Pandemic Thoughts

 

A while back I did a series of small publications on fibre characteristics.  I called them A Good Yarn and covered cotton, linen, wool.  Mostly I did them because so few weavers had any real understanding about the very nature of the materials they were working with.

This past year when I tried to find a way to get through a pandemic and continue to teach, this topic was one that I turned into a 2 hour (approximately) on line presentation.  In the end I wound up with 11 seminars about various principles involved in weaving.  

As we stare down the telescope of forward thinking, I've been trying to figure out how to continue to reach out to weavers and while we are in this pandemic, I won't be doing any in person workshops, so I've been booking Zooms with some guilds.  This weekend, I'll be doing one on ergonomics for the Ontario Handweavers conference.  I don't know if they are still taking registrations, but maybe?  

This morning a guild asked if I could do a Zoom workshop.  I offered one (or more) of my seminars, in large part because I just don't have the equipment or skills to do a workshop, as such.  But I still have a lot (!) to say about the craft of weaving.  And I spent rather a lot of time first writing my book, then developing the seminars.

So if anyone is interested in booking me for a Zoom seminar (if anyone reading this has sat in on one, maybe mention if you thought it was worthwhile?) and I will work on a price.

The post production team at the School of Sweet Georgia continues to work on the editing and we appear to be on track for the class to go live in the new year.  Part of the reason I agreed to do this with SOS is the fact that I can interact with the students, answer questions, clarify things that may need further explanation.  An on-line 'workshop' perhaps isn't the 'ideal', but with forethought and care, I think we can make it work.  And I'm willing to try.

Ta-DAA!

 

Well, I guess I can go public now as the first announcement of the upcoming video classes I just filmed was made public today.

During the pandemic and my continuing health issues combining to shrink my horizons, I thought long and hard about how - or even IF - I could continue to teach.  And how that might be done with the most benefit to the students.

I've done video classes before and I stand by them - check out the Handwoven website.  But what I felt was truly missing from most on line classes was the actual learning part, something you get to see and participate in in person workshops/classes.

So when Felicia Lo contacted me in the spring and asked if I would be interested in doing classes for their School of Sweet Georgia, I thought about it.  For maybe a nano-second.  Felicia had interviewed me a few years ago and I had enjoyed her interviewing style a lot.  She asked good questions and listened to my answers.  It felt like a good conversation.

And almost instantly I realized that if she was willing to be the on screen student, those viewing the class would be a much better idea of what was involved,.

It is one thing to see someone who is proficient at a skill do it, but that doesn't actually give the viewer any idea of just what is in store as they try to learn the skill themselves.

I asked Felicia if she would be the 'student' and I would demonstrate, talk her through what I was doing, then coach her as she tried to adopt the new approach.

In the end, I think it went well.  Not to mention she has thrown herself into trying the new processes to see how they fit with her.  

The added attraction to working with Sweet Georgia is the interaction I will have with any of the students who register for the course.  I will be available for questions, further explanation if the video doesn't show what the student needs, advice about things that maybe didn't get covered (because believe me, you cannot cover everything to do with the 'it depends' spectrum in a 240 minute class), and just generally give feedback and advice.

On line isn't the 'best' but it can be made pretty good.  And again, added bonus is interaction with the students over time, not just a high pressured limited time frame.

We did two classes, Magic in the Water, of course, and The Intentional Weaver - both based on (you guessed it) my books.  Both have on screen student participation, both will have on going interaction with me.

Felicia and her team are producing a variety of classes, knitting, felting, spinning, dyeing and weaving.  They are trying to build a solid community of fibre folk, and I am pleased and honoured to be part of their efforts to help people learn and understand how textiles crafts work.

My classes are scheduled to launch in the new year.  I'll keep people posted - or check out their website.