I See I Imagine I Create 52 Creativity Curriculum Round 2

52 weeks ago I started a journey with 60 fellow Creatives that would change the course of my life, and many of theirs. It was an online experience that brought together artists from several disciplines, different countries, and humans with vast differences and belief systems. We shared one common goal: to learn to move through this world more creatively. This week our time together comes to a close but this I know, like I am breathing, the year mattered. It mattered so much that many of them are ready for Round 2, and that is exciting. 

I See, I Imagine, I Create 52 is a part weekly, online self-study class that gives students the understanding, tools, creative behaviors, and questioning strategies to learn to see the world with creative lenses and use that insight to serve them creatively. It helps writers alter their points of view, it helps photographers see a different perspective, and it helps painters/artists find their own, creative voice. In its simplest form, it helps humans slow down and appreciate this incredible place we call home. 

With a 300+ page manual filled with weekly challenges and a weekly meeting time in our secret classroom, the community aspect was key in helping Creatives thrive because accountability and connection is really important. It is also integral that the study span over time, because the consistency and time frame is what creates the long term impact to alter behaviors. 

My students grew in how they saw colors, lines, patterns, connections, and surfaces. Their grey cells were bent in regards to considering big ideas such a deconstruction and reconstruction, big to small concepts, worn, weathered, multiples, and the weird. They considered the elements of character traits from the personal to the imaginative, and how birds could be messengers even wearing high heels. :) 

Not only did they learn to see and notice the nuances of a deeply creative world, they learned how to apply those concepts to the creative products they were working on. We wrestled with personal and technical frameworks, moving from the literal to the figurative, and how thinking outside the space around the room where the box lives was more exciting than just thinking outside the box. 

Come July 3rd we start Year 2 of our online study with a few major changes, which are really exciting. 

Rather than 52 straight weeks of study, we are breaking down our challenges into 6, 5 week study modules with a two week break in between each one. There will also be two, 3-week bonus modules between the first half of the year and the second half. This course is packed with information (did I say it comes with a 300+ page manual :) , and one thing we found was the need to slow down a bit and give ourselves more time to savor what we learned. 

There will be 10 video components with this study, two for each 5 week module. I am also offering an opportunity to enroll in the *Advanced Option to meet with me twice per module, in one hour, small group video sessions. 

Our secret classroom will remain, which is a safe, trusting environment to share our steps, thoughts, ideas, and personal journey throughout the year. Most weeks we will meet bi-weekly through a thread chat to discuss the challenge and how we are processing it. We will also have a few student guides from year one who facilitate some discussions as well. Although designed as a self-study course, I invest a great deal of time through our weekly chats teaching and following the engagement during the challenges. It makes for an in depth discussion most weeks!

Every human is creative, the key is remembering how to remain creative and grow that creativity over time. I Create 52 is a course developed to actually teach CREATIVE BEHAVIORS that help your creativity grow and evolve. If you are longing to learn concrete strategies and practices to help you grow creatively, The I Create 52 curriculum might just be for you! 



Student Testimonies - 

"My goal for this class was to learn to live a creative live in the broadest possible sense. I wrote, painted, collaged, and grew a whole new set of eyes, with the loving support of Ardith and her community of fellow creatives." Amy Diebaren

"This class has been a joy: a safe, supportive, and encouraging space. By learning the foundations of creative thinking, I have discovered the freedom to see, think, and create differently and courageously. Through this class, I have found my voice as a creative." Liz Dotterer

"I see I imagine I create' has had a substantial impact on my 

capacity and manner to process 'external' subjects stimuli 

into my creative process. It's been like tasting and enjoying a 

different piece of chocolate each week, and deciding to 

do something beyond gluttony with it. On a different 

dimension I have experimented it as an individual and

collective act of creative weaving, which has been deeply 

rewarding to me. Cecilia Luvecce Rouvrais.

This is the most amazing course. I have learned more than I could have imagined……about everything to do with creativity and particularly about ways of seeing the world with new eyes. Ardith is a generous, knowledgeable and wise teacher. I “met” so many nice people….the group part of this really worked for me. I am still digesting the lessons….the pace is brisk….so much in one year. My confidence has soared and my abilities have improved. Five star in every way….and awesome value for money.Fiona Knox


Class Details and Registration - 

We will meet Sunday evenings at 4 pm central (chosen so that international students can join us) for our weekly discussions in our classroom on Facebook. (class runs 45 min) We will will meet most Thursday evenings at 4 pm for our Mid-Week discussions. 

You will receive the challenges each week in Word and PDF form. Your Ebook will total more than 300 pages at the end of the year! 

You will receive 10 video components during the year long study, two each five week module.

You will have access to our Secret Creative Community on FB. 

If you have questions as to whether this class is the right fit for you message me at ardithgoodwin@gmail.com with questions! 

THIS CLASS IS FULL FOR 2016!

 

Proust, Painters, and Creativity Art Journal Page

Throughout this book "Perspectives on the Arts" 1961, I have enjoyed immensely getting to delve into the perceptions and points of view of the art establishment during this decade. Proust was showcased for his writings, and this morning, as I landed on the page which I would alter, I read this: 

"For Marcel Proust, communication was of the very essence of art. Among the multitudinous solitudes that populate the great Thebaid of A la Recherche du Temps Perdu, art is the only means by which any man can enter the soul of another man. Only by art can we get outside ourselves, know what another sees of his universe, which is not the same as ours, and the different view of which would otherwise have remained as unknown to us as those there may be on the moon. Thanks to art, instead of seeing only one world, our own, we see it under multiple forms, and as many as there are original artists, just so may worlds have we at our disposal, differing more widely from one another than those that roll through infinite space, and years after the glowing center from which they emanated has been extinguished, be it called Rembrandt or Vermeer, they continue to send us their own rays of light." 

The worlds spilled right off the page and hit me directly in the gut as powerful and moving and so very true. I sat for the longest looking at this page spread and when I looked up, I saw one of my dolls, Found Friend, who always seem to be desperately trying to make a point. The direction for the page was found and I began sketching. 

Throughout the process I kept hearing the message of how important it is for each of us to understand our value, especially in light of being created as creative beings, and with each stroke I sent forward to the hope that everything I create and share will send forth the message which is just that....we matter, our creativity matters, and the world needs us to own that. 

When I create these pages, I alway seek to stay open to the message my heart wants me to process. I paint and write and draw with the tools in front of me, and with the addition of each one, a layer is added to that knowing and in turn gives me more creative passion to hear my own, unique voice. Young artists struggle with this I think, finding their voice, finding their style. I can only share what has worked for me: 

Stay curious. 
Look for the wonder in the world. 
Make records of it. 
Seek out that which you find fascinating. 
Study that. 
Practice every single day. 
Trust your path. 
Express your wonder through the skill set you have in the moment, the heart will follow. 

I hope, for today, those of you who are aware of how very important you and your creativity are in the world will know that in a more powerful way and begin to share that message with others. With all of the hate we find in this world, our love and creativity holds the power to change that. I do believe this with every thing I am.