Most of you know that I've been teaching at EncaustiCamp for the past few years and that I'll be there again in July, this summer. Well, I got a wonderful e-mail this morning from one of my former students there. Her name is Debbie Supplitt and she is a middle school teacher. Which leads me to mention that EncaustiCamp is now accredited for continuing education. We've always attracted a number of qualified teachers and expect that will continue or increase now.
So I'll let Debbie tell the story in her own words. Here is the e-mail exactly as I received it. The photographs are all hers with a little cropping from me here and there.
HI Judy,
Well, I just completed my third Master's degree, and wrote my entire thesis on: Fused: A Study of Cultural Encaustic Art, History, and Educational Strategies for Middle School Art Students. The study basically was introducing middle school students, grades seventh and eighth, to encaustics. Sooooo, I secured funding to purchase the setup for an entire encaustics lab to support 28 students for three periods a day for nine days. 85 people, including me, doing encaustics. Plus, the heat pallets, heat guns, (no torches that's a no-no in the schools) brushes, tins and medium were supported with a PTA grant and District funding of over $3,000.
The super cool thing about this project that the encaustics lab becomes mobile and travels from site to site allowing each middle school art teacher to introduce encasutic art to their students. A total of over 1,400 middle school students could know all about encaustics before the end of the year, or next.
We had a teacher inservice where we introduced basic encaustic skills. They were a bit overwhelmed, so I think we need a few more sessions of fun to develop the skill base.
Okay so the one of the ubber cool things about this is that when I was in your class during EncaustiCamp One, you whip out the Fayum mummy protraits. First thing I blurt out was...."These aren't Egyptians" your response was "Yes they are". Wowzers, how can this be? So I started to research the Fayums, root source, blah blah blah and low and behold, remembering my conquest routes of the ancient Greeks and Alexander, and of course who could forget that tall dark handsome Mark Anthony who screwed his way towards the conquest of Rome by a seduction of one beautiful Queen Cleopatra. Which was as we know it the Fall of the Egyptian Empire...awwww....now I connected the dots....flash light bulb goes on. Thus the birth of my Thesis Study. All because of you, so Thank-you for once again, your inspiration.
Ubber cool thing #2...so I send Trish a few visuals of the product that the students created (attached) and she donates her extra kits and medium to our program....holy smokes. We are in medium for the rest of the year. So generous, so very cool.
So this is a humungo Thank-you from the bottom of my heart...without you my Masters degree from Boston University would have taken a different path.
Creatively Yours,
Debbie Supplitt M.A.Art Ed./M.Ed. (impressive initials after my name....whatever!)
Gosh this made me happy today. Who could have guessed the ripples would ripple out in such a way.
Art. It's my spiritual path.
And thank you for all those lights as I drive through the dark, rainy streets this time of year. It has always represented hope to me; that the light is always there in the darkness and that if we can just be patient renewal will come. Season's Greetings. Love your neighbor. xo
