It has been a little while since I have been teaching art. In the past I’ve taught at a few art museums in Wasington state, and later on, I started teaching kids on my own, while we lived in New Jersey.
Now being back home, I was given the chance to teach an art course at Rom Skole, an old elementary school, now changed into a work and school center for mentally challenged and/or disabled adults of all ages. From the moment I stepped foot in the building, I liked the atmosphere. The rooms were light and open, and the communication very friendly. One of those places you just enjoy being at.
During a few initial meetings, we decided that my project should be inspired from some of the work I do myself, and the pet portraits seemed like a good and logical choice. I went home to prepare the course, the project. My first day was actually my birthday, and we got off to a very good start. The project as a whole, took a month, working only two days pr. week.
I truly enjoyed every day there. I taught a small group of only eight students. Everybody worked well, and were really helpful and courteous. It was a real joy. I also sensed that they were quite proud of their work, which made me vary happy, and I had no doubt we’d chosen the right subject matter. We started out with dogs, cats and horses, and as we had a few canvases left over, and extra time, we widen the animal subject span, and were suddenly painting zebras, parrots and monkeys.
Here’s the collection of the final pieces, as well as a few “work in progress” photos:
