Over the past couple of months, I have gradually returned to teaching in-person classes. It has been joyous, enriching and pierced through with a constant weighing up of risks and benefits. At the end of my first session of a block of drawing classes I looked round at the people in the room and the exquisite drawings they had produced and held myself tight so that I didn’t burst into tears. I had missed this so much. I went home, shrouded with contentment and guilt for enjoying myself at such a difficult time for so many.
I had missed the quiet moments when everyone settles into collective absorption while I tiptoe round the room, trying not to break the spell. At these times, all attention is on the task at hand – capturing the curl of a leaf, the sheen of apple skin or the fluffiness of catkins. I love seeing the look of delight when something works well, and the look of focus when difficulties are encountered. It is easy to be on hand to suggest a quick adjustment – perhaps a bit more contrast? Perhaps a slight shift of a line to bring the drawing together. And we learn just as much by taking a moment at the end of each session to look at each other’s work and to take inspiration from the myriad different styles and techniques.
During a bookbinding class there was time to chat as we worked. As we stitched, folded and glued, warm conversations filled the air. It is a privilege to get these little glimpses into each other’s lives. We talked about our plans for the weekend, our families, the hailstorms, the sun and the changing seasons. It is a collective way of working. On one occasion, when working on a complicated origami book, I lost my way entirely, the technique suddenly gone from my brain and my fingers. One of the participants who’d been watching me carefully until I’d lost my place, picked up my pre-made example and carefully figured out the next steps for us all. Later she taught the same technique to the children in the school where she works and brought in photos of the dozens of books they had made, written and illustrated to celebrate World Book Day.
My online classes have taken a pause while I’ve been working out and about, but they will return! Each way of teaching has its own benefits and suits different ways of working. In either case we will work alongside each other, exploring and learning new creative techniques.
Photos taken at drawing and bookbinding classes at the Gorebridge Beacon as part of their Winter Wellbeing programme.
