Just because I can create art doesn’t mean I can teach you how. Isn’t that true? Well, after ten years of refining my craft and teaching (plus the 10 previous years I worked in the corporate world giving presentations and leading projects) I think I can. Some of my keys to satisfied students are:

• give a straight-forward overview of the project at hand first without embellishment
• provide handouts with step by step explanations so that participants do not spend time taking notes
• have ready-made examples of each step (it is very hard to visualize something you’ve never seen)
• keep to one technique at a time
• allow for questions after key demonstrations
• ALWAYS encourage participants to ask any questions and ALWAYS remind them that each technique is not a talent, it is a skill that they must practice in order to achieve perfection

These are a few of my “tried and true” practices.

Paula held a new class this week at her home studio "Garden Ornaments". A garden ornament is kind of like a gazing ball except made of a styrofoam with a  mosaic design on it. They are a great addition to your yard or porch and can be made to be fairly weather resistant.

This summer Paula and Linda Simpson combined their efforts on a class called Art Redux at Jordan Hall Arts Center in Cary, NC. The class focused on how to re-purpose materials that would otherwise be thrown away into art. The unique design of this class is that Paula's session with rising 6 to 9th graders will create the base of a project that a younger group in the afternoon session, led by artist and instructor, Linda Simpson, will embellish. The completed piece will be on display in at Bond Park in Cary.