Back on the bike!
Recently I had the utter delight of teaching again in my lovely little Albury studio! I’d been distracted by unpacking, settling in, going to Nepal…all the things. I was even wondering if my season of teaching had passed. But no way! I was reminded just how much I loved it.
One big difference was because I am keeping class sizes small. I love the level of attention that means I can give to each participant. More importantly, it means that, within a kind of general idea, people can really follow their own bliss! Thanks to COVID this class was a bit smaller than usual but we managed!
In this most recent class, we began exploring the vast world of colour. We talked about different colour theories and how they applied when mixing bespoke colours, creating palettes that sing, and matching favourite pieces of fabric. (Or a tile in one case!!)
We also talked about the links between mental health and creativity. I may have mentioned the fabulous Creative First Aid book on the odd one or 50 occasions.
This is the smile of a woman who, having never really done much with polymer clay, walked away with one necklace, one brooch and two pairs of earrings! Talk about over-achieving! Before the class, K wondered if she had creative bone in her body and realised that yes, like all of us, she absolutely has!! Several.
(I must sound like a cracked record reminding people that creativity is INNATE. Have I mentioned that before? Yes I have!! Here.)
L had huge fun creating earrings to match a favourite scarf. We explored the impact of form and using contrast as a design element and everyone loved the sculptural quality of these earrings.
Sometimes (well often!) there’s an element of engineering that has to be considered and having a playful, open and experimental approach really helps!
KA knitted her fabulous cardigan and wanted to create equally fabulous earrings to coordinate.
Once again, there was lots of exploration and play and many design elements were discussed in the process. As a teacher, to have students smiling like this is just the best thing! I’ve got a few classes coming up before I head back to Nepal in late October so head to the shop to find out more.