Sculpting Life

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scg2Sculpting clay is very therapeutic and fun. You don’t need experience. I have seen people in my classes, workshops, and sculpting parties who could not believe what they accomplished. All you need is to immerse yourself in the process. It is a unique experience.

scgForming the clay allows for a deep connection between creator and creation. Your hands will smell like clay and the clay will carry your fingerprints. Your fingers communicate with the clay as in a silent conversation. In the process the clay may get stubborn and hard to mold, but with water it becomes soft again. Sometimes little pebbles get mixed in the clay. You need to remove them before they ruin the piece. When the piece is complete you will be proud of the result.

scg1Your life is like clay. God is the sculptor. He is sculpting life in you. He is immerse in the process of forming your life and seeking a deeper connection with you. He is leaving his fingerprints on you and keeping your smell on his hands. Don’t fear or reject the tears that are softening your heart for him to continue working. Let him remove those painful pebbles of the past that left scars in your life. I assure you that at the end, no matter how imperfect you think you are, for Him you are his masterpiece.

Rise Above the Daily News

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A while back I received a large frame as a gift and placed it in the living room. Every time I came upstairs I saw the frame almost asking me to do something with it, something different. I took the frame into my studio, covered the board with newspaper and painted on it. I don’t consider myself a painter but I paint a little. I don’t like to make social/political statements in my art, but this time I did. Not criticizing or supporting any causes or movements, but motivating people to hold on and thrive in the midst of today’s overwhelming news. That’s how “Daily News” was born.

Last week I decided to bring to fruition some company to the painting. Two more pieces were born that day: “The Life we Live” and “Rise Above”. Again, linear figures painted on newspaper. I’ve been working on a clever way to put them together in one sentence to make sense of the set and its message:

The life we live must rise above our daily news.

 

The fact is that more than just a title or explanation of the set this is the soul of a society calling for a chance to live not just exist. The almost asphyxiating images and reports of the news are suffocating our lives and hopes. We need to rise above the constant negativity of every day. Moreover, we can become an oasis of hope. Our behavior, our work, our daily interactions should be refreshing to people. This is applicable online as well. The last thing people need to encounter is another self-centered, self-loving, know-it-all, contemptibly obnoxious person. A smile, a kind word, a gesture of humanity, someone to listen, time given… all this things can make a great difference in the life of a person who might be drowning in the fierce waves of the life they are living each day. Rise Above!

I Believe in Dreams

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1048761_10150297618294956_649251649_o“Here comes that dreamer”… I believe in dreams. Dreams give us hope and aspirations. Artists know everything about dreams. It seems like as artists we are constantly living in one. It is common to come across people who say: “You are dreaming if you think you can make it as an artist.” I hear that a lot but my favorite one is: “What else do you do besides art?” Have you heard that before? Have you said that to someone?

People is always impressed when I tell them my story. I’ve been drawing since I was very little. In third grade I could already draw by looking at stuff. In fifth grade I spent the year painting history related murals in the classroom. I was always involved in something ‘artistic’ in school. However, when the time came to apply to college, I applied to study civil engineering. The day I was filling up paperwork for the application my father sat next to me and asked me what was I doing so I explained. His response was:

“Why? You love art. You are going to be miserable if you do anything else.”

He was right. After the first year I was already leaving civil engineering and moving into arts. (I’ll save the story of that transition for a different post.) Needless to say I’m here now with a long journey in front of me still. My dream is not complete yet, but I can say it is getting there.

This journey makes me think of Joseph. The first time I heard the story of Joseph I became fascinated with it. Yes, it is in the Bible (Genesis 37 and on). Joseph had dreams and the gift of interpreting dreams for others. His character also had to be tested because of that. First thing I learned from this story: Be careful who you share your dreams with and how. Joseph made enemies out of his own brothers because of his dreams. Sadly, we are going to make enemies because of our dreams, gifts, and abilities. Rest assured, “the haters” (it even sounds funny when I write it) will one day bow down. That’s not the point or what we are looking for. I am learning to pray for the success of “them” and grace, just like the one I received.

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As I mentioned before, Joseph’s character had to be tested. We go through life trying to make sense of the paths we have taken and how it all fits into our dream. We might be living the roller coaster life and on each turn it seems like we are about to touch our dream and we miss it. We take another path, and another, and feels like just isolated experiences. Maybe we are collecting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and one day we will make sense of the bigger picture. Hold on to your dream!

Learning is a Transformative Experience

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10343524_10150481345604956_8131657156029738621_nThe more I learn about learning, the more I am convinced that learning is a transformative experience in which knowledge is shared and each personal experience is intertwined as part of a larger story. I am an educator, instructional designer, and fine artist. I teach with a holistic view of the world but focusing on the specific needs of the learner and their experience. I aim to guide learners to connect and use knowledge in practical ways. Experience motivates theory, and theory substantiates practice as experience supports theory. In my practice, I provide learners with opportunities for sharing knowledge and experience, exploration, experimentation, and discovery, in both individual and collaborative levels.

My teaching experience includes individuals of all ages, children with disabilities, working adults, seniors, and corporate training, individuals from all academic and professional levels, and one emerging common denominator is fear to try new things based on past experiences. I had experience transformations firsthand from my students from fear to eagerness to try new things and also becoming advocates and inspiration for others. As I wrote in my dissertation, “Individuals can develop skills through experience and exposure and become candidates for success in the process, influenced by previous experiences and how they have interpreted achievement and failure in the past.” I provide experiences that improve self-efficacy, which is the perception of skills to achieve a goal, by bridging new concepts to known concepts and experiences, focusing on short-term goals, guidance, feedback, and motivation. Commitment to short-term goals leads to accomplishment, which improves self-efficacy creating a cycle of transformation.

IMG_1322Seeing how knowledge becomes alive is of great motivation and validation for the effort. It is also a learning experience for myself. “Individuals are not just the result of their environment or life circumstances, but rather individuals consciously contribute to their environment or life circumstances to change their environments and themselves.” It is a rewarding experience to see and being part of the transformation, more so when I see my students serving others for the same purpose.