#12: Cassie Stephens: Being Fully Yourself

In March, I spoke with Cassie Stephens! Yes, THE Cassie Stephens, art teacher extraordinaire. If you don’t know her, just google her name. I have to admit, I was suuuuper nervous during this interview. Cassie is such an incredible art teacher and has been so generous in how she shares her knowledge and experience with the world via youtube, her podcast, her books, and now her instagram live series.

I tried to ask her about things she hadn't shared elsewhere and loved hearing about her own creative process and practice, including hesitation to just dive into new materials and techniques, learning to be ok with shifting passions, and the benefits of being a hoarder. Haha. She talked about scratching your creative itch and working your passions into your teaching to bring enthusiasm to the classroom.

It was also so refreshing to hear that despite seeming to magically produce an insane amount of content and fashion while teaching full-time, she is as human as us all and just has lots of projects going all the time, many of which take months or even years to complete.

Thank you so much, Cassie!!

I loved hearing such encouragement from her, from art-making to teaching to just hitting record right now. The more I think about it, the more I feel that her superpower is encouragement. Every time I watch her videos, I feel it - whether intended for kids or other art teachers, she beams enthusiasm and getting things done. She talked about allowing her passions and interests to change over the course of her life - going from oil painting to fashion - and being open to continued change.

Blog post with more links and images

Cassie's Blog

Cassie's Youtube

@cassie_stephenz on Instagram

Cassie Stephens Art on Facebook

@cassiestephens on Twitter

Cassie's podcast (or search her name in your favorite podcast app)

Favorite Lessons for Home Based Art Ed

Chris Uphues Lesson we talked about as a way for kids to process and share emotions. This lesson focused on happiness, but as we mentioned in the podcast, allowing for any emotion to surface and come out can be cathartic.

Book: Clay Lab for Kids

Book: Stitch & String Lab for Kids

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