Kat Eye Studio

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Untying a Knot: eCourses On Demand

Last week, when I wrote about unraveling my identity sweater and running into a knot, I was working through some personal attachments to the way I do things. (If you didn’t read the original post this won’t make sense, so quickly visit the original post here.)

When I started Kat Eye Studio two years ago this week, I had just moved back from Italy and had plans. Big plans. I already had two eCourses written and plans for more. I wanted to fill my schedule with eCourses, connecting more people to the heart and soul of photography, running non-stop. I wanted to interact daily with participants online, creating a supportive learning environment.

And I did! I did everything I wanted to do when I started Kat Eye Studio. I knitted a new piece of my identity sweater and was enjoying the fit.

But then, this year, I ran into a problem. I had created enough eCourses that my schedule was full. I could teach them all year long with very little time, maybe a week or two, off in-between. Wow. Suddenly what was fun and invigorating got a little overwhelming. Teaching these courses takes both energy and time, and that doesn’t leave much energy and time to create. Not to mention the energy and time to take care of myself, getting out to exercise and fuel myself visually, which I had been pretty much ignoring for much of the last two years.

So I ran into a knot in my identity… There was the identity I had created for myself, around being very present and active in ongoing instructor-led courses, and the identity that I wanted to create, continuing as an instructor but also as someone who continually develops artistically and takes care of herself physically too. To loosen the knot, I had to let go of one thread and work through the other threads to unravel what was important to me.

So I’ve come out on the other side of this knot with a new plan: eCourses On Demand. I want to continue to share these ideas and materials I’ve put together. I believe in what these courses have to offer, and deep down in my core I know they are valuable and should be put into the world. I just can’t always do it side-by-side with my students, real-time. I need time to create, time to hike, time to write, and time to develop new ideas.

In the future, I plan to teach two or three eCourses per year as instructor-led. My eCourses will be available On Demand the rest of the time, so that you can take them on your schedule, without having to wait a long time to get the material. They will be missing one dimension, the group interaction, but you can get that in other ways. Ask a friend to join you and take the course at the same time, perhaps. And I’ll always be available by email for questions as needed.

It’s amazing how the knot I had been struggling with came undone once I had committed myself to this new path. It was as if the threads just came apart. I can see it was knot of my own making, through my attachments to how I should do things or had done things in the past.

It was a reminder that much of what we struggle with is internal. Our own concepts of identity can hold us back or move us forward. How is yours working for you?

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No matter where I go, I capture two-wheeled transportation. Bicycles, scooters and sometimes even motorcycles catch my eye. I can’t begin to explain my excitement as I came across this scene on a forest walk in Pulau Ubin, an island of Singapore. This scene allowed me to express my own interest, with a subject that has become a common thread running throughout my photographs no matter where I am in the world, but also expresses the uniqueness of the place itself. I’ve never seen a sidecar full of coconuts before. Have you?

A-Sense-of-Place-Button-general-125x125A Sense of Place is one of the eCourses I’m excited to offer On Demand. This eight week eCourse helps you with everything from preparation for exploring places to effectively photographing what you see. It goes deeper into the concepts of place, looking at themes across your photography and through time. If you really want to dive into exploring places, whether near or far from home, this course will help you. Find more information and registration here.

Fuel Your Creativity Button 125x125Fuel Your Creativity is a quick, one-week boost that will get you going and creating! This eCourse is for anyone, regardless of medium or artistic background. We use creativity every day, all the time in our lives. To get the most out of creativity, we need fuel and energy. Now On Demand, these daily prompts are available to give you the boost you need to break out of a rut and start something new. Find more information and registration here.

More eCourses On Demand to come this fall!

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An Expanding View of Place

I always like to think of growth as a spiral. I may come back to revisit topics and lessons, but each time from a slightly different point of view. Each trip around the spiral, I’m a step higher or to the left or the right, and everything looks a little bit different.

With my recent trip to Singapore, I had the opportunity to revisit my Sense of Place from a new point of view. After the dramatic shift in my photography over the last few months, using the iPhone 5 and exploring creative edits, mainly of trees, I wondered what would catch my eye. I took my regular dSLR travel kit along with the iPhone. Which camera would I use most? What would I want to capture – silhouettes of trees or bicycles and scooters? Would my Sense of Place be the same?

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The answer: Yes, and No.

I discovered that what caught my eye in visiting this new-to-me international destination was much the same as what captured me across much of Europe. The textures of history, signs of cultural differences and interesting two-wheeled transportation. The same Sense of Place I’ve come to rely on in my exploration of the world and my photography. It’s what grounds me, no matter where I find myself.

But I also discovered that I saw something new… the interesting textures and shapes of the trees against the sky. Different trees… palms and mangroves and rain trees. Trees with leaves instead of bare branches. The natural beauty of the place captured me as much as the interesting urban environment.

My Sense of Place has expanded. What a powerful and joyous thing to realize.

