– student trainee

The Sight Deficiencies General School, 5th and 6th Grades, Cluj-Napoca, 2001 – 2002
Classes of Mrs. Felicia Predescu

My objectives were:

• overcoming the pupils’ technical and psychological difficulties through plastic art educational experiments;
• creativity, educational playing, empathic communication.

My artistic background made me appreciate sight and good vision as one of the most precious gifts from God.

By helping blind and almost blind children see through art, with their hands and using their imagination under my guidance, I considered myself becoming not only a better artist and teacher, but also a better human being.
These children were not only experiencing severe sight problems or even blindness, but they also came from desorganized families that lead to difficult behaviour. I went beyond all these problems and captured their attention using playful artistic experiments to make them feel free and capable of overcoming their condition.

I used different materials to challenge all their senses, including soft and hard materials and the thermal metamorphosis of polyurethane foam. Children evolved from skepticism to enthusiasm.
This is one example: “Cupid“

It only takes a doll to get a little smile on a girl’s face.

Here are some more examples of children’s creativity and ingenuity:

Children with complete vision loss enjoyed creating figurines by “drawing” the details with beans, feathers, polar and beads, and then pressing the hot, growing polyurethane foam above those objects through a thin plastic layer, later removed.

They also played with plasticine, creating different animals with various textures.

My psychological and teaching skills made me obtain best results out of the most difficult children. Other teachers were tempted to threaten the unobedient children with punishments, while I succedeed in getting very nice and interesting works, completing my job and going home surrounded by coloured baloons painted with smiley faces by the most difficult children.

I have recently been invited to teach some children in Eindhoven how to paint icons on glass, and I have several other creative projects on my mind. I am looking forward to it.

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