Yesterday, I had a chance to photo- graph a class for seniors taught by Susan Richardson at the Grand Theatre. While I didn't know some of the people in the class, I was intrigued by the way different people approached their project, which was to create several journal pages using watercolors as a starting point. Some people seemed tentative and slow to start, while others jumped right in and started throwing down paint. I wondered how much of that slowness to start came from being afraid to mess up. "I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do." One of the participants came to the journaling class thinking that it was about writing (which was under- standable). However, she stayed, even when she found out she would be painting and using collage techniques. Brave woman! Being creative and making art is hard enough when you do it in private. Trying to do it in front of other people? Intimidating. (Being a photographer of people means I'm always working in front of others. But, I can't tell you how glad I am that the people around me can't see what's in my camera. Thank goodness for the delete button.) When I wrote the first post for this blog about Susan and the challenges she's faced as an artist, Susan was hesitant to reveal so much personal information in such a public space. However, she changed her mind and told me that part of being an artist is making yourself vulnerable and taking risks. Watching Susan's mother, who is in her nineties, work on her journal and interact with other people in the class was a reminder that so many things in life require taking risks - not just making art. My own grandma is 95. She still lives in her home but is too afraid to go anywhere, even the senior center. She's afraid that she will forget someone's name or get confused or that she will look silly because her balance is off. While I admire my grandma for so much, I am sad for her that she is so cut off, especially from people her own age. Making connections in life - like in art - means overcoming our fear and letting ourselves be vulnerable. Congratulations to the seniors in Susan's class for sharing of themselves and their creativity.
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April 2022
AuthorTiffanie Heben is a photographer who has been inspired by the artists in her community |