


Flirting With the Arts
On February 9th 2014, Flirting With the Arts happened in Kitchener.
12 artists each led 30 minute mini workshops for a full day in the Queen Street Commons cafe in Kitchener, ON.
Flirting With the Arts was organized by creative extraordinaire Meg Leslie. In her words, the aim is “to engage people in the creative process, help people find their passions, encourage them to try new things, to explore, to play”. The basic format is “like speed dating with the arts”.
Attendees chose between 6 half-hour workshops out of a total of 12, led by an incredibly talented group of creatives from a wide range of disciplines. There was acting, writing, craft, painting, collage…
I had a such a great time and met so many wonderful people. As scared as I was to do a self-portrait – it was probably the best session. We certainly laughed the most! I do hope you do Flirting With the Arts again next year (Meg Leslie)– although I can only imagine the time and energy you invested.”
“It was a success though – and I wanted to truly thank you for having the courage to pull it all together! Many people have ideas… but seldom to they see them come to fruition!
Deb Halbot
The class I led was ‘Fearless Portraiture’. My aim was to gently guide the participants (most of whom were novices) to compose a self portrait in 30 to 40 minutes. We used water soluble crayons as our medium, which aided in the process of easing everyone into the mark making before we brushed on water. The water intensifies the applied colour dramatically.
The most wonderful surprise for me, as facilitator was the opening that accompanied this evolution. Participants began with varying levels of apprehension, and with encouragement, were able to move through their reticence and express themselves creatively. Group members created stunning works to take home.
Because of the success in moving these beautiful people through their self doubt into the beginnings of creative freedom, I have applied the basic structure of this workshop to other classes and workshops since. It is always wondrous to experience the results.
As our very first workshop of the morning, myself and my peers were super excited to get started but I also sensed some hesitation from the other women, who didn’t think of themselves as artists. Kathryn didn’t pick up a pencil to draw the shape of their faces but somehow a few minutes later we all sat looking at our portraits and I think I heard every person along the way say “wow, I surprise myself!”.
“Kathryn had all of the steps worked out perfectly and we finished our projects in time. She was quietly supportive, well prepared and it created a wonderful workshop and we laughed a lot. Takeaway: A self portrait and encouragement for me to stray away from the colour palette that I am comfortable with.
Leslie F.
Photos by Darin White. Read a bit more about our day (and see loads more of Darin White’s stunning photos) at Makebright’s article Flirting With the Arts – Sunday Success here. Darin is a brilliantly talented maker, photographer and community story-teller. His photo’s will give you a better idea of the projects, the people and the fun!
- Photo credits to Photo credits to Darin White, Laura Peart-McBride and Deb Halbot.
- Event Location House of Friendship, Kitchener