First Class: Improvised Line
Sheila: Memories
Thinking back to this early class, I remember the exhausting doubts, fears, and inner naggings that now, three years hence, have largely been resolved or silenced. But that autumn night the inner chatter was still in full swing and although I wanted to trust in the process, to just have faith that this would work, secretly I wondered how this could possibly lead to a real painting.

Much of what I did early on was simply to copy JoAnn’s actions or to follow her directions, so when she said, “Feel the paper. Run your hand over it,” I did. I didn’t know why or what I was supposed to learn or experience from it, but I knew I loved her work and if that was how she said to go about it, I would try.

I returned to a grade school classroom where I remember doing something very similar: listening to classical music, allowing my pencil to wander the page, and finally coloring in the shapes that were made to the music. I loved it in grade school;

I found it soothing and satisfying. Of course, in 2001, I had to let go of my judgment that this “doodling” couldn’t be “real” art. Easier said than done. But I DID use a charcoal stick, and I DID color outside the lines, and I DID get lost in the process.

I started two pieces this way - both roughly 14 x 20. I held the charcoal in my non-dominant hand, closed my eyes, and wandered around the entire page, making an effort to visit each corner. I varied the pressure on the charcoal in response to the music, sometimes bearing down and moving slowly, other times easing up and making smaller, looping, quick lines. I stopped when I felt as if I had completed my wandering - a totally intuitive decision; but since there was no right or wrong way to do this, stopping when I felt like it, was okay.

Once the charcoal lines were complete, I took up my watercolors. Working from tubes squeezed directly onto my jumbo Crayola brush, I painted into, onto, around, between the black marks. I used a spray bottle sparingly, the effect of which I really liked. It let the thick watercolor and the charcoal move around and together.

This was the first time I had ever been through this process. The results were...interesting...The piece ultimately was very dark, but I did succeed in letting go of whatever perceived rules I thought were supposed to apply. I enjoyed the process. And I learned, as I continue to, by trial and error...and occasionally, by trial and success.