Meet the Teachers

Art and music have always been my oxygen. They sustain me, stimulate my imagination, and give me great fulfillment and personal satisfaction. Studying art and art history at a very intense, demanding, and exciting art institute allowed me to sharpen my skills and deepen my commitment to a wide array of creative pursuits. My twenty years at Palmer Trinity have given me countless opportunities to share my passion and expertise with young budding artists. I see myself as a link in a noble, lustrous chain of teachers and students, learning from, guiding, and challenging each other. In my one-on-one interactions with students at the potter’s wheel or in the woodworking shop, we are co-creators, marveling over the endless field of creative possibilities that lie before us. When I sense the special spark of excitement or hear the proverbial “Aha” from a student, I know that the magic has worked and that the life-affirming spirit of creativity has been shared. That’s what I live for. My high school teachers and college professors gave me countless precious gifts. Now, I have the deep privilege of sharing them with our students. This, my daily work, is my greatest pleasure.

I’ve always believed that a person’s job here on Earth is to figure out what they are good at and put it to use in the pursuit of helping others. In the Art Department at Palmer Trinity, I truly feel as though I am able to do that. There are few things more satisfying to me as an art teacher than when I hear a student exclaim “I can’t believe I made this!” After helping students gradually build up skill with a variety of techniques until they are producing work at a stunningly sophisticated level, I love to see students surprise themselves with their beautiful output. Nowhere is this more true than in the AP Studio Art course, where students who are seriously dedicated to artistic self-expression commit to a rigorous series of creative challenges. It is my pleasure to help guide my students through the world of self-expression and my privilege as the department chair to create a visual arts program so strong and enriching that it will be to the benefit of the entire school community and draw potential students here to PTS!

There is a German saying, “Angst Essen Seele Auf”, that translates to mean, “fear eats the soul”. It is important to know that everyone can make art but the biggest obstacle to doing so is fear. The art teacher provides boundaries so that the element of fear can be removed. Boundaries can inspire our curiosity. Art is one of the few places in a student’s structured day when they can safely experiment with taking risks, making odd choices, and develop thinking in original ways. In the art studio experimentation is a means, and failure is courted while searching for the unique voice. Techniques, limiting parameters of an assignment, insights from research and our history, etc…are brought together in support of artistic exploration.