I have been teaching professionally since 2005. Most recently, I left my position as Principal Lecturer at the University of North Texas (2014-2024) to work independently with smaller groups of dedicated students. I love creating, and I equally love teaching—sharing the knowledge and experience I have acquired throughout an entire life of artmaking.

I have taught a wide range of students—from M.F.A. graduates to high school students, professional artists to complete beginners—in university, atelier, museum education, and community college programs. Regardless of where or with whom I am working, my aim is the same: to identify your specific needs, address them directly, and help you reach your artistic goals.

It varies greatly based on what your personal objectives are, but generally I have two types of sessions:

#1

• 15 minutes = Critique of homework assignments

• 30 minutes = Demo/lecture on new lesson

• 5 minutes = Homework assignments for next time

#2

If you're creating independent work and you need someone to run ideas and questions by, or get honest and helpful feedback, then the session is usually about critique and dialogue.

Payments can be made through Zelle, Venmo, or PayPal. Zelle is ideal.

If you “Pay as You Go”, payments are made after each session. If you purchase a multi-session package, payments are due before your first session.

You have the option. If you choose to record, I will send you a link to the recording after our session for your personal use. It will be available for download for one month after the session.

A good instructor simultaneously supports and challenges their students. Regardless of a student’s level or mode of practice—representational, abstract, non-objective—my goals are to identify and address an individual’s specific needs/strengths/weaknesses, support them in their pursuits and explorations, and challenge them to make clear, well-crafted, and visually impactful work. My core pedagogical objectives are to:

• Create an inclusive learning environment where students feel encouraged, challenged, and inspired. It is important to foster good rapport, one based on mutual respect and trust, between individuals and among the group as a whole. In my career, I have worked at multiple institutions and with students with a very broad range of backgrounds, educational goals, and artistic sensibilities. These include: university-level, community college, advanced high school, continuing education, and non-traditional students—from complete beginners to professional artists with interests in various media and styles. I believe strongly that each student needs to be heard, respected, and worked with on an individual basis.

• Help students develop their craft and build fluency with the fundamentals of visual art: line, shape, texture, color, composition, value, form, proportion, space, rhythm, balance, and character. This facility is essential to the creative process. I do not see aptitude in these areas as an end in itself, but as a necessary and foundational means toward the full expression of an artist’s vision. The greater the proficiency, the more latitude for exploration, eloquence, and subtlety in their work.

• Build students’ verbal and written communication skills. Group conversations provide a space for invaluable critical dialogue where individuals share their own unique viewpoint, aesthetic sensibility, and life experience, while learning from those of their peers.

• Foster an exploratory sense of curiosity and wonder in their practice. With such a sensibility instilled in them, inspiration and innovation will never be lacking.

• Help students appreciate and place their work in/against theoretical and historical contexts. Understanding this context connects them to historical as well as contemporary art works and culture.

To fulfill these objectives, I:

• Provide lectures and practical demonstrations that clearly illustrate the lesson at hand. Because we are dealing with a visual language, I often find live demonstrations more effective than extensive verbal descriptions. It also provides an opportunity for them to see, in real-time, how one can handle obstacles and mistakes, and make decisions to find solutions while working.

• Create sequential lesson plans where exercises build upon one another cumulatively, moving from straightforward to complex challenges. This makes the learning process clear for the student, and helps me identify points of confusion.

• Spend the majority of my time interacting one-on-one with students. This allows me to evaluate how each individual fits into the broader lesson, adapt my methodology to meet the diverse needs of each student, and insure they feel challenged and supported. It is important to meet often and regularly with students while they are making the work (as opposed to only judging the finished piece). There are so many invaluable moments of learning that happen during these one-on-one critiques and demos.

• Facilitate group critiques where students evaluate the formal and conceptual framework of each other’s work, share constructive feedback, and support each other with honesty and empathy.

• Address an individual’s specific interests and aesthetic sensibility. I guide them towards resources that will help them feel inspired and connected to a larger community of artists. Exposure to new artists and methodologies challenge them to think critically and to push their own boundaries.