One Foot in Front of the Other

There are many times when I was walking the Camino that if I thought about walking 500 miles, I felt completely overwhelmed and discouraged. I had to learn to focus on the moment; filling my mind with what was directly in front of me and just walk each day on its own. After 40 days with this mindset, I had reached Santiago. Reaching my destination wound up being as simple as just putting one foot in front of the other.

Simple in theory, hard in reality. Sometimes there are other factors that need to be present to help us reach a far-off destination.

Sometimes we need encouragement to move forward; someone to walk alongside us to keep us moving down the path when we get tired and want to stop. I always want to be strong on my own and I hate asking for help, but sometimes help and encouragement are exactly what we need, even if we don’t know how to ask for it. I continue to find this is one of the most profound Camino lessons I learned, but I find I keep having to learn it over and over. The latest iteration of this lesson has to do with the process of me becoming an art teacher.

I never thought I would become an art teacher. It is one thing to draw and paint. It is a completely different thing to tell people how to do it themselves. It seemed out of reach, mostly because I doubted my ability to bring something of value to my students. 

You see, I never intended to teach how I ‘do’ my art. I didn’t really even know how I did my art. Except for a very impactful 8-week course on perspective at PNCA taught by Kurt Hollomon,  which I took the winter before I walked the Camino, I am pretty much self-taught. I’ve never taken a watercolor course - I just go by feel and instinct.

When I was living in Spain in 2016 and preparing for two exhibitions of the art I created while walking the Camino, I decided to launch an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for the costs of putting on the exhibition. 

Through the support of family and friends, I raised the money I needed and was able to show reproductions of my journal work in the lighthouse in Finisterre at ‘the end of the world’ as well as in the Parador Hotel in Santiago de Compostela (the oldest hotel in the world). If you want to see the first video I ever made, you can check out my Indiegogo campaign video here. It didn’t turn out half bad if I do say so myself.

One of the ‘perks’ (rewards) I offered for the largest donation I asked for on the campaign was a travel journal workshop for a group of 5 people. My dear friends Kim and Christine Appleberry were the only ones who donated this magnanimous amount and I promised them we would schedule the workshop as soon as I returned to Oregon. (They had also generously invited me to live with them when I returned home, which I did for an entire year and a half until my tiny house was built.)

In early 2017, a few months after I moved in I asked when they wanted to schedule the workshop. It was in the midst of winter so they waved it off, saying summer would be a better time. Every now and again I would ask about it, but it never seemed to get scheduled. Finally, with only months to my move-out date, I asked again, firmer in my conviction that I needed to schedule this elusive workshop. 

I don’t remember exactly what words Christine used, but she looked at me and said something to the effect of  “Kari, we just wanted to support you… we really don’t want a workshop.” The Appleberries have long been advocates and cheerleaders of my art, and this is one more instance of their unwavering support. I have to tell you, I was incredibly grateful and incredibly relieved. The workshop was just the only thing I could think of when offering a ‘BIG’ perk for my campaign. I breathed a huge sigh of relief and didn’t think about workshops again until two years later. 

In the summer of 2019, a few friends wanted to learn how to make my travel painting kit, so I began to think of creating some type of workshop again. I invited a handful of ladies into my backyard and gave them a free ‘workshop,’ which was really me just trying out some ideas and inviting their input. These lovely women encouraged me to press forward, but I still was feeling very insecure about the whole thing. I wasn’t a teacher, after all.

After that first effort, months passed. It wasn’t until my friend Tiffin and I were talking at our Thursday art group (remember meeting in groups of people? ah… ) that I somehow mentioned that I had started working on creating a travel journal workshop. Within about five minutes she had called her mom and offered to fly her out from the east coast to attend my nonexistent workshop for her birthday. Tiffin literally made me pick a date that very moment so she could book a ticket and suddenly I was locked in; pinned down. I was going to teach a real workshop where people were going to pay me for attending. 

YIKES. 

With an impending date less than one month away on the calendar, I began in earnest to reverse engineer how I draw and paint in my journal. I began to form the structure of my workshop which included my Camino story. I wanted to share not only how I did what I did, but also why, which I felt was actually more important.

I hosted my first live workshop in January 2020 with nine attendees and it was a rousing success. I received great feedback and reviews so I planned a second one in March and had eight folks signed up. Then COVID hit. 

Six months passed before I rallied in September and converted my workshop to an online format. I teach a two-hour workshop through Zoom with a max of 10 attendees so it feels like a small group. Every workshop I gain confidence in my teaching skills and I get better at communicating. AND every time I teach, I have more fun. Go figure.

All this to say, I am slowly becoming a good teacher. I love when my class helps someone discover new ways to be creative and changes their perspective of life at the same time. I don’t think I would have gotten here had it not been for the encouragement of friends and the kick in the butt that forced me to host my first real workshop.

As I said, sometimes we are able to take significant steps towards a goal on our own and sometimes we need a friend (or several friends) to come alongside us to help us move down the path. We need the support of our community to make our way; to teach us how to believe in ourselves and what we have to offer.

I’m hosting my fourth travel journal workshop next month. When I advertised it on social media, it sold out in just five days. I have just opened up registration for another workshop in April and if things keep going as they are, I might just host one every month. 

This journey took over five years. Step by step I made my way, putting one foot in front of the other. I still need to focus on the moment; filling my mind with what is directly in front of me and walk each day on its own. Thanks to my community, however, my steps are getting bolder and that feels really good.