It happened quite by accident. About 3 months ago, I got an email from a foreign student who found my art on the web (thank you, Manhattan Arts International) and wanted to ask me some questions on how I developed my style. I was surprised and pleased, because she was very enthusiastic about my abstracts as she hoped to focus on abstraction as well. I emailed back and remembering how grateful I was to some of the people who have encouraged me in my creative path, I offered to mentor her. She accepted enthusiastically and we have continued a delightful conversation on the ups and downs of beings a visual artist.
As a mentor, one thing I will NOT do is critique her work and I told her I would leave that job to her art teachers. Instead, I share my experiences working with different media, I share favorite book titles on creativity and artist block, and I encourage her to look at the work of artists who have influenced me the most (Joan Mitchell, Cy Twombly, Sam Francis, Jackson Pollock, Claude Monet and Van Gogh). It has been a wonderful experience and something I would encourage other artists to explore.
