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"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." - Albert Einstein  Albert Einstein’s brilliant quote is profound.  Helping my students tap into their creative side is only one facet of my desired goal.  Awakening them to the joy that unfolds in the creative and learning process is my higher aim. A person doesn't just start playing the piano without any exploration of the keyboard. However, after gaining sufficient knowledge and spending time practicing, they can freely move about the keys and write their own music.  Oh the joy of composing! The same holds...

"Sometimes, if you want to really see, first you need to close your eyes." - Jill Saur THIS IS A POST FROM SEVERAL YEARS AGO.  I COULDN'T RESIST!   So, I've been studying the lives of several amazing artists who are blind.  They find great success with their work through feeling deeply and using physical touch to identify the size and shape of what they're drawing and painting.     Since I've been talking with my students about not being a slave to their photograph that they're working from, and because I want everyone to connect more with what they're doing, I...

 Van Gogh's Letter To Theo: Learning To Draw It’s more or less the same with drawing as with writing. When one learns to write as a child, one has the feeling that one will never discover how to do it, and it seems to be a miracle when one sees the schoolmaster write so quickly. Nevertheless, in time one grasps it. And I really believe that one must learn to draw in such a way that it’s as easy as writing something down, and that one must master proportion and learn to see in such a way that one can reproduce...

  When I'm painting, it's a time for me to silence the part of my mind that gets in the way of me being who God intended me to be as an artist.  The act of painting transforms me to another world, a better world, a place where creativity and peace flow like a sparkling river.  If you find yourself sitting down to paint and worrisome thoughts want to take over, don't give up.  Stay with it and you'll find yourself slipping into a very wonderful place.  Art truly is therapy for the soul! Please enjoy these wonderful finished works created a...

"While talent or genius must exist, at best they are merely embryonic factors and no one can guide these into productive artistry without the initiative, perseverance and determination of the student.  To say that the artist is born and not made, is only partly true.  Actually, while it is an important qualification, there is no proof of real worth in talent until it has been developed and expanded by a tremendous amount of serious study and plain hard work." - Edgar Payne   Please enjoy these wonderful works created several years ago by my industrious, creative, and awesome students! It's so...