'"Knight" at the Museum' with My Students

Something miraculous happened towards the end of teaching my art history class at Nossi College of Art last Spring. My students enjoyed it so much that a number of them requested I start an Art History club - can you believe that?! My heart was literally bursting!!

I told my students we’d chat once we came back together in the fall. When we spoke again I let them know I looked into how to set a club up and after giving it some thought I concluded that I really didn’t want to deal with all the ‘bureaucracy’ of starting an official club, such as electing officials, having regularly scheduled meetings, working out a budget, etc.

Instead I suggested that we just keep an eye on the local art museums and all attend some art happenings together. My students are all 18+ and most live independently so no need to make the outings into formal events, we can just check out whatever fun artsy thing is around town as as group!

The first one we’ve gone to was the Frist Museum for a ‘Knight in Shining Armor’ exhibit featuring actual body armor from Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries. Thursday evenings at the Frist are free with student IDs so the place was quite bustling. I loved being able to show my students what a hip place the art museum is to visit!

It’s interesting to learn about jousting as more of a regulated sport than a way to actually do battle. Maneuvering in the metal armor took a small team of people to assist the knight since it was so cumbersome and prohibitive to vision.

Of course the horses needed protection too! And how much do you love those pantaloons?!

Downstairs there was also a Japanese robe exhibition showing the fine weaving details that go into ceremonial garments. I think some of them went with full kimono ensemble, but others were just worn on their own.

The intricacies of the cloth were pretty mind blowing and supremely detailed. I can’t imagine ever wearing such delicate clothing. I would feel like a bull in china shop!

And look at my art history students go! One wore a classically inspired jacket and another gave us a little lesson on Empress Xi!

I managed to get one great pic with almost all the kiddos that came. I couldn’t believe what a great turnout it was - I would say about a dozen. Can’t wait for the next artsy outing!

12.10.2022

Drawing From My First Pregnant Model

What a treat beyond treats to be able to draw the female form during one of its most glorious and transformative times!

Our lovely model-with-child Luna actually came in for three of my anatomy classes and I was sure to let my students know what a special, possibly once in a lifetime, opportunity this was. We all really enjoyed creating beautiful, soft, curvilinear works on those days.

This first one was when Luna was five months pregnant…

And these other three were when she was fully seven months along - wow!

I wish we could have Luna and her tiny miracle back again, but alas she has moved out of the state. I feel so fortunate to have had her come in and I really hope I am afforded such a special opportunity again one day!

Here are a few of my students’ drawings too. Some of these are from folks who have only had a few weeks of figure drawing practice.. aren’t they so skilled?!??

10.15.2022

Making Sketchbooks with My Students

You’ve probably noticed the recent posts about my latest handmade sketchbook release (thank you to those who ordered one!) both here and on my IG.

Last semester a few of my students commented on how much they liked the toned paper in my sketchbooks during our figure drawing sessions. So much so that when I told them I made the books myself, their eyes got wide and they asked if there was any way I could teach them.

Since I was getting low on pages in my sketchbook, I figured why not invite them to join me while I was crafting the next release so we decided to have a sketchbook making workshop here at Nossi.

I gathered most of the supplies they needed, which was made up of cloth and cardboard for the covers as well as box cutters and scissors etc. but I had the students bring in their own art paper so they could fill their sketchbooks with the exact paper they loved the most.

The workshop was quite a hit too! We had about ten students show up and they really impressed themselves and me with how beautifully and sturdy their sketchbooks turned out!

So if you ordered a sketchbook, keep an eye on your mailbox because they are all finished and have gone out in the mail already. Pretty please send in or tag me on Instagram in pics of your wonderful artwork in the sketchbook! I would love to see it!

6.1.2022

Drawing Hands in Anatomy Class

This semester at Nossi my dreams have come true and I’m actually teaching anatomy and figure drawing! To college level students!! I feel so accomplished :)

…not to even mention that because our class is so small, I actually have time to draw from the life model as well!! Score!

As we started out the semester we discussed proportions of the face, body, and (my all-time fave) the hand. Last week I had my students practice drawing hands from images as well as their own from life, and they did such a phenomenal job I can’t help but share a few of the best.

These ones are examples of master copies from their homework practice from the traditional Bargue Drawing Course, which has been used for anatomy practice since the late 19th century.

By the end of the semester they will have done about a quarter of the book, which is such a great way to start mentally working out shapes and shadows on 3D forms. And so beautiful to boot!

How are you at drawing hands?

Maybe could use a little more instruction..?

Don’t forget I released this extensive ‘How to Draw Hands’ workshop which you can attend on Skillshare or download from my website to learn all the skills I’ve been sharing with my class. It’s perfect for beginner to intermediate artists who really want to tackle and succeed in rendering the most difficult subject out there - hands - which will make everything else you ever try to draw less daunting in comparison (I promise!). You even have the option of getting personal feedback from me along the way.

Here are a few of the hand drawings we recreate together during the workshop, from simple cylinder shapes all the way to fully fleshed out renderings.

Now it’s your turn!

2.9.2022

My Students' Amazing Scenic Artwork

“Wow wow wow!” is what my students kept hearing me say all semester long. I’m literally so impressed with how skilled these kiddos are!!

