Mr. Bobick is retired now, still painting and exhibiting his work. He was the Art Department Chair and my advisor at West Georgia. I have so many fond memories of him and my time spent on the third floor of the Humanities building in the Art Department. Students could check out keys to the studio back then because, we would be up all hours of the night working on projects. (Shh...I still have my key). I remember his walk and his mannerisms like it was yesterday. He always carried a sketchbook and a pen. He would hustle into class and say "OK what's going on in here". He made it around to every student to talk to them about their work. He wanted to know what you were thinking about and how your projects were going. At the end of the semester we would leave our work on a drafting table to be graded. Mr. Bobick would leave your grade on a small piece of paper tucked in your pile of paintings. Sometimes you would see just a grade. If you were lucky you would get a "Great Job". I never wondered or questioned whether or not my art was "good enough", because he always encouraged me to keep going. His motto was "Hard Work Pays Off" - a phrase I say over and over to my students.
I was not planning on being a teacher. I went to college to study the fine arts. It wasn't until I was an assistant director of a community art gallery/theater that I realized that I needed Art in my life- Every Day. It is what challenges me. It is something I am good at. It is how I think. I am grateful to Mr. Bobick for all the life lessons he taught me, for pushing me and for believing in me and mostly for instilling in me a LOVE of ART.
I can only hope to be that kind of teacher to my students.