Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun is a tone poem by Claude Debussy that he later re-worked into a performance for two pianos. The work, as most of Debussy’s compositions is impressionistic in nature. Think Claude Monet.

This week, our fourth breath of fall, our resident art and music teacher, Master Taylor, offered this piece of copy, “Prelude to the afternoon of a faun,” when I explained the project. It came to him lightening fast.

“My goal is to give my students the tools to assist in bringing their ideas to life through their art.” ~Master Taylor

There is a mechanics to art—a way to hold the pencil and how much pressure to apply. We are taught small finger movements to handwrite. In art we are taught to use the arm to assist in drawing a line as opposed to fingers. Wrist and arm movements can assist in making bigger lines. Learning the mechanics of art is skill learning. Taylor plans on teaching these skills and techniques, getting down to the basic elements of art. He will assist students in slowing down or in his words, “settling down” into the process of art-making to inspire students to make beautiful, important work, that is authentically theirs. Notice the connection between writing and art? In both we talk about  s l o w i n g  down, doing less but better, doing it well. This all takes time. It’s all important. It’s your work.  It’s your idea.  It matters. We want your work to be yours. We just want to support you in building your toolkit to get your idea where you want it to be. The possibilities are endless.