It's 2019 and I am thankful for family, turkey dinner, and Rebelle 3! This Thanksgiving holiday I'm teaching my boys how to draw in Rebelle. They've watched me for years but they're finally old enough to draw on the Cintiq. They're going to love it. Artist friends, check out the Rebelle 3 demo if you haven't already! Happy Holidays!
As a teacher, I see the full range of work ethic and value choices. Tatum works while Melanie sleeps. I do not judge because everyone is fighting a battle. I provide a safe place for students to create and breathe and sleep and be. I create a non-judgmental space that often accomodates students and adults who feel free to voice thier opinions... which can often be judgmental. We are fighting battles and we are on our own journies of self awareness. Peace.
Teaching painting is a great task to ask of a person who doesn't paint. I do not paint. I teach the manipulation of media through experience. "Learn from doing!" I say. Monochromatic pastel exercises help my students to get a handle on the media. We explore value and composition and the handling of media. Sometimes happy accidents occur. This was my example to the teens on composition and value. It is a journey.
A horizon of chalk—black sky heavy with silence, gold earth glowing with embered breath.
Between them, a thin line of turquoise, the pause where one world ends and another begins.
It is not sky, nor sea, nor sand alone. It is the threshold—a doorway, where silence teaches and light remembers.
Stand here long enough, and you may hear it breathe.
inking and seeing for better being — https://forming20.com/
A simple ink sketch of a bird at rest. Sometimes the quiet moments—watching, pausing, waiting—are the deepest teachers. This drawing is part of my exploration of what I call the Quiet Practices—small ways of living from the inside out.
If you’d like to see more of my reflections, I share them here: https://forming20.com/
This portrait of Mr. Joshua Anderson—our resident Shakespeare whisperer—was drawn by student artist Covey Garrett as part of a school-wide tribute to our teachers. Students photographed, gridded, and drew 18x24” posters of their teachers, each paired with a favorite catchphrase. Mr. Anderson’s? A classic:
“Hint, hint. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.”
We think the Bard would approve.
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely teachers..."
(okay, we may have paraphrased a bit).
I am an art teacher with a master’s degree—trained by brilliant professors who believed that art could do more than decorate walls. I offer safe spaces for teenagers to grow—nourishing soil where their imaginations can take root.
And yet… I am assigned to hallway duty.
This is compulsory education, after all.
So I sit—posted like a sentinel—watching young lives stream past.
“Get to class,” I say with a smile and a nudge.
The system wants attendance; I’m hungry for presence.
Armed not with a whistle or clipboard, but with a pen—
my scribble’s soft insurgency.
The hallway stretches out like a geometric hymn.
Columns and corners chant structure.
Teenagers swirl past—half-formed galaxies of limbs and laughter—
their orbits chaotic, their gravity pulling time forward.
I begin to draw.
Not their tardiness, but their motion.
A shoulder. A blur of sneakers.
A tilted head chasing freedom.
Feet flickering like seconds.
Each mark a pulse.
Each smudge a breath.
My paper becomes a seismograph of seeing—
trembling gently through the mundane.
This isn’t about making art for a frame or a feed.
It’s about refusing to leak away in the fluorescent hum of obligation.
It’s a quiet mutiny against the clock.
I do this on long car rides, too (passenger side, mind you).
Letting the lines grow wild, jagged, and unapologetic.
Not for polish—
but for presence.
This is how I remember I’m still alive.
Still growing.
Still watching.
Still choosing to see.
Because sometimes mental health looks like
a piece of scrap paper,
a moving pen,
and the simple, sacred act of
marking time with wonder.
Ms. Nathan was a play production teacher with flair and a big personality. She wore colorful clothing and loud socks that never matched. Her joyful, chortling laugh filled the room—or the hallway—wherever she happened to be.
Staff meetings and PD days have always been strong invitations for observational drawings. Over the years, I’ve found that there are many boxes to check in a wide variety of systems. I often created my own boxes—and checked them with sketches of my colleagues.
This one goes out to the colorful Ms. Nathan.
Sometimes, a good goodbye is also a fresh hello.
