Teaching: A Few Questions

When I first started making jewelry eight years ago (wow - time flies!), teaching was the furthest thing from my mind. I spent my entire professional career in administrative work - secretarial, office manager, small business management - and although I'd done some training in the course of all that, it wasn't a big part of my personal or professional history.

So I'm more than a little surprised by how much I've loved teaching. I wrote about some of why I love it a while ago on my own blog, and it's undeniably been a huge part of my own personal and artistic growth over the last several years. But when someone asked me a couple of days ago what made a good teacher, I thought I'd rock the boat a little by sharing a few of the harder lessons I've learned from teaching over the last three years.

• Why do you want to teach? Your motives as a teacher are going to inform everything you do in the classroom, whether it's conscious or not. Teaching is certainly about making an income, and there's nothing wrong with that. But do you love helping other people get better at what you do or does that idea - that your students may outstrip your own ability - make you feel defensive?

Soldering students at Roadhouse Arts

• How well do you know your stuff? One of the biggest challenges of teaching is troubleshooting problems on the fly for students. I promise you that in almost every class, there is going to be one student who goes "off the reservation" and will insist (sometimes passively, sometimes overtly) on doing things his or her way. Are your technical skills up to the challenge of getting a student out of a jam or engineering a creative solution to a problem - even when it's of their own making? There is nothing more painful and embarrassing than to find yourself - as the instructor - staring down at a failed student project and have nothing to offer in the way of solutions. At a minimum, can you help a student understand where they went wrong, just by looking at their work?

I loved this student's focus and commitment!

• Do you love the medium you're teaching? I'm going to tell you the truth: teaching is hard. There's a lot of prep work and planning involved, and not one single class is going to go exactly the way you planned it. Why? Because there is a factor every single class has in common, and you have no control over it: students. They are unique, individual, and - sometimes - really, really challenging to deal with. If you don't absolutely love what you're teaching, it's going to turn into a grind.

I love teaching metal techniques - and etching is among my favorites!

• How well do you handle failure/rejection? This is a tough one. As much as I'd like to tell you that every teaching experience is full of golden light and positive outcomes, the truth is that it's sometimes... the opposite of that. (I taught a class not too long ago that - at the end of it - had me questioning why I ever thought teaching was a good idea. My sweet husband had to ply me with wine and talk me in off the proverbial ledge - it was bad.) Here's another truth: your classes are going to wind up becoming as much about you as about the techniques and projects you're sharing. Not everyone is going to take to you or your style, no matter how tight and snapped in your technique may be. How well will you be able to manage that dynamic? Because teaching is never as easy as making your favorite project in front of a group of people who are hanging on your every word.

Student work from a recent fold-forming class. I confess that these cuffs made me feel a little envious and a little inadequate - they were much more beautiful than the demo piece I made that day!

• Do you have something new to offer? Let's face it: for whatever reason, there are lots of people out there who think this "jewelry thing" is a no-brainer, and teaching it (whatever "it" may be) is even easier than that. The result is that there are a lot of teachers out there, some really good and some really (really) bad, and many of them are teaching essentially the same stuff. What sets you apart? How are you different? Where and how are you able to leave a mark?

There are wonderful teachers out there, and I am grateful to have encountered some of them. Good teachers are life changing - but unfortunately, so are bad ones. A few years ago, I was very close to just giving up on jewelry altogether, and it turned out to be mostly because I just didn't know any better. So if you're planning to include teaching as part of your creative life, purpose to be a really good one. Plan for it, do your homework... and then give yourself away. In so doing, you may just find yourself. I did.

Until next time -

Freeform Friday: feeling thankful

Have you noticed the people posting their daily things to be thankful for? I have and I admire the effort. I would start, fall behind, and then feel guilty/stressed that I wasn't being thankful enough! But it got me thinking... what experience in the art/jewelry field am I most thankful for? Class? Mentor? Trip? Tutorial? Instructor? 

I ask you to think on this, pour a cup of tea or coffee - and write a response to me in the comments!
My post is brief today - and I am giddy with excitement - and thanks... I am off to Washington DC for the day to spend it with my sister! She lives in Austin TX and is in town for a conference. So please don't equate my brevity with lack of caring...

My most thankful experience is meeting Keith LoBue. He is an amazing artist and an inspired teacher. He calls himself a "stuff smith" as he creates intricate swoon worthy pieces from found objects and diverse treasures. We met in San Diego at the Shepherdess - where he was teaching - it was after I had moved back East but I returned for his class. And we reconnected, and I was challenged anew each year, on his annual trip. I haven't seen him for a few years, he is based in Sydney Australia and doesn't travel as extensively as he did.

My first LoBue inspired mixed media piece. From his "Precious Little" class: antique sterling butterfly, pod, antique magazine paper, glass lens, gems...

Shrine work in progress - center focal composed of pods with vintage pearls, beetle wings, and auto glass, skeleton key, milk glass knob, cigar box, sandalwood fan... 

My first etching samples, my first resin pour.
 Experiments with antique book text. 

These classes were years ago - so I did my first etching and resin under Keith's tutelage - 8 years ago? Before the materials were commonly used in the art jewelry scene... This built a foundation for me - learning techniques to apply to my work, learning them well, being confident to implement them. 

But for me - it was also hearing the right information at the right time. The encouragement to think out of the proverbial box. The permission to play, and to alter materials beyond recognition if the piece required that. To not hold precious things too precious, and to hold dear the found treasures that spark creativity. To honor the patina of age, and the inherent history in an object - even if its specific are unknown to me. 

I was in  a period of transition - having just returned East and trying to settle into my new role as freelance teacher, and more importantly, working artist. I was, and still am working with clay, but it is one of many materials I draw on to say my piece. Mixed media became my voice, and I am thankful that classes with Keith helped me find it. I came away with skills, yes, but more importantly a philosophy that informs my work to this day. 

Aurora: vintage compact, magnifying lens, antique postcard, etched brass, rusted washer, silk...

Gaze: pocket watch case, sea glass, image transfer, pearls, antique images and text, resin, microbeads. 

Tell me you most what you are most thankful... 

Jenny
www.jdaviesreazor.com