2/10/07 One of the Progressive movements most prominent figures is taken to task in a recent book by Henry T Edmondson entitled: John Dewey and the Decline of American Education. One of the first educational practices to fall under the pressure of the movement  was rote learning: developing and retaining knowledge and skills through repetition.

“We are what we repeatedly do.” 
-- Aristotle

I am convinced that there is no better way -- in fact, no other way -- to develop basic skills except through rote learning  -- regular correct practice over time. What is true in the fields of music, sports, language arts, etc. is true of art. The more often we repeat an activity, the better we become at it. Rote learning, contrary to the prevailing attitudes in public education, is not a "boring" activity that should be avoided ( It is commonly referred to as “drill and kill”). In fact, rote learning can be carried out in ways that make it stimulating and enjoyable. There are four potential problems to avoid relative to rote learning but that are not aspects of rote learning, as many educators have mistakenly assumed. These problems are thus seldom correctly addressed and are usually confused with one another. I am talking about strain, boredom, tedium, and inconsistency.

People become strained when they set their daily goals too high, too far above their comfort zones, which causes their resolve to eventually wear down. Who wants to put up with misery on a regular basis? I think the best way to handle this problem is to take the misery out of it. Try scheduling lessons of no more than 10 or 15 fifteen minutes per day or every other day or even once a week. Avoid trying to move too quickly through the program. Also, remember that it is the regularity of practice that matters most, not the length. Once you get used to a reduced routine and a more relaxed pace, and once you see the results that occur over time, your experience of strain will be replaced by the satisfaction that comes with accomplishment.

The main cause of boredom is under-stimulation, working on things that are too easy for you, on activities that present you with few challenges, that occupy too few of your resources. In this program, it is important to always work on a level of difficulty that you find both challenging and manageable, on tasks that are just a little, but not too far, beyond your comfort zone. Another important cause of boredom is performing below your capabilities. If your performance is sub-par, your enjoyment and personal satisfaction diminish and you are getting nothing in return for your efforts but guilt and discomfort -- which most people tend to blame on the activity rather than their own level of performance.

Tedium is caused by a lack of variety. People who tend to be compulsive, tend to have problems with tedium. The antidote to tedium is to change activities, to start an entirely new activity or alternate from one to another. If tedium is a problem for you, you might consider adding other types of art activities to your lessons, spending part of your time on skill development, which this program provides, and the remainder of the time on other projects from other sources that specialize in exploratory activities and inventive creativity, if that is your interest. Or you may alternate your artistic practice with an entirely unrelated activity, like reading (read for 10 minutes, draw for 10 minutes, etc. Or you might simply take short breaks occasionally. The point is to recognize the problem when it arises and make a change in your routines.

Inconsistency of practice may be caused by some of the above problems -- which take the enjoyment out of the activity and causes you to avoid it -- or some personal tendency toward inconsistency that has to be changed. If you are one of those people who undertake activities with enthusiasm and then slack off when the enthusiasm wanes, you can use this program to overcome that pattern. Simply identify the reason for this tendency and make an adjustment. If it is for one of the reasons described above, follow the above suggestions that make sense to you. If you stopped practice for none of the above reasons -- in other words, even though you enjoyed it, the obvious solution is to start working again whether you feel like it or not. As you probably already know, once you start, you will be glad you did. I personally cannot remember ever regretting doing something that I had an interest in and knew was good for me.


Home-Study Student Notes

4/15/06 St. Norbert College’s first art exhibition of the year will be held in the Baer Gallery in the Bush Art Center and will feature the drawings of my former student, Pete Poplaski.  It opens August 29^th and runs through September 16^th.  Pete will be present at a reception for the show and a book signing tentatively scheduled for September 8^th.  (Check with me later for the finalized date.)  His book is entitled: “The Sketchbook Adventures of Peter Poplaski”.

3/10/06 Former student, Peter Poplaski is finally getting the recognition he deserves.  In May or June of this year, Kitchen Sink Press will be publishing a book of Pete’s drawings entitled “The Sketchbook Adventures of Peter Poplaski”. In addition to being one of the top drawers in the world, he is one of the most multi-talented artists working today: a first rate and famously versatile illustrator, courtroom artist, portraitist and cartoonist. He worked as an inker for Marvel Comics and Superman DC, designed the poster for the French version of the film Zorro and even did a series of cartoons for Bazooka Joe bubble gum.  He is an outstanding oil painter as well.  I am currently in discussion with Denis Kitchen of Kitchen Sink Press regarding a possible lecture and book-signing for Pete at St. Norbert College.

3/10/06 Former student, Troy Landwehr appeared on the David Letterman Show Wednesday night, February 2^nd.  Troy is one of the country’s top cheese carvers.  His assignment on the show was to carve a bust of Biff, one of Letterman’s “reporters”, in cheddar cheese.  Troy, who took my classes through high school, is also an accomplished carpet carver and owns and operates a winery in Appleton.

11/1/05  Former student Aaron Renier has published a “graphic novel” composed of his own original cartoon characters. Here is an excerpt from a published review: "Top Shelf has a real winner with Aaron Renier's delightful, action-packed graphic novel for all ages… Spiral-Bound is entertaining without being didactic and is highly recommended for all youth graphic novel collections within public and school libraries. Even adult readers will identify with the angst experienced by the loveable characters and celebrate the happy resolution of the mystery." -- Jeannine Wiese, Ingram Library Services .  Aaron had a book signing at the Barnes and Noble store in Green Bay recently.

2/4/03 Simeon Denbaes is the first of my correspondence students to graduate from Level 6. Simeon lives in Belgium and credits the course with helping him pass a national art test. I have never heard of a national art test before and would like to know more about it.

11/27/01 Local student, Sally Berner's painting entitled: "Happy Thanksgiving" won first place in the Artist Magazine's annual national competition (out of 12,000 entries). It is featured in the November issue of the magazine.

11/27/01  A student wrote to me of her family's experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) where she and her husband are missionaries. She sometimes had to do her lessons by candle light and kerosene lantern and lost some of her art materials when invading soldiers looted the home where her family's belongings were stored.

11/27/01 This summer I was privileged to meet and instruct Elizabeth Ehmann (a long-time home-study student from Vermont) and to meet her father and sister. The Ehmanns were in Green Bay for a week so Elizabeth could take classes from me and attend a day-long landscape painting workshop. She also joined me for life-drawing and portrait sessions at the local university. (Elizabeth is currently featured in The Gallery section).

I welcome your comments and any news you may have that would be of interest to art students.

Sincerely,

John Gordon
Director, Gordon School of Art