piquant: Teaching Art

1988 - Married to Rositah a.k.a.Eta, a sweet and charming fine art classmates, after five years of courtship. We started our married life in the recession era, where we set up a small gallery name Kiara Galeri At Taman Tun Dr Ismail. To supplement our income we have art classes catering to children ages from five to seventeen. It responded well where we have around forty students attending the six sessions on every saturday and sunday.
One of our favourite students that is famous now is Lah a.k.a Abdullah Ahmad from the boy group 'VE' when he was nine years old.
Our love for children and the arts spark our interest in teaching arts to the young, where Eta ends up going through an art teachers diploma(ATD) at UiTM(still teaching art at a secondary school).
As for me, it started me teaching art part time at UiTM.

1988-1992: Fashion Illustration at Fashion Design,School of art and design. UiTM,Shah Alam:
This is a figure drawing session meant for the final year fashion design students. It lasted seven semesters, and bring out big names in the local fashion industry such as Rizalman and Ridzuan Radziwill.

1992-1995: Visual Research , Foundation year, School of Art and design. UiTM,Shah Alam:
Introduction of visual art and its elements to the first year students before they embark into a specific visual arts discipline. I enjoyed teaching the first year students, because of their fresh and naive mind.Their mind and heart is like a blank canvas as far as art and life is concern.

1995-1997:
'Contextual studies' and 'Design concept', Limkokwing Institute of Creative Tech.
This is the only two years in my life that I have a full time teaching job,together with college friends, Akif, Tengku Sabri, Suhaimi, Nasir Baharuddin and Bob Nazaruddin.
This subject is very interesting where we deals with creative thinking , research, problem solving and expression. I left LICT because I'm a person that can't be tied down.
However much I love teaching here, I miss my freedom. Another interesting factor about teaching here is that the students are multi racial compared to UiTM.

Leaving LICT, I join the residency at The artist Colony at the KL Craft Complex.
A year at the colony, I was invited by The Faculty of Performing Arts (now known as Faculty Of Creative Technology)
2000-2005: 'Visual Arts' This is another introductory to visual Arts, but this time to the performing arts degree students in theatre, filming and art management.Here it lasted for eleven semesters until they have their full time lecturers back from overseas.
My- ex students that make it to fame in the industry are names like Anding, Iqram Dinzli and Farid Kamil Ariffin to name a few. I was also offered a full time teaching job but declined because
by this time, no amount of money can buy my freedom.

2007 till now:
I was again offered by the Faculty Of Art and Design to handle' Fashion Illustration' again and this is my fifth semesters in my second tour of duty with the Fashion Faculty.
While teaching Fashion Illustration, I was also offered to teach Figure Drawing For the Degree students in Animation at The Faculty of Creative Technology.
This is a figure drawing session, that is one of my passionate subject in my own art itself.

At the same time , I was also involved with children's art classes organised by Perbadanan Putrajaya. A three month, weekly programme for children from five to twelve. Here is another programme that I truly enjoyed, where I am able to share my love in arts with the young ones. To me, the younger we are, the more artistic our expression is.
I also conduct art session for foreign students once in a while at the colony and sometimes gave house call to the expatriates children around K.L

Teaching art is very close to my heart, because apart from having the chance to be involved in developing the young mind, it also teaches you more. The more you teach, the more you learn.