Art Teacher

I've been painting again recently (for Christmas presents) and I'm thinking about doing another post with pictures -- maybe a tutorial?

It's so strange thinking back to my oil painting lessons and then fast forwarding to painting today and seeing what an impact my darling teacher made on me.

Her name was Johnnie Sue Goodman and she was a handful, in the best sense.  One of those blue-haired old ladies who fixed herself a big lunch (or at least, it seemed a big lunch to me at the time -- milk with ice, tomato soup, grilled cheese with mayonnaise to make it more creamy, chips, pickles and whatever other veggies she wanted -- I loved eating at her house) and sat down in her easy chair to watch her soaps (but really to take an afternoon nap).  She was very active in her tiny Baptist church and on her off day, she went to the Senior Center to teach them how to paint (and regaled us with stories of how cantankerous or funny they were later).  She loved her plants (which we dutifully carried into her dug-out basement each fall and then brought back out in the springtime), and even though she'd had a hard life (her father was in the military so she grew up all over the U.S., she'd been married and had one child but her husband died of cancer from working at Oak Ridge), she was strong, humorous and worked her talent to death.

She was my first boss and I loved being with her.  I learned how good it was to work hard at keeping a clean house (I vacuumed, dusted, cleaned the bathroom -- she didn't let us do the kitchen, except to wash up our lunch dishes), I learned how to plan ahead, how to make chicken and dumplings from scratch, and how to paint, and probably a lot more.

She taught me that even though painting was fun, the unfun part (washing the brushes) must always be done at the end of the day.  She taught me to take care of my resources (saving newspapers to cover the tables, clipping pictures out of magazines to use as inspiration, using oatmeal cans to hold brushes), to be patient (waiting for that oil to dry) and how to economize when you have little (giving life to old brushes, not wasting paint by saving it in the fridge for the next week).

She taught me how to paint -- not just to slap paint on the canvas, but to think carefully about what you wanted to do, to collect your inspiration (through a sketch, or magazines, or art books or photos), plan it out (trace, transfer, spray, then do the background first), and prepare to paint (pie plate, water or oil, colors, brushes).

Although my style varies (when I draw/do computer drawings, you can tell that I was heavily influenced by Dr. Seuss -- but when I paint, I do have some similarities to Johnnie Sue), she definitely made an impact.

I think about her every so often, but I'm afraid to contact her for fear she isn't living anymore.  She's probably almost 90 years old and last time I heard she was still teaching, although she'd shortened her week to three or four days since she was getting on in years.  I can still pretend she looks exactly the same as I saw her the last time -- short, round, strong fingers, a beautiful curly head of hair, and bright blue eyes with thick glasses, probably wearing a pink sweatsuit.

Every time I paint I think about all that she taught me and all the things I do now that are because of her.  I'm sitting here painting a few animals for various family members and I think she'd be proud of me.  My oatmeal canister is full of brushes; I have my plate covered in a trash bag for my paints;  I found pictures online to use as references, and my paints are all laid out.  My used brushes are soaking in their cup and I'm patiently waiting for this layer to dry so I can start on the next one.

Although I'd never want to be a teacher, I'm so grateful for the wonderful teachers I've had -- it's a weird feeling to do something and know that someone else showed you how it was done a long time ago.  It feels like we're still connected, in a way.  That's the brilliance of teaching, I suppose.  Even if I taught my daughter how to paint, she'd really be learning from Johnnie Sue.

I'll post some pictures once I'm done with these paintings -- I've already completed one for my grandparents.