Workshop with Peter Thornton

Well, I just finished taking a 2-day workshop with Peter Thornton on Casual and Inventive Caps.  THE Peter Thornton.  Ahhhh…  I’ve wanted to take a class with him for at least 20 years, and it was *so* worth the wait.  (!!!)

And while I was inspired and educated and came away with greater *understanding*, I couldn’t help but think of a particular Peanuts cartoon during the course of the weekend.

Lucy, Linus and Charlie Brown are lying down, looking up at all the clouds, and Lucy asks them what they “see”.

Linus:  Well, those clouds up there look to me look like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean. [points up]  That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor.  And that group of clouds over there… [points] … gives me the impression of the Stoning of Stephen.  I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side.

Lucy:  Uh huh. That’s very good. What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?

Charlie Brown:  Well… I was going to say I saw a duckie and a horsie, but I changed my mind.

When I am around such greatness, I feel like I’m just playing with duckies and horsies by comparision.  And yet, at the same time, I am so inspired to achieve greater things. 

Gosh, I love workshops!!!!!

And while there were many things “worth the price of the workshop”, Peter had some advice was most insightful.  And I want to be sure to pass it along to you, my little chickadees, just in case there are a couple of you out there that haven’t heard it before.

He instructed us at the beginning of the workshop  that we were not to say, “I can’t”.  As in, “I can’t make a good S” or whatever.  Instead, he said we were to add the word yet to the end of that.  “I can’t do that yet.” 

It’s obviously less negative and it helps our subconscious mind be open to such possibilities, and, I think, is a very worthwhile habit to cultivate.  (Although, it was very hard to not think it, especially during a workshop!)

So!  I need to unpack my art supplies and come down from my workshop high…  But really, I hope it lingers a bit longer than usual this time.  It was truly a *wonderful* workshop and alphabet.

XOXO,

Lucky Dog
♥