When I teach, it is only to the person who, as far as I can determine, was born with the temperament and mind of an artist. 

Every artist I have asked has told me that they knew they were an artist from the first moments of self knowledge, at the earliest age of memory.  This describes my students, all of whom have been children to this point. My aim is never to "teach them art."  Instead I focus on arming them with

the skills they'll need to be artists in this world. 

     These students all thought differently than most kids, saw things uniquely, expressed themselves oddly. So my "teaching" consisted of setting up easels side by side, where both of us could work simultanously, even if on different source images.  Sometimes we did this in the studio, sometimes in a forest, or on top of the city parking garage, or in an urban park.  I tried to lead them to discover how to see as an artist.     By and by, when the time was appropriate and the student open, I introduced various materials and discussed how they were used--technique, I suppose.  Together we would critique our work and talk about composition and color and then all the things that made the painting especially compelling.  

     Working outside in public would generate dialogues about others reactions to our efforts:  how others perceive our work and how we perceive their perceptions; what to do about not meeting others expectations, discovering our own expectations; how to be different.  This is my gift to the student.