Ode to Sharon

The mixed media class I attended all year wound up this past Monday.  Sharon Williams instructed this all year class for the past 3 years and her water media all year classes for many more.  In future she will be offering classes of shorter duration and workshop format. 

I’ve been part of Sharon’s classes since September 2005.  I’m sorry to have missed Monday’s class [conflict with my oil painting class] but this poem written by my classmate and friend, Sally Hodges, sums up Sharon’s impact on her students.

Poem for Sharon Lynn Williams

An artist sat on a folding chair,

She held her paintbrush in the air.

“What would happen if?” she said,

And thought of the message on her fore-head.

“Repetition with Var-i-ety”

“This way I’ll find out what might be”

She said, never needing herself to coax

As she set to work with new, bold strokes.

“I’m gonna keep loose and take a risk”

Never had art seen one so brisk –

This lady was fast! This lady had powers!

And she painted on for hours and hours.

Now this artist took on lots of folks

Teaching them what was real and what a hoax.

She passed on her knowledge. She shared her skill

And taught that art needs people’s… will.

Her passion was contagious , her eye very sharp,

On the less than good she did not harp!

“Isn’t this exciting!” she’d often exclaim,

“We’re going to play the Waldo Game”.

So she mixed up quins and her favourite blue,

“Looking for the colours is what you do”.

“Now if you are stuck you simply say

‘What do I like, or not, today?

What do I need to leave or change?

Believe that you know how to gauge.

You can fix and change and choose

No rules of never, so there’s nothing to lose”

So her students worked ‘til they all could say

“How cool is that!”…like their teacher one day.

 

Great poem Sally!!!  I’d like to add my 2 bits worth in prose.. 

Sharon, You taught me a lot of things about art, among the most important was to accept constructive criticism.  That sounds like something that should have been in me already but, alas, I missed that part of my childhood education.  Assigning homework, and critiquing the results allows you to gauge where each student is.  Their response to critique gives you more information about how to help them [or not].  THAT is why I've learned so much under your tutelage.  I've taken several other classes and no other teacher has bothered to take those risks consistently, thus I haven't learned how they think and, consequently, how I should approach critiquing my own work.  THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

I count myself fortunate to have such a mentor and friend,

Cheryl