Hi. My name is Melanie. I'm a working artist, illustrator, and art educator. I graduated from Auburn University, then trained classically for a few years before launching my career as a contemporary realist painter. I spent a decade doing portraits and gallery work before transitioning into the field of Illustration. I've illustrated products, children’s books, surface patterns, and prints. I've been teaching at metro Atlanta art schools since 2007. Currently, I'm in the middle of working on my Master's degree in Art Education from Piedmont University. 

I'm thrilled to be back at The Premo School for another year. I love coming alongside students, helping them discover their artistic voices, and encouraging kids to engage in playful curiosity while making art.

When I'm not busy making art, you can find me snuggling my dog, hiking with my husband, or dominating [destroying] my three kids in competitive four-square. 

 Visit MelaniePonchot.com to check out my studio and illustration work. 

The world is full of beauty: Art education begins with an ability to recognize it. Students grow as artists when they cultivate a desire to create the kind of beauty they're already seeing in the world around them. As Mary Oliver puts it: “Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” Teachers should train kids to notice the beauty of the surrounding world to reflect on it.

Learning to draw is learning to see: A good art educator equips students with observational drawing skills. “What I have not drawn I have never really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing, I realize how extraordinary it is, sheer miracle” (Frederick Franck). Drawing is an extension of “seeing, " enabling students to process the visual world. It is the foundation for all artistic expression.

Art is fun: Regardless of age, students grow best when they can find a sense of play in their work. A good art educator should help students discover the fun in their work and allow curiosity to pave the path to discovery and exploration.

Art is a process: Many students struggle to believe they can produce with their hands the beauty they can imagine in their minds. Step one in overcoming this barrier is embracing art as an iterative process. A good art educator helps students appreciate the discovery of what does not work just as much as what does. A good art educator helps young artists overcome their fear of trying and failing. They help students believe that ALL of their experiences belong.

Art requires practice, not perfection: Children need lots of practice to develop fine motor skills while being challenged to produce excellent designs. I believe in setting age-appropriate high standards of craftsmanship while students practice these visual skills. I set high standards while steering students away from perfectionism wherever possible. Practice will teach them more than the pursuit of perfectionism.

Students need to believe that they are capable, creative artists: Children need to see and experience growth within their works to recognize their talents and abilities. Students must finish projects (not just experience processes) to feel proud of their accomplishments. A quality art educator prepares a table so that children will practice, find successes, and build experiences that inform each child’s belief system that they are indeed artists!