I’ve always believed that art is an excellent way to explore one’s inner self. Art taps into the innate psychological, emotional, and creative aspects of every individual. My inspiration for teaching flows directly from my personal encounters in life; I was naturally drawn to it because I learned to express my own creativity through art.

Teaching with an enthusiastic passion for imagination allows students to be spontaneously individual. The child in each of us has a story to tell, and art is a therapeutic and stimulating way to communicate that story to others. I encourage my students to freely use their personal vision to express themselves. This freedom fosters inner confidence, which will eventually overflow into everything they do.

Employing an appropriate balance of technical and intellectual methods, I first help students to develop a basic perceptual understanding of an art medium. Once they have established a firm foundation in that medium, I direct them to experiment with no limitations. As students improve their technical skills, they begin to reveal and expand their personal artistic visions. By creating a series of work that accurately conveys their thoughts and feelings, students enrich their individual interpretations. I also find that group critiques are equally important to the artistic process; artistic feedback promotes new ideas, which in turn motivate students to keep learning.

Artists are forever searching for new ways to say the same thing. My philosophy is that the more ideas one is free to explore, the more one’s true creativity will emerge. I believe that teachers should encourage students to put their whole minds and bodies into expanding their inner resources, in an effort to find a personal purpose that will improve all aspects of their lives. The growth that students achieve will enable them to look at things from all perspectives, and to therefore be as creative as possible.

My goal is to inspire all students to find and tap into their inner visionaries, no matter what their artistic abilities may be. Art isn’t taught—it is lived and practiced, and so is life!