Looking Ahead

Yesterday I agreed to teach Level Four and Two at Cape Breton the end of April, beginning of May.

It is a great privilege for me to see the group that I taught level one and two to now reaching their level four.  It feels like a nice way to wrap up the cycle. 

Level four is a bit of a stretch for me and I have just now downloaded and printed out the level four manual.  I'll do the level two later - it has been upgraded so I need to be working from the most recent version.  But since I've already taught that level twice, I have a better idea of what needs to be done in order to prepare. 

But level four is going to challenge me.  It mostly addresses colour and design and I feel the least confident about those topics, even though I made a profession of designing and selling my textiles.

The biggest boost to my confidence was taking a workshop on colour with Jack Lenor Larsen.

His teaching style was more European in that he would set challenges, then critique our results.   He had no idea who had done what because mostly he would be outside smoking or chatting with others, not hovering over the students in the classroom. 

He set the challenge, then let us do with it what we would.

For me the approach was helpful.  It was even more helpful when his critiques of my results were generally positive - much to my surprise.  Over the course of the workshop I began to realize that I knew more about colour than I thought and I was able to take that new found confidence home and really let loose in my own design work.  Listening in to the critiques of all of the work was also helpful as I began to see what he was talking about through the use of the actual samples woven in response to his challenges.

Weaving some of the samples for Tien's colour class also helped train my eye as I worked through what she wanted illustrated for her students.

Talking to a couple of friends, I realized that once again I probably know more than I think I do.  So I am going to study the level four manual, learn as much from it as I can, then hopefully share that with the students.  (Some of them are already very accomplished designer/weavers - they are likely already quite comfortable with the course content!)

I have been a big supporter of the Olds College master weaving program.  Quite frankly, if all anyone does is level one, they will get a good grounding in the basics.  I know several people who took level one and said they'd got what they needed and were going to go home and put level one principles into practice. 

Personally I am delighted at how many 'young' people I am seeing in the level one classes.  I am also delighted to be teaching level one at Olds in June.

So far two boxes of homework have arrived and been marked from the classes last year.  I hear rumours of others in the works with one - at least - promised for the end of March..  The college has been making some changes and you must now have passed one level before you can take the next.  I am interested in how many from last years classes will send their home work in.  Regardless of whether or not they continue, I feel honoured to have met them and hope they continue to weave.  We need more people to ensure the craft continues and that good information gets passed on to the next generation.