When my kids were growing up I subbed at their school along with a lot of volunteer hours there. I learned that I am not really fond of subbing. I got to where the kids knew me well. They understood that I meant business, but I am just not a fan of subbing. Consequently, I thought that I didn’t enjoy teaching.

I also taught piano lessons for quite a few years. This was alright, and it was fun to watch kids progress, at least the ones who wanted to be there. If they didn’t want to be there then it was a pain for me and for them.

When I became somewhat well established in my artwork I started to have people ask if I was going to start teaching watercolor classes. At first I really hesitated as I didn’t really want to teach. But, a friend of mine asked if I would be willing to teach at a summer camp for a day. I agreed. While it did seem a bit like babysitting because of the age group, it was fun to share watercolor with the middle school aged kids.

I decided to try a class. A one day, 3 hour class. I decided to limit it to adults as I didn’t want my own class to be a babysitting service. People came. I was prepared how I wanted to be, and people came. We had a great time, everyone said they loved the class, and I decided maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. I even had a younger girl, I think she was 9 or 10, who came with her mom and did a great job.

Monday I just finished teaching my second 6-week beginner friendly watercolor class. I had a great group of students, including one 11 year old who came with his mom as part of a home school option. We had a lot of fun! I have also discovered I enjoy teaching most ages, as long as they’re there because they want to be, not because they were told to come. Then they want to learn.

I now have another class set up, this will be a shorter, 6 hour class spread over 2 days. When I began learning to watercolor, I began with flowers. I have loved painting flowers ever since and decided to share that love in this class. It’s a floral painting class and I have several signed up already.

I really do love to watch people progress and grow, and I have progressed as an artist as I’ve thought of how to present what I know with them. I love seeing the creative side of people as well. Even though I am teaching the same exact thing, with the same exact colors, every finished piece of art is different. It’s fun to see the world through other people’s eyes.

If you’re local and want to take my floral class, the link is on my home page. The pictures throughout this email were done by my students. I forgot to get a picture of one of the pieces, and we were missing a student for the last week due to a family emergency.

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