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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | NOVEMBER 2015 15 their expertise and interests with each other, invites us to improve our skills or learn new ones. He believes that most creative people find ways to express themselves, often through crafts. When given a chance, that artistic energy has to emerge and find a way for more complete expression. Drawing can encompass and direct that energy. Rob wants to teach his students "how to see," to capture the essence of what they're looking at. Drawing with pencil helps them to learn the basics such as perspective and contrast. To this end he has each student draw an elephant, so that each one shares a first subject, but not the same image. Each student picks out the elephant picture they want to replicate. Asked how these six students view their emerging skill, he said that most of them have difficulty accepting that they're as talented as they are. And I found that to be the case as Micki and I continued our interviews. First up was Sandy Buelna. Just by walking up to and into her house, it was obvious that this was an artistic person. Her previous drawing experiences were in the fourth and fifth grades when she drew a witch, then a Christmas postcard of a carriage with horses. That was it. She never attempted to draw again, and she never thought she could. As far as crafts, she had crocheted, sewn dresses and joined the ceramics class at Four Seasons. She is also a musician, as she sings and plays the piano. And her father, out of the blue, had begun oil painting when he was 62. Asked why she started taking the drawing class, she said that she began four years ago after she saw the article and student drawing of the month in the Breeze. She wanted to meet people, so she called Rob and began. She was frightened when she started and is aware that as far as drawing is concerned, she's her own worst critic. Rob's non-critical, encouraging teaching style kept her going. And now she feels a great sense of accomplishment. A person who wants to experience all that she can in the time she has left, she's pleased with how drawing has added to her life. She loves the camaraderie in class and delights in watching others' work grow and change. She finds drawing calming, although her volunteer work precludes her having much time to draw between classes. I asked if she would show me some of her work. She did, and oh my goodness, here's another one. Oh yes, she can draw! See page 31 for Sandy's artwork. I met with Lian Lee by myself. She's been drawing for about a year and a half, after meeting Rob while playing ping pong. Finding herself short of breath she sat down and wondered aloud how she would entertain herself when physical exertion became too strenuous. He, of course, had the answer and so she went to her first drawing class. It had been a long time since her only experience with drawing: an art class in junior high school in Taiwan, where she grew up. And unlike Micki and Sandy, she had no experience with crafts but she does enjoy landscaping and interior design. After participating in required college placement exams, Lian was chosen to become a chemist. And she taught chemistry in Taiwan until 1977 when some in-laws convinced her to move to the United States. No longer a chemist, she became a restaurateur, with her final endeavor a teriyaki restaurant in Riverside, across from the Mission Inn. She described her progress in drawing class, how she first had to learn perspective and how it took 25 hours to complete her elephant. And now she's starting to study ink and brush art and finds that it reminds her of Chinese calligraphy. Like the others, she is critical of her own work, but finds it deeply satisfying. She reports that her family in Taiwan is extremely proud of her and her art work. Drawing makes her happy and she practices at home when she has time. And once again I saw photos on her phone and once again, I was amazed. Next month the other students will be introduced as Micki and I continue. Continued from previous page Right: Artwork by Lian Lee

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