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beginner questions

[email protected] on Dec 22, 2012
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This is my first time on this site and I'm not sure where to put this! Just a few questions: 1) My computer is making strange noises and I'm afraid I'll have to replace it soon. If my machine crashes after I've purchased courses, can I download them again for free? 2) Some classes indicate that they are accompanied by photos or something. Are these downloadable? Donna Kato: If you read these, I've been a big fan of your work and books for years. I use your Kato clay almost exclusively. Thanks for all you do!
Freedom Train

[email protected] on Dec 06, 2012
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If I were an athlete, I'd play basketball. Or football, or soccer or polo. I'd not be a golfer or play singles tennis or bowl (which is, I suppose, a sport).

I like the feeling of being part of something, of being in the company of others moving along, progressing together toward some goal that benefits all involved. A rising tide elevates all those boats. The Titanic moved all those little boats aside - we know what happened to that big boat. It happens sometimes.

Maybe it's the Japanese part of me, the one being part of the whole, which is, I know not the normal "American" dream that drives us toward individual achievement and largely, individual benefit. Although, I have stepped out on my own at times. I've had to.

But, for me, it's being in the company of people I admire and respect that charges me on.

My friend Connie and I started a business a long time ago and we used to call it the "Freedom Train". Hop on and join us as we all move to a common destination. Yup, that's right up my alley.

I guess it depends on who we are, what moves us and what our ultimate motivation for doing anything might be - and that is different for everyone - it's not right, it's not wrong, it just is. Me, I'll stick with the Freedom Train, shoveling coal into the engine so we can all get there together.
Vive Le France!

[email protected] on Nov 09, 2012
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Sophie does the soft shoe...

Clay Carnival events have a very special place in my heart. The European events began with dear friend, Helen Cox in Nottingham, England. From there, we went to Madrid (Spain), Bad Homburg (Germany) and this year to France outside of Paris.

Teachers here were all CraftArtEdu instructors - 4 French (Sylvie, Isabelle, Stephanie and Sophie), 1 Spaniard (Natalia), 1 German (Bettina) and one from the good old USA (that would be me).

Over the years I have seen is the maturation of European polymer artists and their vision of this media. After years absorbing techniques that generated from America, they've contributed their unique spin on the medium and the results have taken polymer clay to a new place - exciting, full of color, texture and technically excellent.

I love these events - meeting up with friends from past classes, making new friends, gathering more poker chips in the swap (91 new chips!) and laughing a lot.

Thank you to Sylvie and Lezart'gil for organizing this fantastic event. Many thanks to the teachers who shared their knowledge and encouragement and very special thanks to students who came to spend their time in total clay immersion.

Muriel

Nathalie's wonderful brooch

Bettina

Natalia teaches

Dani loves the Euro Clay Carnival!

Making tons of fun

In class

Sylvie, Manuela and Isabelle

All of us! 91 students and 7 teachers!
Why we do what we do

[email protected] on Oct 31, 2012
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I didn't always know I'd love to teach. I never expected that so I didn't take education classes - it just never really occurred to me.

Teaching has been part of a very logical sequence of steps I've taken. First I started demonstrating. It's a great way to start teaching. You learn how to convey techniques, concepts in a very compressed time frame. Very few people at show will stay with you from days start to days end. Even if they wanted to, they can't.

Demonstrating and teaching are like stories, there is a beginning, a middle and an end. You tell your story and at the end, your students derive all the benefit of a good book, with something they've made to boot.

Teaching in person is great, being with students is an incredibly rewarding experience but limited as to how many people a teacher can physically be with. And, that's why I decided to dive into the world of internet instruction. I can reach many students and I can even reach them across the globe. I love polymer clay, I want everyone to love it as much as I do. More than that, I want them to get better at doing it.

Working on our platform has been exhilarating. Making my first class, learning what I could do with it, was like seeing the New World for the first time. Okay, I overstate, but it was exciting. The notion that I could upload the perfect images (that is, the image perfect for my students to see), and I could even upload video was a blast. And, it is easy and intuitive, too.

Being able to speak to my students made it possible for me to make sure they hear exactly what I think is important. You know, print articles and books are hard, there are space limitations but here, I have no such limitations.

Being able to write my thoughts out, read what I'd written and edit to clarify, makes me a better teacher. It makes me more clear and in 3 years, I haven't had one question about a process or technique. I think that's because I can plan and edit and even re-edit if I think of a better way to tell my students how to do something. I added some content to my new class and the students who registered for it before, will get that new content automatically.

