Mom loved to draw and paint…
I have vivid memories of it; whenever she had a quiet moment or needed some time to ground herself, my mom, and first mentor, picked up a pencil or paint brush and purely and unabashedly “expressed.” She would sit for hours getting lost in the colors and shapes that transferred from mind to paper/canvas. Sometime this art medium was in a constant struggle with her broader artistic design to play piano. (She usually did this after midnight. Playing Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov). My mother simply created with whatever she touched.
Now that she is gone, I have come to miss it…
Often, when doing art, mom would have me sit with her. The impact, at the time, unforeseen—at least to me. She would set me up with all the implements and explain the principals of drawing or painting—the concept of how to create and cultivate the corresponding belief of “yes, I can.” She would always start with, “the canvas or paper is white and is waiting for you to add life to it." Off I would go—for hours sometimes. Being younger, my fancy was to paint fantastical creatures and within those paintings were always clouds. Rather two dimensional to start, but I just loved painting clouds. I knew all the various types and shapes--mom had committed them to memory and loved describing them. It was almost an intellectual pursuit. I always imagined clouds like etherial paint. The pallet was in constant flux with desire to evolve. One moment you have one image, and the next another, and another.
Within her art, my mom taught that life in all its iterations and endeavors, if you choose to see it and live it as such, is pure creativity. Art in the concrete or abstract is beauty yet to be discovered. Of course, mom taught me this within the framework of sketching and painting, but encouraged me, especially when I struggled to make connection with the broader parts of life, to apply those same principals of creativity and vision. She encouraged me to do this especially in my profession as an educational leader. She would often stress, if you see your work with students and teachers as art, and though those parallels can find that same joy, patience, beauty and enthusiasm as when painting or drawing, those environments with thrive.
I have been an educator for over twenty years, having served in multiple capacities across various venues. Consistently, I see the work of educating children as creative potential and expression. Sometimes I am the artist, sometimes my teachers and students have been. Regardless, it has been an iterative and collaborative process. The art of education is shared and multifaceted and waiting for the discerning eye and open-hearted artist. My mother, who was my first mentor, invaluably shaped my beliefs and intentions towards life and it has specifically manifested in my profession. Even in challenge, as well as in those moments of failure, as there have been throughout, reframing the work within that artist’s eye and belief, flavored with that same excitement in creativity cultivated in youth, has shaped my leadership and optimism in what I do.
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