Friday, November 26, 2010

2011 - teaching and shows

Before we know it it will be 2011.  Hard to believe.  Seems like yesterday we were waiting for the world to end as we entered the new millenium and now 2011!  Time goes too quickly.

I have already planned most of my out of town teaching and shows for 2011 and the year is packed with shows and teaching in new and exciting places.  My year will begin with the Oasis show in March (that one is here in Toronto), then off to Las Vegas for the Glass Craft Expo.  Just selling this year, but perhaps I will be able to teach there in 2012. 

In May we hold our Toronto Bead Society Show.  I am a long time member of the TBS and have recently joined the steering committee.  I am the volunteer coordinator.  Not really my first choice of a way to help out - truthfully,  I am not that outgoing, so it has been challenging for me.  Soon I am changing positions.  I will be moving over to running the semi-annual TBS bead show.  Spring will be my inaugural show (as more of the assistant) and then I will be on my own for the fall of 2011.  This show was my first bead show ever and it will always hold a special place for me.  I am thrilled to be taking over the running of it.  It is already going along just fine, thanks to Sue Wise who has manned the fort for the last five years or so.  I shall be taking over from very capable hands.     

June will be Bead and Button.  Now everyone must love that show.  I have never been to such a big show - you could just get totally lost with all those booths.  And the classes - I understand they hold over 600 classes!  Unbelievable.  I have five different classes scheduled, so it will be busy and tons of fun, I am sure.  The calendar will be out sometime in December and you can start picking your classes on January 11th. 

The summer will find me teaching at Red Deer College for a week.  This has long been a dream and when they said yes to my proposal I was thrilled.  I am not quite sure of the dates, but a whole week of beadmaking as part of their Summer Series 2011.  I have long wanted to go back to summer camp and this is my chance!  I get to be the counsellor, so to speak, but still a whole week playing in the glass studio - it will be such fun. 

By the end of October I will be flying off to California to teach at Arrow Springs.  The class description is already up on their website and I could not be happier to be invited.  I will hopefully get to spend a few days with family at Lake Tahoe before teaching. 

By then I will be happy to spend time closer to home.  The fall will bring us back to the shows I just finished - the Toronto Bead Society show and the Ottawa show once more.  It will be an amazing year, I am sure.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Where does the time go?

Well, it has been such a busy time lately.  I realized it has been a long time since I put anything up here at all.  I am certainly staying busy and 2011 looks like it will be an amazing year. 

The 2011 schedule is pretty well full.  I still work part time in a downtown law office.  I love the people and they are very supportive of my beads and really, in this ecomony, nothing beats the fact that every two weeks there is a paycheque coming my way.  I get four weeks of holidays and can switch around my days here and there to accommodate a few extra shows.  The trade off is that I work extra every couple of months when things pick up and when my boss takes her vacation.

You know how life goes though - recently I had lots of things planned for the weekends.  Volunteering at the Creativ Festival (I looked after the Toronto Bead Society booth) and a Nortel demonstration booth.  I taught one weekend.  Then we had the Toronto Bead Society show and then the next weekend I was in Ottawa teaching and at a show.  Needless to say those were the weeks that my boss was away - so, full time hours for about a month and little time for days off.  Well, truth be told there was one day in there that I had off. 

Meanwhile I have bunged up a shoulder.  Not sure if it is the bead work or the typing at the office or a combination of both.  I have been going for physiotherapy for about a month.  Yesterday I had an ultrasound and an xray.  We shall see what those tell the doctor and then perhaps a cortisone shot.  I am quite leary of such a thing but really, the pain is getting to me.

I am happy to say that I am now back to the regular routine.  I taught a five hour introductory lampwork class today, tomorrow I teach crochet in the evening.  So, hopefully, up early and at the torch in the morning.  Then off to physio and then BeadFX for some crochet fun.

Tuesday will be an exciting day.   My daughter has a piece going up at the Gladstone for a show called HARD TWIST !: CHROMA!  It is a juried show of textile based pieces.  Sarah has been working so hard on this amazing piece that will hang from the ceiling.  I can't wait to go to the opening.  But first, on Tuesday, I will be her assistant in getting it downtown and then hung up.  She has all the hardware and we shall pack a small case of drills, hammers, stud finders and the like - just in case.  The opening is on Friday and the show will be up for about two months.  Stop in and take a peek if you can.  I am sure it will be wonderful.  Hopefully, I can take a few pictures at the opening to share.