I have control, all our teachers have control, over what they upload, what they say and they do it on their time and from the comfort of their own homes. Because of the way we work, we can post our newest classes faster for you, too.

I began my journey just loving clay. Now, I also love teaching about clay. More than that, I want my students to make a jump up after seeing a class. Beginner moving to Intermediate, Intermediate moving to Advanced. I can do this in classes that I design for that purpose and then create them on our platform.

When I started, I just wanted to make art. I still do but I really want my students to make art and that's why I teach at CraftArtEdu.
Total Immersion

[email protected] on Oct 20, 2012
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Here I am in Las Vegas at the 10th, well, to the best of our knowledge, it's the 10th Clay Carnival!

8 teachers, four days of polymer clay immersion. This year we have Veronique and Lynda from France, Elena from Argentina, Arlene from Canada, Eti from Israel and American enthusiasts who have come from Hawaii (Sarah), and lucky Earnestine from Florida.

CraftArtEdu teachers Judy Belcher, Kim Cavender, Leslie Blackford, Natalia Garcia de Leaniz, Sarah Shriver, and me!

Ours is a wonderful, warm and giving community - it's a treat to greet old friends and meet so many new ones.

Tonight was our "signature" Pizza Party night - the only place in Vegas where you're a guaranteed winner. Of course, you might not really want the goofy presents you win, but hey, you win.

Two more days of clay! More good times and the happy rolling of pasta machines! I will report more and post pictures, too.
"the" weekend prep

[email protected] on Oct 15, 2012
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So, I've been computer bound for a long time. I've tried to get in to my studio and get my hands in clay but it just hasn't been possible. Now, I'm getting ready for a series of teaching trips and I had nothing, nothing to take with me for my students to buy. And, students really like to have a piece of a teacher's work. What to do?

I decided this weekend was "the" weekend, I had to fire up the pasta machine and get something made but. you know, when you haven't had studio time, starting up can be like starting from scratch.

I'd been in pod land, antiqued pods, to be exact. And, I love them. But, this weekend I decided I'd dive back into one of the most wonderful aspect of polymer clay - color. Greens, oranges, violets, reds, yellows and a touch of gold because gold simply goes with everything! You'll notice there's no blue, I'm just not a blue person. Maybe I just veer to the warm colors, warm greens, warm violets. To each her own, I say.

Black and white in some pieces provided the perfect third compliment. I'm happy. I like what I did this weekend, here are some more examples.

I'm off to Vegas, then to France and then to the Czech Republic. I'll blog when I can!
Meet Bettina Welker, Part 2

[email protected] on Sep 24, 2012
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More from Bettina!

4. Tell us more about your career. Did you plan to be here, where you are, teaching, writing books, etc. or did it just happen? Tell us how!

Plan? No! I didn't plan anything - Polymer Clay just took over. After being hooked, there naturally was a lot of jewelry sitting around in my office (my studio back then) which I thought I had to get rid of. So the first thing that comes to your mind is of course selling it. I started out like most of us do selling my stuff on craft fairs. Well, I tried - but nobody wanted to have it. People loved the colorful things I created, asked a lot of questions about the process but in the end bought a simple and boring necklace from the girl in the next booth because it was not plastic but had some silver plated beads...*duuuh*. I spent days in my booth outdoors in the cold trying to convince people that my art is worth the price that I ask for it. And not being a sales person didn't make it easier.

I always had a talent for organizing and being a member of a german polymer clay yahoo-group (founded by germany's most influential clay artist Kerstin Rupprecht) led me to organize the first polymer clay workshop with a foreign teacher hosted in germany. One thing led to another - after organizing 2 workshop weekends by myself 4 more girls joined the fun and we founded the german guild polyclaykunst.de in 2007. Naturally hosting and organizing workhops also led to teaching. People saw my stuff and wanted to know about it and so I had my first teaching gig at our 2007 workshop weekend. And it was fun! Actually it was way more rewarding than standing in a booth trying to convince people why this material is awesome. These people already knew that and had fun working and learning with me. So I put teaching to my roster as well and so far I didn't regret it.

Book writing is another thing that just happened. Being a graphic designer for nearly 20 years, the idea of writing a book was not that far fetched as I came equipped with all the technical knowledge to manage such a print project. I figured that I didn't even need a publisher, I just needed printing money. So I figured out a way to get that and just started creating, taking step-out pictures of everything did in my studio and by the middle of 2009 there was enough material to put it into a book. It was a big success as most of the literature on the topic was written in english and the german speaking community was grateful to have a new comprehensive book in their language.

