Doing the Happy Dance

About 3 weeks ago, I turned in my "final 3" projects for jurying in Chicago - the last step in becoming a Senior Instructor for Art Clay World. And, along with Gail Moriarty, who also took  the level 2 class with me at Carol Babineau's studio, I've been waiting patiently to hear the outcome. I just received a congratulatory email from Carol.

As my dear mother used to say, "Yippee, Skippee!", sort of a back in the day equivalent of WHOO-HOO!

I've doing some preplanning for my retirement (998 days and counting), and one of the things I'm looking forward to doing is spending much of my time writing and teaching. Achieving the Senior Instructor certification from Art Clay World was one of "those" things that I needed to do to accomplish my retirement dream.

Now I'm looking at the Master Registry Program, a rigorous 5 tier evaluation program based on 50 specific projects, testing one's ability and creativity using metal clay. So far, 14 artists have successfully completed one or more or the tiers, and judging from the map of those in the program,  I'd be the first to enroll from Massachusetts. It's a bit of a scarey endeavor for me, but one that I believe will help me stretch and grow. Julia Rai, the first to sign up for the program, and the first to reach Level III, details her experience in her blog.

Absolutely Everything

well, it's Friday again, and it looks like I'll be stopping by Absolutely Everything in Topsfield MA on my way home again.
This is a dangerous detour for me...and my wallet, as I always find something I just HAVE to HAVE. Today, I'm on the hunt for Style Stones, which I plan on using as texture tools with metal clay. hopefully , I'll find what I'm looking for there and and will be able to post some new pics over the weekend.

this promises to be a busy Weekend - I'm heading out Saturday to Salem, MA to the Peabody Essex Museum and their new Mayan exhibit - got a great writeup last weekend and the premise is fascinating -"ancient Maya viewed their world as inextricably tied to water."

and Sunday I'll be  trying to get a studio back in shape "after the floods" - basement still drenched, but drying slowly, so I'm going to tackle my breezeway room - currently stacked high with seasonal stuff, it's time to clean it out. I'm hoping that between this and next long weekend (thanks to Paul Revere and the Boston marathoners, I have next Monday off), I can turn this nice little room into a 2-3 person teaching studio, at least until the basement studio gets cleared our and cleaned up. Should be interesting- and hopefully I'll find that set of keys that went missing last year in the rubble.