Why crowd learning? Why now?

My mother is a Jill of all trades, and she taught me well. I grew up writing, doodling, sewing, and generally crafting my way through summers. I made some of my own clothes and even took a floral design class once. But at some point in High School, I arbitrarily decided that that part of me wasn't worth keeping. Maybe because I didn't have time, but probably more so because it didn't fit in with my image of a "smarty-pants." And so I went to college, got a BA in History and Span Lit. I ended up teaching High School English for a few years and then went back to Grad School to get an MPP.

I've always been a bit of a workaholic and a part of my kind of enjoys being stressed out. I kept dabbling, but always with a purpose. I took on a DIY attitude and played with other mediums like painting, drawing, makeup, costuming and re-purposing anything from thrift stores and craigslist. I painted my bedspread, added a trim to the shower curtains and hung them in my bedroom, and transformed dusty picture frames into jewelry holders. I never knew what I was doing, but that never mattered. And then I found myself on a set, where I was able to put all those years of practical dabbling to good use. I was a true DIYer, and I spent hours on-line learning to make things, mix things and do it cheaply.

I do a lot of things, and I do most fairly well, but I am certainly not an expert. I thought about maybe starting over, going back to school, but I honestly don't know where my true artistic passion lies or what I am really good at. I don't know if there is something out there I could potentially make a career out of. But I plan on spending the next year discovering what I can do and how far I can go, using easily accessible resources. This means on-line tutorials, websites, books I find on amazon etc. I am going "back to school" but I will be crowd learning, taking bits and pieces and creating my curriculum as I go. This will include beauty makeup and out of kit special effects, sketch work, and sewing.

This isn't new obviously, lots of people are self taught in a variety of fields. I'm taking that same journey, but I am documenting it and will be showing you my progress along the way. I hope you enjoy it and maybe pick up a trick or two. "Classes" start September!