For every student that demonstrated artistic potential, I would like to thank you for the virtual coinage.
My students have produced a wealth of creative answers to the problems over the years. Yet, most of those students go off in search of other goals. They never forget the energy, excitement, and (sometimes) tears these work generated, but I often wonder if the artwork they did in high school is the last they will do.
As a teacher it was never my goal to convert students into artists. My goal was always to give students the best overview of visual art possible, integrating instruction in observation, design, techniques, history, culture, and creativity. As a result, [surprising the heck out of me] some students who had no intention of doing art eventually chose it as a career path! Others, who went directly to art school, later moved on to other careers. I couldn't be happier for their choices. But my point is, their ability to experience, experiment, research, practice, and produce, whether intuitive or learned, is part of their being. All told, the students produced some pretty nice work over the years, and it is work that competes with the best in the country.
The few works I've chosen to post represent examples of strong artistic thinking- real out of the box stuff. Inventive work that doesn't look like cookie cutter art projects. They are uniquely original. These students combined compositional skills they learned, with materials and techniques experienced at other points in their education. Some skills may have been harvested from field experiences, music videos, or science class, but each put their own personal twist into the piece. Something to make theirs different from others in the class.
These particular former students have also chosen other (probably more lucrative) paths. I have a thousand similar examples.
