Kat Eye Studio

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Looking for Your Input

On Wednesday I wrote about my shift to offering my eCourses On Demand, but I’ll still be teaching Instructor Led eCourses too, just not as frequently. I’ve decided to teach one of the Find Your Eye series eCourses this fall as Instructor Led, and I’d like to get your input on which one!

** CLICK HERE TO FILL OUT SURVEY **

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Class registration will open late July for the chosen eCourse, which will run in September-October.

Which do you think it will be?

Will it be Journey of Recognition? This one was the first in the series, and the first eCourse for me EVER. It was written while I was in Italy, in the early flush of discovering myself an artist, which makes it dear to my heart.

Or maybe it will be Journey of Inspiration, the second one written in the series, which captures my transition home. I had shifted from the amazement of recognizing myself as an artist to finding my inspiration.

Or will it be Journey of Fascination, the most recent in the series, which really captures so much of my journey of transition, finding myself “home” and developing my ongoing fascination with photography.

Each Journey eCourse has it’s own flavor, energy, and focus since they are based on my personal journey at the time they were written. I can’t wait to see which one is selected!

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It’s time for a Journey of Fascination

The course was inspirational and confidence building. It seems each of us have what is needed to be whatever our heart desires, we just needed a facilitator to draw it out.
— Find Your Eye Participant in 2012

It’s time for a new journey. A Journey of Fascination. I am adding a new course to the Find Your Eye series in early 2013, and you are invited to join the journey. The series begins with Starting the Journey from January 20-31, 2013, and then continues with the all-new Journey of Fascination from February 10 – March 9, 2013. Registration is open now.

The participant quote I’ve shared above really expresses what the Find Your Eye series is all about. It’s about building your confidence. It’s about inspiring you to be who you are in your photography. Finding your eye is no more complicated than that. Yet it’s still not easy, either. That’s why I’ve created these courses: to help you make the journey. The journey is your own, I just shine a light on the path in front of you, to help you move forward. And even if you are already moving along nicely, the courses accelerate your momentum.

My own journey has been an interesting one, filled with ups and downs, fears and joy, as those of you who regularly read my blog know. These courses come out of my own experiences. I find it interesting that I’ve added one per year… Journey of Recognition came out of 2010, Journey of Inspiration came out of 2011, and now Journey of Fascination has been born out of experiences in 2012. Each course is a different journey, taking you in a slightly different direction. I love how it doesn’t matter the order you take the courses, or if you are near the beginning of your own journey with photography or well under way, they always fit where you are.

I hope you will join me in January and February on this new journey. It’s exciting to be at the cusp of sharing something new. I’ve always thought there were more Find Your Eye courses to come and now is the right time for the next one.

I love this journey I am on. I love what I get to do in these courses, as a guide and a witness. I especially love that it makes a difference in the art and the lives of the people who join me. I’m excited to share a few other comments from participants in Find Your Eye courses this year, about their experience.

I love the interaction among the participants as well as from you, Kat. The assignments were challenging and pushed us to explore new purposes for taking photographs, but to also find meaning in them. [T]he level of interaction in this course is so much deeper and open than any other online courses I’ve completed.

I loved learning in a group, knowing there were others on the journey too and we could explore this passion for photography together. And my other favourite thing was having assignments which gave us plenty of direction but also opened up all kinds of creative possibilities.

I’ve done many classes and this one was the best, because it was a small group and because you, Kat, always give feedback and follow the group. It’s also unique, because it pushes you forward as a photographer.

[This course is unique because of] the great interaction around photo images. We all had a chance to learn from others because we paid attention to what everyone was doing not just on our individual work. It wasn’t only about feedback from you, Kat (which was very appreciated), but we seemed to get a lot out of feedback from everyone and you had an opportunity to react to some of the feedback, too. It was a group experience.

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It’s time to Find Your Eye

Do you have a unique style?

Yes, you definitely do. You may not recognize it yet, but you have a unique vision of the world which shows up in your photography. We all do.

How do you find it?

You connect with your heart, and tap into your soul. You learn to follow what inspires you and discover the threads that already lie in what you create. When you do this, you begin to discover not only your unique photographic style, but how it represents who you are. You gain confidence. You are empowered to express yourself.

You can find a blueprint for connecting to heart and soul through photography in the Find Your Eye ecourse series. Registration for the fall series of Starting the Journey and Journey of Recognition is open now. You can register here.

From Astoria, Oregon. Lightroom Preset for this image will be available for download in the next Kat Eye News.

It never, ever gets old to teach these courses. It always amazes me how unique we all are. I see this as I join the class participants along the journey as a guide and a witness. I love to hear what has come out of the Find Your Eye process for them. Here’s what some recent participants have said about the Find Your Eye e-courses:

Thank you Kat with all my heart. Your course was inspirational and confidence building. Your attention and beautifully crafted responses to each of our individual contributions was much appreciated. It seems each of us have what is needed to be what ever our heart desires, we just needed a facilitator to draw it out.

