Well what can I say about Breckenridge… I love riding this mountain especially with some good friends… The snow is kind of hard to find this year, the opposite of what we had all experienced last winter. However, with one decent storm that rolled through a few days into my trip made for some well needed turns. As always my trip to Godspeed is busy with work. I had my regular’s booked for work on their in-progress pieces and a few old familiar faces getting in on this visit too. I also had the honor of being a guest in Frisco Elementary Schools 5th grade class hosted by their teacher Peder Hansen. This was my second visit to Peder’s class with this year being a new group of kids. This year we were not only focusing on the process of creating but also tattooing as a career(with parental consent).
I wanted to share this with you all because it is so rewarding to me to take a few hours out of my day and lead the class with a still life study. We discussed the definition of Art in an interactive discussion comparing all mediums to create, as well as the process of creating, from inspiration, to preparation. I was so excited that Peder had purchased sketch books for all the kids in the class so that they could all participate. We talked about lighting/contrast and perspective, as well as basic things like how to hold a pencil when sketching, with drawing practices of rendering basic forms. I also mentioned to them how important a creative space is, how to go about making their work space creative, inspiring and free of distractions. We also worked with drawing from memory, using a few seconds of visually studying the still life then drawing it blindly. Second drawing study we focused on lighting and contrast, turning off the over head lights and using my prop lighting, taking into consideration of what is highlighted by the light and what is in the shadows. Pulling all things we talked about together for a final ‘masterpiece’.
They had such neat questions and answers when it came to talking about the difference between tattooing and painting. Now I know why they have a show titled “Are You Smarter Then A 5th Grader”! I was excited to hear that the parents were open minded to the topic’s that we were covering that day in class. It is a shame that schools take out music and art classes, as I grew up in a creative environment, playing the violin from the 3rd grade through college because it was available to me, making wooden stoles in wood shop class, learned how to cook and bake in home economics class, sewing class and of course my art classes where I learned my first artistic love, ceramics. From summer camps to dancing school I grew up in an artistic creative community that is few and far between these days. It is nice to hear the students do participate in some form of music and art outside of their school, some students told me they played the drums at home, guitar, or worked on the potter wheel as well as making plaster masks… It is nice to hear that the parents have taken charge in the creative world of their children to help encourage them to create aside from the daily instructed lives in schools. It was an honor to be apart of Peder Hansen’s class, I hope that I made an impact on at least one student, inspiring them to use the tools we discussed and remember the day that I taught them to use their creative outlets, to remind themselves to never worry about what others think because Art is a freedom of expression and an act of creating should never be judged.
Stay tuned for next months trip to Whistler BC!! Should be a great snowboarding trip and I am tattooing as well, my first visit to Canada!