Workshops and Classes

Choices of items to buy made by the teachers at Clay Out West
This month workshops and classes head the list of things I've done or going to do.  Clay Out West used to be called 'Carnival' and was in Las Vegas.  For years I've wanted to attend but did not.  The location changed to Albuquerque NM and I decided I was going! 

The polymer clay workshop ran for 4 days with internationally known teachers.  Peter and I drove from Prescott to Albuquerque in a day - a long day!  He spent his days exploring the area - the zoo, the Rattlesnake Museum, the Petroglyph Park and Sandia Peak.  Lots for him to do.  I spent my days in a classroom playing and learning with lots of other crazy artists.   There were 4 classrooms with 20 ladies (and a couple of men) in each.  The teachers rotated between rooms.

Result from Carol Blackburn's class
Animals from Leslie Blackford's class

My goal now that I am home is to spend a day (several days it turns out) practicing the new techniques so I remember and become proficient. 

Home projects
The Saturday after coming home, I taught a polymer clay class making holiday ornaments with 7 students.  This was my first class here and everyone had fun.



There were several examples of ornaments in various colors.



 Layers of clay were conditioned before class because that takes time and the class was only 2 hours long.  I wanted the students to have time to play.  They chose their colors, shapes and enhancements of glitter, crystals, etc.  Each student's work was unique to that person and everyone learned more about clay.  I think we will have more classes in the future.



This weekend I'm taking a metal clay class on line with CraftCast.com and later in the month I'll start an online polymer series with Dan + Tracy at Dan Cormier. 

Sounds like busy weeks ahead expanding my knowledge and skills.  That means more to share with you!















Labels:
Location: Prescott, AZ, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learning As We Go!

Image
Viking knit is the oldest method of chain making and I've become fascinated by it.  Once I conquered the single knit, I decided to add beads.  I could have googled or asked how it was done but it seemed like something I could just figure out.  And I've learned a lot as I proceeded first with tumbled turquoise beads and then with pearls.  I thought I'd share a few of the things I've learned.   Iif you want a great tutorial on viking knit technique, Trina Ann at http://blog.trinaann.com/  has written a clear concise easy to understand tutorial.  I highly recommend it.    Tumbled tuquoise beads in viking knit  I used tumbled turquoise beads in the first viking knit chain and I did not really know what I was doing.  But I went right ahead and as it turned out, I liked the end result.  Since the beads were irregular in shape there was a random quality to the finished product. During that process, I began to really understand the technique of viking knit.  Loo
Read more

Spring Do-Over Challenge

Image
Re-do of Original Pieces Plus My Art Beads  I’m hooked!  The Do-Over Challenge that Jeannie Dukic ‘JKD Studio’ www.jkdjewelry.com offers has become something I look forward to.  Jeannie sends pieces of her ‘old’ jewelry to those of us who sign up and we get to create something new from them.  It does not matter if we like the piece she sends because we take it apart, add beads from our stash and create a completely new piece.  It’s a great way to recycle. Original Necklace and earrings When I received my piece to re-create, it lay on my bead try for a while as I sorted through the possibilities.  There were 3 art beads that might work but only one yelled, “Me!  Take me!”  Fortunately I had more of the polymer cane that was used for that bead because I wanted smaller one to go with the big chosen art bead.  The green chips were to be filler beads highlighting my art beads.  Large 'Take Me!' bead! I made two pair of earrings.  One pair could be part of
Read more

Giving New Meaning to UPCYCLE!

Image
My first ever ‘Do Over Challenge’ was such fun!  I signed up to participate in Jeannie K Dukic ’s 6th Do Over Challenge not really knowing anything about how it worked.  I received a necklace that was very sweet with copper wire connections and pinkish pearls.  It sat on my work space for a couple of weeks while I pondered my next move.  One day I opened my polymer bead collection and was drawn to the pinkish and green beads.  They really looked good with the pearls.  I found some green crystal beads and a few other contenders.  But when I tried the small striped beads, I knew my combination!  This is the finished product for most of the pearls in the original necklace. It was the week to finish some of my long term projects.  I kept the wires with the red and green rubber bands from the braces I wore for 3 years.  When they finally came off, I asked the orthodontist if I could have them.  He wanted to know why since almost NO ONE wanted them and I told him I wante
Read more