Over the summer I’ve been teaching two classes at Nossi called Illustration Materials & Techniques 310, which is a bit of a broad term, but basically it’s an advanced class that teaches how to create enriched background settings. Think the ocean background of ‘Finding Nemo’ or the Wild West cowboy desert scenery in ‘Rango’ or ‘Fievel Goes West’.

It’s a great concept for a class considering how often our art focuses heavily on the foreground objects or characters and the background is simply put in as an afterthought. In this class, students must put forth all their effort in creating a consistent and believable setting atmosphere with no characters at all.

Some of their projects are done digitally and some are created with traditional materials like gouache, acrylic, or even marker and pen. Their final projects all had to be done both ways which made for some great compare-and-contrast class conversations. (The two below are done digitally in the top and with watercolor and marker on the bottom)

I just can’t get over how creative these kids are! Like when the assignment was to create a ‘Celestial’ setting, they’re coming up with spaceships and interstellar Victrola sessions. Just wow!

Some of these scenes really had such a mood! Like this one of the last tree in the universe or a tropical island formed from a shipwreck… I mean those details are incredible!

Two of my favorite aspects of this class though were the brainstorming sessions and the critiques where everyone got to discuss what they liked or struggled with in each assignment, and which materials they liked best. I just love having such small class sizes so we really can have spontaneous and enlightening class conversations. I hope I get to teach this class again in the future!

8.12.2021

First Semester Success Teaching at Nossi!

Squeeee my first teacher gift as an instructor at Nossi College of Art here in Nashville, Tennessee! We discussed the Fibonacci Sequence in my Design Composition class and one of my students told me she could not resist getting it for me when she saw it at a shop - how sweet!!

As the semester drew to a close, it was so meaningful to have a few students tell me I was their favorite teacher and that they wished they were taking more classes from me. (Literally bursting!) Having this dream come true of teaching higher education and getting such a meaningful response from students, has been surreal.

Such stunning talent!

One student especially told me that my art history class made history more understandable and exciting than any history class she’s ever taken. She told me she normally struggled with it but learning history through art, (which is personally my favorite way to do so!) helped bring alive the stories and events better than she had in any previous class. I can’t think of a more incredible ‘thank you’ at the end of the semester than hearing that as she gave me a shy hug after the final exam.

Swipe to see a few positively amazing paintings done by my Color Theory students. I seriously cannot believe some of these kids were in high school only a year ago!

I also organized my first class field trip to the Nashville Parthenon which was a big hit! I’ll definitely be back with more students in the future, what a fantastic local resource!

Sending a big ‘Thank You!’ to Nossi for allowing me this inspiring and enlightening opportunity to join this happy community of super knowledgeable teachers and incredibly enthusiastic students!Yay!

Yep, even teachers feel relief on the last day of class - ha!

4.22.2021

Teaching Workshops in China + India!

As you’ve probably noticed lately I’ve begun producing more in-depth workshops both here and on Skillshare that expand on the knowledge I teach on YouTube. They are a lot of work, but worth it in the end, since quality digital courses can be sold for years to come.

Well the exciting thing is, not only is my specific audience paying attention to my workshops, but I have also been tapped by two different international online teaching platforms to offer my workshops across the globe!

Wow! What an honor!

This first online classroom website is called No Schools Life and it’s basically the equivalent to Skillshare, but for a Chinese audience. I upload my workshops to their platform, they translate them into Chinese, and then we split the sales - easy peasy!

Check out your Birdie’s ‘About Me’ info in Chinese!

There’s another one based in India that tapped me too! This platform is a mobile app named Graphy where all the classes are taught in a vertical orientation for learning on the go.

It’s definitely been a little extra work having to reformat or shoot specifically for the vertical screen, but it’s an ever expanding audience that I’m so excited to be in front of.

You can find Graphy in the App store and check it out. It’s actually a really new platform, but it’s under the parent company of India’s biggest online learning platform so they already have a massive audience to market to.

Here’s a few random shots. It’s great idea for a way to learn though as it’s specifically meant to be viewed on a smartphone, with the idea that any idle moments during the day can be maximized by learning. A view I can definitely get behind!

10.8.2020

My First Artist Residency!

Aaaah! I’m living in an art gallery for the next 7 weeks!! How amazing is that?!?!!

I recently got accepted to do an artist residency program here at the Highlands Art League in Central Florida. They’ve put me up in my own quirky yet spacious 100 year-old house right on a lake with the front rooms being used as a community art gallery and the back space being used for a sitting room, studio, bedroom, and even a kitchen for visiting artists (ie me!)

It’s a really incredible program; basically I get my rent etc. taken care of in exchange for doing 20 hours a week of artistic community out reach, either within their museum, local public schools, or with some of the senior citizens that are members. They also said they loved my YouTube videos and would like me to use some of my time to make promotional videos for them.

I am literally paying my rent through art!

I’m beside myself with excitement and I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for this opportunity. Can’t wait to help out and teach and learn and get to know the other artsy folks in town!

If you’d like even more details + pics from my first few days here, jump on my Birds of a Feather newsletter where I share the more personal side of my experiences as an artist, plus all my biggest news first. I just sent one out yesterday about Highlands so pop on my list and I’ll resend it to you too:)

And Happy New Year to all my readers! I hope you find so much success and happiness in 2020!

1.1.2020