Last night I had three students in my Grumbacher acrylic class at Michaels. All three are from the same family, a family of five children, and are home schooled.  These are some of the best behaved children I have seen in a long time.  These children are anxious to learn, help one another and very attentive. The oldest works with oil paint and the two younger work in acrylics.  The class was great.  We worked on a painting titled "Hawaiian Evening".  Interesting teaching these students as each has a very different style which makes it fun.  The oldest, about 15, is more free in his style and usually has paint all over himself.  He is also more experienced than the younger two.    The youngest, a female about 12, uses a lot of paint and therefore has a lot of texture in her painting.  She also gets paint all over herself including her clothes and is not afraid to try anything.  The middle child, a male about 13, is very precise in his painting.  He is extremely neat both in painting and in his attire.  He did not even have a spot of paint on his hands. He is also the most quiet of the group.  This is a great group of kids and I enjoy teaching them.

I am working on a painting from a photo that was taken by a friend of my son.  I will be submitting this to Grumbacher for approval to teach.  I am also working on a lesson plan for this painting for approval.  Everything that we teach a Michaels must be approved by Grumbacher which is not as bad as it seems.  They want to provide a consistent program for our students.  Currently we are teaching only "beginners" in a two hour class.  They finish a painting within that two hours.  I would like to have more time to work with some students and teach more techniques.  Sometimes the two hours is not enough to really get into the process.  Hoping for some intermediate classes in the future so we can really focus on individual techniques.  I enjoy painting and teaching.  Sometimes it is so rewarding to see how different students interpret what I teach.  At times, it is difficult to keep my hands away from their painting to "correct" something that I would do differently.  But that is part of teaching and discipline.  My style is not their style.