Roots

I love art, and I especially love teaching art. That's why I love spring semester so much. I tie in more culture, and although I love music, it's hard to do higher order thinking (something the state pushes) with songs. SO...I do art. I wanted to really draw the students in and get them interested in such a vital part of a culture, so naturally I began with Frida Kahlo. She is by far my favorite. Yes, I know, she was a bisexual. But I think that makes her work so much more awesome. I believe we would have been friends...though I would've had to make my views very clear to her.

Roots by Frida Kahlo

I only showed five paintings, but this one is one of my favorites. It's called Roots, and it really speaks to me. My students loved it because they can relate to being connected to something. To being grounded to something even they may wish otherwise. I could read it on their faces...some were wishing they weren't born and raised in the projects or to have parents that deal drugs. I saw it in their faces because I know their backgrounds. And it makes me think of my background, my roots. Being raised on a farm in Nashville...I have no words to describe the feeling it brings to me when I think about it. Every wonderful word you can think of describes how I feel about my roots.

My roots--Solid Rock Farm



My biological roots. Mom and Dad in high school. Weren't they lovely? Dad + Mom = ME

Have you thought about your roots lately? (and I'm not talking about your hair)