It’s All Coming To An End…
The Fall Semester of 2011 is almost over. I have no more class meetings and to jump the gun and not put off grading my student portfolios, I decided to go through what was turned in this morning.
It’s pretty amazing to see how confident my students have become since the first drawing session in Heuser Gallery, where we sprawled over the floor and drew the sculptures of Prestion Jackson.
The majority of them began as “I can’t draw or make art and I’m scared to make a mark” to “You want me to inventory the hues in this advertisement? Sure thing. You want me to mix those colors with my limited watercolor palette? Sure thing. Now you want me to take this color inventory and apply it to my own design? OK, sure thing.”
It’s pretty incredible watching them leave the course far more coordinated and critically thinking about art they see (even if they don’t realize it). They are willing to talk about art. They stumble with terms, but they still engage me in crititques of the work they see. Pretty amazing.
I can’t lie, there is a bit of sadness each time a course I teach comes to an end, but I can’t deny the happiness I feel when they leave far more confident in their individual skill level.
Several students going out of their way to tell me they added an art minor and/or registered for a painting or ceramic class next semester doesn’t hurt one bit too. Just sayin.