A Journey in Teaching Summertime Art Lessons

In July, I taught private drawing lessons to a five year old bilingual student. She was very shy at first and used her teddy bear (cutely named Xiong 熊 [Bear]) to communicate. I was very shy as a young child so I understood how comforting it was to have her bear. I made sure that I included him in our lessons. So together, the three of us created some adorable works of art.

For one project, we created a home where her bear lived and she discovered a new joy of replicating her bear in paper form using cut out shapes and drawing techniques.

I taught her simple drawing and cutting techniques that made her eyes light up. Her creativity impressed me very much. In our final project we made a close up drawing of plant life and bugs that lived there. While showing her how to make a butterfly, she took the wings and quietly cut out two small yellow squares. She glued them to the bottom of the butterflies wings and whispered the name of what she made into her mother’s ear. Her mother smiled and told me that she made a firefly and that she thinks fireflies are butterflies holding lanterns. I had never thought of a firefly being so full of wonder. This interaction filled the room with so much joy.

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It was so much fun teaching my student during her summer vacation. Classes like hers can be scheduled by purchasing classes in my online store and then contacting me to set up a time. Typical availability is in the evenings on week days and almost any time on the weekends. For the safety of students and parents, I will wear a mask at all in person lessons. I will travel within 15 miles of Toledo to meet with you and your student. Online lessons are also available for anyone who would like to take advantage of this. 1 on 1 and small group lessons are available in both settings.

A Journey in Teaching Private Drawing Lessons

At the end of last summer, I began teaching private drawing lessons via zoom. Although teaching drawing via zoom was not new territory for me, it was a bit different in the way the classes were structured. Private lessons are more focused and tailored to each student or small group of students. We fixate on the details while remembering the foundations of art. I start with the basics with each one of my students and we work from the ground up regardless of one's previous experience. It never hurts to practice the foundations and it can often feel quite therapeutic to do so.

I have been an artist my entire life, and starting in 2012, I began exhibiting works professionally in galleries, exhibitions, and shows. Since then, I have exhibited my works across Ohio and nationally as far west as California. I have been an art teacher since 2018 where I have taught grades K-12 in large and small group settings.

Something that I find so fulfilling with teaching private lessons is seeing my students improve and feel more confident in their abilities. I think you will notice the improvement as I post their works in chronological order below. If at any time, you wish to enroll or give the gift of drawing lessons to a loved one, you can find my pricing here. The more students you register to take a class at the same time, the more cost-effective it is!

My drawings will be shown first and the images following that are my students’ work. The artworks make up the first few months of the lessons I taught. You will notice that we started with pencil drawing and then introduced color pencils as a new medium.

Adventures in Teaching Art -Spring 2019- Part 1

Teaching has been going very well lately. I have gained more confidence as a teacher and have learned how to make my assignments fun and engaging for my students. It has been a huge learning experience and I am glad I got out of my comfort zone to do something that I really love to do.

My class size is a bit smaller this semester, so I am able to give more 1 on 1 time to all of my students. They have been doing very well and have improved so much since the beginning of the school year. They continue to surprise and inspire me with their creativity and ability to learn new techniques!

Week 1: Abstract Magnets

My students had so much fun with this project because it has a functional element to it. The assignment was to make one magnet, but some of my students were so excited that they were able to make two during the class period! They used previously learned drawing techniques related to shapes, line, perspective and color. It is really nice seeing their knowledge build overtime as they apply it to each project.

Week 2: Caterpillars & Butterflies

I had Kindergarten - 8th grade students for this class because I was filling in for another teacher who was sick. It was an extremely full class and I had approximately 25 students. They all had varying skill levels so it was a challenge making sure that all of the students had the proper guidance that they needed to complete the project. I felt that the younger students would have an easier time with the caterpillars and that the older students would want more of a challenge with the patterns on the butterflies. Some students ended up doing both!

Week 3: Drawing with Basic Shapes

My students drew these using step by step directions and it showed them how they can use basic shapes to form an image!

Week 4: Drawing with Patterns

My students created designs using repeating shapes and patterns. This project was perfect for building their skills in the foundations of art .

I hope you enjoyed seeing the art that my students worked very hard on. I am looking forward to showing you what they do next!

I am currently available for private and group drawing lessons in the Northwest Ohio area. For inquiries, please email me at kerryaislinn@gmail.com or message me via my facebook page.

Teaching Drawing Class - Fall 2018

I began teaching drawing on the weekends at Toledo Chinese School in August and the semester just ended a couple of weeks ago. It was definitely a step out of my comfort zone. I have always been the student; never the teacher. I was nervous at first because it is a lot of responsibility to not only conduct the class but to also make sure my students were enjoying the projects we were doing. I definitely had to pivot and change lesson plans as I recognized what my students enjoyed and what they could improve on.

