110 degrees magazine - Index

110 degrees magazine - 110° Magazine - July 2007 - Through the gates of Hell - Index

“art can often surprise
Montenez, who was principal at the
time, called me into the office and
offered me a paid position. Bill
Bristow, the Superintendent, said that
the children should be able to decompress;
to have fun.
“Teach fun art lessons,” he told me.
Well, sure!
As the district expanded, the length
of time I could spend in each class
shrank. For the first couple years I
taught an hour a week per child at the
Garin School. The staff at Brentwood
Elementary learned about it and I was
shared one semester at each school.
Last year I had a trimester at Garin,
Brentwood, Paul Krey, and Ron Nunn.
Anne Williamson taught at Loma Vista
and Pioneer. The two of us shared Garin
and Brentwood schools and rotated
among the others. Samantha Canto
began teaching art at Paul Krey and
Marsh Creek schools.
I’m getting into various kinds of art
projects, including creating illustrations
the artist
for a book by Jacki Irwin called Lewis,
the Little Brown Hamster. It took a while
to come up with a hamster that looks
different than other cartoon rodents,
but now Lewis looks unlike all the other
hamsters in the world.
Over the course of a couple decades
I attempted to complete a college
education but the demands of children
and family finally frustrated all
my efforts.
Teaching art to children is a
marvelous activity. I always call the children
“littles,” as in “Hello, Little.” That’s
the word my grandpa always called me.
I teach art history — from cave art
to modern. In one unit I was presenting
representational and abstract art
to a class of kindergarteners when
one of them suddenly blurted out,
“Finally! Some art I understand!” The
kid was born with some kind of
abstract art gene.
Even as children some of us know
what we want to be but often get side-
tracked as adults. I’m not side-tracked,
however. I’m doing what I’m supposed
to do. I’m touching the lives of children.
Some of them will not forget lessons
about art that they learned in my class.
A few will become artists and will
influence future generations by their
art. Perhaps I’m starting some wonderful
processes! The effects of my teaching
might continue reverberating
through the decades and even centuries
that lie ahead of us.
And there’s always the giclée and
those digital files. Centuries from now
perhaps someone living in that unimaginable
future will look at one of my
pictures and understand something of
what our East County was like in these
days, which by then will be gone beyond
the recall of memory.
That would be great! °
To see examples of Patricia’s work, go to
Frames-n-Things at 1145 Second Street,
Suite B, Brentwood.
Patricia Padama
Age: 56
Occupation:
Art Teacher, Artist
Place of Birth:
Sacramento
Local Residence:
Brentwood
Life Goal:
To create a series of
art books
July 2007 www.110mag.com 79