Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Liliya Colston. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Liliya, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
I teach art to children ages 6 and up. My program is called Art Time Party and my students are kids of different ages who register for after school classes at local schools or morning classes if they are homeschooled. Some of the sessions are six weeks and some of them are twelve weeks. Also I hold weekly Art & Science camps in summer. On weekends I do Art Birthday parties for children in their homes or other chosen venues. Every session or camp I get to work with different groups of kids and I never know who will return and who will not.
During those waiting periods I sometimes start thinking about having a regular job where I get to work with the same group of kids all the time. It’s quite natural to want to continue working with the same students that you know and love. It’s easy! For starters, you will learn their names, their personalities and their styles. That is one of the reasons I would think about a regular job.
Another reason is I like working and being busy teaching. It sounds better to me than just staying home and waiting for a new session to start.
This type of schedule makes sense only to me and could be quite challenging in the world of weekly or bi-weekly jobs.
Humans have a desire to fit in and have a lot in common with others. That’s why for years I wanted to work all the time and fill my gaps with work. That’s what I wanted in the past, but it’s not just hard, but almost impossible to find something to do for five weeks in winter, then one week in spring, and then two weeks in the beginning of summer.
Now because of Covid I started teaching online as well, so that gives me an opportunity to fill up my schedule. It still doesn’t quite fill all the time gaps, but it is an opportunity to have something going on to fill the void.
As you can see, no matter how difficult Covid was for me, because I couldn’t teach in person, I discovered that I could use an online format as well. Now I don’t need to wonder about having a regular job anymore.
Liliya, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
When my daughter was little I wanted her to take art classes. Unfortunately, there were no art classes for young children. So I started doing art classes for toddlers and preschoolers. That was about 20 years ago. My daughter grew and I stayed with my favorite age group – elementary. I have developed an educational program called Art Time.
Art Time develops creative thinking and fosters self-expression through art. Each class starts with a warm-up exercise that targets specific thinking skills and stimulates the creative process. Children then apply what they have just learned to the art technique presented that day. It is critical for creative thinking to explore Art through as many different media as possible. Art Time students work with a variety of high quality materials including soft/oil pastels, rice paper, foil, watercolors, acrylics, wax, charcoal, clay and much more!
Art Time is truly different from other art classes not only because it offers open-ended projects and teaches how to come up with new ideas, but also offers custom designed art projects and never repeats them! Children are fascinated with the fact that the majority of art projects are developed just for them and they get to be the first and only ones to do them.
Art & Science Camps are offered during summer.
Children learn basic science concepts through art experiences.
The Art & Science program appeals to a combination of the curiosity of science and the beauty of art.
Each day the students explore, manipulate and discover art & science through fascinating games, science experiments, and art projects.
If you are looking for a truly special way to celebrate your child’s birthday you came to the right place. Or any other occasion for that matter! It will be fun for children and a relaxing day for parents.
One and a half hours of structured activities will include two art projects and one game with music of your choice. The art projects are wax crayon melting on a ceramic tile and foil embossing. Finished projects are neatly packed in each guest’s personally decorated tote bag.
I teach all classes myself, where I can offer high quality instructions and over 25 years of teaching experience.
My belief is that art can benefit every child and provide them with necessary thinking skills for life.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Freedom is the most rewarding aspect. I would like to specify what type of freedom, and that is freedom to create. You and only you get to decide what art project, what medium, what artist your students will be learning about and when.
I have freedom to design my own art projects, and I do that. Majority of my art projects are custom. Art Time students know that I design some art projects specifically for them. If a class gets to do a project for the first time ever, they feel very special. It’s also a great example for your artist to know that it is quite possible to create your own art projects, pretty much the same way any successful artist does.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Yes, there is. My goal is to support and develop children’s creative thinking through art. The Art Time curriculum allows kids to exercise different ideas and approaches. Study shows that the majority of kids lose their creativity as they age. Considering the fact that almost everyone is born creative and then it’s just gone, I want to do something about it.
Society desperately needs and depends on creative problem solving. You might ask, what art has to do with it?
Creative thinking skills are helpful across all jobs, hobbies, interests; think about how being creative helps in engineering, cooking, fashion, music, and art of course. Once you think creatively, you can come up with different solutions in any industry. In fact, creative thinking skills can help you to study, clean, do everyday chores better and faster. Creative thinking is helpful anytime, anywhere.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://arttimeparty.com/index.html
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arttimeparty/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arttimeparty
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@arttimeparty5593