Some Commonly Asked Questions
How did Explorential happen?
Judy Robuliak and I were talking about our dreams for the future and discovered that we both wanted to develop workshops and retreat experiences for artists. Some day in the future we hope to have a wonderful place in the country where artists can come to work and grow. For now, we hope to offer wonderful weekend workshop opportunities within the city, which will allow you to explore a wide variety of artistic options.
What does Explorential mean?
The word explorential was born during one of our brainstorming sessions. We were having trouble thinking of a great name and Judy suggested that we try a technique where you just say anything that comes into your mind without prejudging it and you keep a list of all the suggestions. Somewhere around the second page of words, experience, explore and exponential just slid into each other and we simultaneously said “Explorential!” It was a wonderful word and we knew we had our name.
Who is the Explorential experience for?
The first weekend of workshops are intended for artists and paper crafting enthusiasts who want to explore artistic expression using tools and materials in fresh and exciting ways. These workshops are all about process. Unlike many workshops that you may have taken where the objective is to recreate a project that the instructor has made, these workshops will help you discover ways to explore art materials and make discoveries that help you speak your own artistic voice. This set of instructors have been chosen because I have taken classes with all of them and they have all helped me overcome my fears of trying a new technique. You will be amazed how much you will grow, how much stronger you will feel, how much more adventurous you will become, during their classes.
What do you mean when you say these classes are process oriented?
An artist is always in the process of becoming. You may be very young as an artist, you may be very old as an artist, but one thing is true – if you aren’t exploring, if you aren’t growing, if you aren’t constantly challenging yourself to see with fresh eyes, you will become stagnant. Although copying someone else’s work can help you learn a new technique, it doesn’t tend to be very satisfying for more than a short time. In order to feel really nourished as an artist you need an approach that will teach you new skills and at the same time will allow you to explore in a way that is meaningful to the artist that is uniquely you. A process oriented workshop does just that. The teacher is really a facilitator who shows you new techniques, new materials and new work processes and then gives you the encouragement and guidance to explore them yourself.
What if I don’t feel I am good enough for these classes yet?
If you have an interest in exploring possibilities for self expression in any of the visual arts, you are ready for these workshops. The instructors don’t expect you to be accomplished artists when you arrive or when you leave. All of them realize that students will be from a wide range of backgrounds and will have had different experiences. They know that the names of tools and materials may be unfamiliar to you and they will take the time to explain these to you. Come with an open mind, a healthy dose of curiosity and give yourself the time to discover what you can do.
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