It’s difficult to say what my favorite thing was about this course because I loved it ALL. But what inspired me the most was the feedback that was given, both by you, Kat, and by the other participants. Sharing photographs, journaling, then getting and giving feedback made it all connect for me. People were genuine in their remarks, honest and open in their journals, and it felt like friendships were being developed with folks from around the world. Like-minded people, interested in finding beauty and meaning with their eye!

This was one of the most meaningful things I’ve done for myself in a very long time. I looked forward to new lessons, interaction from you and my new friends, and to the soul-searching that you prompted us to do. I thought this might be a more of a technical class, but am glad it wasn’t. I did learn more about my camera because of this class, but more importantly I learned more about myself as an artist.

I felt pushed to express myself in my journal and in my photography. I feel the photo and writing emphasis helped me think about my painting and other art work in way that I hope will transform those areas for me, too.

Won’t you join me for the next journey?

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Find Your Voice

The last thing we need is more homogeny in the world of art. Once you’ve found your vision, find your voice, but make sure it’s your own. That takes courage.
— David duChemin in the conclusion of Photographically Speaking

I’m in a contemplative mood this morning, having finally just finished David duChemin’s latest book, Photographically Speaking. While I’m a voracious reader of fiction, I’m not a fast reader when it comes to books on art, creativity or spirituality. I like to take my time, sip my tea, and contemplate. It didn’t help that this book has only a two-week checkout at the library. I’ve had to put it on hold and check it out three times. Now that I’ve finished, I’ve decided I need to buy the darn book already!

But the quote above really resonated with me this morning. He talks about finding your voice in photography, which I call “finding your eye.” It does take courage to be yourself in your art. To learn from others and then step to the side, sometimes discarding what you have learned. To say, “This is me. Here I am, take it or leave it.” We get worried about the “leave it” part of that statement. But the fact is… we can’t make everyone happy, with our art or otherwise. And we can’t be anyone other than who we are. So we might as well take a deep breath and work to create our own unique vision and voice.

This is probably catching my interest because we’re about to start a new session of Find Your Eye this next Sunday. Registration closes tomorrow, and later this week a new group will begin to gather to start their journey. I love these journeys. The anticipation and uncertainty at the beginning which gives way to confidence and strength by the end.

David’s right: “The last thing we need is more homogeny in the world of art.” Each of us has something new, different and fresh to add. Isn’t that a wonderful thought to contemplate today?

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What are you doing this Summer?

If you’re looking for something to stretch and grow your photography in the summer months, Find Your Eye: Journey of Inspiration may just be your thing! In this course, you’ll begin to recognize your unique style and deepen your the connection between your photography and your heart and soul. Amazing things happen as a result!

Registration has opened for the summer series of Starting the Journey and Journey of Inspiration. See more about the course series here and you can find registration information here.

I’ve found my eye. It’s full of texture and details that make my heart sing, like this door from Korkula, Croatia.

Won’t you join me to find yours? Class starts June 17.

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Registration Opens with a Special Offer!

Yay! Today is the day! Registration opens for the January-February series of Find Your Eye today. Starting the Journey runs January 8 – 18, 2012 and Journey of Recognition follows from January 29 – February 24, 2012. I’ve got the gift-giving bug, so I’ve whipped up a special holiday offer too! Visit this page to register and learn more about the classes and the special offer.

I’m always excited when a new class starts, who will I meet? What will their journey be like? Each journey is unique to a person, just like our photographs. I love that!

If you’ve been considering taking the course, I hope you will join in this time. I’ll leave you with a few recent comments from Find Your Eye participants. Their words always speak much more eloquently than mine!

Kat has thought through the goals of the course, and each lesson contributes to moving the class along the journey of discovery and development. We can go at our own speed, learning through our own experience, and learning from our classmates, through their work and commentary. Kat creates an learning environment of encouragement, discovery and risk taking – so we can grow as photographers and artists. I love the sense of community that comes with doing this course in a group setting..That’s one of my favourite things.

This course made me think, made me look at what I am doing with my camera and why. I have a better understanding of why photography appeals to me because of this. I can honestly say that now when I carry my camera I’m more intentional about what I want to capture, rather than just taking a bunch of photos as fast as I can (which was kind of what I’ve been doing).

The process is very individual – meeting me where I was and moving me deeper. I like the sense of having the answers within and being guided to find them for myself. I appreciated the interaction among students and feedback received, especially from the instructor.

I learned so much from going through the same exercises with such a wide variety of photographers – women who all had different experiences, different photographic interests, different viewpoints.

These courses really helped me to figure out more about my style – likes and dislikes, how I shoot and why, etc. – and encouraged me to continue to look as I continue on my photographic journey. Thank you!

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