As we wrapped up our "Sacred Spaces" paintings, I asked our student teacher to design a one-day project—something playful, earthy, and engaging to ease the class into her care. She brought mud. Literally.
Using mud and simple stencils, students pressed images—flowers, insects, wings—onto the sidewalk behind our school. There's something timeless about making marks with the ground itself. It felt ancient and immediate at the same time.
These prints won’t last long, but maybe that’s the point. A fleeting image, a shared laugh, a new hand guiding the next phase of learning.
Art is about making marks. Not all of them need to be permanent.
"When the teachers asked me to play something, I would pretend that I was reading it and play from memory. I didn't fool them, but I didn't care."
- Vangelis (1943 - 2022).
At this point in time this was a damn good drawing of one of my hapless algebra teachers. I actually remember doing it in class since paying attention never mattered much for me anyway. Good guy.
It's definitely been a bit since I've posted, sorry about that, things have gotten very chaotic very quickly. I'm officially less than a month out from graduation (the finish line is almost here!), which also means it's time for my teachers to cram in projects. Other than that, I'm happy to say I received two official art commissions! I'm hoping to get something set up to hopefully begin selling some pieces, but, for now, I'll have some pieces in a gallery soon. Things, things, things, and Tony's face. Part of a larger project, hopefully to be completed soon.
First OFFICIAL Commission! 8x10, Watercolor and Pen. Hey everyone! This time, I'm actually back. First off, let me say I was not planning to fall off the face of the Earth again. At the time I last posted, I had a little less than a month of school left and I had hoped I could wrap up all my final projects early and be done. I was wrong. My teachers assigned more and I had work due up to the day before school ended, but I survived! Since my last post, I do have some updates. 1. I did indeed graduate high school! I was very lucky my school not only had a ceremony, but it was at Soldier Field. (I'm very happy to say I graduated Summa Cumme Laude and with the honors of completing the Alpha STEM and the Arts program.) 2. I also got an Instagram! I'll be using it not only to post final pieces but also as a way to post progress. {@mapalomar.arts} With regards to this painting, it is my first official commission, past commissions were from people I knew (family or friends) but this one isn't. I can say I'm pretty proud of the end result, especially as a person who doesn't consider themself a watercolor artist, it's not too shabby. :) Anyway, I hope this piece will have a safe journey all the way to its new home in Massachusetts.
It's crazy to think that 6 years have already flown by since I first moved onto the Xcel gymnastics team, let alone the fact that I've spent 15 years of my life as a gymnast. Tomorrow, August 6th, 2021, marks my last day as a gymnast on the team since I'm officially a college student. I've genuinely been dreading this day, but it's not the ending I expected...in an oddly good way. I know no one expected to spend the past year in a pandemic, and I definitely didn't think gym would shift so much in the following months, but here we are. Gymnastics has taught me more than I ever imagined it could, and my coaches (especially one of them) have become two of the people I'm closest with, words can't describe how grateful I am for everything. This 'ending' doesn't feel like an end, more so a closing to this chapter. Honestly, my love for the sport has only grown, and it feels like I'm finally figuring it all out. So, although my final practice as a team member is tomorrow, my journey is not over yet. "Goodbyes are the hardest part, and this ending has been something I’ve been dreading, although I know it’s time to let go. I’d like to say this isn’t a permanent goodbye to you or the sport, it’s more of a natural conclusion. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you’ve done for me and managed to teach me in this short amount of time, I couldn’t have asked for anyone, or anything, better. Thank you most of all for helping me achieve my dreams and for helping me get to a point in which I can say I’m proud of my journey.
All that’s left to say is I care about you, I love you, and take care."
"Man on the Train: Hey, are you a dreamer?
Wiley: Yeah.
Man on the Train: I haven’t seen too many around lately. Things have been tough lately for dreamers. They say dreaming is dead, no one does it anymore. It’s not dead it’s just that it’s been forgotten, removed from our language. Nobody teaches it so nobody knows it exists. The dreamer is banished to obscurity. Well, I’m trying to change all that, and I hope you are too. By dreaming, every day. Dreaming with our hands and dreaming with our minds. Our planet is facing the greatest problems it’s ever faced, ever. So whatever you do, don’t be bored, this is absolutely the most exciting time we could have possibly hoped to be alive. And things are just starting" - waking life (movie).
