Day 209: Suzanne McDermott
“I had no idea what was going to happen when I started teaching drawing, and I discovered very, very quickly that I was not just teaching drawing, that I was, you know, coaching people to overcome obstacles and that everyone actually can already draw; that’s the big secret.”
.
.
.
Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Suzanne, for agreeing to be part of the Project today, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?
Suzanne McDermott: Thanks, Toni. It’s a pleasure to be on your Project. My name is Suzanne McDermott, and I am currently Founder and Director of Drawing America, and I’ve led a very creative life. I’ve spent about a decade performing as a songwriter across the United States and Europe and made a few albums. And I’ve done watercolor, and I’ve taught drawing for the last 14 or 15 years.
Toni: Well thank you, and thank you again for being here. Suzanne, when you think about inspiration, who do you think you inspire, and how might that happen?
Suzanne: Well, I probably inspire people through my songs and paintings, and through personal risks I’ve taken to do creative work, but that’s difficult for me to gauge. I teach drawing, and that’s how I’m currently inspiring others. As I said, I’ve been teaching for over 14 years, and I’ve taught drawing at the community level across the country to people of all ages and from all walks of life.
Really, I teach people how to see better, to calm their minds enough to see what’s actually in front of them. And in teaching people how to learn how to see and how to draw, I can watch them connect to the direct experience of the now and light up with the realization that they’ve made that connection.
I personally believe that drawing is a great tool for self-realization. The practice of drawing also helps people develop their creativity, their confidence, problem-solving skills, and other things. Drawing is an activity that cuts across age, socioeconomic, cultural, and professional boundaries, and that’s why I founded Drawing America. When I host classes and travel with workshops, I can inspire and affect a handful of people, of students. But through Drawing America, I can inspire and positively affect many, many more people by growing the initiative. It’s a national initiative that promotes drawing while building community, and I’m growing Drawing America through the Neighborhood Big Draw Project.
I’ve just released an ebook called How to Throw a Big Draw in Your Neighborhood, which is a step-by-step manual that teaches anyone how to create a drawing event for their family, friends, and neighbors. It comes with another eBook called Basic Drawing Lessons, which is based on the drawing teaching that I’ve done over the past years.
Toni: Well thank you; and when you think about all the work that you’re doing and the initiative that you’re driving, how do you think that helps others to explore their own potential?
Suzanne: Well, it’s very inspiring to watch people overcome their sometimes dramatic inhibitions around making a very simple thing, a drawing. And I can’t say why, but I genuinely love encouraging others to do well, to meet challenges, and to overcome obstacles. I’m very enthusiastic in my encouragement, and I recognize my own experience in others as much as I can.
And keeping to the topic of teaching people how to draw and how to see, I reflect to students the obstacles they encounter, whether that obstacle is their inner critic, some idea of perfectionism, a stubborn block within them that tells them they are incapable of what really is quite a simple action, making a drawing, or just an external technical adjustment.
So, with suggestions with solutions, I encourage people to recognize, become aware of, and overcome their inner stumbling blocks, those habits that most of us contend with, and tell them that I deal with many of the same obstacles regularly and that what I suggest to them is basically what I try to follow myself. From what I’ve heard from advanced readers, my enthusiasm and encouragement come right through on the page of these new ebooks, and getting that feedback has made me very happy.
Toni: I’ll bet it has. Now, when you think about inspiration from your point of view, Suzanne, what do you need to be inspired?
Suzanne: Well, what I need is to take good care of myself. You know, I need to eat right and exercise and get enough sleep, and breathing is good, but I also need nature. I need to be inspired by immersing myself in bird song and lapping waves in communion with my fellow creatures on earth and with the sea and the sky and the land. And I’m also inspired by human kindness and by people who overcome obstacles, small and large, to realize their full potential. That’s a great inspiration for me.
Toni: Suzanne, it sounds as though you’ve had a very diverse career, and I’m wondering how you came to realize that Drawing America as one of the initiatives that you have and teaching drawing – how did you get there? How did you know that you would have a passion for not only helping people to draw, which in a sentence itself does not even describe the value that you’re giving as you’re teaching, which is the creativity, the quelling the inner critic and so forth; how did you get to that place?
Suzanne: My gut reaction is to say, you know, do you have a couple weeks? The fact is that, you know, really I was led here. It was … I’ve been led to this point. And aside from just saying that and hoping that everyone listening to this understands what I mean by that, you know, life is a series of steps and choices and decisions and the Robert Frost’s Two Roads Diverged in the Yellow Wood, you know.
I started teaching. I had no idea what was going to happen when I started teaching drawing, and I discovered very, very quickly that I was not just teaching drawing, that I was, you know, coaching people to overcome obstacles and that everyone actually can already draw; that’s the big secret. Also, I just learned that I was and am actually a very good teacher.
But in terms of the Drawing America Project, I have to tell you I started this over a year-and-a-half ago, and it has hold of me; I don’t have hold of it. I check myself every couple of weeks and am amazed that my enthusiasm and energy and dedication to this Project is unflagging. And my only conclusion is that it’s a really good thing for me to do personally, and it’s a really good thing for the country, and there is a wind at my back, you know? There is some force that’s bigger than me that is using me as an instrument to realize this particular Project. Otherwise, you know, I don’t think I would have the drive to do it like I’m doing it.
Toni: And so, I’m wondering if this is a great definition of someone finding their purpose?
Suzanne: Oh, yes. Definitely. I mean, you know, I have done, you know … I’ve done many things in my life, and I’ve done them as best as I can and, you know, I felt responsibility towards my talents and abilities and try to realize them and have done so to the best of my ability. But this is definitely my purpose, and it’s my purpose now; and until it is no longer, I’m just going to go with it.
Toni: So what do you need to explore your own potential?
Suzanne: Well, aside from what I described earlier, which is spending as much time as I can in nature — what’s left of it — and taking good care of myself, I think the key to exploring my own potential is to feel the fear and take action anyway. I think that is really the bottom line. And this is directly related to the drawing, because each time we’re faced with a blank page, we have to overcome a little bit of fear to start a drawing, and you know, as I said, I spent my life exploring my own potential.
And although I have a few more issues on my personal list, now it’s time for me to help others explore their potential. It seems that my past is teaching people how to make drawing a part of their everyday lives. I encourage people to visit Drawing America and to get their own copy of my ebooks and help spread this particular variety of inspiration.
Toni: Well thank you so very much, Suzanne, for being part of the Project today and sharing your story and also sharing Drawing America. We will post a link to your site so people can learn more information about it, as well as posting your nonprofit on the home page of the Project. So thank you very, very much for being with us today.
Suzanne: My pleasure, Toni. Thanks so much for making me part of your Project.
Toni: You’re welcome, take care.
___________________________________________________________
For more information about Suzanne McDermott: www.drawingamerica.org
.
Post Comment