Hi, I'm Courtney Sanford, artist, author, homeschool mom, and founder of Delightful Art Co.
For seven years, I taught Western cultural history to homeschooled 10th-graders, and for even longer, I taught art and design. My Western Cultural history students wrote a ton of essays about art, and one day a student who was in both my history class and my art class asked, “Why don’t we paint instead of writing about art?” That question changed everything.
Drawing on my design training (a Bachelor of Environmental Design from North Carolina State University) and my training and experience in classical education, I created a new kind of class—one that blends the story of art history with the joy of hands-on creativity. The idea grew into an online course, and since then, hundreds of homeschool students and parents have painted their way through art history with me.
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When I started going to homeschool conferences, parents asked if I'd create a class for younger students, so I created what I wished I'd had when my kids were younger: a class that combines nature journaling, drawing and watercolor instruction, and poetry that is delightful to hear, and fun to recite. That class is now called, Nature Journaling, and I created a book that includes art lessons and my kids' favorite poems called, "Draw Your Way Into the Woods."
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I've worked with artists to create new classes, and I've been blessed to have former students join my team of teachers and writers. We now have a full menu of classes for ages 6 to college credit and we are creating new curriculum to bring beauty into homeschooling!
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What makes Delightful Classes unique?
* We teach an academic subject and art in one class.
* Students do their work in mixed media art journals, so they create their own book on the subject, making learning creative.
* We are relational: most classes are live because we believe students learn best in a relationship with the teacher.
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* We invite parents to watch and participate in class so they can support and encourage their student outside of class time.
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At Delightful Art Co, we believe creating is how we connect—with our gifts, with each other, and with our Creator. Through live online classes, retreats, and books, we make art meaningful, joyful, and accessible for every skill level.
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Where is there a lemon and a lightbulb in the logo?
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Delightful Art Co. became an online school during the pandemic, so when life gave me lemons, I made lemonade and the online classes were a hit and I was able to reach many more students. I also use lemons to lemonade in art classes helping students turn a "mistake" in their painting into something good. (Like Bob Ross calls "happy little accidents.")
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The lightbulb represents creativity. In all our classes we encourage students to add their own ideas to the work and think outside the box. Creativity is an important skill no matter what field you go into. Real leaders are the ones who can come up with creative ways to solve problems.
Our Mission:
We believe we were created to create, and we want to cultivate that god-given creativity through online classes, retreats and curriculum.
Our Core Values:
The following values can be seen in all our teachers. We hope they rub off on our students, too!
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1. Enthusiasm: We make it fun.
2. Team Players: We work together.
3. Integrity: We do what we say we're going to do.
4. Grace: We show grace to our students and their families.
5. Excellence: We give it our all - in art, in teaching, and in business.
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Our Statement of Faith
We beleive that, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
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Contact us:
