Residency 1: Unmesh Inamdar Art Academy, India ( 39 hours completed )
Residency 2: Residential Treatment Center (teens) ( 1 hour )
Shadowing: Shakun Maheshwari teaching artist, COMPAS
This week I taught to people with mental illness at Task Unlimited. We had a lesson on watercolor and collage landscapes. The lesson was about creating a landscape using watercolors and collage. I think the combination of materials provides more flexibility. The last time I had a workshop at Task Unlimited we observed that people have limitations with mobility. So, I think to have options to create art allows everyone to participate.
Clients created amazing landscapes inspired by the 17th to 19th-century paintings. I shared the examples of some of the landscape paintings by artists Nicholas de Stael, J. S. Cotman, W. Heaton Cooper, Paul Cezanne, and Donald Hamilton Fraser. The examples turn out to be a good starting point for creating their own landscape paintings.
Clients mainly focused on watercolors and enjoyed doing it. Some clients did collage as the second artwork. As they started painting the landscape they had some stories to shares with others about the place in the painting. It was fun to have the conversation about the artwork which not only discusses the color and form but the thought behind the piece. I observed that everyone leave the room with conversations about their travels. I think that was the success of the lesson. Having finish products or learning new skills is the secondary outcome for me. Seeing those smiles on the client’s faces means lots to me.
