Day 336: Mark

Apple Blackberry Pie

While they were at Ashland High School, both of my children had Mark for a class called “studio art.”  My daughter, Alexandra, came into his class as a senior and tried painting for the first time.  It was after she had had difficulties in another art class and so Alexandra was not sure how this class would go.  Soon after the class began, she was painting in oils, and her first painting was entered into a “best of the best” competition.  She was thrilled to have had that experience!

My own high school art experience was not as special.  In my only art class in high school, I came away discouraged after being told by my art teacher that my drawings were “awful.”  The only way to avoid any further embarrassment was to stay away from art… for years.  How I wish I’d had a teacher that was as encouraging as Mark!

This afternoon, I brought an Apple Blackberry Pie to Mark.  It was to thank him for giving his students a tremendous gift each and every day: the freedom to create art that they can love and be proud of.

“He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.”
― St. Francis of Assisi