Event

Eric Myers and I will be hosting a four-day workshop in September at 826 Valencia.

Conversations With The World

Taught by Scott Lambridis and Eric Myers
Limited to 12 students, ages 11–14
September 4, 11, 18, & 25
Tuesdays, 6:00–8:00 PM

Warning, the events depicted are a carefully detailed re-enactment of actual events by artiste du stick-figure, Jen Hewett. They are NOT the actual events.

I must admit that I walked towards the third and final day of our workshop with a bit of a strut in my step. The hardest parts were surely out of the way and I would probably spend most of the time simply pining for margaritas while everyone was writing their final drafts.

It’s never quite so simple though, is it?

Students started arriving at different points between 15 minutes early and 15 minutes late, each one saying hello and simply requesting if they could continue writing. I told them they could work on the rough draft, but not to start the final one.

This week’s immaculate renderings are brought to you by Tim Collins, a virtuoso at capturing classroom drama in 30 second pencil likenesses.

Day two of the workshop went considerably smoother as the first day’s butterflies had migrated back home. Or been picked off by a sadistic child with great aim. Whichever.

I brought in a series of open-ended questions to discuss with the class at the start. It acted as a re-introduction, an ice-breaker, and a way for me to practice not lecturing which seems to be a natural tendency. It worked very nicely and got the kids talking and thinking, the perfect mindset with which to dive into writing.

Day one of the three day workshop down and successful! Thank you to my friend Jen Hewett for providing a thoroughly accurate recreation of the scene a la stick figures. No photos of the students are allowed, so this is the best we can do. Yes, my hair really looks like that though my shoulders aren’t nearly so broad.

For this first 15 minutes of my introduction I just kept thinking “I can’t believe I’m still blabbering on. When am I going to shut up already?!”

I’m sure talking in front of a group of 15 semi-confused glossy-eyed kids will get easier.

Once we got to the exercises things felt better and a rhythm was established. They certainly reacted best to the exercise involving images and artwork. Might have to start with that one to get things going next time. It should clear away some of the initial blank stares.

As a newbie teaching in this age group (11-14 year olds) I definitely learned a few things:

The workshop I’ll be conducting with fellow artist Angie Needels at 826 Valencia in San Francisco is all set up. You can take a look at the syllabus and materials below:

- PDF - Syllabus & Materials for Unreal to Real Workshop at 826 Valencia.

If anyone would like this workshop taught (physically or virtually) in their locale, school, or other establishment, please let us know.

A very big “Thank You!” to Svea and Swarm Gallery for helping us successfully host The Writing Is On the Wall last night.

Omnibucket and Swarm gallery present:

THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL:
A Macabre, Multimedia Fairytale

The author and artists of the macabre fairytale “God’s Acre: The Ravens & the Rhyme” invite you to join them in an enchanting evening of music and stories. For one night only, Swarm and Omnibucket present “The Ravens & the Rhyme” in a unique format, accompanied by a soundtrack composed exclusively for this event.

We’re doing a bit of a ‘mini’ show tomorrow at 111 Minna gallery.