12 years teaching art and an experienced practising artist - Art and Design tutor with Emma

It was an absolute joy to have Emma as an Art tutor! Always enthusiastic, attentive, informed, and engaging! I am currently studying Fine Arts Bachelor and I miss having her guidance even now :) She is Brilliant!

Emma was my art teacher and mentor from 2019 - 2020, my last year of A level art studies. I can say with full confidence that the work and research that myself and my classmates produced while under the guidance of Emma was far beyond even the depth and quality of work expected by the exam. While being mentored by Emma, I came to a point in my artistic research where I was completely confident in what I wanted to explore. She helped me discover what I was passionate about and I watched her do the same for my classmates. One of her strongest points is her ability to inspire intense passion. She’s an artist herself, and her broad knowledge of the entire spectrum of arts has been extremely useful to me. She will cover in depth the skills required by an exam or portfolio, and she will also inspire you in every aspect of what it is to be an artist or a person interested in the arts.

One thing I enjoyed the most about our time together was Emma's ability to inspire me even when I was faced with 'artists block' and didn't want to make any work. That is the relationship she has with her students, not of a strict teacher who commonly condescends to their students, Emma was more of a peer who would help guide and push me to do better. As an artist herself Emma was always able to show us the big picture of the art world and introduce us to artists that would be perfect for our research. In the past I have experienced many art teachers who were set in their ways having ideas of what art is and what it isn't. They were reluctant to allow their students to have artistic freedom, however, Emma has been one of the most open and supportive teachers that I have encountered. Emma has always been highly supportive and I am sure will carry on being an inspiration and a friend to her students.

I think to do art consistently for a long time, and to take it further; to develop your work, finding a field of interest (a topic or a particular style) is very important. This for me was possible by exploring various artists and their styles, picking and selecting out what I liked the most and trying to incorporate it in my own work. An essential part of this process was writing about what you liked and why you liked something, which I didn’t quite like much but honestly later I realized how helpful that was to keep my work growing. I enjoyed exploring different mediums and creating new art pieces the most because there you could actually apply what you’ve seen and learned from looking at different artists’ work and your classmates ofcourse. In doing all of this Emma, you played a major role in guiding me through. Introducing me to all of the different artists, mediums, which helped me get inspired, and also the various techniques and styles..Also asking me the right questions which was the key to develop in my art.

I worked along side Emma when she was teaching and tutoring students in Art at brockwood Park school. She is en extremely encouraging teacher and always made sure to relate everything back to the individual and their own unique expression through art. I witnessed students growing in skills as well as being much more experimental and serious about their art during her classes. Emma has an incredible depth of knowledge about the current art world and the history of art and has the ability to inspire her students, this is something I saw first hand again and again during classes.
As Emma is a practicing artist she is aware of the happenings of today in art - this is something she brings to her students, and therefore their practice becomes much more mature and relevelent in the wider world and also gives them a glimpse into the reality of practicing as an artist! She really is a fantastic teacher and this is coming from the students who take her classes, their parents, other teachers and tutors in brockwood and myself.

Emma Seach has taught with AAL on an ad hoc basis over the last couple of years, in particular, supporting SEND students within the context of an art class. This has been on the Fine Art Foundation, which is aimed at Level 3/4. During this time she was very attentive and patient with her students, taking notes with them and helping them to stay on task. The post required her to be flexible and adaptive to the students' individual needs and she was creative in finding ways to engage with the students. She was punctual and communicative. We would happily have Emma teach with us again when the opportunity arises.

Emma was my art teacher for two years. Our lessons were fun, full of new and interesting content and they inspired me to push myself and follow my passion in art. She helped me develop my portfolio and prepared me for the A Level as well as assisting me in my application to university. Emma's help and support were invaluable. She was kind, patient and an incredible teacher; allowing me to experiment with new ideas and techniques while guiding me in building a structured and diverse portfolio. I have now finished an Art Foundation at City & Guilds of London Art School and, after a gap year, have a place at Falmouth to study Fine Art.