I wonder how much fear stimulates our learning; how much it quells it, and
how much it contributes to "artistic block?" Or, in Kathy Douglas' recent
post, her finding away around her fear to create?
This spring, I found myself blathering to a middle school class that drawing
from observation shouldn't be a cause for fear. Reflecting upon that
teaching later, I realized I hadn't learned a new medium in quite a while:
what right did I have to say what should/should not cause my students to be
afraid? So I took a furniture making class this summer. I'm math-phobic,
and when panicky, find myself needing instructions multiple times. What a
fabulous learning experience!
So my question to this list is--how do you use fear? Are you aware of it as
an influence in your personal creating? in your students work?
