After jumping out of airplanes as an Army Ranger, serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, and becoming a father of two sons, Paul Schmidt admits to being more afraid to put his art out into the world than he was to face any of life’s other challenges. On Wednesday, at the invitation of Sarah Garner, Lower School Art Teacher, Mr. Schmidt spoke with the Lower School about his approach to art, how he got his creative start as a young artist, and how to overcome the fear of other people judging their artwork. Following his presentation, he worked with fourth-grade students on pieces inspired by his work.
Mrs. Garner discovered Mr. Schmidt’s work at the St. Louis Art Fair in Clayton, where he had a booth. Mrs. Garner knew that Mr. Schmidt’s artistic style and thoughtful approach to creating his pieces would make him a great artist to visit our Beasley students. Noting the artistry with which soccer players use to play the game and the years of practice and discipline that goes in to becoming a professional soccer player, Mr. Schmidt encouraged the students to see art everywhere (even on the soccer field) and not to get discouraged and give up when an idea doesn’t work.
To help students better apply that message, Mr. Schmidt shared his five rules for making a “masterpiece.”
- Make at least one thing better every day
- Make people feel important
- Effort creates opportunity
- Learn from mistakes
- It takes a TEAM
After explaining his rules, Mr. Schmidt hoped the rules would inspire our Beasley students to become more confident artists and use them to help make themselves better, and the world better in turn.