5. Now, tell about your teaching philosophy? And, tell us why you teach, too.

Oh, teaching is a lot of fun and so rewarding. Once I started I didn't want to stop. It's so amazing having creative people around you that cherish what you do and that are grateful if you share your kowledge, creativity and inspiration with them. I always try to give my students food for more thought. I don't want to just teach a fixed class project with steps set in stone - I rather like to teach them a concept for developing their own design ideas by using that single project as an example. Makes sense? I want my students to think out of the box, put their own twist on things, make their creations personal rather than making copies of my ideas. And when that happens in a classroom it's just as amazing for me as it may be for them. I actually never went out of a class room without having learned something myself.

6. The future. What are your goals moving forward? Is there anything you really want to do, that you haven't? I guess this is a "bucket list" question!

Wow, hard question. As I already said - I don't do plans that much. I am an organizing type, but when it comes to my life I am more the person who is curious what the next day will bring. If an opportunity is thrown my way I consider it and decide. I'm grateful to have a family that supports that unconditionally. Without my great husband, everything I talked about here wouldn't have happened like it did if it were'nt for his support. He just let me take the challenge trying to be an artist and teacher in the polymer clay world even if it meant that I didn't bring home any money for quite some time.

It starts to work out and now I can say that my work finally can at least cover my cost and a part of my life. I wouldn't feed the family though (this is where the cool husband comes in again;).

I don't know what the future has in store for me - my only goal so far is to stay true to myself and my work and to be able to do this amazing "job" as long as possible.

7. Now, before we part, can you share any little working tip for your students?

If you - like me - hate to sand, always work as precise as possible when doing the steps in a project. Sanding is soooo not creative and just keeps you from doing the fun parts. So, be precise and thorough along the way - even if the single steps take a bit longer - you still will be faster in the end without having to sand away all the small inaccuracies. This is what I think makes a good piece a great piece in the end.

8. Do you have some words of advice to those just starting out in this medium, or is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers?

Every error or fail is just an opportunity in disguise. Learn from it - there is no wrong or right when it comes to creativity. Put yourself in there and "just do". Dive in, be creative and enjoy what you're doing. And if - along the way - you want to know more or get a push in a certain direction - take a class, choose a teacher whose work is near and dear to you and benefit from their experience.

Thank you, Bettina! Click to see Bettina's CraftArtEdu classes!
Meet Bettina Welker, Part 1

[email protected] on Sep 20, 2012
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Meet Bettina Welker, artist, author, teacher and mother.

1. What are you vital statistics. Where and when (ladies, if this is a touchy subject, you can skip it) were you born? Large family? Small family? We want to know what you were like as a kid!

I was born 1965 in the southwest of Germany - an area called Saarland which is very close to the french border. I grew up with an older brother in a smallish town called Heiligenwald - which translates to guess what? Hollywood, yay;) I was a curious little thing with blond curly hair always trying to stand out against my 4 1/2 year older brother. Not only was he a lot older, he also was a big teaser, so, little as I was, I always had to find a way to keep up. Maybe that's the reason why I always liked center stage:) As a kid I loved to sing, to paint to craft and to play with my friends in the outdoors. It was great living there close to nature, running around playing in this huge and wild but long forgotten orchard right to the back of our house.

My family is great. My parents - especially my mom - always tried to treat me and my brother equally, which is great. She's a caring person with a big heart, so I never had the feeling to miss out on something. To twist my dad around my finger o get what I want was way easier - I'm my daddy's girl, always was and always will be.

Especially when I was older and trying to find my way in the world my parents always respected my decisions and never tried to mold me in a different direction. Well, I guess they already knew that they wouldn't succeed anyways - I have a strong will and once I made a decision (which can take ages - decision making is hard for me - I'm a libra) I stick to it and I want it with all my heart.

2. In every life, "influential people" exist! Tell us about that one person who you feel was your most important influence and why.

As I already said - being close to my family had a big influence on my character. But thinking closer about that I guess my grandma (dad's mom) had a huge influence in me. She was kind of a free spirit, had to manage her life with three little boys since her husband went missing in WW2. They realy were poor back then and she knit for a living to be able to buy food for these three boys. Well, guess who taught me crocheting and knitting:) She never married again and after the boys were married and had children themselves she did stuff that my other, more conservative grandparents didn't do. She went out for bowling, went to the beauty parlor, had a lot of friends. When I was around her I always had the feeling I could be anything I want because she let me. She wasn't around that much, but I enjoyed every minute with her when she was. Unfortunately she died too young at the age of 66 and I miss her a lot. My mom always says that I'm just like her - especially when I'm stubborn, self confident or uncompromising. She does this to tease me, but I always feel kind of proud when calls me "Grandma Liesel";)

3. Artists tend to hop around before finding that medium that they passionately dive in to. How did you discover your medium and what was it that made it so compelling?

