I have been creating, exploring art since childhood when my brother gave up taking art classes & I took his sketch pad one day. I loved to sit outside and observe nature drawing trees, animals or just doodle.
I was inspired by two people in creating art as a child, one being my elementary school Art Teacher Mrs. Flaretty, who was a gypsy like persona. She always adorned herself in jewelry, flowing dresses, wearing sandals to funky boots. I loved how she embraced her carefree spirit with zeal. She nurtured Art Students to simply focused on just playing with art materials. This style of teaching helped me to grow into my originality of expression verses a set art curriculum guideline. Her guidance was to support and allow space to blossom forth my potential with creativity. I never forgot our wonderful artful exchanges and share now teaching art with children over 18yrs.
The second person of inspiration was my father Walter, whom I feel his spirit in me when ever I create. He never called himself an artist but truly was brilliant in my eyes and heart. He really was a person whom looked outside of box of perception, especially with recycling everyday materials and turning them into functional art around the house where we lived on Long Island, NY. There were no limits to what he would dabble in from rebuilding an engine of a car motor from scratch, landscaping, to turning a hot plate into a clock so real friends would look at it and think it was 5:45 and they were late to get home for dinner. I would laugh and say "no it's a hand painted clock!." He also loved animals and nature especially water and swimming which I so love myself and is infused in a lot of my art. I feel water is the primordial force in life of limitless potential. It gives life but also can like a tsunami cause destruction and death yet awaken a rebirth. He taught me that I could create anything out of materials, to just play with possibilities and trust my intuition to go with the flow.
I feel I was born with an innate creative spirit as we all have~ this our "birth right." Taking steps along the way of my evolutionary journey in this lifetime on mother earth. I guess you can say I am a self taught artist for I have no art degree from college or teaching art degree and yet this has been my purposeful heartfelt path.
I will say I had my trials of cutting off my own creativity growing up but to a point of what I thought was a way to fit my circle in a square peg of society and yet learning lessons for me to grow down into the core essence of being creative spirit once again.
A side track diversion I feel was necessary, purposeful for me to appreciate the world around me in many ways through various jobs with a B.S. degree from Suny Oneonta State College in Business Economics. I was a Retail Buyer in the Fashion industry, office manager at a pioneering high definition video production company, waitress and dog walker. I also traveled to broaden my perception of the world's wondrous tapestry. I experienced through travelling a sense of relatedness, diversity of points of view and discernment of respecting others in how they interact with life in all it's colorful flavors that makes each person a unique vivid and alive sharing experiences.
I began exploring art once again in my late 20's at the Educational Alliance in NYC with photography. I loved black and white film and hanging in the darkroom developing, honing developing techniques sharing with like minded photographers.
At same time, I joined as an intern and eventually taught basic video workshops with the Non Profit~ DCTV in Manhattan branching forth my teaching skills.
Eventually I was drawn to the medium of pastels which for me was an intuitive process allowing whatever to form and shape itself.
Later on in the early 90's I joined an Art Organization where I live in Brooklyn, NY called Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition. There I displayed my photography and pastel drawings at their exhibitions, local galleries and cafes to expanding beyond exhibiting nationally and internationally. I did a month long Art Residency in Newfoundland,Canada in 2003 where I started to explore nature more. A daily ritual of morning walks at the bay to hiking in Gros Mourne National Park, whale watching and iceberg migration tours just absorbing the terrain into my being was very inspiring.
In 1997 through the Non Profit organization, Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition, I began to teach art to children through art residency programs in public schools throughout the tri-state area til 2006.
Through teaching art I eventually gravitated more with the mix media art form. I felt with my varied interests with materials it gave me a sense of expansion in my creating art. At the same time I started exploring my spirituality and practicing mediation at the Edgar Cayce Center in NYC and was interested in art as a healing modality. I then decided to obtain a certificate at the New School of Research in Creative Art Therapy and completed in 2011. My internship was working with Art/Music Therapists assisting children having Autism. This experience truly taught me to meet each child where they were at and to live in the moment.
I also live each summer on Fire Island, NY at a community teaching art to children at the Art Shack and old garage as an art studio. I truly enjoy immersing myself in nature at the ocean each year since 2006. I am able to have such fun playing and exploring art with children that inspires me all the time! Especially love my 3 Amigos which I coined the nickname for 3 crows that come by at the end of the day when no one is around in the grassy field outside of the Art Shack.
I like mix media and mixing things up for sure and started teaching a workshop for adults called Creative Tapestry of Being in 2007 til present. This is a 3 1/2 hour creative workshop for relaxation and allowing your creative expression to flourish in a safe, warm and nurturing environment where you allow your organic nature to blossom. We explore through mediation, vocal toning, spontaneous dance and painting. I truly love to explore the arts in a multi dimensional expression weaving various artful modalities. I feel by such when we give ourselves a gift to take time out for ourselves in an era where life is moving at a much faster pace. I feel we need to hone in and rejuvenate, get ground in our body, mind and spirit to feel a sense of inner peace. I have been invited back each year since 2008 to give this workshop at the NYCATA-UFT Art Works Conference in NYC for Art Educators and is always a delight!
Please check out my website for teaching art w/ children to hosting kids birthday art parties at:
http://www.travelingartshack.com/
Enjoy viewing my Galleries!
Peace, Imagination, Love & Light,
~Darlene
