I feel incredibly lucky to have grown up in a family of artists. I was surrounded by art at home, and was also fortunate enough to have wonderful art teachers at my schools. I hope that I can inspire my students the way my teachers inspired me.

As the owner and teacher for The Drawing Board Art Instruction, I often think about my own personal reasons and desire for teaching art to children. I know there is a lot of information out there about how art can help children with math and other skills. However, I feel that my reasons are far more personal and I'm hoping to affect the child in a much more social and individual way. It is my belief that the more someone learns to observe and notice the small details of their surroundings, the more in touch they are with themselves and the better they will be at communicating. The practice of drawing from real life objects gives the child a time to be still, patient and focused amidst the fast-paced world of growing up in today's society. Learning to see things with great detail gives one a better sense of appreciation and wonder at beauty that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.

Good hand-eye coordination along with good observation skills and patience are what I feel to be the most important aspects in learning to draw. All three take lots of practice and time to perfect. In addition to these things, it is also incredibly important for anyone learning to draw to be in a supportive environment, receiving positive feedback and encouragement.

Here are some things you can do with your child to help inspire creativity and good observation skills:

• Keep art supplies around the house
• Create art with your child
• Share interesting visual things you see with your child (neat looking clouds, sunsets, rainbows, flowers, textures, colors, facial expressions, etc...) and talk about what makes those things interesting to you and your child
• Teach your child new descriptive words to use (textured, luminous, iridescent, etc...)
• visit art galleries and art museums with your child
• Take art classes with your child

Crystal will be teaching art classes through Eastside Enrichment at three elementary schools this fall, Maple Hills Elementary, Maplewood Heights Elementary and Briarwood Elementary. These classes are held once a week after school. Registration forms for these and other Eastside Enrichment classes will be available the first week of school at the schools. Information about Eastside Enrichment can also be found on their website at www.eastsideenrichment.org.

Ice Cream Sundae Drawings

We will quickly draw Ice cream sundaes with colored pencils, and then eat them! All art materials (and ice cream) are provided. One-Day workshop.