TEACH

"Teach"

9" x 12" Mixed Media Drawing on Distressed, Dictionary Page

It's Teacher Appreciation Week.  I've been thinking about doing a page for and about teachers for a long time.  Teaching is our family business.  My husband and I are both teachers (he's taught for 34 years and I've taught for 13).  My sisters are teachers and two of my daughters and both of their husbands are all involved in education, too.  My mother-in-law and father-in-law are also retired from teaching.

For this piece I decided to include some vintage and traditional tools used by a teacher.  I didn't want it to reflect a particular subject area and I wanted to include items I might have seen on the desk of a childhood teacher.

I actually grew up attending a tiny, rural school located in the center of our farming community.  I learned in a room with first through sixth grade children all together under the guidance of one, sometimes two teachers.  It closed for lack of students when I finished the sixth grade.  It wasn't a one room school house - this building had two classrooms and a gym/auditorium/cafeteria.

I added the penmanship practice card in this piece (a subject that is now being phased out of the classroom).  I deliberately chose the letter 'M' to honor my two, grade-school-teaching sisters, Melinda and Mary Jane and tip my hat to my husband, Michael.  These gifted, dedicated teachers have been in the classroom for over thirty years and have influenced countless children.  This is my tribute and way of saying Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!