I indulged myself this past week by making my Early Childhood classes through first grade paint chickens and baby birds- some of my favorite subject matter.

I realize when I am calm and approach the children with the attitude "I am here to serve you" things have gone great. This past week I made it a point to try and look each child I talked to directly in the eye and see them as an individual person. For the most part they still inhabit that magical realm you get to live in until you are about nine. It is a gift to be reminded that there is still magic in the world... Like the magic of crayons and watercolor paint...

These chickens are somewhere over the rainbow. One chicken is even carrying her chicks on her back!

Primary Color Baby Chicks

This week I started a five week odyssey as an elementary school art teacher, well, the long-term substitute anyway. Our regular art teacher is on maternity leave and she left some pretty big shoes to fill.

Its been a fun week with only a few incidents...

One awesome thing about kids and art: the younger they are the more creatively free they are. Children are so bold, decisive and liberal about their colors and their compositions. Kiddos are all about the process and what looks and feels good in the moment.

Unfortunately, I can see a lot of the older kids (4th and 5th graders) are starting to care more about their final product and less about the process.

When their final product does not exactly match the picture in their mind, some of them get upset, melt down and give up.

A lesson learned for everyone (especially aspiring artists) *Don't skip ahead and fixate on the final product. Respect the process - focus on the process - enjoy the process! *Applies to all activities.

Living in the moment, minute by minute, that's how I'll make it through the rest of the year. Trying to appreciate each kid and where they are in each moment.

Week one? So far so good!

p.s. I get it Mom, a full week of teaching art doesn't leave a lot of energy for personal art.

Petunia the duck, thank you #deepspacesparkle #petunia

Baby Birds & Chickens, my favorite!

My New Adventure