I was invited to John Costello Catholic School in Calgary to give a little talk to a few grade four classes. There were over 80 kids and several teachers who listened patiently while I jabbered on about who I am, what I do, a little bit about art, my three favorite artists, and how I tend to see things (and how they can, too).

I called my presentation “Art and Seeing Things” because that’s the gist of it and, frankly, “The Art OF Seeing Things” sounded too pretentious. The video is just a static camera video of me talking and you can’t see the slides very well, but you can download the presentation with my speaking notes here: John Costello Grade 4 Presentation.

It was a lot of fun for me, probably more for me than the kids: I signed a ton of autographs, made a bunch of new friends, and even got some good ideas for future paintings. The way the world looks when you’re nine or ten is pretty much how it should always look.

John Costello has done a lot of pastel drawings using my pictures as inspiration. Here, look!

The sign on top says “We Were Inspired By Laura Z”

Hallway Display

“Thank You for your Inspiration, Laura Z!”

Here are some close-ups of inspiration sources:

Some of their own original work:

Mustache Manor

Drawing Faces in Art

Chuckling Cabin

Thank you, John Costello Catholic School, thank you Mrs. V., thank you Tim & Tracy, and thank you to everyone who paid attention. Bless you all, and I hope to see you again soon.

Keep painting, drawing, and seeing things the way you see them!