beginner’s mind

This is Vivi, a character I sketched for the children’s book writing and illustration class I just started taking at Art Center at Night. My first class was equal parts intimidating and inspiring. I’m the only non-visual-artist in the class, and I found myself leaning over my sketchbook like it was my junior high diary. Today I pulled my friend Lee-Roy aside and asked for a quick crash course in water color techniques because I’d exhausted all the art-101 questions I could ask in a class that wasn’t technically art 101.

Nevertheless, it’s fun to feel like a beginner. It’s like trapeze and skiing—I’m drunk on the myth of my own potential, and light with the lack of expectations. I feel kind of like the four-year-old I’m drawing, actually.

Speaking of trying new things: My friend Bronwyn has set up a new lit mag/blog (mog?) for videos of people reading their own fiction at unexpected venues. It’s called GuerrillaReads, and she’s now accepting submissions. (I’m listed as a contributor, but so far my major contribution was correcting a typo related to The Blair Witch Project. Oh, and the first post. But I wish I could take credit for the site’s overall awesomeness, but that’s all Bronwyn.)

Fiction writers: Now’s your chance to get in on the ground floor! Everyone else: It’s like books-on-CD for your eyes! Check it out at www.guerrillareads.com.