About the Teacher
Thank you for showing interest in my school and asking for this information. I take a lot of joy in teaching and sharing with the community that which I have spent so many years learning. The following outlines my experience, personal philosophy of art education, the structure of the school, costs and general expectations for students.
My background is over 35 years as a professional artist. I have lived in Homer for many years and my work is all around town. Some of my well known business signs are at Timeless Toys, The Frontier Building, Smoky Bay Natural Foods, The Pioneer Inn and several others. I was the official artist for the Alaska State Fair in Palmer for 18 years. In addition I have shown my fine art at the Pratt Museum, Bunnell Street Gallery, Sea Lion Gallery on the Spit and many other places. Currently you can see my work at the Art Shop Gallery on Pioneer Ave. in HomerI have worked in most media including painting, pastels, printing and sculpture. I continue to do this work in between teaching and other interests. I have been operating this school since 1998.
About the Classes. For more about me, click on this link.
My Philosophy of Art and Learning
Art is a journey, a process of joyful discovery whose goal is finding a creative and unique path for one's self. Unless you are a rare genius you are not born knowing how to be an artist and becoming one is not simply the result of having some mysterious gift as many people think. While some of us definitely have more talent than others the greatest asset you can possess is a willingness to work and a strong desire to learn. This is what you need to succeed in the arts and my school above all else. The greatest talent you can have is the desire to learn and of course a love of the visual arts.
In the last few years I have developed a keen interest in guiding and supporting students, ages 12 and older, including adults, who want to pursue this path in earnest. But before you decide you would like to enroll consider whether or not you have the time and energy to go after this as you would, for example, in taking piano, ballet or a sport. It’s the same level of effort. This will not be an "arts and crafts" experience where there will always be an end product to take home each class. Instead, the emphasis is on learning the basic skills, although finished pieces will be done from time to time as well. We definitely have a lot of fun around here, art should be fun, but there will be times when the going is hard and even frustrating. Just as with learning a musical instrument, there will be times when you will be discouraged and wonder if you will ever succeed. That is part of learning any worthwhile thing and you will need to accept it and keep going.
There are three major areas of study that anyone needs to learn to succeed in the visual arts. They are drawing, color and design. This is what I teach but how each student learns it is different depending on who they are and how they learn things. I will try to learn about you and respond to your style and abilities.
Taking art classes with me is probably going to be different than what you may have encountered before in school or in other community courses. My goal is to create more of an environment that is tailored to the student’s personal journey and not so much to offer categories of study like " beginning drawing" or "advanced painting" etc. Your classes will start wherever you are on your path and will be designed to take you where you need to go. So, classes will be small - no more than three students at a time - and a lot of personal attention will be given to each student.
The way I have learned to do what I do is by following the path of interest and joy and I hope to share this style with those who work with me. To do this we spend time figuring out together what your general interests are and what sort of projects you could take on as a starting point. At first I will offer a lot of guidance but as you progress I will encourage more independence on your part. A variety of methods will be used to achieve results. One week we could model in clay, another we might use paint, charcoal, pastels or cut out paper. I’ve found this keeps things fresh and interesting and builds many skills rather than a few.
I will encourage feedback. If something becomes boring or is above your level of skill or seems overly frustrating, we will change to something that works better.
Interviewing and Enrolling in Classes
Preliminary evaluation
We will meet once, at no cost, to determine if I am the right teacher for you and find out what your interests and goals are. Please bring examples of your work, regardless of how "good" or "bad" you think they are. I will be looking at what you have learned so far , not deciding if you have a great "gift" or not. I value determination and desire to learn over "talent". Also it is a great help if you bring pictures or samples of art that you really like. These can be from art books, magazine illustrations, photos etc. I want to know what you like and what you would like to do. This meeting is not a test to see if you are a "real" artist or if you have some mysterious gift. It’s just to determine if I can actually be of any help to you and what it is you like to do. It’s that simple.
Please don’t come to the interview without artwork and/or pictures of other artists work you like or we won’t be able to start and will have to reschedule.
Materials
My studio is well stocked with just about every conceivable medium and material. I let students use these for introductory purposes. For instance, if you think you might like to try oil painting you may use my supplies for an initial experiment or two. However, if you decide to pursue oil painting you will need to bring your own brushes, canvas and paint. In this way you can try lots of different things before making a big commitment financially. For drawing I have large rolls of blank newspaper that I get from the Daily News in Anchorage. Most students draw on this and I give it away free. You will need to buy graphite sticks and pencils on your own if you find you like to work with them.
Costs
Classes cost 25.00 per session and are one and a half hours long. $150 is due in advance for a block of six sessions and is made at the preliminary get-together or on arrival at first class. Most students come to one class a week as a rule. If you want to come more that can be arranged as well. I use a punch card system to keep track of classes. You will get a card with six punches which you may use by coming once a week, twice a week or every two weeks. You will genreally pick a day and a time to come and try to make that. If you can't , a days notice is expected for cancelation. Misses classes can be made up by rescheduling or waiting til the next week.
In general my attendance policy is very flexible but it is to the students advantage to make as many consecutive classes as possible
Class Schedule opportunities
Classes are held on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays at 3:30 pm and on Saturdays at 1pm and 3:30pm.
Students and teacher are expected to start class on time.
Out of Class work and Homework is expected and required. Learning how to draw and paint or sculpt takes a lot of practice. No one can expect to learn this by participating in a class once a week. I will give you homework to do based on what is covered on that particular week. Homework varies from student to student but be prepared to work two or three hours a week out of class and bring this in to show to me each week. This is vital to learning and taking part in this school.
Evaluation
I will not grade anybody but ongoing discussions will be held privately about how well things are going. Not how "good" your work is but whether or not any growth is taking place, if you are showing a commitment to working and learning and whether or not we both feel I am the right teacher for you. If things are not working out, you will still be able to finish out your six weeks but either of us are free to cancel further sessions if things are unsatisfactory. I don’t want to waste either our time or your money by continuing classes that aren’t achieving our mutual goals.
Once again, thanks for considering my school for your art education. Please call me at 235-7193 to set up an interview or get more information. Thanks- Brad Hughes
ph- 235 7193 e mail bradhughes47@yahoo.com