I've wanted to be a teacher since elementary school; I loved the idea of standing in front of a classroom and writing on the blackboard (yes, they were all black back in the day), the smell of newly sharpened pencils, crisp new notebooks, and one of my favorite classes every year was art (of course). And although I did not choose to become a traditional classroom teacher, I now teach art to children and to people with disabilities.

My students have ranged in age from 18-months to 102 years old, and I enjoy the challenge of presenting projects which are fun, colorful, and appropriate for each audience. I have learned as much if not more than what I've taught, and my students are a constant source of amazement. And yes, I do believe teaching is a superpower: from the 3-year old who went from saying "I can't!" to "I did it!", to the 10-year old who figured out how to take "junk" to make something "cool", to the 40-something woman who began by declaring "I'm not artistic" to exclaiming "Wow, I didn't know I could do that!", to the non verbal man with autism who won an art contest with a project we created, to the 100-year old who said she remembered how much she loved coloring when she was a child as she proudly showed off her painted paper seascape, teaching is indeed a joy for me.
I'm looking forward to more joy and more amazement when teaching my "Mindful Mandalas" printing technique during our upcoming Pop-Up Art Event on April 7th, and to having a full day to teach multiple mixed media techniques during my retreat Studio Session at Haw River State Park in October. There'll be more Studio Session details coming soon, so stay tuned!

Wishing you joy and amazement in your life,

~MDP