Laura Daub - Art Classes

Private and Semi-Private Children’s Art Classes
West End Ottawa Art Studio

Private and Semi-Private Teen and Adult Art Classes
West End Ottawa Art Studio

Look What I Made! Children’s Birthday Parties
In Your Home!

Elementary School and Children’s Program Visits
Ottawa and Surrounding Areas

What different types of Art Lessons are available to my child in Ottawa?

There are so many group workshops and visual arts lessons offered in the Ottawa area in all facets of the arts, whether in pottery, drawing, painting, etc and these are amazing and I believe to be such an integral part of a child’s learning and growing experiences.

In my opinion, an exposure to visual arts is no less important as any creative skill, whether playing an instrument, writing stories, playing hockey or soccer, or learning how to swim and I believe in many cases, absolutely necessary to feed a child’s inherent passion for the arts and creativity!

Exposing children to visual arts promotes creative thinking, problem-solving and aids in mastering fine motor skills, but nurturing a love for fine arts and crafts to children also allows them to explore their imaginations and express their creativity in all aspects of life. Group lessons are wonderful for this and I attended many of these throughout my life and would highly recommend them for any child who might show an interest in dabbling in visual arts!

The City of Ottawa offers a huge selection of art lessons as I’m sure you are aware of and there are several other places you can visit or drop in for crafts and arts around the Ottawa area as well. Here are my top recommended links for amazing group art lessons and workshops for your information:

The Ottawa School of Art - In the Ottawa Byward Market

The City of Ottawa, which includes classes offered at the Shenkman Arts Centre, the Nepean Creative Arts Centre, the Nepean Visual Arts Centre and Arts Court.

For parents who may be looking for one-on-one instruction for their child who has a a serious passion in the Arts and is looking to further explore their talents, I offer Private and Semi-Private Art lessons for children and teens in my studio!

FAQ - Laura Daub Private and Semi-Private Art Lessons

I think my child is artistically talented and I’m wondering if he/she might benefit from your private art lessons?

First off, you might want to know a bit about my background! For the past 12 years, my career has been solely devoted to the field of education, where I started as a part-time faculty member teaching adults at the college level and in the coordination of several Media and Design college programs. In that time I also spent years as an Academic Manager concentrating on Program and Curriculum Development, which allowed me to further my knowledge in up-to-date teaching methodologies to facilitate successful student learning. This experience, combined with my background as a life-long learner and enthusiast of the arts, now allows me to work with children (and their parents) and adult learners to help them see the full benefits of exploring their creativity to the fullest! As far as my learning experiences in the arts, my formal education was in Fashion Design, where I had an award winning final collection and my passion lied in fashion illustration, as well as in Media and Design as a Multimedia Web Specialist. I also have completed home décor/design related training, as well as many classes in fine arts.

Over the years I have learned that there are many children who are artistically-inclined and some who are really quite gifted in the arts, whether it is in music, literature or visual arts or new technology/media. If your child is like me when I was growing up (and like my daughter)… these are children who shut themselves up in their rooms to draw, children who love to attend art lessons, children who are always working on some creative drawing, painting or craft when they have time to themselves, children who love to fill up sketchbooks and use every bit of extra paper in the house, children who prefer to get art supplies for special occasions over anything else, and of course, children who seem to draw some pretty amazing drawings for their age… then private visual art lessons may be for your child and these are the children who benefit greatly from my classes!

On a personal level, my daughter was deemed as “gifted” in grade 3 and the notes on her Individualized Education Program (IEP) file states she is gifted in “Artistic Expression”. At that time, her school did not have space in the gifted program for her and there was disappointingly very little done by the school on her IEP to work with her on expressing her artistic talents from grades 4 - 8, until she went to high school where she really flourished in the arts and has now far surpassed me with her art talent, I admit! I like to think that throughout these years, I have successfully worked with her, whether from the sidelines, by encouragement on her artwork and by helping her with her portfilio requirements for submission to her current arts high school and I believe this experience combined with my work in education demonstrates my abilities in working with artistic children to help them realize and reach their artistic goals.

For tips on how to nurture your artistic child’s passion for the Arts, please do check out my blog post on the subject!

What are the benefits of taking Private Lessons with you?

Teaching the love of art and creativity has always been a passion of mine and something that has always been a part of my life and my children’s lives. Although I have chosen to work with an illustrative style done mostly in watercolours in the past couple of years, I have years of experience working with and dabbling in all aspects of fine arts and crafts, including print-making, pottery, watercolours, oils and acrylics, calligraphy, design, computer-generated design, web design, paper arts, textile arts, etc. I nurture a love for fine arts and crafts to children using only artist-grade materials, tools and supplies and I teach children the fundamentals which are absolutely necessary to learn to move on to more intermediate and advanced techniques that we explore. This combined with one-on-one instruction or semi-private lessons tailored to your child’s interests and abilities in a positive, fun, comfortable and creative atmosphere, allows artistically-inclined children to flourish as artists. I tend to compare it to private piano lessons for children… learning how to read and play musical notes with one-on-one instruction is widely accepted as imperative for learning the foundations and allows for growth as a musician, so as it is the same with learning visual arts and wanting to become an artist.

Do you realize that my daughter’s abilities are apparent because you’ve created this very supportive, encouraging and relaxed studio? I was showing her sketch book to my brother and commenting that my daughter’s sketches were so much better when you were doing your “background chatter”. My brother said “Sounds like everyone will draw better with Laura.” ~ from one of my student’s parents!

Why do you offer Semi-Private Lessons?

I do offer Semi-Private Lessons as well on occasion, as in many cases, children with artistic ability and passion for the arts, attract each other! It just makes sense that like attracts like! If your child plays hockey, their best friend probably also plays as well! Even if these friends may not be at the same skill level, their passion for the arts may be suitable for semi-private lessons and they may benefit from working together and encouraging each other! Like my private lessons, these are also tailored to your child’s interests and skill levels. Occasionally, I have seen siblings with the same artistic passion and they would maybe find a common interest, not to mention a bonding experience in coming together!

Please contact me if you would like to book any Look What I Made! Private and Semi-Private Lessons or if you would like more information. Winter 2012 Classes are held in my West End Ottawa Art Studio off Greenbank Rd (between Baseline and Hunt Club), but I do travel for birthday parties and workshops.

Happy Creating!

Laura Daub

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an 
artist once he grows up.
~ Pablo Picasso