Week 1: Collage & Draw

Week 2: Gourd Still Life

Week 3: Halloween Drawings on Water Color paper

Week 4: Animal Hybrids

Week 5: Self Portraits

Week 6: Drawing Animals

Week 7: Drawing Vehicles

Week 8: Abstract Drawing

This is all of the work that my students created this semester. My students learned a lot and I could see their improvement as the semester went on. I really look forward to teaching again in the Spring.

Online Marketing Tools For Artists Made Simple

So you are an artist trying to make online sales? Most artists are not online marketing experts. I sure know I’m not. But I have done quite a bit of research on marketing and SEO tactics and have found some things that work for me as an artist. These are not horribly time consuming tasks and are definitely worth it if you want to be more effective in selling your work online.

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Maintain a Mailing List

What if I told you that a mailing list could make all the difference with your online sales? With online services like Mailchimp, it is easier than ever to start one. But why would you need a mailing list? Imagine if next month, Facebook, Twitter, and your other favorite social media of choice ceased to exist. All of your followers and fans, lost, with no real way of staying in contact with them. With an email list, you will have direct access to your fans.

General Guidelines

  • Only add people who have given you explicit permission to do so.

  • Create a sign up form that you can embed to your Facebook, website, etc.

  • when you send an email to your followers, don’t try selling something every time. Give them an update or behind the scenes look at your latest project.

Use Mailchimp Integrations

Did you know that using Mailchimp, you can embed a pop up form that appears when your visitors are browsing your site? Within a day of adding this integration I saw that it was actually working. Currently, 13% of my subscribers signed up via this integration. It isn’t the main source but it definitely does help encourage more people to sign up who might not have if they weren’t prompted to.

Another thing that Mailchimp offers is landing pages. If you are running a marketing campaign you can create a page through Mailchimp that asks users to join your mailing list while also giving them information on your current sale or giveaway. The landing page is not part of your website which is great for any short-term campaigns.

Facebook Ads

Facebook ads are a great way to gain new followers. Your first ad should not be something you are trying to sell. People who don’t know you or your brand will not buy something just because they saw an ad for it. Something you can do first is run a small giveaway. You can make the rules for entry that they like your page and sign up for your mailing list. Once you have a winner, you can email them and ask for their mailing address for you to send the item. This is a great chance to reach out to those who have not won! Offer them a discount with an expiration code. It is a great way to thank those who took the time to enter in the drawing!

I recently paid for an ad requesting website clicks for $7. I only got two website clicks before my ad ended. However, I made another ad asking for post likes. That one I paid $5 that spread across three days. I reached 299 people and got 23 post engagements. Once someone likes your post, facebook lets you send them a request to like your page. I invited everyone who had liked the post and some of them converted into followers. In this case, boosting a single post was much more successful than paying for page clicks.

After you have a good amount of leads, you can run another ad to your current followers letting them know of your new item for sale! People who already are familiar with your brand will be more likely to purchase something. You can upload your mailing list to the facebook ad and it will show your ad to their profiles. Using your list, Facebook can target lookalike audiences.

Facebook ads take a lot of testing to get right. Play around with different ways to promote your posts and see what works best for your brand.

In Conclusion

The first thing you need is a mailing list and you need to find ways to continuously grow it while sending interesting and meaningful emails to your customers. Built in forms on your website will encourage visitors to sign up for updates and discounts. Once you have all of this information you can run a facebook ad directed towards your mailing list and look alike audiences. Go out there and build your list!

Artwork Exhibition at Artists 4 Animals 5

Two of my pieces have been accepted into an art show in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Artists 4 Animals is A Benefit for the Bowling Green Arts Council (BGAC) and Wood County Humane Society (WCHS) Sponsored by BGAC, and the Four Corners Center

The opening reception is Friday, November 9, 2018 from 4:30-6:30pm at Four Corners Center, 130 S. Main, BG

This project is partially funded by an Arts Commission Accelerator Grant made possible through support from ProMedica & the Ohio Arts Council

This project is partially funded by an Arts Commission Accelerator Grant made possible through support from ProMedica & the Ohio Arts Council

The work shown above will be framed and for sale. It is an inkjet print that has been transferred to Aluminum via the Supersauce method. This is the same method I used for my piece titled Chronic Agony that was displayed and sold at 20 North Gallery during the ARToledo 2018 Exhibit.

Artists 4 Animals is one of my favorite shows to be a part of because of the wide representation of many animals. A lot of my subject matter has involved cats but I also really appreciate wolves and underwater creatures like Cephalopods. What is your favorite animal?