Art Curriculum Publications

When Barry Stebbing harkens to 80 art students, “Pick up your brushes; we are going to paint,” they not only listen with intense interest, they perform with a willingness that charges the room with guided excitement.  And these are not older children with years of painting and drawing experience.  Many are under the age of eight and are embarking on art lessons for the first time.
The professional oil painter (and creator of How Great Thou Art Publications) continues his snappy approach to teaching: “Now I want you to mix a dot of blue paint with some white, and fill in the left square of the box.”  As he demonstrates on an overhead projector with colored pencils, hardly a sound is heard as children proceed with confidence and dexterity.  When done, they glance up to their newly discovered mentor in anticipation of the next phrase of instruction.  Mixing in a little more pigment, the students apply the next tone of blue to another side of the box to show how light and shadows aid in creating dept and various tones in a picture. 
Barry calls out the next step with a high degree of surety, respect, and confidence in his pupils; they respond with surety, respect, and confidence in their teacher.  The result unveils young, budding (and many blossoming) artists who have been given the opportunity, tools, and knowledge to venture into new realms of creativity.  This aspect of character and skill development is more than vital, explains the artist with a certain zeal often lacking in classrooms,  “Since we are made in the image of God (see Genesis 1:27), His creative power must be cultivated with each person in order to reveal His true character to others.”  With ever-building convictions among parents regarding the value of creative thinking, Barry sees what he terms “a major revival in the arts.”