On May 30 art educators from all over Tennessee came the Frist Art Museum to "Brush Up" on their painting skills and hear the inspirational Melody Weintraub-- they attended the 2018 Mid-State Summer TAEA Professional Development Conference!
A thank you and shout-out goes to my committee who helped so much: Beth Perthel and Jennifer Baltimore.
Anne Henderson, director of education at the Frist, and her staff were most welcoming hosts.
Painting was the focus with 3 choices for the day-long sessions:
Enjoying Watercolor led by artist Dean Shelton. Dean, a member of the Tennessee Watercolor Society, shared with participants what makes his painting style such a success. So many strategies and tips were shared. Margaret Brown, an intuitive abstract painter, led a session helping participants "Go With Their Gut" and shared ideas on how to get students "unstuck." It was truly amazing to realize methods on how to accomplish successful paintings with several media and in turn be able to teach students as well!
Finally, artist/teacher Beth Affolter presented her realism techniques using texture with conference-goers while showing her process with gesso and using acrylics. She also demonstrated how she accomplishes many of her works with water-based oil paints as well.
To begin the day, artist/teacher, Melody Weintraub, delivered a keynote sharing how important it is to connect with our students and that until we do this, learning really isn't occurring in the classroom. She showed us in many ways how we have to demonstrate we care for them. At one point, we were all encouraged to take a little ceramic heart from a basket and write down a student's name on the back-a student that kept coming to mind for us-as she spoke about challenging situations she encountered over her years of teaching. We all could relate to her stories! We were to place this heart somewhere to remind us. Melody began her talk with almost a disclaimer saying "Michelle introduced me as if I'm Oprah...", well, Melody, you made us laugh, tear up, you challenged us and you encouraged us...
Oprah's got nothing on you.