°
So the other day I had a beautiful conversation about lucid dreaming with some friends. We shared amazing dream memories that we all had experienced and right the next day this sleeping beauty started showing up on a piece of paper.
What about you, are you a dreamer? :)
♠️
Many beginnings.
Beginning 12.
The voice of the teacher was low and soothing. The air was warm and smelled of butterfly dust and buttered toast.
* Starting is easy, it's the middle that is often a muddle. And I won't even mention the endings. Here are some beginnings for children stories that flitter through my head.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPJXmYBBi-m/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Meet my new character Lao Wenji! ('-'*)♪ He was supposed to become an official, but he failed the state exam and became a teacher! He-he, he did it intentionally... ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) P.S: I really like the sound of music in the style of ancient China without words, a stringed instrument... What was it called? ╥﹏╥ I drew this art for just such tracks!
My name is Yasia Kagan (Tsarevski) - i'm artist, painter and teacher. I was born in a family of architects and painters, in a special atmosphere imbued with creation and art, love for aesthetics ...
Since I remember myself I was painting, this was always part of me. It wasn’t be me without painting. But I have paved a long way to where I am now - today I paint every day by teaching people and open their eyes to the amazing world around and within them. I started drawing black and white graphics, but since than I evolved my style by adding colors. Now I have found a combination that can express best what I want to see and feel.
I am director of a painting and creation studio "The Magic of the Brush" in the growth of the network of experience in Carmiel. I was born into a family of architects and artists, painting and a passion for art have fascinated me all my life, I started with black and white graphics like a forest of books and slowly rolled into color painting. The creation of all work makes me alive - I feel, I think, I understand.
I believe that art is a way of life. I Want to bring it to as many people as possible in order to make our world a better place.
Here are two of my paintings that are some sort of combination of graphics and color.
Hebrew:
אני יאסיה קגן (צרבסקי) ציירת, אמנית ומורה לציור. מנהלת סטודיו לציור ויצירה "קסם המכחול" בצמיחת רשת המתנסים בכרמיאל. נולדתי במישפחה של אדריכלים ואמנים, ציור ותשוקה לאמנות ליבו אותי כל החיים, התחלתי בגרפיקה בשחור לבן כמיערת ספרים ולאט לאט התגלגלתי לציור בצבע. מצירת כל משאני מרגישה, מש אני חושבת, מש אני מבינה.
ציירת, אמנית יאסיה קגן צרבסקי.
צייר ו מורה לציור מאמינה ש אומנות היא דרך חיים. רוצה להקיר אותו לכמה שיותר אנשים בשביל להפוך את העולם שלנו לטוב יותר.
מציגה כאן שני ציורים שלי שהם איזה שהוא שילוב של גרפיקה וצבע.
Ugh, it's been a long time since I've painted the good old Jiao... Come on, admit it, who didn't do their homework and made the teacher angry??>:( Oh yeah... An experimental palette! I don't even know if I like it or not
I feel only positive emotions after drawing this landscape.
It's a bit wintery, snowy, and magical.
I love the background texture. But I still need to work on the details.
Recently, I discovered the miraculous power of gouache. I ordered paints a few days ago (still waiting for the shipment). That's why there are only digital versions for now.
I have already purchased a course on the Domestika platform. I'm going to try my skills at traditional painting on paper. It will be a big challenge. Fortunately, I have a great teacher :) Thanks, Ruth Wilshaw, for your Domestika course and daily inspiration to create!
Day 6 of #whimsicalByMamaminia art challenge.
I have been teaching myself stippling. This is a work in progress on a birch tree bark. I've always admired birches and have strong childhood connections with them. I am a keeper of some very fond memories of our summer house and three beautiful big birch trees in the yard. I could sit under them for hours: watching the delicate leaves dance in the summer breeze; watching them turn golden during autumn; feeling my way around on their uneven bark full of valleys and crevices.
