My art is bright and fun and simple. It makes people smile and feel happy inside. This fills my heart with joy and inspires me to create, create and create some more. I find that drawing, painting, sketching, building, baking, decorating, crafting, gardening and mixing it all up allows me the opportunity to express myself and share my thoughts and feelings in a very “out loud” way that requires no voice. Through all of the self expressing I do, I get feedback from my family, friends and fans that it offers them ideas and ways to express themselves too.
The part of my career that I am most passionate about is sharing my ideas with others. This past weekend I had the pleasure of teaching four very special little girls how to work with clay. They not only had a blast but once we were done, had some pretty amazing masterpieces. The sparkle in five year old Zoe’s eyes while she made a swirly flower like her ten year old friend Emily was only matched by the laughter between best friends Jordan and Kylie who are the other two’s sisters. Creating a project that crossed ages and bonded sisters with each other and their friends was a beautiful experience.
I was worried when I accidentally turned into a “real” artist and no longer was in a classroom teaching elementary school that I would miss using my teaching gifts and making the difference that I thought only could be made in the classroom. Wow, was I holding myself small. Whenever I feel icky, I gather up some kids (grown up kids too) and teach them learn how to use a new medium. Whether linking art with curriculum and working in my kids’ classrooms using collage, promoting self esteem with age friends projects like tie-dye and beading with my beautiful 13 year old God daughter and her cool middle school friends, supporting my niece’s Girl Scout troop to earn a badge through scrapbooking and stamping, volunteering for non-profits to make auction decorations, or hanging out in my studio with friends and neighbors sharing my supplies; I love when I find ways to inspire other human beings to access their creativity. The laughter, smiles and fun that takes place when I cause people to get together to craft creates stronger relationships and at the core, love. I believe that everyone was born with creativity. It saddens me that so many people tell me that they don’t have a creative bone in their body. I feel successful when I can support them in discovering their creative talents.
One of the most fulfilling gatherings I ever hosted took place with a bunch of women from my V-Day group. I was feeling like I didn’t know where I was going next in life or what I wanted to create for myself next. Because we are a group of woman standing to end violent crimes against women worldwide through empowerment and love, I invited the group my studio on a Friday night to create vision boards. We played uplifting music, ate yummy snacks and made vision boards by cutting up old magazines and creating collages of things that we would like to do “someday”. When we were all done, we shared. Some women were amazed and how beautifully they laid out their clippings while others were in awe of what they had chosen to clip. They reconnected with old dreams and found new ones too. We ranged from college age young women to grandmas. We were black, white and other. Some of us had successful careers and some of us were searching. It didn’t matter. We were there free of judgment to support each other in creating vision! I will always remember the experience that one woman shared. She had clippings of a bride, flowers and a dog. She cried when she shared her board and expressed her desire to one day marry and create a family. She said she had given up a long time ago and didn’t let herself think about it anymore. I saw her a few months ago while out shopping. She ran up and hugged me and shared that she has a boyfriend. She said it never would have happened if it weren’t for that night and the incredible amount of encouragement that came as a result. I believe that “happy ever after” is possible for everyone. My wish for her is that her vision board becomes her reality.
I think that the human body is the healthiest when it rids itself of anxiety and allows the brain to release stressful feelings. Crafting provides a space for my feelings to flow through my mind and body into a work of art. I am the healthiest when I feel balanced and believe that what I am doing is making a difference for those that I love and the world that I live in. I feel so super lucky to have a career that combines my talents as a teacher and my gifts as an artist to create and spread love and joy.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Laura-Kelly/88102752318?ref=ts
http://blog.sharpie.com/2010/04/meet-the-2010-sharpie-squad/
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