t u i t i o n s t o r y
I never planned to become a children's art tutor, but it's a job I truly adore and this is how it happened...
2013
I graduated from Loughborough University in the summer of 2013. I had been offered a graduate internship at uni, but wasn't well enough to take it on so I moved back home to mum and dad. I genuinely had zero job prospects and my health was bad, my pain was horrendous. I started volunteering at a Montessori nursery, and loved doing art with the kids (cute fact: whilst there I met some of my now students, who knew I'd still be working with them 11 years later!!) I tried to apply for a PGCE course to train to be a primary school teacher, but I knew I wasn't well enough to actually do the course, let alone manage the job at the end...so I was back to square one. This is when I started to build up my illustration business, and continued doing a few hours at the nursery helping kids create art. I also used to work one-to-one with a few of the children and tried to encourage them to express their emotions through art - this was vital preparation for my current job as a Creative Mentor for The Mighty Creatives.
2014
I went on to get a job at a nearby primary school as an after school club assistant - it was just two hours a day so it was manageable. I met some wonderful kids but hated the job! I felt so inferior because I was doing what felt like a silly little job, when I knew I had high ambitions to do much more, it was insanely frustrating. I stayed at this job for a good few months, and continued doing some commission illustrations alongside it. The school job then started to develop into more of an art role, and I was able to specifically help the kids with their artwork and creativity instead. I loved this!! In my free time I did a LOT of art with my little cousin, she was four at the time and she became my first (unofficial) student I suppose.
2015
This is the year I started planning workshops and spent ages creating every topic under the sun that I could advertise to adults and children! I found a local tearoom that were open to hosting workshops, and this became the perfect setting! I advertised in the local newspapers and put flyers everywhere, I hated the humiliation of going into shops and asking them to stick my flyers in their windows - it was so embarrassing. People came to the workshops though! I was terrified, I'd never done anything like it before and then I was learning on the spot how to teach groups of adults how to create a family portrait or paint a flower. I loved the children's classes, we created imaginary worlds and illustrated storybooks and I found I worked really well with kids. The workshops utterly killed my back though, and I'd inevitably be stuck in bed for the rest of the day (week...) after the session. Around this time I also started doing visits in local schools and showed children how to draw characters and create different typography styles. This was so much fun, and I met two girls there that I still teach now!
2016
The tearoom workshops continued, and I began to get a group of regular kids that attended each one super enthusiastic about learning something new! I loved planning the themes for each session, but the physical side of hosting workshops really killed me - I needed so much help carrying my art materials around. I also found groups super weird, because I'd have some really advanced kids that wanted very specific guidance, and then others just wanted to mess around and experiment. I found this variation really hard to manage, which is probably why I'm good at delivering one-to-one tuition! I also started adult workshops at another local cafe (they did amazing cakes!) and I was restricted to much smaller groups which suited me! The most significant thing to come from 2016 was that I started one-to-one tutoring! One day I got a random message from a man called Roy saying he'd seen my flyers and asked whether I'd teach his 11 year old daughter privately. I said yes, then realised I'd NEVER done this before and didn't have a clue what I was doing. I owe so so much to Mia's family, without them who knows whether I'd have become a one-to-one art tutor! Mia's lessons always took place at her home, as this was before I had my own art studio, which seems mad to think back to!
2017
One private student became two, then three, then four! My workshop flyers paid off (despite the humiliation I felt about them!) as more and more people met me and asked me to teach their children privately. I LOVED it! I then begged my dad to make me an art studio (he was not impressed) but I needed a space. I did all of my commission orders in my bedroom, but if one-to-one tutoring was going to go anywhere, I needed a studio. Anyway, he eventually came round to the idea and him and Chris made me the most beautiful space! I still continued with the groups at the cafe (the one with the nice cakes) but I was able to start having students actually come to me for lessons! This took the pressure off my back and arms so much! I also had two work experience students come to my studio, which made me feel super professional! I gradually got more private students too (that I still teach nowadays!) but then I needed urgent heart surgery which put a spanner in the works. This surgery didn't go as expected and this made both my mental and physical health spiral, I coped with this by throwing myself into work and focusing on my students. I was so poorly but these kids kept me going, and I think that still applies now. I hosted a Christmas party for my students (all six of them!) and we even had a visit from Father Christmas, I was in my element! The kids had the best time and I love looking back at the photos. I really wasn't well at this time, but I was so grateful for my students and their parents, they gave me so much to live for. One positive was that I started to move away from workshops and focus purely on one-to-one lessons!
