There has been a greater desire to make connections with friends, neighbors and the local community. My pathway has been through art—creating, teaching, or sharing.
In preparing an exhibition, I reached out to engage with the Creare community, I was delighted with the immediate response from volunteers to participate in a portrait study. Personalities were shared in the manner of answering two questions:
What makes you smile? What’s your favorite color?
What makes you smile? What’s your favorite color?
The answers to these simple questions told me a lot about the people—from their love of family and pets to their pleasure of the warm sun and the aromatic woods. It made me feel that the world was just a bit smaller with our similarities rather than differences.
Although my reference was collected in a personal meeting of only ten to fifteen minutes, my time studying and drawing each individual was substantial to make an impact on how I look at faces, teach my students and see the world.
