Musings on teaching

Musings on teaching….

I have written a lot about my art and my life connected to art, but what I haven’t yet talked about on this blog, is  a very important piece  of my artistic career- Teaching!

There is that saying by George Bernard Shaw which people always joke about "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches." As I sat down to write these musings, that quote popped into my head, and I was thinking of its validation. I think that there are plenty of people that excel in what they "do" but cannot teach it to others. And there are those who teach, not because they "cannot" but maybe for more practical reasons like…making money! There are many successful artists who still need to teach to make enough money to live. It is actually very practical. You love something; you are good at it; why not try and pass that on to others! Inspire! That’s what good teaching is all about, right? Inspiring.

I think that I "do" and I "teach" from my passion to "do".  Does that make sense?

I love to teach. I went back to school later on in life. It took me awhile to reconnect with myself and discover what I wanted to do. But when I went back to school, it wasn’t just to do and learn art, but specifically to learn how to teach art to others. The biggest part of my education was reconnecting with myself as an artist. I became passionate about art again. When I teach, I feel my job is to inspire others with my passion for art and what I "do". If I didn’t "do" it, I don’t think I could teach it.