TEACHING Philosophy

The process of creating art and design in the digital age is an exciting, challenging and also frustrating experience. This is due to the subjective nature of art and the many requirements of hardware, software and the accompanying knowledge base needed to master the tools of the digital era.

I feel very fortunate to have grown through an era of learning the traditional tools, materials and techniques. Many of these traditional tools now form the basis for most of the tools and concepts found in various digital design software programs. Keeping pace with this ever changing technology and the opportunity to share the insight I have gained from years studying both digital and traditional design and fine art tools, techniques and concepts are what make teaching art such a pleasure for me.

My teaching goal is to develop mature design professionals that function as creative and skilled artists and technicians in a highly competitive, computer literate economy. I approach this goal using learner-centered, content-centered methodologies, systematically presenting the history, theory, tools, techniques and concepts needed to challenge young artistic minds to grow aesthetically, technically and professionally.

In the classroom I attempt to create an atmosphere of intellectual investigation using a variety of approaches where collaboration, risk–taking, peer–to–peer learning, questioning assumptions and discussion of design development are promoted rather than extended lecture time. I strive to build a dynamic environment of interaction and hands–on activity to encourage students in the process of design.

The most significant learning can happen during the various stages of ideation and analyzation, through the exploration of the design process, rather than being overly concerned with final results. When successful, this approach can create a more relaxed environment thereby giving the student the courage and confidence to push him or herself to raise the bar of their own artistic growth. In my own artistic development the processes of making art has always been as gratifying as the outcomes, sometimes more!

When the student is able to overcome the challenges of learning the new tools he or she is freed to experiment and find their own voice in the creation of digital design. My gratification comes in watching the student break down barriers to learning through the insight they have gained in my classroom.

Each learner comes to an understanding of the classroom material in a variety of different ways: auditory, visual, kinesthetic and others. To properly address these different learning styles, I build in different methodologies in my classroom sessions. History, theory, concepts and techniques vary from short lectures to projection of visual material, both static and interactive, audio and/or visual CD’s and DVD materials, use of hands–on digital and traditional tools, field trips, guest artist/designers, unplanned drawing sessions and quick design solution activities as teams, group work, research and other collaborative activities.