About Us

For many years I have understood the impact art can have on one’s life. Whether art takes the form of educational development for preschool-aged children or the form of stress relief for adults. The benefits of art are numerous for people in all life stages. As a child I always loved to draw and paint. One of my first childhood memories is of the pride and joy I felt when I drew a star at the age of 3. My passion for art continued throughout my childhood into my adult life. While completing my Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Fine Art Education, I was exposed to and learned many art forms. I also worked as a graphic & web designer for over ten years. With my experience in art both professionally and personally, along with my role as a mother of a young child, I am confident I can provide a fun and supportive art class to all participants.

Learning Levels

Beginner
At the Beginner level, students can explore themselves – their interests, preferences, and tastes in art. They may experiment with different forms and styles and learn from others’ work. The goal is to establish a feeling of freedom and experimentation. The most important concept here is that the student learns about him/herself and feels comfortable exploring the different forms of art to find out how to express themselves. The students learn to respect each other’s ideas and art expressions and appreciate them while holding onto their own preferences and styles. When the student begins, the teacher can help make suggestions on what to try or draw, but the ultimate decision on what the student will draw and/or paint is not the teacher’s to make, but the student’s. It is the teacher’s role to encourage him/her to find what he/she wants to draw or paint.

Once a student begins working on something, the art teacher encourages and assists him/her to finish the piece. Finishing is one of the biggest challenges of creating art. Often students (and even professionals) find it difficult to know when and how to finish a piece of art. This is where the art teacher can step in to help with this concept. When you finish a piece of work, whether it be something you had envisioned or something that you developed through exploration, you feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. It allows you to feel good about your work and move onto the next piece. This concept is not just important in art. Work/school tasks, assignments, projects, decisions, and so on all require that an individual completes them properly and appropriately, with effort and skill. With our fine art projects at RAINBOW ART SCHOOL, we strive to teach the skill of completion so that students can use this skill in other areas of their lives. As students progress through the Beginner level, the teacher’s level of assistance is gradually lessened so that the students are able to take ownership of the finishing process.

Intermediate
In the intermediate level, students begin to learn the theory behind the artwork, mixed with plenty of fun. They touch on techniques such as 3D theory, color, perspective, and so on. The teaches introduces theoretical concepts throughout a student’s work on his/her pieces, and chooses skills and techniques that the student may have a preference and interest in learning.

Advanced
Students in the Advanced level work within a more complex theoretical framework. They choose specific works to focus on to practice skills and techniques, and learn about fine art theory in more detail than that offered within the Intermediate level.

Important Note on Levels and Individualized Programming

The three levels of students should be viewed as a continuum. That is, there is no particular time when a student is explicitly transitioned from Beginner to Intermediate, or from Intermediate to Advanced. Some students may express interest in learning more in-depth knowledge and techniques right away. Others may prefer to explore for a longer period, and choose certain techniques they would like to explore further, while showing disinterest in others.

For this reason, RAINBOW ART SCHOOL strives to use individualized programming and meet students where they are, while encouraging they explore more and more techniques and theories behind the art. In saying this, it can understandably be expected that younger and/or newcomers to the program would be located primarily in the Beginner phase until they have sufficiently explored their own preferences and skills and have learned to finish their pieces of art.

This individualized programming is what sets RAINBOW ART SCHOOL separate from other art schools – students are not expected to paint something developed for the entire group to work through together (although we do complete small projects as a group to mix things up); instead, they are able to explore their own preferences, choose their own skills and techniques, all provided in a relaxed, supportive, and encouraging atmosphere.