2018
My lessons continued and I had a few regular students that came to my studio every week (you'll see a lot of the same faces on the photos!!) I built up really strong relationships with each student and their families and I was finally starting to do something I truly truly loved! I felt genuinely happy in my work, which was great because I was having a LOT of problems with my heart/pacemaker which really affected me. I had heart surgery again this year, and it felt so special that after my time off to recover all of my students returned to the studio for lessons. I remember thinking that they'd probably never come back! Halfway through the year I set my focus on planning a Halloween party for my students, my student numbers had increased and I was super excited!! Mum, dad and Chris all helped me decorate the garden and we had the BEST time! Everyone dressed up, we had a pumpkin carving competition, a contest for the best outfit, a piñata and a stick the nose on the wicked witch game!
2019
Lessons carried on as usual in 2019! I gained more students (from word of mouth recommendations, rather than newspaper advertising!) and it was so much fun! I planned a pottery painting party for my students, and I was super excited to get them all together and do a fun activity! It was great, but kind of...awkward?! All of my students are used to having one-to-one time with me, and then they're faced with lots of other kids who also have one-to-one time, it created a weird atmosphere! As the year progressed we all started working on a wooden advent calendar, each student painted a different box with a festive design, then I filled it with chocolates ready for the 1st December!
2020-2021
2020 started well! I gave my students their own homework books with art tasks set every lesson for them to complete at home, and this went down really well! However then...Covid hit. At first no-one was overly concerned (early March) but the students started wearing gloves in lessons and I disinfected everything after each lesson. I couldn't wear gloves and I have heart disease so it was getting worrying, but we carried on for a week or so. My student Casey was the first to trial virtual lessons - his mum suggested it, and said that Casey could be the guinea pig! I quickly ordered a stand so that my camera could be positioned above my work. The first virtual lesson went really well, so all lessons became virtual from that point. I divided all of my art materials between my students so they all had good-quality paints to use at home. Virtual lessons continued throughout Covid, with occasional breaks where my students came to the studio and we wore masks and had a perspex screen between us (thanks to my dad for making this!) but virtual lessons were there for us to fall back on when the restrictions increased. We continued like this for 2020 and all of 2021, and the kids adapted so well. I noticed that a lot of students actually excelled in these lessons, perhaps because the camera overhead gave them a better view of my example art. The parents said their children really loved the virtual lessons, their kids weren't socialising normally and most weeks I was the only external person they spoke with, which was super touching. However, my business suffered a LOT, as was the case for many self-employed people, and a lot of students dropped out of lessons because they missed coming to the studio, which was understandable. I was so so proud of all of my students and how they coped with the pandemic.
2022
2022 continued in a similar way, we did virtual lessons and then studio (with precautions) when it was safe and permitted. I had a few new students join specifically for virtual lessons, and it was ideal for students that don't live locally! I started working at a local school this year, and hosted art sessions for the kids. It as fun, but definitely not ideal as a long-term venture. Also, my work with The Mighty Creatives started during 2022 and that gave me a whole new opportunity! I started working with looked-after kids and made some amazing connections. I found it hard at first to adapt though, the children I mentored through the charity all had really tough personal situations to deal with and it took a lot of mental strength to hear about their lives. I love that I've built so many connections though, both privately and through The Mighty Creatives.
2023
My students just kept getting better and better! 2023 was the first year since covid that things felt like they were improving - my virtual students LOVED their lessons, and I really like having the mix of studio and virtual students. The kids tackled more and more challenging creative tasks and I started making certificates for them which they loved (why hadn't I done this before?!) We tried some really cool projects this year: painting on trainers with leather paints, tie-dyeing, Brusho (super messy!!) and ink explosions (my studio got covered in ink). I also helped students through their GCSE and A-Level art exams which was challenging but oh so rewarding. I think this was the year it dawned on me just how much the kids love the chat during art lessons - it's not just about 'art' - it's them building a relationship with someone that isn't a parent, a family member or a teacher. Its so strange, but I talk to my students more than I talk to my friends, we build such strong friendships! Towards the end of 2023 I started doing art with some of the residents at a local elderly care centre and built relationships with lots of 'grandads' I never knew I needed. 2023 was also the year that I applied for the Art Therapy Masters course, something I've been keen to do for aaaaages. I got offered a place at the University of Derby but wasn't well enough to do the course, which is so sad (urgh, disability strikes again) but you never know - maybe one day in the future it'll be manageable.
Thank you so much to the support I've received from my students and their families. Thank you also to The Mighty Creatives, and every single other person that has supported me along the way. When I left university I never ever thought that I'd have built such a magical career!
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