Elaine Florimonte’s day often starts out over coffee in the morning while she touches base with some of her high school art students. They come in early to talk about the parallels between art and life and what to do when something goes wrong in a painting—philosophical stuff. “It’s a privilege to be present in their lives at these moments when 15 to 18-year olds are forming their identities,” she muses, “and I stay connected to about four or five each year, following their progress through college.” In the classroom Elaine teaches techniques and various media while coaching them through the standard processes of making art. Sometimes she picks up the brush and paints on her own canvas to get a point across, a technique she learned from one of her own teachers during her high school days. It was this particular teaching model that convinced her to study art and then become an art teacher herself.
Read moreDavid Alfuth: Bohemian Builder
"You are on your own now," said David Alfuth's father the day of David's graduation from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. David had a double major in drawing/painting and art history, and was equipped with teaching credits, so he was good to go. David took up the role of elementary art teacher in the Sheboygan school district for three years, enjoying the exuberance of children receptive to art - and, contrarily, putting up with the hard winters and enduring small town ordinariness. But the longing to travel finally caught up with him after his Triumph Spitfire sports car got stuck in the snow one too many times.
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