Into DAY 2, with more classes on the horizon

Day one began when I showed up at the wrong school: Ridgeway Annex in North Vancouver. There is also a 'non' annex called Ridgeway Elementary which was currently being housed in a completely different school (I found all this out enroute with my 3 giant bags of materials and tools frantically running around hilly North Van, eventually bursting through the music room and finding my students patiently waiting to begin. Whew! Luckily they were super easy going:) This will be a smaller class, which I can't complain about. 4 students in total from Grades 4 through 7 - 3 awesome girls and 1 boy (who I have yet to meet). Hopefully he will be here this week. They are each so different in the way they speak, their mannerisms, their inspirations and interests, and when we began to talk about 'defining' features of our own personal style and all of their eyes lit up, I knew already that I was going to learn so much from them - already I am inspired!

My curriculum for this session includes learning basic skills, tricks and tools to create 3-4 varying wearable works of art. It also includes a bit of fashion history and a rundown of terminology, stone identification and of course, the finale show at the programs end:) I was SO excited putting the curriculum together - it is fully adaptable to suit all age groups and interest levels and the projects are fantastic and i am so thrilled to see these little creative beings explore their artistic souls and emerge as pint size designers!

Last week, we did introductions which included a discussion about style, trends and what it means to make a statement. Then we explored some wire wrapping techniques and finished with an easy to make funky wire ring. This week, we are exploring, color, layering, contrast and continuing with wire, learning how to wrap stones, make chain links in-between varying beads and begin to design our first projects!

Photo's of these projects coming soon.

In other news, more classes, private functions, workshops and exciting collaborations are on the horizon for winter.

Till next week!

Heather.

AND WE LAUNCH!

After many meetings, much excitement and a strong support from influential people in the arts and children/youth programming community, (amazing!) PARTS for kids! will be launching the first class of its first ever session, at Ridgeway Elementary School in North Vancouver, tomorrow! (October 13th). We are all pretty excited as sign ups continue to occur.

I will likely be launching adult workshops mid November through the North Vancouver Arts Council - these will be intro to jewelry and project based: ie: come in, do a weekend workshop and leave with an awesome finished project and new skills to boot:) This will be a great way to meet other adults in your own and surrounding communities, to bond with your friends - projects will be for men and woman, so bring a date! If you are interested, please contact the North Van Arts Council for more info!

I am presently in talks with other schools at the moment, one in Maui and a large community center in Vancouver, but that is all that I can say about that until more is solidified...(insert suspense music here).

Looking forward to the next updates!
(they are going to be exciting!)