#3

How do you think your practices, as an artist will help you in the classroom?
First off, experience and knowledge of materials will always help a teacher in the classroom. The more one knows about materials and experiments with different materials, the more they can bring into the classroom to teach students. Also, bringing in examples of your work allows students to understand that you are an artist as well as a teacher. It gives a teacher more personality and in a way invites students in to something that many individuals believe is personal. For most, our artwork is personal, so by sharing your work with students, you are opening yourself up a little to them. This can help form connections with students in a classroom setting.
What skills do artists develop that also lend them to the art of teaching?
Experience, culture, and the ability to look at art in many different ways are among the skills that artists develop. The more an artist works with materials, subject matter, and other artists, the more they will learn. Age has a lot to do with it, as it ties into wisdom and experience. Also the more one is around to experience life, the more opportunity they would have to experience culture and in turn help others with the skills they’ve learned. Appreciating art is also a skill that comes with being exposed to many different forms and aspects of art. I know that I appreciate art much more now than I did five years ago. This is due to my experience in college, viewing art around the world, and developing openness and understanding to many different forms of art. For myself in the classroom, I will share my art and my experiences with my students to aid in their art skills. If I come across something interesting or new, I will be sure to share my new findings with my students.

How will you continue to make art while you teach?
This seems to be a difficult thing for many teachers to accomplish. I believe that the continuation of making art is important and is needed in order to advance students with current knowledge in the art world. Working along with students on projects in one form of making art, but it would only be possible in high school classes where students would be working on their projects and needed little assistance. My high school art teacher used to work on some of his work, as long as he was not needed to help us. For me, making my own artwork is very calming and I like to work on projects at night. It’s like reading a book; it’s something to work with on a regular basis to keep myself motivated. This is not only important to me personally, but it is important that I practice what I preach.

How do you characterize the relationship between teaching and making art?
There are two different forms, but can become the same. There are individuals whom are teachers and there are individuals whom are artists, and then there are individuals whom are both. Speaking for myself, I get very excited with the idea of sharing what I know with others in order to help them develop their art skills. There is a form of sharing information with others in both teaching and making art.