The Stuff I Didn’t Learn In University

In 2008, when I first started Dirty Footprints Studio, I was working as a full time art teacher in a public school and I would receive a lot of emails from women looking for clarity if they should become an art teacher or not.  Most of these women would share with me how much they love painting or creating and how it changed their lives.

And well, I always had one little piece of advice for them that I feel is the make-it-or-break-it for any art teacher, both online or off actually.

Love your students more than you love art.

The best teachers are not the ones that will leave you with only a perfect piece of art to hang on your wall.

The truth is, nobody’s life becomes better because they can finally capture skin tones in watercolor or make a painting that everyone in their family could be proud of.

But if you leave a workshop a bit more kinder to yourself–a bit more wiser about the ways you sabotage your own inner peace–no matter how good or bad your painting turns out, you just won yourself a jackpot, baby.

The best teachers are the ones that realize art is just the head fake.  It’s the thing we use to hook our students–so they can go inward and do the housekeeping that they tend to neglect in just keeping up with their daily lives and responsibiliites.

To do this as a teacher  you don’t need to build an elaborate altar or light a bunch of cedar scented candles or plan your workshop in some exotic location.

All of that is just honey on the biscuit.

There is only one thing you need to do….love art with all your heart, but love your students more.

Than as they keep their eyes on the art making, you can guide them into their heart space by the choices you present to them and the environment you craft for their journey.

This is the difference between an art teacher and someone that uses creativity to facilitate transformation.

This is the good stuff I teach you in IGNITE–the stuff they never taught me in my years of university.

If you missed it last week, here’s the information call I did for IGNITE.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or things you’d like to discuss. If you’re ready, let’s ignite the world through creativity together!

http://www.spreecast.com/events/ignite-info-call/embed-medium