"eARTh"

Earth Art. From Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza to Utah's own Spiral Jetty, artists have been using materials in nature for millenia to tell stories and understand the world. Celebrating Earth Day with Kindergarteners today reminded me of the peaceful experience I had at this Evening for Educators workshop at Snow College where I worked with lichen-y bark, pea gravel, pine cones, and one of my best friends. Amberly discovered how to harness the light shining through the hole in the bark as the center of her starburst of seed whirligigs. She definitely has an artistic eye.

Being an art teacher at River Heights Elementary for almost five months has forced me to learn to trust my own artistic eye and "dig into" the skills that make art ART. We realized that each small group of artists at the workshop employed color, repetition, line, texture, etc. and we could find similarities between them all. I envy Amberly's talents every time I read the children's books we have written and illustrated together or look at her paintings; what I am learning, though, is that the more I learn about art, the better my artistic attempts are. My job is to teach children that there is an artist inside each one of them. Hearing students that used to say "But it isn't good," or "I'm just not an artist" instead say "Look at what I did!" is my reward.