I always was a creative person - my room was always cluttered with crafty stuff. I never got bored when I was not able to go outdoors to play - I just pulled out my stuff and did stuff. I kind of liked everything that let to creating something. I sewed and knit clothes for my barbie dolls, build closets for the barbie clothing together with my grandpa, I enjoyed cooking and baking with my grandma (the other one). After high school I went to University studying graphic design which is actually still my profession but after finding out about polymer clay this got pushed more and more into the background. I still have a few customers but most of my time I spend creating with clay now. How I came to it? Well, this question is already answered in many online-interviews and most of the people already know it. In 2003 I was thinking about making kitschy snowglobes with tiny winter wonderlands inside as christmas gifts. I figured that Fimo would be a good medium to sculpt these landscapes. I knew Fimo existed but for some unknown reason I never touched it before. So I went online and googled FIMO and there it was: tons of websites showing beautiful patterns and jewelry made from polymer clay. I couldn't believe that I missed out n this medium my whole life. I spent the whole week researching, reading, learning about it and then I went and bought the first blocks of clay and some tools. Luckily there already was a pasta machine in my kitchen (which has never been used to make pasta ever since). And guess what - I never made the snow globes but everybody got a piece of jewelry that christmas:)

Tune in on Monday for Part 2 of our interview with Bettina Welker!
sometimes you just have to do something else

[email protected] on Sep 17, 2012
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My head has been planted in a bucket of clay. Polymer clay, to be exact. I live and breathe clay and I do love it, otherwise my head would be stuck in something else.

Having said that, sometimes, even I have to do something else. Cooking? Nope. Shopping? Nope, I don't like that much, anymore. Drawing? Yes, that's my something else.

I edit classes, a lot of them and I love learning about other processes. And, I have a lot of supplies, just not the right supplies for all the classes but one day, I surely will. I know myself, I will.

I have the 120 box of Prismacolor pencils. I have thick pads of paper. I have fine point waterproof pens. I have drafting tools. I have all the "stuff". So when I was editing Genevieve Crabe's class on the drawing Mandalas, my fingers started to itch - I had a physical reaction to her class. It was the perfect combination of my affinity for geometry and drawing.

I'd never thought about how you draw a mandala. I could have figured it out - it's the affinity for geometry, but her method made immediate sense to me so off I went. I probably should have been sleeping but I stayed up and drew.

Peg, who helps me edit, saw the class (we're both in and out of the classes) and began drawing, too. She borrowed some of my supplies so she was set.

Here are our very first mandalas and we wouldn't have done it without Genevieve Crabe's class. Thank you for the inspiration, Genevieve! You gave us the foundation and off we went. It was, in every sense, the perfect "something else" for us.

Photo: Left Mandala is mine, Peg's is on the right. Click to see Genevieve's preview of her class Drawing Mandalas.
Getting unstuck

[email protected] on Sep 13, 2012
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Meet Frodo. Frodo looks the way I feel when I'm stuck.

Not every day begins with an idea of what you will make in studio. Most of the time, I've found that just beginning, just doing something, anything, usually starts the thinking process that leads to creating something. When I get "stuck" I usually just make a Skinner Blend. I'll use it so it's not a waste of time or of clay, either. The folding and rolling, watching the streaks disappear, is usually enough to engage my brain.

Sometimes, I need another kind of kick start. I may take a piece that's partially finished and finish off the back. I may take components that I have sitting around and arrange them. These usually work as brain engagers, too.

But sometimes, I'm just stuck. None of those strategies work, my brain is still sleeping. So, what to do?

I'll grab a book, any art book, doesn't have to be clay related at all. Seeing what other artists have created is a definite brain engager. Thinking, as an exercise, can I do this with clay? How can I? That gets me back into gear.

I may actually try to replicate glass in clay, or metal in clay, or food in clay but that's just a preliminary step, an exercise, and I'm then back in the swing and doing my own thing.

We all get stuck, we all find our own strategies for waking up our brains for getting our creative juices flowing again. If you find yourself stuck, as I sometimes am, try these, they may work for you, too.

Oh, and one last little bit of unstuck advice, hop on the nearest treadmill, the ideas will come fast!

Photo: Frodo is Dani and Natalia's wonderful, sweet pooch.

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