TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

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As an art instructor I facilitate visual problem solving in the creation of images. I believe in assisting the students’ active participation in the learning process by demonstrating and explaining the principle behind a problem rather than giving them the precise answer. Setting them up for success by giving them tools to solve a problem, and then letting them find the specific means of accomplishing the solution enables them to become active in the process. Prompting student to become visual thinkers sets them on the path to solving greater and greater problems in their work and provides a sense of accomplishment and victory in their images that translates to better drawings.

 

The second important element in my teaching style is balancing structure with freedom. Structure provides the framework for greater creativity, and technique provides the ability to make imagination tangible in the form of a created image. Indeed, I find limits usually stimulate creativity. Just as a blank sheet of paper can intimidate a student, so can the open-ended assignment or unorganized class. At the beginning of the semester our class will discuss the personal goals of each student, and how they fit within the objective of the class. One of the recurring desires is to “become better at putting what I see in my head on paper.” I create a structure designed to exercise certain skills and within that structure the students have a great deal of stylistic and interpretive freedom, and are encouraged to think outside the requirements of each assignment.

 

Inevitably there are always students who either struggle, or simply desire more attention than can be provided during the designated class time, so I am always available to them after classes, and make time to meet with those who need or wish for additional instruction.

 

Remembering my own days as a student, I attempt to bring to the classroom all that I appreciated most from my best professors: an investment in student growth that extended beyond class time; a balance between structure and freedom, so that there is a continuing progression in skill sets as well as an arena in which to explore and express themselves; and motivation to become visual problem solvers, to look at their own and others’ work with an educated eye, so that that they are able to overcome the obstacles in their way.

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ARTIST STATEMENT

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Once while camping in Pennsylvania, I got up in the middle of the night. The forest shadow was so black I could not see my arms in front of me, tripping over roots the whole way until I walked out of the edge of the trees and uphill into a small glade. I looked up and I was caught, completely unawares. The Milky Way in all of its glory spread in a great streak across the sky, filling me with such awe you could have pushed me over and I might not have noticed.

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I forgot myself.

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It often happens when I’m reading stories. I get caught up in the story, the world it shows me outside the narrow canyon of my own perceptions: it opens my mind to wonder. I don’t just travel to a new place; I am steeped in a new life, a new person, a new point of view – a broader perspective. When I paint there is a sense of exploration, discovering new things that were right under my fingertips, right outside my range of vision. I can find out what a character looks like – how her personality might show in her face and give form to an unknown person. In expressing story, I can bring it out where other people can view it, and even forget themselves in the delight of other things, other tales besides the one in which they live.