Checking In and Waving Hi from Art Unraveled

Howdy from Phoenix! 

I taught my first class of Art Unraveled 2017 a couple of hours ago. It's hard to believe that it's been fifteen years since Art Unraveled began. I remember the first one as if it were yesterday.

Tristan was five. My Dad flew from Boston to L.A. and then drove to Phoenix with us. My parents would often arrange their summer vacation schedule around my teaching schedule so I could bring Tristan. I always appreciated that they did that. It meant a lot and we have a lot of great memories from our time on the road together. 

Art Unraveled was at a different hotel (one with an insane amount of water slides and after hours free warm chocolate chip cookies which made a big impression on my boy.) I remember teaching day and night classes for a few days in a row. Dad and Tristan would hang out while I taught. I remember selling my handmade journals at the first AU. It was in the early days of my art career and selling was (and always has been) not quite my forte. I learned that while I enjoy occasionally selling my wares, I much rather prefer to focus on the teaching aspect of making art. It is more work but it is work that makes my heart happy in a very good way (where selling often scares me.) I remember that feeling of intense vulnerability on vending day. I remember meeting many people who were as happy and excited to be there as I was. It was an experience unlike any other.

Fifteen years...

I've always loved teaching here and it has been such a big part of my life. My Dad has been gone five years now. Tristan is going into his junior year of college (how did that happen? How does any of it happen?) He spends most of his time wrapped up in his own creativity working on his animated films. I am proud. Dad would have been, too. I miss them both when I am here.

I've seen several familiar faces in just a few hours. I've had the pleasure of meeting new faces, too. It's like a family reunion but with a little splattered paint thrown into the potato salad. We gather. We talk. We make. We learn. We take. We give. We laugh. We cry. We welcome new family and friends and we miss the ones who aren't here.

An art retreat isn't a place to run away or escape to. It's a place and a means of going home, of creating home for your creative self. It's digging deep into your self, sharing what you need and discovering what you can bring to the table. It's an experience that so many of us need to remember and try to recreate when we leave this little self created bubble. 

Community. Creativity. Inspiration. Encouragement. Isn't that what it's all about? 

Cheers, Art Unraveled.

Cheers and thank you.