Family Time

Sometimes a class will go and sometimes it won't.  Luckily this summer was one of the "will goes."

The Oil Valley Center for the Arts scheduled two classes for me this year.  In June I taught an Intro class and in August I taught an applique ring class.  Both classes were filled (plus one more in each) so they were taught in the Art Center's classroom.  

In June there was a mother and son who took the Intro Class.  They returned in August to take the ring class and this time the father and the daughter came too.  Quite often the classes become a family affair.  

The first time I had a family in class, each member got to pick an activity for the month and they all did it.  The father didn't seem too interested at the time, but he later told me that he wasn't a morning person and hadn't had his coffee yet.  All turned out well.

Then for Easter a mother gave her son and daughter a class instead of giving them candy.  She took the class too and they used stones in their pieces that she bought off QVC.

A friend of mine gave her daughter and son-in-law a class as a birthday gift.  Which is what Beth Orris did this summer for her daughters.  

This time I'm not sure what the occasion was, except that the mother and son really enjoyed their first class and wanted the family to share in the experience.  Dr. Brad Fell and family did a great job on their rings.  Having a doctor in the studio came in handy as he was able to use his expertise with tweezers to retrieve a piece from the Liver of Sulfur solution.  (Another lady and I must have tried twenty times.)  Dr. Fell got it out with one try.

Tina and her daughter both made two rings.

Julian appliqued fishbones to his ring.  It appears he has a theme going here as he did a radioactive symbol on his pendant in the Intro Class.

Brad liked the way the patina added a variety of colors to his ring and decided to leave it on, rather than polish the piece.  The colors will eventually turn dark and disappear but for awhile the ring will have a unique color to it.

The daughter carved words into her ring to compliment an existing ring she owned.  

It's fun to teach classes with families.  There is some interesting interactions going on that doesn't happen usually with people who don't know each other.