Policies

Sickness

  • Please do not come if you are sick or been exposed to someone with a major contagious illness. Many other families in my classes (and my own!) would like to stay healthy. See "Makeup Days" below.

  • If *I* am sick, I will contact each registrant about rescheduling the class on a day and time we can all make it.

Refunds

  • There are no refunds for cancellations, no-shows, or drop-outs less than 4 days before your first lesson or class start date.

  • If you need to unregister, please do so at least 4 days prior to your lesson or class start date. 

  • If a group class is cancelled due to low registration, you will be refunded 100% of the cost. (Please invite your friends to sign up so we don't have to do this!)
  • If a student cannot attend a group class due to sickness or emergency, they can come on a makeup day or make up the work during one of their regularly scheduled lessons. (See "Makeup Days" below for more info.)
  • If you are a military member and receive PCS orders but have art lessons remaining in your package, the remaining unused portion can be refunded without additional charges. Please simply show your orders with the dates to me in person. If you think you may receive orders in the coming months, it is best to give yourself some wiggle room and buy a smaller art lesson package. I have noticed that many families get busy as their pack-out date approaches and driving to/from lessons during this time can add to the stress. If you have any questions about this, please let me know.


Makeup Days

  • For Adult Watercolor Paint Nights in my studio, a credit of the same amount can be given towards a future watercolor class.

  • For Private Watercolor Paint Parties, there are no refunds for cancellations. You are welcome to find someone to take your spot and work out repayment with them. Please let me know the name and contact info of the new registrant.

  • Private Lessons can easily be rescheduled. Students in group classes who miss due to illness, doctor appointments, or emergency have some options, depending on the project:

  • For group classes:
    • The student can make up the work in a future class.

    • A parent can pick up supplies during the week for the missed date, as long as the project doesn't require special items that need to stay in the studio. Instructions can easily be emailed, texted, or written down.

    • The student can come to one of the other scheduled class times on the calendar.

    • Students can come to a collective makeup day that works with other students who also need to do a makeup class.

    • Unregistered siblings cannot substitute in the spot of a registered student's spot.


Class Schedule Changes

  • In the event of low enrollment or my own sickness/family emergency, I will contact each registrant to see if a proposed date change will work for you.

Waitlist

  • If registration is full for a group class, you may request to be put on the waitlist. Please contact me if this is the case.

  • Students (or parents of minors) will be contacted in the order of their request IF there are more than 4 days before the class start date. 

  • You will have 24 hours to register yourself or your student, otherwise the spot will be offered to the next person.

  • If there are less than 4 days before the class, all waitlisted students will be emailed simultaneously and registration for the open spot will be considered first-come-first-served.


Behavior Expectations

  • Please show your child the studio tour pictures in advance of coming to class. Please discuss with your child about making good decisions while they are in my care, and I will do the same with the class as a whole. If your child is unable to behave in a safe and calm manner, my classes will not be a good fit for them.

  • Students are expected to be on their best behavior and behave in a safe manner, staying within the boundaries of my open-door studio-garage. They are expected to stay within the boundaries of the garage and not venture into the driveway, road, or yard.

  • There are things around the room that students WILL have to refrain from touching. For example, curtains or anything behind a curtain. Impulse control is key here. I do not want anyone to get hurt because someone was touching supplies, equipment, or other things they shouldn't.

  • Excessive cussing, rudeness, and gross language isn't a thing we're going to have in my classes. Check your mouth before you speak that way here.

  • A SINGLE warning will be given to any student acting in an unsafe, rude, mouthy, or rowdy manner. The student is expected to alter their behavior immediately. The parent will be informed at the end of class.

  • If the student does not alter their behavior, the parent will be called to come pick up their child immediately and the child will be permanently removed from class without a refund.

  • Students who are removed from class for poor/unsafe behavior will not be able to register for my classes ever again.

  • I reserve the right to cancel any registration whatsoever for types of behavior described above. This isn't public school, and I am absolutely, 100% NOT obligated to provide a service to anyone who behaves like that. Refunds are not given for students permanently removed from class.

  • If a student has caused damage or wasted supplies during their episode of poor behavior/poor decision-making, the parent will be asked to cover the additional cost of the damage/waste. An itemized invoice will be provided, and the parent is expected to pay it within 60 days.


Age Ranges

  • Adults and older kids ages 11-17. I specialize in teaching middle and high school ages, in addition to adults who want to gain confidence in their creative endeavors. Projects are designed to be developmentally appropriate for brain development of older children.

  • Classes are best suited for mature 11-year-olds and up. An 11th birthday doesn't automatically mean your child is ready for art lessons or classes in my particular space/location. This has MORE to do with the normal progression of child-to-adolescent brain development and safety, and much LESS to do with how much experience/passion for art that you child may have. Please click here for more info.

  •  For 'Ohana Classes, kids younger than 11 are welcome to register WITH an adult IF the class description says the project is appropriate for all ages.
    • However, all attendees should be old enough to refrain from putting things in their mouths.
    • Parents are expected to keep their kids in line and make sure they aren't running out of the garage or being nosy around the room. Thank you for your teamwork on this.
    • Immobile babies in strollers or being worn in a wrap are fine! (Depending on class size, strollers may be better left in the car.) I used to be a doula, and nursing or feeding a baby in the middle of class won't bother me at all.

