Art by Niki Hilsabeck

        "Approaching" 5 in x 6.75 in mixed media on paper In 2004, I signed up for my first official art class on a college campus.  I'd already been teaching public school for a few years, and needed to renew my credential. To do so, I needed to take some post-graduate units.  To my surprise, I was informed that those units could be in any subject!  I decided to go ahead and explore a life-long love that I'd never spent much time learning in a classroom: art classes. My grandmother was a painter, so thanks to her I'd spent plenty of time making art.  When I chose my first "real" art class, I picked one called "The Magic of Pastel Painting."  I knew I loved to play around with oil pastels.  I assumed the class would teach me how to use them properly. To my surprise, the materials list didn't include oil pastels-- instead, it said to bring soft (or what we sometimes called "chalk") pastels, along with a special type of paper.  I p...

When we're first learning to make art as children, we hear a few things that become familiar over time.  Skies are blue! Tree trunks are brown, leaves are green.  Butterflies are supposed to be perfectly symmetrical! "Mini-Butterfly 1" 4 x 4 inch found metal and acrylic on canvas Click here to view auction Well, if you take a long look around you, you'll notice that most of that well-intended advice was wrong.  Trees can have blue, purple, and green trunks-- or even red or yellow, depending on the lighting.  Leaves can be just about any color too!  Butterflies, while appearing symmetrical, aren't necessarily so if you look closely.  Most of the butterflies I paint from photos have damaged wings, which isn't noticeable to me until I take the time to examine the photos in detail. "Mini-Butterfly 2" 4 x 4 found metal and acrylic on flat canvas Click here to view auction So why do we hear the same advice being repeated to kids over th...