The Lifelong Learner

While I didn’t complete much last year, I did join a couple of online classes.  I’ve been a longtime member of PS Artistry by Sebastian Michaels.  It was his classes that made me start thinking about looking at my photography as art.  Photoshop opened a world to me that I could only dream about in the darkroom.   I was always inspired by people like Jerry Uelsmann and Man Ray, then as the digital realm grew, Maggie Taylor and Brooke Shaden, just to name a few. 

But the next step in my photographic/creative growth was how to incorporate my photography into other genres.  So, I took what ended up being a very expensive class ($350) for less than 90 minutes of videos.  As well as a very basic class in photo encaustic.  I never felt so taken advantage of in the digital education experience. I figure it’s her lose, because I would have taken more online class, an perhaps a live workshop had she not taken advantage of me.

Anyway, I digress.  It took me a couple of years to recover from the experience and dip my feet back into the online education thing again.  Last year I signed up for two photography type – things.  The first was an online photo club – type thing that was supposed to have classes, specialized social media, books and several other things.  That I got a refund for, as there was no interaction, the classes were empty, and they didn’t even have the challenges posted. 

The other was Phlearn.com, a photography software education class.  That lived up to a decent standard and had a decent number of things to explore and learn, as well as new things always being added.  I originally found him on YouTube where he shares limited videos and promotes his business. 

But it’s this year that I’m excited for.  I’ve signed up for two classes, one is a monthly digital magazine Studioworks published by Ivy Newport.  It’s not only a magazine but access to classes, live events, what seems like a very active Facebook group, and they have been very responsive to communication.  Here I hope in begin using my photography in mixed media and other creative endeavors.

The second class I joined is called Painting with Fire, created by Lora Murphy.  She has what seems like an incredible encaustic school called the Essence of Mulranny.  It’s in Ireland and looks to be a beautiful l0cation.  Being she was in the middle of their yearlong program, I bought a past year and have access to all 52 classes right away.  The new session, 25/26 will start in April.  It’s a yearlong encaustic class where you receive one new class a week and can work though each project, interact with the teachers and other students as well as get feedback on your work.

With these goals in mind, I’ve built a creative space to practice in.  It’s flexible enough to use for photography work, I’m going to build something for my back drops so I can shoot portraits and still life’s.  But It’s also an art studio with a rolling island to work at and store the ever-growing paints, papers and craft supplies that I’ve been accumulating. 

I’ll be sharing my efforts with you here and would like to get your feedback as well.  I’ve shared a photo gallery of the studio and workspace that I’ve built.  I’ve surrounded myself with things that I’ve made and art that I’ve bought on some of my travels.  I have maybe 5 projects underway, some of which are better than others.  I’ll share the good, the bad and the ugly.  Please be kind.  That’s where I am on my creative path, and where I see it going in the year to come.