NEW CAREER PLANS AND UNSPEAKABLE PLACES

I've finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up...a professional art-class-taker! I was flipping through the catalog of classes available out at Laguna Gloria not long ago, and found a listing for a class on travel sketching, something I have been obsessing on ever since I picked up The Art of Travel with a Sketchbook, by Mari Le Glatin Keis. Of course, there is that old phobic thing I have about not being able to draw, and not wanting to look stupid while I learn, but the catalog swore that it wasn't necessary to be an experienced artist to take the class. This one is not about creating a finished piece of work to put on display. It is about discovering another way to keep a travel journal, and even another way to travel. So, I took the leap.

We arrived at 9:00 on Saturday, and after a brief intro, our instructor (Eve Larson) walked us down to the shores of the beautiful lagoon that the villa faces. She gave us a little demo on how to frame a scene with our fingers, do a very quick minimalist sketch in pencil, use our water color pencils to add a few splashes of color, and then add just a few details with pen and ink. After a short while I became so absorbed in what I was doing that I totally lost track of time, and was shocked when she told us it was time to head back. But first, she said, we should look around and pick up a few things - leaves, moss, flowers, whatever - to practice sketching after lunch.

We took an hour break, and most of us gathered in the museum's cafe/gift shop, where we chatted about our various backgrounds and reasons for wanting to take the class. When we returned, Eve gave us another quick demo, this one on doing contour and gesture drawings, which would come in handy when we wanted to add people to our travel sketches. Since most of us would not have the time, skill or even the desire, to do detailed portraits of people whilst traveling, the trick would be to learn how to do lightning-fast sketches that just give the idea of people sitting in cafes , playing in the park or whatever - thus, gesture drawings. We took turns posing on the model stand while the other students sketched us, then spent the rest of the time sketching and coloring the little finds we had brought back from the lagoon. Never has a day gone by so quickly!

On Sunday, our class didn't begin until 1:00. I was dying to practice my sketching, so I headed out early and stopped for lunch at Mama Fu's, a great little Asian bistro at the Southpark Meadows shopping center in S. Austin (I drool at the thought of their sesame encrusted seared Ahi tuna dishes). Since Mama Fu's, along with several other cafes and an Amy's Ice Cream, all back up to a central playground, and each has outdoor dining, I figured it would be the perfect place to practice some people sketching. Unfortunately, I learned an important lesson. Since I had found it difficult to complete my gesture drawings in class, given that each pose only lasted a couple of minutes, imagine trying to sketch kids who never stand still for even 2 seconds. Not ever! Fortunately, the tuna and potstickers alone were worth the trip.

That afternoon Eve gave us a few pointers on perspective (my biggest challenge), then we strolled up to the villa and spent the afternoon sketching architectural details inside. Now I can hardly wait for the fall classes to be posted, so I can decide what I want to enroll in next. I am taking away two very important gifts from this adventure. First, I've finally realized just how silly it was to feel like I needed to be an accomplished artist before I could take an art class. Isn't that what they are for? To learn? Second, and probably even more important, I learned how very critical it is to be cautious when you go about gathering leaves and twigs, otherwise you just might end up with poison ivy in places you can't even talk about. Bummer.