On November 23rd, Jeff Schaller, a Pennsylvanian artist visited Mrs. Silverman’s Junior Portfolio 2D class for a 3 hour discussion and demonstration.  Schaller has worked with NFL players such as Alshon Jeffreys, painted items for the set of the popular sitcom, Friends, does commercial work with Iron Hill Brewery, and has art showing in countries internationally.  Schaller works with a special art medium called encaustic, which is beeswax and pigment.  During his visit, he talked with the class about his journey to where he is today.  Schaller explained that he started out by painting the backs of jean jackets for the kids who would bully him in highschool, as well as painting mailboxes and street addresses on curbs.  He described the takeoff of his career, and how he first began by painting with wall paint.  He soon found that this wasn’t able to be shown in museums, because it would crack easily in exhibit, so he did some research and quickly found that encaustic painting was the longest lasting of all art methods.  This method dates back to 800 B.C., and many cave paintings in encaustic still are legible today.  Shortly after explaining this, Schaller did a short demonstration with this technique, and students in Silverman’s class were able to try for themselves.  Throughout this time, Schaller offered a few pieces of advice for aspiring artists.  He states, “Find what you love to do be it painting, drawing, animals or people or whatever. Get good at it, practice practice practice and share it with everyone.”  He was grateful for the opportunity to speak to the class, and commented that “the beauty about the art world is there are so many avenues to “‘make it”’ or a living at doing what you enjoy.  It’s been a wonderful journey and I’m happy to share.  Lastly, he explained that art is “a way to bring joy to others,” and shared for those looking to have a future in art to “always remain excited, joyful and curious when creating your work and it will resonate within the piece. ”  The members of Junior Portfolio 2D are ecstatic and very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Schaller for a few hours in the manor.