The Big Picture - 11 September 2010

I am an artist. I am also an art teacher. I have always been able to draw, but it was not until 7.5 years ago that I decided to pass along my knowledge of how to create art. Much like the Bernsteins write in “Sparks of Genius” I cannot explain how I see my final compositions before I get there, I just do. I have a compilation of most of my work online at: https://sites.google.com/site/lialmillerportfolio/home/page-two for you to see what my style of art is, if you would like to see it. In no way am I calling myself a genius, rather I am creative and I have been taught how to pass along that creativity.

I also work as a fire fighter and have played a lot of baseball over my forty-four years of life. These “activities” take instinct and coordination to perform effectively. To be a fire fighter, I had to be trained for about one year in an academy. Once I hit the real world that training was put in to use, but it was combined with common sense. You need to make smart decisions real fast; a life depends on it, whether it be a victim’s or mine. For baseball, I had some skills playing catcher and I had a coach that wore snakeskin cowboy boots with a metal tip and he would kick my left buttock every time I did not execute my position properly during practice. I hated getting kicked, but it taught me to be a better catcher.

            

For all three portions of my life, I learned that practice made for a better artist, fire fighter or ball player. The same is true for thinkers. As a teacher, I start the students off with the basic principles and elements of art. After that I incorporate a lot of art history, showing the students how other famous people have incorporated the same principles and elements in to their art. We work in the style of some of those famous artists, but never copy their works. When all that is done, I implement tons of creativity driven lessons. This three-tier art program is established to teach the students how to use their minds and to think for themselves, expressing their inner thoughts and feelings, making them true artists.

            

My ultimate goal in teaching is to make art class fun and an opportunity for my students to express themselves. There is no right or wrong (per say) in art. If the student tries their best, they succeed. But, they do need to stay within the parameters of the lesson. I provide many opportunities to freelance and develop a work of art in each student’s own image. But, I also need the students to work with certain mediums, or styles of art. If we are performing “Pop Art – In the Style of Andy Warhol” and the student heads off on a tangent, making an Impressionistic, Monet style Walking Bridge, we might have a problem. It is my job to be as creative as possible, then to teach the students to follow that creativity. It helps them to become artists. Eventually they might be better able to provide an answer to the question of how they see their final compositions before they get there.