MY FIRST CLASS WITH THE INCREDIBLE DINA WAKLEY

 Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.
 Live the life you have imagined. 

- Henry David Thoreau

The Night Before

The night before my class with Dina Wakley, I had a panic attack – butterflies in my stomach, sweaty palms, uneasiness. I was going to be driving 200 miles alone with MAPS on my phone to guide me. Could I do this alone? Sure. I had practiced using MAPS with my daughter and hadn’t had any problems, so why was I so nervous? Well, for one, this was the farthest that I had ever driven alone. By myself. But I thought, if my daughter could drive 6 hours one way to college, then I could drive 2 hours. I could do it. I could.

Next morning

Next morning… I was on the road early, as planned. I could make it halfway without turning on MAPS, because I had traveled it many times, always with others in the car. But that wasn’t the problem. It was the traffic, multiple lanes, and quick decisions that I envisioned. That phobia was drilled into me when I was young. You see, my dad hated driving in city traffic, and when we came to a city, my mom would always turn around and tell my brother and I to “Be quiet!” so my dad could concentrate. Now when I get in a situation like that, I feel queasy. (Thanks, mom.) Anyway, I got to my halfway point and turned on MAPS ... no voice ... ”Hello Google????” ... no voice. INSTANT PANIC!!! So I pulled over crying, and called my daughter, my journey savior. Long story short, I MADE IT there!! And back home! I was very proud of my accomplishment. Would I do it again? YES!!

Dina

I thoroughly enjoyed my class with Dina Wakley. She was a wonderful teacher; so easy going and encouraging. I made art and browsed the art store; I was in heaven. One sad thing Dina shared was that last year there were over 400 stores in the U.S. like the one I was in, and this year, that number had shrunk to about half. Apparently, people believe it is better to buy online or at big art and craft chains than to support a small store. It made me realize I need to support small business so it doesn’t disappear. Shout out to The Queen’s Ink!!

The Art

First, we painted our boards, chose a central figure and stamped it 12 times. We also stamped and colored secondary images that would make up the background. After the prep work, Dina gave us 3 challenges to make - use the central figure for the concepts of one/several, whole/fractured, and dark/transparent. Below are the six small boards I made.

I’m proud of the fact that this year I have gone confidently in the direction of my dreams, like Thoreau said to do. Just because you’ve never started a blog, been on a design team, put your art out there for everyone to see, or driven 200 miles alone doesn’t mean you can’t. I’ve done all those things this year and more. Be confident, people! I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and will join me here every Friday for more blog posts and on Facebook and Instagram. 

 Art in the Studio makes every day a good day. 

  Thanks for spending time with ArtEveryDayStudio!