I’m Eilee George, and I am an art teacher and tutor offering lessons in the Greater Denver area. The index of lessons is just below this initial information for you about my background and philosophy as a teacher. If you want to see the lesson list, skip three paragraphs to the bold heading: “General Art and Related Lessons”.

I was certified as a K-12 educator in Missouri in the 90’s; I have a BSEd in Art from Missouri State University. I have additional studio, art business and shop training in my Associate of Applied Arts degree from a now defunct Art Institute (one of many school-victims of corporate greed, not of inadequacy). In that I studied Industrial Design Technology, enhancing all of my fine arts experimentation. I have now lived in Colorado for almost 20 years, where, for some time, production held a higher priority than teaching in a public classroom setting–but I have always tutored, and love the custom-tailoring I can offer to 1-4 students at a time; it is more fulfilling for my students as well. Not knowing the age of whomever is visiting my site (and is interested in this subject matter), I will teach with my normal vocabulary; an understandable risk in a situation of anonymity. I chose this way because my teachers and my mother proved early on that it is pointless to talk down to children; they are very bright and capable when you show that you believe in them, and the dictionary is their friend! Baby-talking discourages growth; kids are amazing, well-equipped learners with brains in optimal mode for devouring knowledge! My vocabulary also makes the lessons more palatable for adult learners, who really hate being talked down to – not surprising! I believe in elevating and empowering all of my students.

Art teaches higher, more intuitive thinking skills than those that are typically utilized in English, History, Math and sometimes even Science, which focus more on the lower three levels. The lower three levels are Knowledge(rote memorization), Comprehension (understanding what you know), and Application (using what you know). The upper three are Analysis (describing what you know and how it is used), Synthesis (adapting knowledge and principles of application to unrelated areas from where you learned them), and Evaluation (assessing and improving the knowledge and applications as you observe and can better implement them). A good art class will work in all six levels through each unit.

I am a strong supporter of DBAE or Discipline-Based Art Education. It involves four key components: Art Production, Art History, Art Criticism, and Aesthetics. Creating art gets enhanced when integrating these other aspects; you learn to create in a context to the past that built up to your present; to develop taste and discernment. All of this works together to produce a better artist.

And now, the lessons!