Distance Learning

Teaching students through Distance Learning is a really rewarding experience for me. People from all over the globe send me artwork to crit, following exercises I have written, and it's wonderful to share their learning experience. I get such amusing letters too - I have a few students in Australia, and one in particular, Yvonne (you knew it was you!) has me in stitches with her dry self criticism, including suggesting her egg-plant was hairy (which I hadn't noticed until she mentioned it) and hitting the bottle after a particularly tough assignment..! A common thread is that students are very hard on themselves - and while this is better than being over confident, I think its always worth remembering that while the goal may be self-improvement, the point has to be the pleasure in the production. So no matter how many aches and pains, we are all happy to be learning.
Here are some fabulous pieces from some Distance Learning students of mine.

                                Charcoal Mushroom, by A.W in Holland, a multi-talented lady.

                        Peony, water colour by Y.K, Australia. This painting was done while Yvonne attended a painting workshop in Ireland. On this day, she was joined by my regular Monthly Monday students, who moan accusatorily every month that its all my fault they're 'rusty', grumble mutter moan groan.. Yvonne, who was using her trip to get to know the locals, was most dismayed at this, until after lunch, because by then, they had all settled down, ceased their worrying, and began (quietly!) producing wonderful paintings. Just like always. A double learning experience for Yvonne!

 I am always so impressed at students dedication - it is much harder to work alone at home than in a group at a class or workshop. But some people live in far away inaccessible places making distant learning a great option. Most send work on line, but one Australian student lives remotely without internet access (something which we take for granted!) so posts me her artwork. I feel so honoured that her wonderful drawings come all the way around the world for me to appreciate them.

            Fantastic Colour Pencil drawing, all the way from Australia.. By Distance Learning student N.B

And today I had an email from one student in Wales, on receipt of her crit - she said 'Hi Julie, I just quickly read through your crits and now want to leave the office and go home and paint! I can almost smell it and touch it. Can't wait for the weekend.'

Charcoal drawing, SB, student, Wales.

           Water colour pencil (above) and Pepper in Oils (below), both by G.G, County Kerry, Ireland.

I had an email enquiry recently asking about my distance learning, from a lady in Dublin called Ciara. Unfortunately, you didn't give your email address, so I can't reply - please do email me directly so I can send you information, thank you.

For information on all my courses email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk