Come to the Table the Art edition
God saw all that He had made, and it was very good
Genesis 1:31
In the Christian faith, the phrase Come to the Table, means everyone is invited to The Lords table to partake of the bread and the wine. No matter what it is you’re carrying you have a seat.
After 7 years being a calligraphy teacher my biggest goal is that everyone has a spot at the table. I’ve taught men, women, teenagers, and those in their 70s. I’ve taught those that are almost professional and those that have never attended an art class.
What I see is there is a positive correlation in the ability of those at the table to feel worthy to be sitting at an art table and success in the class. Only YOU can call it a success. Not the teacher or the person sitting next to you. Sometimes, success is I had fun today. Sometimes success is I sat through the whole class.
I have taught classes where the first thought I hear out loud is “I’m going to be terrible at this”or “I can’t sit next to the teacher” or the person they deem to be the better artist. And usually those are the ones most defeated. In my classes I spend a lot of time encouraging in the beginning because of the fear that people have with doing art. You first have to feel worthy to be at the table. Not perfect, not even almost ready but worthy. Brene brown says “the opposite of belonging is fitting in. “ You don’t first have to come to the table after becoming a master artist but as you are now. Don’t try to fit in. Just come as you are.
Who’s an artist? The one that paints, the calligrapher, the muralist. No. Everyone. Each person is an artist and each person has that sense of innate creativity inside. In my classes no one letters the letter b the exact same way. I can teach the technical way to letter an b but I cannot comment on interpretation. Any art or calligraphy teacher that corrects in art is not doing their job because art is interpretation. There are so many walls we put up in art because it shows a little window to ourselves. It’s vulnerable. Very vulnerable. Art also comes in all forms — writing, drawing, painting, cooking, teaching. If you are creating something that’s never existed it’s art. You may be doing art every day and not know it.
So, when we sit at that next art table, the next art class , the next craft night , why don’t we just bring presence not perfection. Why don’t we just have fun. No one is more deserving to be there than anyone else, no one is more talented.
Here are my three rules for my calligraphy classes
All art is good.
Do not compare
Talk kindly to yourself about your art
I’ll leave you with this~ my now 10 year old Eden asked me one day “Mom why when I was 4, when I scribbled did you call it good when it wasn’t? I thought about that and then answered “because when you are 3 or 4 that’s what you do it’s the beginnings of art and with those scribbles at that time that was the best you could do and that was good, you’re ten now and your art is more advanced but the scribbles were still good. So, show up with your scribbles embrace your scribbles.
After you go to your art class or create, step back and remember to say “And it was good. “
