Rainbow Connection

Recently, I completed a mentorship course that changed my life thanks to my mentor Chris Oatley. Chris was a former visual development artist for Disney. I have been taking courses with The Oatley Academy of Visual Storytelling (http://oatleyacademy.com ) for over three years and have met some of the most beautiful creative people from all over the world. They kind of get me and understand my need for storytelling. These paintings are from the mentorship course, Brush to the Future. The first one is an embellishment from the bottom study. 

On the questionnaire for applying for the course I was asked what muppet character I was like? I said Kermit the Frog because Kermit sang the "Rainbow Connection" song. I related to the song but felt so lost in my ability to express myself. There was fear of acceptance and a pulling of my heart with a feeling of something bigger that I am supposed to do. While I have not figured out everything, Chris Oatley and his side kick Sarah Mills gave me the tools and instruction and encouragement. This helped me to feel confident when approaching my work. One of our assignments was called Rainbow Connection. I cried when I saw that listed. Before the course I was feeling a disconnection in making sense of what I was doing creatively. I believe it had something to do with my technique but it was also something spiritual too. I am so grateful to Chris and Sarah and the OA team including Maike Venhofen and Ania Marcos for helping things to click with me. I am eternally grateful.