Publication Date: Friday, September 09, 2005
Finding the inner finger-painter
Finding the inner finger-painter
(September 09, 2005) With her Palo Alto class, comedian hopes to help people open up their creative souls
by Molly Tanenbaum
For anyone who has ever felt a twinge of jealousy watching a child play with clay and finger paints, this new class may be just what the doctor ordered.
"Discover Your Creative Self," taught by Palo Altan Karen Schilling-Gould at the Palo Alto Adult School, will encourage students to cast off the inhibitions that prevent them from finding a creative outlet.
"I truly believe we really are creative beings. It's just a matter of not having the time to get in touch with it," she said.
Beginning Sept. 15, the three-week class will provide a relaxed environment in which students will experiment with writing, storytelling, painting, creating junk collages and using other means of expression to find out what they enjoy.
Regardless of the medium, Schilling-Gould thinks everyone could benefit from the creative process free from the pressure of developing an end product.
"All those things give you self-actualization and self-expression and joy. It's good for people to get back to that without the fear of not being good enough," she said.
Schilling-Gould, who was an art therapist before she became a mother, was inspired to teach "Discover Your Creative Self" when she observed that many of her peers lacked the time and the self-confidence to pursue artistic endeavors.
"We make such an effort to provide everything for our kids and we forget to provide it for ourselves," she said.
To Schilling-Gould, children should be seen as role models for how adults can inject creativity into their lives.
"Little kids sing whether or not they're off-tune. They just enjoy singing," she said. "People don't feel free to be who they are the way that we did when we were kids. When we were kids, we'd sit there with clay and paint and blocks and just enjoyed the process of it without the pressure and the stress of having to make a final product or having it be good enough."
A mother of three, Schilling-Gould knows firsthand how hectic parents' lives can become. Her own parenting experience, combined with her love of improvisational acting, led her to co-create "The Shlepperellas: Mothers Gone Mad" with Linda Merriweather in 1999.
The local comedy-musical revue depicts those very stressed-out mothers that Schilling-Gould hopes to draw to the class. Recently, the actors have focused on getting corporate gigs, such as their upcoming performance at Google.
After six years of co-writing, producing and starring in "The Shlepperellas," Schilling-Gould has set out to provide for others what acting has done for her: it has not only given her outlet for creative energy, but also a way to relax.
"I think it's a real stress reliever," she said.
Schilling-Gould will also hold a 10-week version of the class at the Los Gatos Jewish Community Center on Monday mornings from 9:30 to 11 beginning Sept. 12. If all goes well, she hopes to host an informal version of the class at her home in January.
"Discover Your Creative Self" is one of 29 new classes at the Palo Alto Adult School this fall. These additions range from web design to machine knitting, from Thai cooking to investment basics. Registration opened Aug. 22.
What: "Discover Your Creative Self," taught by Karen Schilling-Gould of the Shlepperellas.
Where:Palo Alto Adult School, Palo Alto High School, Room 305.
When: 7-9 p.m on Thursdays, Sept. 15, 29 and Oct. 6.
Cost:$35.
Info:To register, visit www.paadultschool.org or call (650) 329-3752. To learn more about the Shlepperellas, visit www.shlepperellas.com. For information on the 10-week Los Gatos class, call (408) 358-3636. Information on the January classes can be obtained by emailing Karen Schilling-Gould at oxygen576@aol.com.
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