The 10 Best Things about Teaching an Artist

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Living with an artist makes life interesting! They approach life from a different point of view and being science people, it keeps my husband and I on our toes. I wouldn’t trade it for the world! Here are The 10 Best Things about Teaching an Artist.

Artists are Creative People

Maybe that goes without saying, but what are some benefits of knowing creative people?

• They are Makers. There is always something in progress and artists are ingenious about working with what’s available.
• Artists make beautiful things out of their imagination and experience.
• They are willing to take risks. I have a saying on the wall in of my studio, “Creativity is having the courage to make mistakes.” Truth.
• Artists love to experiment with new media. Maybe that’s part of the risk taking quality, but I love to see her try something new.

Benefits of Teaching Creative Students

Sometimes it’s difficult to teach creative souls. If you have a creative student, then you might know what I’m talking about. There are messes and lots of risk taking! There’s always something in progress and a creative person is fulfilled by creating and maybe not as much by mundane tasks like math or cleaning up rooms. But, there is a silver lining. Here are a few examples:

• They bring peace by taking the time notice the everyday- and sketch it.
• I can order up hand drawn maps for any occasion. Such as for an atlas for our Narnian Adventure co-op class we teach together.
• Our home gets filled with beautiful artwork. Right now I have a seasonal gallery of trees on canvas in our powder room. I’m only waiting on summer. Also, I commissioned Rebecca to make an Americana quilt which we had a local artist print an image of onto tile. Dan finished installing our new backsplash above the stove which turned out gorgeous. In every way.
• Learning is self-motivated and Rebecca finds ways to educate herself and try new things. Her art abilities grow as a result.
• She builds on her passion for creativity and finds new outlets all the time. Homeschooling gives her the time to experiment and pour in. The results are so satisfying.
• Rebecca finds creative ways to do work. She is often working on commissioned projects and even teaches a group of girls to sew. We are working on putting together a beginner level class. She plans and implements lessons and she’s a very patient encourager.

Resources for Teaching Creative Students

How do you nurture your creative students? Listed below are some ways we work with our creative students.

• New Art Classes– We are enrolled in Springtime Splendor by Alisha Gratehouse. We’ve been following along with her mixed media seasonal classes. This one begins Monday, April 6th. Early registration is still going on at $48. Regular price is $60. There will be 20 projects in all. Join us!
• Crafty Math– Knowing how to incorporate math into creative endeavors has gone a long way to our daughter having the endurance and knowledge to tackle her regular math studies. The power of math in creativity cannot be underestimated.
• High School Art Plans– Some of our plans for art credits
• Resources for High School Art– Rebecca is a high school freshman and will have 4 credits of art in addition to her sewing and design credits for high school.
• Sewing & Design– A look at Rebecca’s projects. This is an ongoing page so it isn’t complete as is.

It’s challenging to mentor an artist, but it’s also very rewarding. What are your favorite things about teaching and artist?

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