teaching : fusing plastic

At the end of June, I wrapped up teaching a class about fusing plastic film!

The completion of this class has been a big goal for me. I started mapping the course curriculum early last year, so marking this complete is a big big deal!

Putting together the curriculum for this class reminded me of the first time I found excitement in teaching a craft technique. Back when I taught recreation and life skills to visually impaired children, I often brought in my craft projects, such as knitting, embroidery, and machine sewing, to see if my students were interested in learning. When they were interested, I spent hours outside work relearning how to do these activities without relying on visual cues. I developed techniques(some successful and some not) for breaking down the steps into smaller, more manageable parts.

These experiences were valuable when creating the curriculum for this fusing plastic film class. It also felt like a connection between two seemingly different points in my life. I don't always feel like an "artist." Imposter syndrome is strong in my brain. But teaching this art technique that I created to other artists helped me feel more like an artist.

Anyway, I always do a declutter and studio reset when I wrap something up. It helps me process the completed project and recognize the milestone I met. Needless to say, I will be chewing on some of these things this week.