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Hi, I’m in touch today to let you know that I am offering another drawing course this Fall at the Vancouver Island Sculpture Studio in Nanaimo, BC. Responsive Drawing and Composition is offered on two Sundays: September 20th and 27th from 1-4 pm. These courses can be taken together or separately. Read on for the ideas that motivated the design of these two exploratory drawing days. It is still ‘summertime’ but I always associate this period with transition. As a student, parent and educator most of my life, it is September when the new year begins, not January. The ‘teaching machinery’ restarts, forcing reflection on the previous year and plans for the next. So for me, this time of year has particular mood associated with it…a drive for change, for second chances and new possibilities. I am curious about how any shift in my experience might influence my creative work. Sometimes a new colour palette shows up, a surprising quality of line emerges or I begin to stretch compositional rules. I always wonder why. As I reflect on my new drawings and paintings I ask questions…are they calm, harmonious compositions or full of tension and exploration? I am convinced these differences mirror a particular state of being, an inner struggle or the direction and scale of my life’s focus. This also happens in my dream life which is another story entirely. Our aesthetic choices show up in everything we have agency over, from the clothes we wear to the ways we arrange our homes and communities. Aesthetics can be culturally defined as beauty or based on personal comfort and values. Individual preferences drive the ‘making’ of the human world and also the ways we interact with the natural world. The trajectory of our personal lives is not everything our art contains, but for many of us, our aesthetic and expressive work can mirror a world inside of us that is not always apparent. Exploring our preferences can give us insight into our motivation to create and as importantly, the way our ‘creations’ are received by others. Our shared experiences bind us together and helps us understand what being human is all about. The ‘Arts’ provide ways to recognize ourselves in others and also find new insights into the ordinary or hidden. In life, we seek both personal and shared understanding. This is present in every culture and every period of human history. Great artwork casts a spell over many and lasts through time and change. Good art reaches out and holds you…makes you look, makes you wonder, makes you care. All art making has this value. We make art, enjoy the art of others and support the world of art for these reasons. To follow our personal responses to the world we inhabit and create, we need to slow down to watch. We must value and trust the responses and choices we make everyday…whether we believe they are creative or not. When we have choice, we can prefer. This is always the frame I approach art making with. The maker and the observer taking turns. In this Responsive Drawing and Composition course I want to explore this with my students. As in most good teaching, this course aims to be student-centred, safe, fun and we arrive in a new place… the needle moves and we all walk away enriched. If you are interested in this type of artistic exploration, I have included a link to the course registration that includes all of the Fall 2026 drawing courses at the Vancouver Island Sculpting Studio. Darcy
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