Beginning at the beginning

First Day Musings.....

     Well my brain is a bit full and slightly toasty but I'll do my best to convey first day impressions. After an eight hour drive, I overslept and hit the ground  running (note to self: when setting the alarm on your cell phone, remember to turn the volume on), but thankfully I didn't miss anything. I received a warm welcome at registration and picked up my bag of goodies which included some markers, info about Montreal, a spiral bound drawing book, an eraser and art catalog from Blick, a packet about the conference's planned activities and workshops, a mug, a maple leaf made out of maple sugar (very Canadian), and a whoopie pie. Everything was in a sharp-looking black tote with "VOICES of Visual Practitioners IFVP Conference 2009 Montreal". Cool! New toys! (Now, this is my first conference and I am new to the field and culture of visual practitioners, and I am quite curious about that whoopie pie.  Hmmm.  Perhaps there is a secret significance I will discover later in the conference.....)
     Being new to visual practice I spent the day in Graphic Recording 101 and was treated to the talent and humor of Brandy Agerback and Lynn Carruthers. These two amazing women have very different but quite complementary styles, and it was great to have them working side by side. I have attended one other introductory  workshop (with Christina Merkeley, another awesome practitioner) so some of this was review for me, which was great - AND I learned a bunch of  new stuff.  Brandy and Lynn broadly addressed the basics: materials for the work and reproduction, (paper, markers, tape, digital camera) and skills needed (listening, thinking, organizing, drawing). We did some full body warm-up at the wall, and got right down to it: playing with the alphabet, faces, star and squiggle people (great imagination happening there - star people standing on their heads, leaping for joy, looking gloomy, swimming, and a few squiggle dogs and cats). We had some opportunities to visually record some TED talks.....including one specifically chosen for it's challenges. This was great for me, because  I am most liable to find fault with myself when I don't "get" something, and this speaker was terrible!!!  (I'm NOT saying who it was, of course..... ;-) ) Anyway, I couldn't follow the talk to save my life......(another note to self: make sure you know something beforehand about your speaker's style before you agree to the gig!). It was amazing to see all the different perceptions/interpretations AND common threads up on the wall. A wonderful reminder of how diverse our thinking can be, and the many ways something can be expressed, revealed, captured, synthesized. All interspersed with humor, stories from the field, tips, and positive and supportive feedback.
     I am both anxious and happy about adventuring into graphic facilitation. Being here at the conference is a fabulous opportunity to stretch my growing edge and learn from seasoned pracs. I'm looking forward to what the next two days bring. And after a good night's rest, I just might be more coherent.

from Deborah Page