--That sounded really strange ...Didn't it!?
--Here comes the explaination...
Have I ever mentioned how blessed I feel?
My students amaze me on a daily basis.
Good days, those deemed bad or just "off" or on outrageous days where nothing seems to go my way.
There are moments...
whether big or small that astound me.
--That WOW me.
--Whether one of "my kids" (because while they are my students that's what they are) emerge from the dark room with their first fine print or have found that after three, maybe, four times of shooting images and trying to process their film... in the frustratingly, mathematical method that they have to learn has "Gotten it!"
...OR, even better...
They begin to learn and use the "photo speak" that I constantly throw at them.
Things like "stop up", "stop down and use one less second", "it's muddy" or "did you skimp on fixer?" are finally spoken by people in the room THAT ARE NOT ME!
I secretly and sometimes publicly laugh and smile at these sayings being tossed about. It's awesome!!
... and funny when they begin to sound like me and realize it!
I use the word LUCKY a lot.
...forget it.
I am blessed.
On the most tired mornings...the ones where I hit snooze five or six times and drag my butt to the shower and then into the kitchen I am "peppy"- damn it!
I smile when entering the school parking lot.
As dorky as it sounds...
I have no reason the be anything but happy, even on the darkest of days.
I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON...BUT I'M GREAT AT FAKING IT!
I do this for my own kids and I do this again for "my kids" in the high school.
I want them to love art as much as I do.
My career path is not based on luck or chance.
It was a decision made when I was seven.
I knew at an early age that I wanted to be a teacher, specifically an art teacher.
(My Gracie, is very much the same way.)
This is not luck.
This was predestined.
Pre ordained by someone or something out there...
It was meant to be.
"Art Teacher" is who I am. It's not just a career. It's a lifestyle and in a weird way, part of my personality.
You could say that it's in my blood.
I have been told, by many, that I was an "odd" kid. Parents of childhood friends have actually complimented me on the adult that I have become and the parent that I am in the strangest of ways.
A child hood's friend's parent said --- " I have to admit it kid...We were worried about you when you were a teenager. You were strange one! It's good to see how you've grown up and changed."
STRANGE...AREN"T WE ALL STRANGE?
CHANGED!?
ME?!
NAAAHHHH!?
I could have been uber snotty... but it would have been disrespectful.
I'm not that type of gal.
I said," Oh...(pause...due to shock!) Really. I hadn't noticed." (and smiled)
I adored sitting alone and drawing quietly for hours, PBS, musicals, black and white movies, singing, dancing, and wearing what ever I wanted...even if that meant four different patterns at the same time. Ginger Rogers and Blondie were both my idols...Try and figure that one out!
"Yeah Mom, pink and black stripes go well with red roses on blue jeans and purple leg warmers!"
I've looked back on old photos and asked..."Mom, how could you let me walk around like that?"
Her response to all of the "How could you's" over the years:
"It's what you wanted to wear." or "It made you happy."
I am thankful that my Mom raised me the way that she did.
Because of her I was a weird kid that grew into a weirder adult!! -That, to me, is the greatest compliment ever.
Thank you Mom for teaching me to be true to myself and not to compromise my beliefs.
I hope that I can do the same for my girls.
Isn't amazing how childhood "oddness" transfers into adult characteristics that are often admired?!
According to many...I am interesting, creative, artsy, spunky, cute, outgoing, adventurous, wild, energetic and strong.
Hmm...Who knew?! ...not me...not for a long time.
I appreciate the struggles of maturing young adults because I have not forgotten who I was as a kid.
I'm still pretty much the same...
The world just treats me differently.
I see my students and I sometimes catch a glimmer of my young self. It's a beautiful thing.
I have a hint of who they are and have the priviledge of teaching them about what I am passionate about.
ART ART ART HISTORYART ART ART ART ART ART ART ART ART!
I snuck a "history" in there...That happens too!
If you ever catch me complaining about my job post me an obnoxious comment.
Yell at me!
I will deserve it.
Use exclamation points (lots of them)...and shout "How dare you!!!"
I open creative doors for a living.
I help the next generation of artists explore the tools that they have at their fingertips.
...I'm also part guidance counsellor, but that's another story.
Man... I really hope that my girls will someday be described as odd and weird. It'll make me very proud!
Photos:
*Spinning Pinwheels
*Addi, Grace and Chloe...Making "Box" Art
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