A couple years ago, I was at an art teacher conference and the amazing #CassieStephens was the keynote. She spoke about how when your personal art endeavors align with your art teaching projects, it's magical...and I knew she was right. I had been creating abstract paintings incorprating text, while simultaneously teaching my 5th graders about color theory, composition, and so much more through an "I am..." project. The heart of the project is that they chose a number of positive character traits to highlight in their abstract text-based painting. And, really, the fact that I was doing something similar in my personal work made me feel more exuberant, my teaching more engaging, and my students, more receptive and excited about it.
Fast forward to yesterday. I got an email from one of my favorite art supply companies, #RFpaints (from Kingston, NY... whoop-whoop, Hudson Valley friends!) showing their new tinted oil sticks, and that's when it hit me again. I had been re-introducing myself to this wonderfully fun,silky-smooth art medium -- blending, creating tints, and experimenting -- for the past couple of weeks. At the same time, I was working on my #FallWritingFrenzy submission which somehow inspired me to incorporate the mixing of tints into my story. And then -- my day job -- teaching elementary art. Currently, I'm teaching my mini-artists about adding white to create new tints of a color, and working towards creating collaborative "wings to fly" based on our hopes, dreams, and goals for the year.
So... yes. When I can find a way (or a way finds its way to me) to merge my creative interests, it's magical.
When have you found a magical, unexpected melding of interests in different parts of your life?
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