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How to Mute the Mean Voices — The Faux Louvre pg263
Colorful companion to my memoir The Incompetent Psychic
Another stroke of luck was that my Toastmasters club had a couple of members on the pro speaker circuit who used us for feedback on new material. Their suggestions helped me improve much faster, so I was ready two years later when Michaels Stores started hiring art teachers. Heck, I can do that! The timing was perfect. In 2010 Grumbacher Paint and Michaels teamed up to offer art classes with generous pay right out the gate. They must have saved careers of painters all over the country at a time when few were selling art for any price. I applied and was given two stores within ten miles. — From Chapter 14
I successfully launched myself into teaching art. Not only was I past the debilitating fear of getting up and speaking, but the Toastmaster’s philosophy of identifying and building on our strengths dovetailed perfectly with my new skill to show beginners how to paint fearlessly. Watching how Tim Gunn gently mentored fashion designers on Project Runway was incredibly helpful. I also revisited Bob Ross episodes to find more joy.
Positive feedback wasn’t part of my childhood. Both my parents instantly identified every goof and shortcoming in everything from chalk drawings to grades. When I was nine I took a series of…
