Teaching at the Weasel

These are just a few photos of the great students I have had in class. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch everyone and will do better next time.

From “Torch-Fired Art Clay” Connie Sprague, Terry Christens, and Anne who are torch firing their pieces. Connie has been doing some wonderful things from these classes and I can not wait to see what she creates from the most recent ones.

From the “Garden Bracelet ”class are two of the bracelets Nancy Gregory made after the class (she has four total – whoo hoo!). She really went to town following the class, plus she and Wendy High were nearly complete with their first one before they even left that day. If there were a class curve for bead arts they'd throw it off!

Teaching is great fun, until things malfunction. I’ve had wonderful teachers myself and personally I love passing on the technical information of Art.

I teach, time permitting, at the Bead Weasel. It’s a gem of a bead store; owned and managed by Anne Sturtevant, in Midland, Michigan. I suspect you’ll hear more about Anne’s store as Janel Gradowski continues referencing it in her fantastic articles for our favorite “bead rags”. Within the past couple of months (in between attending some master’s classes myself) I have taught at Anne’s shop.

So far we’ve covered Viking Knit, Garden Bracelets, Simple Soldering, Resins, and Art Clay. Everything has gone swimmingly with the exception of the Art Clay where it seemed the teaching gods were conspiring against me. You name it, it happened! Art Clay is such a great material to use so I wish I had done it better justice this time around. But, I have faith in this batch of students. They’re pro’s and they will glean what was given and run with the material.

I love one of Leonardo DaVinci’s sayings, “There shall be wings! If the accomplishment be not for me, ‘tis for some other.” It suits us well to keep this in mind as we move along the art beaten path. I always want to be “superstar” at everything I do, so remembering this quote helps me to know that often being that superstar requires some practice and patience. Okay, I often lack the patience but I promise if you practice, practice, practice you can get great at anything!!