Trekking East

To another place AND another time zone this weekend! Well it wasn't far from home, but our neighbors Indiana, for their art educator's conference. Held in a suburb of Indianapolis, at a high school (great idea by the way!), we had the treat of sharing fiber with a bunch of excited Hoosier folks. 

After a three and a half hour drive, it makes you feel pretty good when you start unloading your things and teachers walk by and literally start cheering that Esther's Place is here. I mean clapping, hootin' and hollerin', and everything! What a welcome wagon. 

The day started out with my class first thing, which I really liked. We made leapfrogs and trumpet flowers to demonstrate wet and needle felting techniques. What an awesome feeling when you keep watching people trickle in and you run out of seats. I had standing room only and I think almost 30 teachers in the class. I was very pleased to have three male teachers attend. I strive to minimize the genderization that sometimes subconsciously occurs with fiber art, and having confident male teachers helps that cause out! 

The class was great but my favorite part of class is when we do introductions. I really like to get a group of people to learn about each other and find common ground that gets them sharing. In this instance, they share their name, where they teach and what ages, and I ask them to share their passion. Art teachers are artists first, and their insatiable desire to create sometimes gets pushed aside for the practical. Hearing about their passion, whether it was blacksmithing, stained glass, mixed media, etc, was inspiring. We really needed a session or social media platform just to share pictures and ideas and interact about what we do, and learn from one another (hint, hint!).  

The booth was hopping, of course, and thanks to my dear friend Amber, lots of folks were making super cute candy corns! I know there will be lots of creativity going on, because lots of fibers went home with new felters. I did enjoy seeing one gal, Kendra, who shared with us the picture of her felt rooster she created. She won a grand champion for it at the fair! How exciting to see what can happen in a year. 

The show was a great success and I now have lots of things I want to offer for art educators- resources, lesson plans, video tutorials, that I will be working on in the weeks to come. In the meantime, check out how to make the leapfrog and flowers here! 

Well, a trip isn't complete without a little fun, so we did enjoy some local sushi and I visited my favorite Indy attraction, Saddleup Saloon and Dancehall,  where I enjoyed my pastime of line-dancing with some boot-scootin' fun. I love dancing, have danced my whole life in some form or another, and dance at Saddleup near us.  It's been a great trip! 

Acorns, acorns and more acorns!

At every show we do, we try to offer a make-and-take so people can try out felting. I have the fun challenge of coming up with easy, quick ideas... and lots of them! I strive to have a different project each year, so folks can collect the "souvenir" button of the year. It's a fun way to spread the love of felting, and everyone enjoys it. 

At the National Art Educator's Conference, we made acorns. Since it was St. Patty's Day, we made green ones the first day, using my hand blended Cheviot batts, which are full of color and sparkles. As I sat at the demo table in the first few minutes of the show opening, people began to wander over. Before long, there was a table of teachers laughing, felting and comparing notes on how stress-relieving this was. People strolling by peeked through masses to try and see what they were doing. 

What I love about art teachers is that they are always eager to try something new. They don't hold back! At other shows, lookie loo's might gaze in at the felting. I'll lure them in and ask if they want to make a cute acorn too, and there's a 50/50 chance they'll say no thank you. But here? I barely got the words "do you want to make" out of my mouth and they were nodding enthusiastically. Didn't matter what we were making, they were in. They'd elbow in to find a little space on the table and the rest would gladly scoot a little closer so they'd fit. I'd turn to help get another person started and at the other end of the table, new recruits were getting taught by "veteran" felters almost done making their first acorn. 

It's a giving spirit, and so refreshing to see. People helping people! Strangers connected by community; connected by this drive to create, to learn, to make art. What I get to see, as I am at that demo table, warms my heart and sends joy to my spirit. We laugh together, we share our stresses and the candid conversation that flows as we create together is priceless. My face hurts from all the smiling, but it's a great feeling. 

That is art; in it's truest sense,  art imparts beauty to the viewer. But when we participate in art, it beautifies us from the inside out. It brings out a smile that lights up our face. It lifts burdened shoulders and we radiate with strength. It refines our character and lets our joy shine through. 

It might be just an acorn, but I believe it is a whole lot more than that. A person leaves with more than just an acorn. They carry that transforming beauty into the world, as they paint the canvas of their life.