Roundtable Note: Filomena Jack is a participant in the inaugural New York State Teaching Artist Mentorship Program. Follow her at @FilomenaJackStudio and FilomenaJackStudio.com.
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When the world was put on pause in March of 2020, like a lot of people, I had to make some quick pivots in terms of how I kept my career afloat and my spirits up. How was I going to make sense of what the hell was going on out there?
I felt like I didn’t have any control but knew that I wanted to do SOMETHING to help others who were struggling. What did I do? I turned on my iPad and focused on bringing bright, happy, and useful information to others. It was a way for me to not feel helpless and it kept my art juices flowing. Best of all, I did it without leaving my studio!
Teaching live classes, though at times physically and mentally demanding, is one of my true happy places. I LOVE my students! I love them when they are happy and excited, and I love them when they are not feeling the lesson or their art works. My training as a personal development coach makes it possible for me to gently nudge students towards seeing the best in their artwork. My classes are designed with the hope that each student will go forth and teach some part of the class to someone else in their world such as a grandchild, their neighbor, or their parent. In this manner, I envision this beautiful ripple effect of art techniques being shared far and wide. I imagine that some of my students will also fall in love with teaching and work to refine how they communicate with their own students.
Before the pandemic I had been experimenting with creating educational art and coaching content on YouTube and had “Gone Live” a few times on Facebook. A friend of mine had been coaching me about the grand possibilities of reaching a wider audience via the platform.
The first time going live on FB I was {cough, cough} terrible. My camera was in the wrong orientation, my lighting was whacky, and I was too far away from the mic for the audience to hear all of the art lesson. But guess what…I still had a some views, even more than on my YouTube channel with its edited video content. Interesting!
To make the process better for everyone involved, I invested in an over-the-table camera rig (less than $200), and a couple of studio lights (about $60). I didn’t have an exact plan for what I was going to do, but I felt like investing in my studio equipment would be useful somehow. Luckily, I was able to secure a grant to help pay for the updated equipment!
So there we were, shut down and weirded out, and maybe a little bored? One snowy morning (I’m near the Finger Lakes region of NY, we have MANY snowy mornings) I decided I was going to turn on my iPad, launch Facebook and hit GO LIVE. That’s when “P.E.P. {pretty easy painting} Club” was born.
I didn’t allow myself to overthink this idea (raise your hand if you are an over-thinker!). In another version of this story I might have gotten caught up in “oh, no one cares about making art” or “am I being too weird or extroverted…I mean who is going to get my humor or care about spending time doing this while the world is so strange right now?” Thank goodness for my coaching studies! Here’s one of my best coaching tips: Your thoughts aren’t (necessarily) facts!
That first day I painted an adorable easy peasy snow person using acrylic paint. I had no idea what supplies people had with them, so I told the audience that they should play along with whatever they had around; a ball point pen and the back of an envelope, crayons, watercolors…whatevs! It was fun for me talk about art concepts, and actively create something that made me smile. Many adorable snow people were born that day!
The next week we painted cakes, then flowers, then this and then that…I’ve lost count as to how many videos I’ve put up on Facebook, but I know I’ve had thousands of views from people all over the world.
For one P.E.P. Club session I painted a mural in my house. The week leading up to the session I created a poll to see if the audience preferred an A option or a B option for the mural. During the live painting my husband was behind the camera (this time my phone), and was able to share the audience’s questions about my techniques, etc. It felt like the community had come together to be part of the project. To top it off, two local organizations stepped up and granted me funds for the online event. Wow! Grateful gal right here!
I love when viewers reach out to me. Occasionally students will message me their progress photos or ask questions. And because of this series, I was hired by a not-for-profit to create an online painting event for their agency. I’ve also worked with a local animal shelter to paint one of their adoptable pets (a blind kitty named Mr. Magoo!) Through that painting session we raised money for Magoo’s surgery and when he was adopted, his furever family got to keep the portrait. Win win win!
Ok, you may be asking what this all has to do with YOU and your art career. Great question! What I’m suggesting is this: Share what you’ve got to offer! Don’t overthink it or get too caught up on the tech. Whether you choose Facebook, TikTok, IG Reels, or whatever comes next, JUST DO THE THING YOU LOVE TO DO AND SHARE IT WITH THE WORLD. (Shouting over, for now). It keeps you moving in your art space. Sharing and not caring too much about the production value may feel counter intuitive. We see a lot of finely produced content on creative channels. It’s OK to share where you are NOW. The more you share, the more you’ll learn how to communicate on video. It will also become clear what tech you actually need and what’s just a waste of space.
It makes me feel good to make art and it makes me feel really good when others feel empowered to make their own art. By doing these two things I feel that I am taking some control over how I feel and how I can contribute to the world. AND by staying in motion to some degree, even if you can’t completely realize your vision for a project, you keep your creative practice healthy. You continue to flex the muscles you need to keep yourself in the game.
Go live, and continue to LIVE your best life in the world we have. Want to chat about anything I’ve mentioned here? Feel free to find me online @FilomenaJackStudio and FilomenaJackStudio.com.