TEACHING PHILOSPHY:
Visual art is a language and like any other field of study one must understand the fundamental structure
before moving to complex comprehension and fluid communication. Literacy begins in drawing with direct,
objective observation, often referred to as “seeing”. It holds the utmost importance technically and
metaphorically. It is the initial platform that I use in introductory courses to launch formal elements of art
and design. Students can understand proportion, line, composition, gesture, shape, light, perspective, space,
movement, color, craft and content purely through objective observation.
Drawing is a cognitive process, not a talent or a gift. It is learned through the process of practice. Drawing is
the translation of one kind of information, one set of sensory perceptions, one specific language, into
another. This translation of information is what instigates creativity and develops critical thinking skills. It
develops the ability to recognize the overall “big” picture as well as identify and analyze the smallest of
details. It develops the ability to assess and compare measurements and ratios accurately. It develops the
ability to detect the subtlest changes of form and have an understanding of center and grounding. It
develops the ability to comprehend multiple perspectives at the same time, such as theoretical perspective,
observed perspective and representational perspective. It also develops the most important skill that is
needed in all other areas of study. It requires the practice of presence, focus, and concentration. It is literally
a moving meditation, a form of kinetic prayer, if you will. It is a momentary return to singular focus.
For a liberal arts education, where classrooms are full of diverse backgrounds, interests, experiences and
learning styles, it is this translation process that is also the most important. It is not just the function of the
art department to produce art and artists. It is also to produce an artistic frame of mind. It is to develop a
creative way of thinking. It is to instill the value of practice, develop discipline, witness one’s own growth and
mastery over time, learn how to see objectively what is there and as a result develop a vision to create one’s
own reality.
The beginning of any creative process starts with a sketch; a re-presentation, a translation of the abstract,
conceptual into the representational. I tell my students that the communicative power of drawing is
determined by the quality of the marks used to create it. It is then that I must clarify what “quality” means. I
am not referring to the hierarchical definition, but rather the specific, descriptive use of the word. What kind
of mark? What is the meaning that it holds? Quality is created through self-awareness, intention, sensitivity,
expended energy, process, practice, success, failure, experience, focus and vision.
My in-class lectures and drawing demonstrations are often discussion oriented as students should be
encouraged to ask questions about the boundaries of technique, medium, image and intention from the very
beginning. It is okay to ask why. Why are we doing this? Why are we spending hours working on this?
Hopefully a significant part of it is because it brings joy into our lives. I come from a very technically
traditional background and as vital as I believe structure and technical skill to be, I am also an advocate of the
corresponding aspects of play and experimentation. A spirit of adventure and fun is of equal value, and
frankly more engaging and capable of captivating the student’s attention. The practice of experimentation
should become a consistent partner to technical virtuosity for advanced students as they learn how to
interrogate their own process. I encourage students to be ambitious and prolific. I instill the idea, from the
very beginning, that art work is important, but not precious. You always get another chance to try again. It’s
all just practice. If you mess it up, excellent! Now you get to learn how to fix it. Refocus on the solution.
As the technical foundation is being built it, I find it helpful to integrate contemporary and art historical works
and readings into class discussions. It is a reinforcement of the importance of the mastery of technical skills,
understanding symbolic imagery and integrating meaning throughout art history. As students move forward
into advanced cognitive courses, the conversation should dive into a deeper, more complex semiotic
dissection. This visual deconstruction is inserted into class demonstrations, assignments and critique to
increase awareness of how the detail of visual information can be processed historically, psychologically,
culturally or philosophically. The reiteration of visual rhetoric, through bite size pieces, helps illustrate how
ideas and imagery connect.
Group critique is a consistent, essential, and dare I say, one of my favorite parts of the classroom experience.
It can be difficult and exhilarating. It can create a sense of community through dialogue and provides a safe
place to practice professional discourse. On any level of study, it grants the instructor more opportunity to
reinforce objective inquiry, reference related contemporary and art historical examples, point out successful
and unsuccessful technical execution and offer a reading of content. Critique lets the student know better
than any other method how well they are executing technique and ideas. It allows the students to exercise
their endurance for listening, in general, but specifically to relevant suggestions, from myself and fellow
classmates. It is a chance for students to deal with possible contrasting points of view, but it also gives them
the opportunity to speak about their work. Oral presentation develops formal, theoretical, psychological and
conceptual vocabulary. It is the precursor to writing well. It is my opinion that all students, should learn how
to write well. It is an essential life skill. This absorption of conversation during critique aids in language
development; a necessary growth component of articulation and sophistication within writing skills.
