Shepherd University visit

Yesterday I was invited to speak to a small group of future art educators at Shepherd University about my practice as both an art teacher and an artist. As part of the university’s 150th anniversary, professor @drmodler set up a series of talks and workshops focusing on cultivating a creative practice both in the classroom and as part of one’s daily routine. Last month he invited @briankirk5707 to present, and next month @emscottart will be visiting. At first I wasn’t sure I’d have enough to say, beyond doing a Splotch Monster-making lesson with his students, however being invited to talk about my work as both an educator and an artist forced me to really look back at some accomplishments and how I got there. I honestly hope I didn’t ramble on for too long, and it looked like his students had a lot of fun during the workshop! I’m hoping, if anything, that the main point I got across to folks was that you simply have to start somewhere, and sometimes you only have to start by making something simple. From that point, where else can you go with what you have, and how can you benefit from getting past the fear of failure and rejection, and reaching out to make connections and create collaborations with other creative types, who in turn can influence and inspire a whole new direction in your work, at work and beyond? #arteducation #shepherduniversity #artteacher #artist #artistoninstagram #art

Done