Both Sides Now: New or Retired Teacher Propectives by Deb Rosenbaum

Hangin' with Calder

Both Sides Now New or Retired Teacher Perspectives

by Deb Rosenbaum Artist and Former Visual Arts Director Denver School of the Arts, DPS

I’m up to my ears in collage work. For a change, I’m immersing myself in a specific media and making loads of images, watching to see their evolution and the direction to go next. They always start with something — an image, a color, a scrap of interesting paper — and then the work evolves from that. Found figurative poses often suggest an action and then a story.

My composition and design sense kicks in and I keep going, experimenting: trying different papers, moving stuff around, determining a focal point. The concepts I taught in the classroom are automatic but, from time to time, I note their conscious use, and note their truth, considering myself lucky to have them at my disposal. A narrative often develops which demands further clarification/additions to the work to give depth to the story. I found some beautiful rusted paper I made in a Penland class thirteen years ago. What was I saving it for? This!

I remind myself this isn’t precious, to take risks and ask, “What if I…?”

Did my classroom work make me a better artist? Am I more thoughtful about what I do, the process, the steps? Did all those years of teaching store and cement the techniques, principles, and theories for my concentrated retirement making? Yes, it was and is a retirement asset/investment. •