As the instructor, one of my primary objectives in advanced classes is to listen to the students. It is not my
role to come up with solutions for the student, but instead to listen and ask enough questions, until it
becomes clear what the specifics of the content focus is. Hopefully then the student learns to apply that kind
of listening to their own internal dialogue. External research and the student’s search through this internal
dialogue should be simultaneous. Techniques such as brainstorming, threading and other processes of
radiant thinking, can generate ideas that are authentic to their experiences and interests, which are essential
sources of self-motivation. Studio and Thesis courses should encourage students to remain open minded:
embrace chance and change, take purposeful risks, problem solve, research, and develop a layered, authentic
presence within an overall body of work.
As a teacher and a perpetual student, one of the most significant things I have learned is that I cannot
“teach” anyone, anything. Words don’t teach. Experience does. I can offer them information, to the very
best of my ability. It is then up to the student to choose to learn it, often on their own timeline, and not
mine. Every student comes with a different amount of experience and their work is in a state of constant
evolution, from the moment I meet them. I am a co-creator. It is my job to show them the path and then it
is their job to walk it. I do not believe in power over, rather, empowerment. Therefore, my most effective
contribution is sincere enthusiasm. Throughout my decade of instruction, it has been my experience that
learning often happens within unexpected moments of genuine connection. Connection often happens
through earnest, authentic communication. I want to feel alive in the classroom because it makes me the
most effective teacher I can be, but also because this is my life too. I share my thoughts and reflections. I
expect and request mutual respect and safety. I am brutally honest. I let loose my sense of humor. I show
my own work. I draw with the students. I share my accomplishments and I reflect on my failures. I am not
afraid of my imperfections. I allow myself to be vulnerable. I let my students into my heart. I tell them how I
feel. I listen to how they feel. I allow myself to just…be…me. It is my hope that the students feel free to do
the same.
Visual art is a language and like any other field of study one must understand the fundamental structure
before moving to complex comprehension and fluid communication. Literacy begins in drawing with direct,
objective observation, often referred to as “seeing”. It holds the utmost importance technically and
metaphorically. It is the initial platform that I use in introductory courses to launch formal elements of art
and design. Students can understand proportion, line, composition, gesture, shape, light, perspective, space,
movement, color, craft and content purely through objective observation.
Drawing is a cognitive process, not a talent or a gift. It is learned through the process of practice. Drawing is
the translation of one kind of information, one set of sensory perceptions, one specific language, into
another. This translation of information is what instigates creativity and develops critical thinking skills. It
develops the ability to recognize the overall “big” picture as well as identify and analyze the smallest of
details. It develops the ability to assess and compare measurements and ratios accurately. It develops the
ability to detect the subtlest changes of form and have an understanding of center and grounding. It
develops the ability to comprehend multiple perspectives at the same time, such as theoretical perspective,
observed perspective and representational perspective. It also develops the most important skill that is
needed in all other areas of study. It requires the practice of presence, focus, and concentration. It is literally
a moving meditation, a form of kinetic prayer, if you will. It is a momentary return to singular focus.
For a liberal arts education, where classrooms are full of diverse backgrounds, interests, experiences and
learning styles, it is this translation process that is also the most important. It is not just the function of the
art department to produce art and artists. It is also to produce an artistic frame of mind. It is to develop a
creative way of thinking. It is to instill the value of practice, develop discipline, witness one’s own growth and
mastery over time, learn how to see objectively what is there and as a result develop a vision to create one’s
own reality.
The beginning of any creative process starts with a sketch; a re-presentation, a translation of the abstract,
conceptual into the representational. I tell my students that the communicative power of drawing is
determined by the quality of the marks used to create it. It is then that I must clarify what “quality” means. I
am not referring to the hierarchical definition, but rather the specific, descriptive use of the word. What kind
of mark? What is the meaning that it holds? Quality is created through self-awareness, intention, sensitivity,
expended energy, process, practice, success, failure, experience, focus and vision.
