Landscape Class at Linda Van Alstyne's

My class at Linda's went really well. I love teaching at her home studio. The atmosphere is so relaxed, the view out the sliding doors is beautiful, and we are surrounded by Linda's wonderful felt. I also have her as a ready assistant. All of this is in addition to my getting to take a mini vacation from home. I sleep so well in her guest room with the big old bed that needs a stool to climb up into, and I get fed gourmet food by her loving husband. I am just a tad jealous of all that. But the best part is that I get to spend a lot of time with my one of my good friends!

The students were all such nice women and the pieces that they made were wonderful. Here is the group with their pieces.

I was happy to have two of the women from the last class that I taught there come back with their unfinished pieces on the second day to get more advice on how to proceed with the needle felting.

Here is Nan's piece after the last class...

 and at the end of this weekends class.

And here is Betty's.

The changes to Betty's piece were very subtle and are more apparent than can be seen here.

Here is a photo of the ladies working on their layouts on the first day.

And in no particular order, here are photos of their pieces at the end of day one and then day two.

Here is Joann's.  Inspired by a photo from her honeymoon in I think Aruba.

Here is Eileen's. Her picture so reminded me of our place up in New Hampshire.

Her is Rita's. Poor Rita had a hard time letting go of her desire for precision; much like my sister Beth. But she worked through that and a serious lack of confidence to produce a nice piece that her family could tell was of the cliffs on Martha's Vineyard.

Connie did a photo of her home and yard. I don't like to have student's do buildings because the organic nature of the felt is more conducive to depicting natural objects, but Connie had a strong art background so I felt she would be successful...and she certainly was. 

 And here is Donna's piece.

 I find that one of the most challenging things about teaching art is when the student has a style that is very different from my own. It can be hard to figure out how to guide a student who sees things in such a different way. I want the pieces to be truly the students work not mine. I feel that my job is to act as a guide to get the piece to what the student envisions. Donna is a graphic artist who uses a very different palette than I do. I hope I did not stifle her vision with my suggestions.

Linda also tackled a new piece when she was not helping me out. I was so happy to see that she struggled less, and was not so critical of what she was doing. I didn't get a shot of hers before she did the needling.

Linda had Monday off and invited me to stay over another night so we could play and I could pack up at my leisure.  We made some small samples of collage felt...and did lots of talking and sharing of ideas. It was a fantastic weekend! Thank you Linda!