Hello hello

I would like to apologise to the Art of Whimsy readers (all five of you, hee) for my long absence. Things just got unbelievably hectic in the past couple of months. I've been fortunate enough to have been commissioned as editor for an interesting but quite demanding project, and this has been taking up most of my working hours.The rest of my time is devoted to home life and of course, the art classes that I'm teaching.

We only have three more sessions until the end of term. It has been an exhausting yet exhilarating experience. The kids have been great, and nothing beats the pleasure that comes from seeing a child overcome a drawing obstacle and take pride in their work. Of course we have had tears as well, but I do hope that the kids have found more satisfaction than frustration in the weeks that we drew together.

A glimpse into my art box with the tools I use
for making sample pictures for the kids

I hope I have taught the kids enough to keep them drawing for the rest of their lives, no matter which path they decide to take later on. If not that, then I hope they come away with the knowledge that drawing is something anyone can do, and that they don't have to beat themselves up about not drawing the same way that other people do.

We're having an exhibition next week in school and for this I asked the children to choose their favourite drawings. We can only display one drawing per child because of the lack of space, but the kids had a lovely time last week choosing what they considered their best work. I had a lot of fun looking at the drawings they had made too. Just look at some of them:

A few early pictures drawn from the kids' imagination

Some pictures drawn from graphics that I put up on the Smartboard

I do hope the parents will enjoy seeing their children's pictures at the exhibition, as I know the kids put a lot of effort into making them!