own journal, feel free to bring it, as well as any other photographs, papers, etc. that you would like to create with.

[Class size limited to 8] 

If you are interested in attending, please email me:  christine@swirlygirl.com. 

Today's date is actually December 3, 2007, and last night was my first foray into professional teaching.  I have organized workshops, art groups, retreats and boutiques over the years, all with great success, and have been toying with the idea of making it an official piece of my career pie for many months.  In November of this year I decided to take the plunge, and last night I had a trial run workshop with seven fabulous women on my dining room table.  I provided a mountain of art supplies, a space to create and minimal instruction and they gave me invaluable feedback and insights into how these workshops might be structured for maximum creative impact.

I decided to write about my journey into teaching to offer readers a glimpse into the process of starting a creative business.  It is terribly easy to look at successful artists and enterpreneurs and think the journey must have been rosy and blissful from day one, when the reality is that any endeavor is a process that has moments of bliss, yes, but also challenges, frustrations and surprises.  I am barely 24 hours into this new adventure and I've already been given information that tells me my initial ideas might not be quite on the mark.  By the time last night's workshop was wrapping up, the path I thought I'd be on as a teacher already started shifting.

One of the greatest lessons I learned with Swirly is that there must be a balance between making something happen and allowing new directions to divert your attention.  I had a clear "big picture", long term vision for Swirly that always stayed intact, but in terms of the specifics of how I got there on a day to day basis, that shifted and morphed quite a bit as new opportunities arose along the way.  I have a vision for my teaching - and this blog and my artwork - that are all interconnected and part of the same picture, but I am well aware that the tactics I choose to assemble this puzzle might not be the best methods.  I have to be willing to explore other avenues and ideas as I receive input, advice and opinions from my potential audience.  It is a process I have learned to enjoy immensely.

The fear of being wrong is a powerful one indeed, and it prevents many people from putting their ideas, visions and creativity out in the world.  I actually find the possibility of being wrong positively freeing.  I explained to my group last night what my ideas were, and immediately followed that up with an admission that I might be totally wrong.  How wonderful!  I might be way off, and because of this there is absolutely no need to get attached to my ideas.  And guess what?  It looks like my ideas about making these workshops as accessible and effective as possible might not be the best.  Maybe not WRONG, but perhaps not as potent as they could be.  The exciting part of this is that it looks like I have been thinking too small, and I will serve myself - and my clients - better by thinking bigger.

I will be writing about this throughout the year, sharing the process with the goal of providing a realistic, inspring story of realizing a dream.  Accomplishing grand dreams are fabulous, of course, but it is all the steps we take to get to those moments of triumph that make the experience worthwhile.