Teaching and Travel
There is a lot of preparation that goes into teaching so sometimes I don’t get to quilt for a long time. In a perfect world somehow there would be a balance between teaching and quilting. I know that I would not want to be a full-time studio artist-I would miss teaching terribly.
April has been a very full month and it’s only the 16th! Check out my calendar-there’s a lot of blue on there. I am thrilled to be teaching so much but just wish I had planned for a little more time to create.
I presented at the Northern California Quilting Council’s Meet the Teacher event on Wednesday. NCQC provides a fabulous opportunity for guilds, shops and others to meet with potential teachers. Each of 30 teachers gets 3 minutes (and no more!) to tell the audience of 150+ why they should hire them. How cool is that-a win-win for everyone.
As you can imagine there is a lot of prep that goes into that event. I prepared 100 brochures with pricing, class offerings and business cards-think that’s enough? I’ll use the extras when I go to southern California next week for a similar event.
And of course I had to take a few quilts along-both class samples and personal work.
What’s really tricky this time is that I leave in the wee hours the next morning for a 4-day trip to teach 2 workshops at the Bearly Square Quilting shop in Havre, Montana. Havre is almost on the Canadian border. I’ve never been to Montana before so this will be a treat.
I’ll take 2 separate flights on a small 80-seater plane into Great Falls, Montana. This will not be my favorite part of the trip! Then there is a 2 1/2 hour drive to Havre-I should see a lot of Montana that way so I’m excited about that. Havre itself is in the plains, so I wonder if it will remind me of my hometown in north central Illinois.
I haven’t had time to actually quilt/sew but my mind is running. I took my sample and bound a small portion so that I can play with the concept of having separate parts of the quilt held together by sheer portions. I’ve been itching to get back to using sheers.
In this case I will have to dye or paint the silk organza to get the look I want. I’m glad I took Judy Coates Perez‘s class last month! Judy gave me all kinds of surface design tools to work with in our 2-day class that I wrote about here. I am more likely to end up painting it since that seems easier than dyeing.
I don’t know why I am so afraid to dye/paint/stamp my work. Now I know how my students feel: it’s really not a hard thing but your mind can create an artificial barrier. It’s time to break through this one and dive in!
Nothing scary or hard about dyeing! It’s fun, fun, fun and once you start, you may never be able to get enough of it. Go ahead, jump right in!
I know, I know, I’m just being a scardy cat. I need some time too-hope to do this early summer.
Paint is indeed easier to deal with than dye, and easier to clean up after. Other only way it’s less desirable is that paint creates color on mostly one side of the fabric. Your sheers idea sounds wonderful.
I’m thinking with the organza that it will hit both sides.
Gosh! While in Havre, look toward the NE…you’ll be a mere 6 3/4 hours’ drive (not counting the Customs stop) SE of me! ;-) See you in Portland!
If only I were a bit taller you could see me waving!
Gorgeous fill patterns on that marigold fabric, Jenny. Enjoy your trip!
Thank you Rebecca-I can’t wait to work on the real deal!
This is interesting. I have stated that I am interested in teaching. But I have not pursued it at all. Which leaves me thinking that I like the idea of teaching, but not the mechanics and time that it takes. Anyway, I very much enjoyed reading your process here. And yes, be sure to schedule in concentrated areas of time just for your studio work. I often heard this kind of comment from the teachers when I was teaching in the spinning/knitting/dying arena.
Debby like anything else it has its high points and low points. It is enormously time consuming, requires herculean flexibility at times and is hard work. But it is also a lot of fun, keeps your world very big, you learn so much from your students and I love it! You could try a few gigs to see if you like it. …
Jenny you are so Real. Thanks for this view. I also teach and lecture and so much is put into it behind the scenes that possibly only another teacher understands. I had my guild chairperson in charge of hiring speakers once say to me ” Why do they charge that much… it’s only an hour”
I couldn’t speak.
May your presentation bring lots of work, if you want it!!
LeeAnna at not afraid of color
Yes it’s a lot of work and I don’t necessarily expect other people to understand that. I am surprised though that your Programs person did not understand that! Enjoy your gigs too!!
The world of fiber art is such a cornucopia of techniques, supplies and materials. It seems there are always opportunities as yet untried to experiment and be a novice. Why oh why do we feel we have to be expert from the get go? I ask, because I share your trepidation when it comes to experimenting with paint and dye – actually nearly everything surface design that others embrace so eagerly. I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with shears and quilted panels.
Oh I know Gwyned-why is this such a deal for me? My inks arrived while I was gone so now there is no excuse……
I guess I never really thought about how much time goes not only into preparing for your classes, but also marketing yourself to prospective teaching venues. It’s important that you schedule in creative time for yourself as well! The sheers and painting explorations sound like just what the doctor ordered.
Creative time-what’s that? I over scheduled myself this spring but dang, it’s all been so good! I will exhibit restraint from here forward…..maybe!