Tag: learn

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Creativity and Perseverence

My youngest son started drawing one day. I do not know what prompted him to do so, but I was quite impressed with his first drawing which was of a tree with a broken sword.

 

He really enjoyed drawing and started to do some more pictures, using only his   pencils and whatever paper he could get a hold of (nothing was off limits, this included his school assignments).  I started to purchase items for him to use for drawing (paper, pencils, etc.) as gifts for birthdays and Christmas.  He has gradually improved, and I have quite a collection of drawings hanging up around my house.

 

My favourite drawing he has done so far, is of a dragon swooping down towards its nest. He has added some wonderful details, dimension and the shading is well done. I am impressed that without any formal training, he has improved greatly in a relatively short period of time.  I really look forward to what else he will produce in the future and see how much he has grown in learning how to draw.

 

Why do I share this with you? To encourage you! Often, especially when we start something new, we get discouraged and want to quit without seeing our potential.  It takes time, perseverance, patience, practice and grace to improve in whatever skill we choose to work on. I think one of the best things we can do for ourselves is keep the first items we have created and look at them later in the journey of our creativity to see the improvements we have made and be encouraged by it.

 

The first few items I quilted, I wanted to toss as they were not great, in fact, they were horrible (in my opinion) and I was discouraged.  I am so glad I did not get rid of them because I can see how much I have improved.  Also, when people have asked me to help them learn to quilt, I use these items to show where I was in my creative journey and how over time, it has gotten better.

 

I look forward to seeing my son’s creative journey in drawing over the next several years. He has a lot of potential and I hope he keeps expanding on his talent.   I wonder what he will draw next?

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Photography? Me?

When I first started crafting, I did not take pictures of my completed projects. I didn’t feel it was that important at the time, however, looking back, I regret that decision.  After having several friends and family tell me to start documenting my projects, I started to take pictures using my point and shoot camera.  One day, my camera stopped working, well actually, the shutter would not open and because it was an old camera, I decided a new camera was in order. It was close enough to Christmas, so I asked my husband to get me a camera for Christmas.  What I expected? Another point and shoot! What I got? A Canon T5i…not a point and shoot camera. I suddenly had to learn how to use a camera that you get to make the decisions about what lens to use, and new terms like: exposure, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc.  Fortunately, with the camera came a beginner’s course on using it, so I wasn’t completely in the dark.

The beginner’s course was great as I learned the basic capabilities of the camera, and I was happy with knowing that, however, as time went on, I wanted my pictures to look, well, like the operator knew what she was doing ?.  So, I purchased a course online on photography and started to learn about the ‘rule of thirds’, how to make the fore or back ground blur, when to use a flash and when to not, outdoor versus indoor shots.  Wow, there is so much to learn and so little time.

As I reflect on my photography skills, I have seen an improvement, which really is a motivator to me as I want to learn and know more about photography.  Am I planning on doing this professionally? Nope. But I would like to know enough to take a lot of my own pictures of family, friends, pets, nature, landscape, crafts, etc. and display them. I especially love candid shots.  I am currently working towards getting candid shots of all my kids to display in my Family Room.  Difficulty is getting them to go with me somewhere to get pictures, but I will persevere and hopefully soon, I will be able to share them with you.