  • Art Class options elsewhere on O'ahu for younger keiki:
    • Please check out these other businesses that may have art projects for younger children: Art a la Carte, Da Dream Lab, Treehouse Club, Kids City Hawaii, North Shore Arts Center, Nadia Fairlamb Art (occasional sculpture and art camps for kids)
    • If your kid is in public school, check the afterschool acitivities list for art. While art is not a standard subject in most Hawai'i schools :-( some schools may have afterschool activities/clubs.
    • If you have military base access, Schofield & Hickam sometimes have art classes for younger kids at their Arts & Crafts centers. (Also check your housing community centers and other bases, including the libraries.) You will need a DOD card holder to register them, as well as base access each time you go.


Neurodivergent and Diverse Learners

  • My formal art education background and work have given me the opportunity to work with learners of all kinds. This includes students with autism, ADHD, gifted and talented, visual and hearing impairments, physical limitations, English as a second/other language, and combinations of those or other things.
  • Despite my experience and willingness to work with diverse learners, safety is my #1 priority and my open-door garage studio setup may not work with certain types of behaviors. Please read through the information on this site about the class setting and the safety information mentioned above in "Behavior Expectations."

  • I reserve the right to cancel registrations for students who exhibit behaviors that I deem unsafe to themselves, others, or myself. You will be refunded for the unused portion of classes. To avoid this situation entirely, it is best if you ask me ahead of time to see if I am a good fit for art lessons for your child.

  • You are the ultimate expert on your child. If you have information that would be helpful to me as your child's art instructor, please reach out and let me know prior to our first class. This way, I can be better prepared for teaching them. You are also welcome to arrange a visit prior to the first class/lesson so your student can become more familiar and comfortable with me and the room where we have class. Here are pictures of the studio to help your student be more comfortable.

  • While this is typically a drop-off lesson/class, I understand that some students may need additional support or supervision from a parent. (Just FYI, some students get distracted by their parents in the studio and may actually focus better without them nearby. However, the ultimate decision is up to you. Here are some options:
    • If you would like to be near earshot but not within eyesight of your child, there is a small covered lanai in the front.
    • Some parents opt to sit in their vehicle or bring a chair and hang out in the shade just outside the studio.
    • You may also sit in the studio to assist or just be near your child. This may not be possible with group classes, but is definitely feasible with private lessons. 
    • The class/lesson fee covers supplies and teaching expertise for only the child's participation, not the assisting adult. If you would both like to complete your own projects, please register both people. There are sibling/friend/ohana discounts available for private lessons with two or more people.
    • This setup does not work well with younger siblings in tow. Please make other arrangements for non-participating siblings. Projects are designed for older kids and will not be developmentally appropriate for younger siblings.
  • If you have concerns about how your child might do in my class, please don't hesitate to reach out to discuss it with me or arrange a pre-class visit.

 

Ethics

  • I believe that freedom exists better with boundaries, respect, and personal responsibility. I recognize that there will be disagreements on what this looks like, but I encourage respectful discussion amongst my students rather than "cancelling" ideas that are different from their own. I don't interject my opinion on topics not related to art, but I do encourage truthful facts over false information.

  • I believe that parents have the ultimate authority over raising their child, and there are some topics that are not my business to teach. However, I know from my teaching experience with teens and preteens that they will bring their own conversations to the table with each other. Respectful discourse of ideas and opinions will be encouraged, but sometimes things can escalate and distract from learning. Therefore, I may have to ask them to have their discussion at another time so we can focus on our project.


Copyright

  • I support intellectual property rights/copyrights and will not encourage copying other artists' work/photographs. This includes the use of "generative" (ie, regurgitative) AI images. Generic photos created by others are fine to use for educational purposes. However, students will be encouraged to use their own sketches, open source, and reference photos taken by themselves or from those who gave them permission. Within my studio, I have a subscription to a program that legally allows us to use reference photos from a pool of millions of stock photos.

  • I actively discourage the use of AI and discuss these issues in class. There are many ethical problems and legal changes surrounding these programs right now. I recognize that AI has usefulness but the remaining serious issue I have with it is that the models were trained on copyrighted human artwork without permission or compensation. I recognize AI to be a useful business tool and personally use it to edit my own writing, which is something I have given it conset to process (and in return, I realize they train on it).

  • All handouts are written by me or are purchased from creators with permission to use them in my teaching setting.

  • All art examples in class are made by either me or other artists that I have purchased from. Please respect the copyright of the creators and do not distribute them in any way - electronic or otherwise; paid or free. You are welcome to take pictures for your personal study, but please do not post full-frame pictures of the art online. (This makes it harder for people with ill intent to steal art for illegal reproduction.)

  • You are free to keep the handouts and take cell phone pictures/videos of my demos in class for your own personal knowledge and improvement. Please do not feed photos or text from them into any AI models. Please do not upload or share them online or through social media messages to others.