My in-class lectures and drawing demonstrations are often discussion oriented as students should be
encouraged to ask questions about the boundaries of technique, medium, image and intention from the very
beginning. It is okay to ask why. Why are we doing this? Why are we spending hours working on this?
Hopefully a significant part of it is because it brings joy into our lives. I come from a very technically
traditional background and as vital as I believe structure and technical skill to be, I am also an advocate of the
corresponding aspects of play and experimentation. A spirit of adventure and fun is of equal value, and
frankly more engaging and capable of captivating the student’s attention. The practice of experimentation
should become a consistent partner to technical virtuosity for advanced students as they learn how to
interrogate their own process. I encourage students to be ambitious and prolific. I instill the idea, from the
very beginning, that art work is important, but not precious. You always get another chance to try again. It’s
all just practice. If you mess it up, excellent! Now you get to learn how to fix it. Refocus on the solution.
As the technical foundation is being built it, I find it helpful to integrate contemporary and art historical works
and readings into class discussions. It is a reinforcement of the importance of the mastery of technical skills,
understanding symbolic imagery and integrating meaning throughout art history. As students move forward
into advanced cognitive courses, the conversation should dive into a deeper, more complex semiotic
dissection. This visual deconstruction is inserted into class demonstrations, assignments and critique to
increase awareness of how the detail of visual information can be processed historically, psychologically,
culturally or philosophically. The reiteration of visual rhetoric, through bite size pieces, helps illustrate how
ideas and imagery connect.
Group critique is a consistent, essential, and dare I say, one of my favorite parts of the classroom experience.
It can be difficult and exhilarating. It can create a sense of community through dialogue and provides a safe
place to practice professional discourse. On any level of study, it grants the instructor more opportunity to
reinforce objective inquiry, reference related contemporary and art historical examples, point out successful
and unsuccessful technical execution and offer a reading of content. Critique lets the student know better
than any other method how well they are executing technique and ideas. It allows the students to exercise
their endurance for listening, in general, but specifically to relevant suggestions, from myself and fellow
classmates. It is a chance for students to deal with possible contrasting points of view, but it also gives them
the opportunity to speak about their work. Oral presentation develops formal, theoretical, psychological and
conceptual vocabulary. It is the precursor to writing well. It is my opinion that all students, should learn how
to write well. It is an essential life skill. This absorption of conversation during critique aids in language
development; a necessary growth component of articulation and sophistication within writing skills.
As the instructor, one of my primary objectives in advanced classes is to listen to the students. It is not my
role to come up with solutions for the student, but instead to listen and ask enough questions, until it
becomes clear what the specifics of the content focus is. Hopefully then the student learns to apply that kind
of listening to their own internal dialogue. External research and the student’s search through this internal
dialogue should be simultaneous. Techniques such as brainstorming, threading and other processes of
radiant thinking, can generate ideas that are authentic to their experiences and interests, which are essential
sources of self-motivation. Studio and Thesis courses should encourage students to remain open minded:
embrace chance and change, take purposeful risks, problem solve, research, and develop a layered, authentic
presence within an overall body of work.
As a teacher and a perpetual student, one of the most significant things I have learned is that I cannot
“teach” anyone, anything. Words don’t teach. Experience does. I can offer them information, to the very
best of my ability. It is then up to the student to choose to learn it, often on their own timeline, and not
mine. Every student comes with a different amount of experience and their work is in a state of constant
evolution, from the moment I meet them. I am a co-creator. It is my job to show them the path and then it
is their job to walk it. I do not believe in power over, rather, empowerment. Therefore, my most effective
contribution is sincere enthusiasm. Throughout my decade of instruction, it has been my experience that
learning often happens within unexpected moments of genuine connection. Connection often happens
through earnest, authentic communication. I want to feel alive in the classroom because it makes me the
most effective teacher I can be, but also because this is my life too. I share my thoughts and reflections. I
expect and request mutual respect and safety. I am brutally honest. I let loose my sense of humor. I show
my own work. I draw with the students. I share my accomplishments and I reflect on my failures. I am not
afraid of my imperfections. I allow myself to be vulnerable. I let my students into my heart. I tell them how I
feel. I listen to how they feel. I allow myself to just…be…me. It is my hope that the students feel free to do
the same.