I recognize now that I had been worried that my Sense of Place would diminish, without traveling as much as I used to. But the opposite has turned out to be true. Not doing as much international travel over the last couple of years has pushed me in new ways. I’ve expanded what I see. This has in turn affected my photography as I travel. I see differently. I see more. My style has expanded to encompass more than one point of view. Growth, artistic or otherwise, only happens when we are pushed outside of our comfort zone.

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This experience was a humbling reminder of the spiral of growth I can embrace as I walk through life. I can fear the changes and try (ineffectively) to stay in the same place on the spiral, or I can rejoice in the change that comes from new experiences.

How wonderful to realize I can revisit “place” with an ever-expanding point of view.

The timing for this revelation couldn’t be more perfect, with my upcoming A Sense of Place workshop and online course offerings in April. Would you like to discover your Sense of Place? There are two great opportunities available:

  • Join me April 13 in Las Vegas at Selah for the one-day A Sense of Place workshop.   Great news! Spaces are still available and the registration fee has been reduced. In addition, if you join us for this one-day workshop you can take the 8-week online course for 50% off, a perfect companion course. Details will be provided after you register through Selah.

    Reduced hotel rates have also been negotiated at El Cortez Hotel, right near Selah. Tower Rooms (either one king or two queen beds) are $77+tax/night with code SEL41213 and Cabana Suites (one king) are $88+tax/night with code SELCS41213. Call  800-634-6703 to make reservations.
     

  • Join the 8-week online course, A Sense of Place, starting April 7. This course dives into the Photography of Place, helping you to discover your own approach to photographing places, whether close to home or far away. Exploring “place” is fundamental to my photography practice and I love to help others explore this topic too.

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Next step in the Dream

Ah, scooters. How do I love thee. I love the cute styling, how they look all parked in a row or against some wonderful European backdrop. I love the freedom they exude, as they zoom along the streets. I love to capture them as part of a scene. They scream “Italy” and “Europe” to me. I never had any desire to ride a motorcycle, but after living in Italy for two years, scooters captured my heart.

I wrote a few months ago about my scooter dream and how I signed up for Motorcycle Basic Rider Training through Team Oregon in July to help me along in my dream. The purpose of this course is to teach basic skills to make a motorcyclist safer on the road, and by 2015 anyone in Oregon who wants to ride a motorcycle will be required to take it. By the end of the course, if you pass, you have met all of the requirements to get your license and the class completion card waives any further testing.

The training was this weekend. It started with a classroom session on Thursday night for two and a half hours, followed by Saturday and Sunday classes which each had four hours on the riding range in the morning and then 2 to 3 hours in class in the afternoon. It included a skills test on the motorcycle and a written test that you had to pass.

Let me be honest – this was the most physically and mentally demanding thing I’ve done in a long time. (It took all of my energy this weekend, hence no blog posts!) Riding a motorcycle takes an enormous amount of skill and concentration, especially if you’re new to it. You have to do different things with both hands and feet at the same time. You have to pay attention to the world around you so much more than in a car, because the hazards are so much greater and you are less visible. You have to learn to trust the machine below you and how to react quickly and safely.

I am not the most physically coordinated of people. I was always last picked in gym class, being small and slow. I was the one who would go out for a sport and work super hard, practicing a ton, just to become mediocre. The athletic stars would come in with no practice and exceed my skills by a long shot. But what I have learned through all of that, is that I have the determination and persistence to learn just about anything when I set my mind to it. I’m not completely uncoordinated, it just takes me more time to get it and more practice to master it than some others. I kept that in mind as I struggled with the controls and getting the sequence right. My past experience has shown me that I could do it, if I really tried.

I have to say, that this course was amazing. It took me (and others) who had never driven a motorcycle before, didn’t even know the controls, to riding a motorcycle and passing a skills test in two days of range riding. That is just incredible. By the end, I was swerving around obstacles and taking corners at 15-20 miles per hour (24-32 km/hr), weaving through offset cones at low speed without putting my foot down, able to take sharp corners. Oh yeah, and all of this – in the rain! The second day of class it rained the whole time on the range, soaking us but showing us that we could do this in the rain as much as the sun.

And guess what – I passed! I am so excited. I am so proud. This gives me a bigger feeling of accomplishment than I ever, ever expected. I overcame my fears. I learned something that was hard for me but my persistence and determination paid off. And the good news, driving a scooter is much easier than a motorcycle! No clutch to worry about, no foot controls, yet I know how to do those too now.

Today, I will go down to the Department of Motor Vehicles with my class completion card and get the motorcycle endorsement added to my license. Here is one thing I know though – I am nowhere near riding on the road yet. I have a lot of practice to do, and skills to continue building, before I be-bop around town on a scooter. I have a little 50cc Honda Metropolitan scooter purchased from a friend to practice on though, and some great basic skills to help me progress.

Maybe you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but an old Kat? If she really wants to learn it, she can.

(Linking in to Creative Exchange and Creative Every Day today. Here’s a story where following my heart photographically has led to something wholly new and unexpected in my life. Isn’t that amazing?)

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