1. Carol Muzik Brief Bio and artist statement:
I live in the woods above a lake and delight in the year-round beauty.  I gather my creativity from the flora and fauna that surround our home. Watching squirrels, birds, skunks, and the variety of wildlife who come to our home over the seasons I always see inspiration for stories, photography, drawings and paintings. 

I am the author and illustrator of the award-winning book Raising Lucy - The True Story of Raising an Orphaned Wild Goose, and its companion coloring book and DVD that share Lucy the Canada goose’s true story. I write, illustrate, and teach drawing and writing in schools and the community.  My mission is to connect students to their own stories and the stories in nature to inspire their creative journey.

As a writer I take 4th and 5th grade students through creative writing projects using themselves, family, or animals as the subject for their work.   We start by sharing our experiences and ideas and I encourage children to grab inspiration from others’ ideas.   Creative writing concepts are reviewed before we write.  I create a quiet supportive atmosphere to write in, and afterwards, those that want to can share their stories.  Children love opportunities to tell their stories and if we create illustrations of our stories it becomes a rewarding keepsake for the child and their families.  

I enjoy helping children learn basic drawing skills then applying those skills to drawing illustrations to our stories or regional wild animals.  We have used photography, animal mounts, and live animals as our models.  For certain residencies we can create wildlife journals to put our drawings into – a keepsake that can be added to during their future journeys in nature.  

By observing and listening we can gain appreciation for even the tiniest bugs and birds; ultimately helping our understanding of how all things fit together. Finding inspiration in the natural world creates a deeper appreciation and connection with nature.

2. Discipline:  Drawing, Painting, Creative Writing, and Publishing

4. Email  carol@raisinglucy.com

5. Website  http://www.RaisingLucy.com

6. Special populations you work with - All ages, especially elementary aged children.

7.  Describe a transformative process that has occurred in your own practice as an artist or in a past residency as a teaching artist.

The most recent example of a transformative moment is when a first grader told me he couldn’t do the basic drawing techniques.  I knew he needed some extra attention and helped him with the basic line shapes over a few days.  As the 8 day residency progressed he needed less and less one-on-one attention and the last two days he was proudly showing classmates the drawings he created of an owl and a fish using the basic concepts he had learned. 

8.  When have been able to recognize learning is taking place?

When I teach about basic line structure of drawings I show children that these concepts apply to all drawings.  When my students see that putting these same lines together in different ways creates a deer, or a duck, or another animal we’re drawing there is an “aha moment” when they get it. 

9. What excites your imagination and in turn how does your work excite imagination for your audience?

Nature and life inspire me and I carry a camera almost everywhere I go.  I have used my photography to inspire numerous paintings and drawings.  I might take the drawing or painting down a more fantastical road, but the camera’s image – even if its blurred – can be the inspiration for something fun. 

I want my drawings and paintings to tell a story and bring the individual into their own interpretation of what I am trying to say.  Always I want others to be inspired to tell their own story after they see my work.  I never want my art, illustrations, or writing to be out of reach to anyone, but only inspire them to say, “That gives me an idea, I have a story to tell too.”

10. What characteristics mark a successful collaboration for you? 

A successful residency involves the input and participation of the teachers and staff, and of course the students.  I am more effective as an artist if teachers and volunteers are there helping out.  If everyone is involved it makes it the best situation for the students.  The learning environment needs to be supported by everyone in the school.

Life is a process so there is always something to learn from every project.  Going over any positives and negatives of the project afterward to see what we did right and what we could all have done to improve is very important to my growth as an artist and teacher.  

11. How do you foster creativity, both in your own work and as a teaching artist?

We are individuals and find our inspiration in different environments.  I find mine in nature and through photography.  Framing shots within the lens inspires ideas for stories and paintings, and my photography has inspired paintings and writing.  I use my photos for drawing reference and also enjoy sitting in nature and drawing and painting.   

My goal with children is to help them connect with their creativity by getting connecting with animals.  To create a connection in nature with something they can care about and allowing it to inspire their art and writing. 

List three key understandings of your discipline are:
1. Nature offers us limitless inspiration.
2. Everyone has a story to tell.
3. With time and training we can all learn to tell our stories.

List three outcomes of the three key understandings:

1. The student will create drawings of animals of the region. 
2. Creative writing and art can tell our unique story.
3. The student will learn key elements of drawing and/or writing.

List some vocabulary words that relate to your discipline:
Primary colors, secondary colors, complementary colors
Representational art, perspective, space, light, shadows, lines, texture
Teamwork, transfer, scale, mural, grid, balance
Inspiration, pattern, environment
Foreground, middle ground, and background

List some subject areas outside of the fine arts that relate to your potential residency work:
Science, Biology, Writing, Math
            Examples:

1. Developing art projects based on the local flora and fauna a student is studying in Science and Biology.
2. Writing a story and illustrating it with artwork, including discussion of the publishing process.
3. Transferring an image from gridded paper to a full-scale mural includes measuring, calculating, understanding shapes, and angles.

All residencies can be adapted to align with the school’s goals, and I look forward to working collaboratively to develop the best residency.

17. Provide references, three or more:

Cathy Weaver, Literacy Facilitator
Central Valley School District
10105 E. Cimmaron Rd.
Spokane Valley, WA
509-228-4476
cweaver@csvd.org

Jennifer McCord, Publishing Consultant
Jennifer McCord and Associates
3700 NE 178th St.
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
206-595-0603
jenamccord@earthlink.net

Susan Thorpe, Youth Services Librarian, Supervisor
Coeur d’Alene Library
702 E. Front Ave.
Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814
208-769-2315
sthorpe@cdalibrary.org