My Aunt Ronny

Growing up all of my favorite paintings in my childhood home were done by the same artist -- my Aunt Ronny. My Aunt Ronny is a fantastic artist (along with being an extremely accomplished equestrian rider). After teaching art for over twenty years in public schools, my Aunt recently had her first solo art show.

The show opened on March 14 at the Wallkill River School in Montgomery, New York. Her art was exhibited in the Patchett House, an old historic building. Besides my aunts's art, she also had a book of her art statements and accomplishments on display. One of my aunt's most important statetments is that: "Painting has helped me to learn about the world that I live in. I look forward to sharing these visual experiences."

When I first moved to Vietnam, my Aunt, being a teacher, gave me some advice. She told me: "Just remember to make it fun and you are the teacher not the friend." I've taken her words to heart this past year and applied them to my classroom. I've found that a fun classroom makes all the difference in energizing kids and adults to learn. Also, when you act as a teacher first, friendship often comes out of it.

Recently, when I asked my Aunt about her time teaching in public school she told me that, "I hope that I passed along something special to each and everyone of my students. Many times students would tell me that they would never make money studying art. I did tell them though that they would use art everyday...in just picking out their clothes...making choices with color. Arranging their rooms---spatial relationships...and the list goes on. I loved to teach art and I guess because I like to make art."

This upcoming week my Aunt's work will be in a group show at the ART STUDENTS LEAGUE on 57th Street. If you're in New York, stop by!

Here's some pictures of a few of my Aunt's paintings: