Shadowing, Week 10. 3 hours with Kerri Mulcare (subbing for Jessie Merriam), 4 hours with Laura Brown.
This week was wonderful. On Friday night, my friend Kerri and I co-taught a monotype workshop at Minnesota Center for Book Arts. Jessie, who I have been shadowing, was supposed to teach it but Kerri took over for her while she’s out of town. Which is totally fine: it gave me a wonderful opportunity to teach a class with one of my favorite people and close friends.
Kerri had things mostly set up by the time I arrived, since I was coming from my Friday afternoon class. There were 10 students, all adults. Some had prior printmaking experience, but for many, this was their first exposure to printmaking.
Kerri gave a short demo on how to roll oil-based ink onto a plexi plate with brayers, how to use brushes and mineral spirits to draw on the inked plate, and how to use paper stencils. She then had everyone try using the brushes on her test plate before demoing how to print it on a press. The rest of the two-hour class was work time, where Kerri and I guided the students as they used the press and answered questions. Monotypes are a wonderful media to introduce printmaking with, because they’re so immediate and low-stakes. It’s easy to make many in a short amount of time, even when sharing one press with a lot of other people, so if you mess one up it’s not a big deal. The students were quick to start experimenting with all kinds of layering, mark-making, and using random materials and techniques. I was super excited to watch them all take the instruction and run with it, and grow more confident in trying new things as the evening progressed. They were also learning from one another, which was awesome.
Afterwards Kerri and I cleaned up—we had each student clean their plexis, but the mineral spirits were pretty strong and the studio didn’t have very good ventilation, so we just let them go and cleaned up while wearing our respirators. It was a lot of work, but worth it. I felt really good after the class, both from the confidence the experience afforded me and from the students’ excitement and joy. Definitely can’t wait to teach more printmaking classes like that again! Also, the collaboration was ideal. With that many students, it is really helpful to have two people teaching and I absolutely love working with my friends that way.
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The next day (Saturday), I shadowed Laura while she taught a sewing class for adults out of her studio. The class was a 4-hour, learn-to-use-your-sewing-machine workshop meant to familiarize the students with their machines so they can keep using them on their own. Each of the six students brought their own sewing machine, and Laura provided fabric for them to use. I rotary cut fabric for samplers and for small drawstring bags while Laura guided the students through threading their machines, tensioning them, troubleshooting problems, and then trying out different stitch patterns on their sampler scraps. It was the perfect place for me to observe and be helpful to Laura at the same time. (I also spent time talking to the students and problem-solving with them). By the end of the class, each student had made a simple drawstring bag, which as Laura observed, is an uncomplicated project that incorporates a lot of important techniques that are used in other things like garment sewing or quilting.
It is such a blessing to watch Laura work–I’ve likely said that many times before. She really knows how to make people feel comfortable in a learning environment, which means they’re less afraid to make mistakes.
After the workshop was over, Laura and I talked about teaching while we cleaned the studio up. One thing she mentioned was the idea of radical hospitality in the studio, which I am really into. She provided snacks and stuff (with options for potential food sensitivities); for a four-hour class this was helpful! The care Laura has for people seriously inspires me and is what I hope to live up to. Another thing that I really appreciate is Laura’s model of self-care. She is busy and does so much but sets aside time to take care of herself (from getting food and sleep, to doing finances & those little things that always get put off), and encourages others to as well. AND she doesn’t hide being imperfect about those things, which is super important because it makes me feel safe not being perfect either.