World's Greatest Brush Painting Teacher? He's My Dad.

by Ja-Shin Yeh

Have you ever wondered why a great teacher took so long to come into your life? I mean if they show up sooner maybe you would have enjoyed something a lot longer, experienced something more rewarding, or fulfilled a dream that kept getting postponed because some pesky little negative thought haunted your mind telling you that you couldn't do it?

Sink or Swim

This past semester one of my girlfriends convinced me to do this swim class. She insisted, "Coach Zesty" a.k.a. Byron Reidenbaugh's swim class would instantly reward me with the skills and desire to follow her in future triathlons and ocean swims. I always laughed. I was the girl at the local gym club whose teacher threw her in the water and said "sink or swim" and I never returned to the water again. Dog paddle is how I got around the pool or floating. Meanwhile growing up in "Surf City," I rarely set foot in the ocean water. I never learned to surf and panicked every time an ocean current pulled me into the water.

I wake up 4 days a week: Monday through Thursday at 4:45 AM so that I can commute from Huntington Beach to Mission Viejo to where this coach teaches. It is about a 40 minute drive for me to get to class so I can stretch, get my gear on and swim at 6AM with the rest of the class. Everyone who knows me well knows that this is something I would normally never do. For starters, it's a pretty far distance. It's wet, cold and it's REALLY early! It is no accident why this coach spends two class sessions trying to add an overwhelming number of new students to his roster. I LOVE this class. I wish that I would have met someone like him sooner. Maybe I would have swum in my high school team or stayed in better shape. I would have lived a healthier lifestyle and not laughed every time Laura invited me to do some ridiculous ocean swim equivalent to uh 72 laps of a junior pool?!?

After two weeks Byron had even his weakest students swimming 4 laps continuously in a short time interval. Every class session he makes me complete what I thought from day 1 was impossible.

Why is this Familiar?

The reason I can appreciate a teacher like this is that I've been around one my entire life. My Dad has spent most of his life doing for would-be artists what my swim coach does for me. He and I share a father daughter bond that is immediately noticeable to any who sees us together. My boyfriend after almost a year is still intimidated to hold my hand in front of my dad because of the connection he senses between us. To me, he's just my dad but to so many others, he is the great creativity coach. Every semester he helps his students break through limiting thoughts like "I'm not artistic," or "I could never do that," coaching them step-by-step until their natural creativity spills out onto the paper in cascades of colors and textures.

My dad's class is overflowing these last three semesters. In a time where classes are being canceled, enrollment is low, my father's students come in and tell me that it's like "bumper cars" in his class. To those intimidated by a large classroom environment, I stand firm and say, "It's worth it!" His teaching technique leads to results. He gives 125% in every class and his students reap the rewards. Many are recognized for their own accomplishments winning art contests and going on to teach students of their own. It is the most rewarding thing for a daughter like me to witness how valued my father is among his students. He has at least a year of accumulated sick time that he rarely uses. If he does, my office is flooded with phone calls asking, "What's wrong, when will class resume and what can we do?"

My dad's students organizing a painting session in between school sessions

Class or no Class, Students Paint!

One of my Dad's students Jennifer took the initiative to organize practice sessions for students who get restless in between semesters. She brings a handful of students to her home for a luncheon and painting session. Fellow students scatter around in her kitchen on countertops studying subjects of their interest through gift lessons distributed by OAS, my dad's DVDs, and books. Best of all they offer words of encouragement and inspiration to each other. The following week, the group rotates and another student hosts the painting session in her garage. This creative community of people like many before it blossoms in response to my dad's inspiration and nurturing. Week after week they get together during the breaks between school sessions and continue the momentum that was started in class.

Like my swim teacher, my dad takes the "I can't" out of students' minds and replaces it with "I can!"

Isn't he great? He's my dad.