Passing of an era

My kids (now grown) have been working with me since they were young. Peter (our son) was the first. He worked alongside me for about 14 years, went on to be an animator and now is working towards becoming a high school teacher. Rebecca, slightly younger has also worked for us for many years in the shop. She has been in charge of my painting crew when we were a larger company and in the last years has been the painting department single handedly for the most part. Various nieces and nephews, my brother and my dad have worked with us at various times. It has been very much a family business. 

Rebecca has given notice she will be retiring from working in our shop on a daily basis. It won't be a cold turkey quit, but rather a 'please don't count on me to be there every day as I have to move on to other things for the most part kind of deal.' Her husband Phoenix (who also worked for us for nine years) has his own similar (but different) business and is doing extremely well. Bec needs to spend more time in a support role there and we encourage it wholeheartedly. She'll still come to tend the horses each day. When I have a special project I have no doubt she'll jump in to apply her magical paint skills as no one else could (including me) . She will also keep helping out at the Sign Magic Workshops as well in the future. She is just so good at teaching.

Donna captured the workshop well and as I was looking through the pictures it made me smile. The pictures capture just how passionate Bec is about teaching. She sometimes teases me about how I use hand gestures as I communicate, talking animatedly about the subject at hand. Most times I even need a pencil and paper to show graphically the things I speak of. But obviously Bec is not much different.

Bec is very articulate in her talks, using words concisely. But she also uses her hands to punctuate her words. On the weekend she was talking about painting, texturing and the various aspects of glazing. Most often she had a brush in her hand to demonstrate but when a brush wasn't handy Bec would use her hands to illustrate. It was a wonderful thing.

I'll definitely miss her in the shop on a daily basis, but I am also glad and fiercely proud she is pursuing the things important to her and her family. I'll be constantly cheering her on too! 

-grampa dan (and proud dad)

Maybe a sculpting workshop...

The Sign Magic Workshop this past weekend was a high energy event. We did the 'B is for bug' sculpting exercise with great results, but a few simply wanted more... much more. Janey and Joyce kept poking me incessantly to accept the 'MOOSE CHALLENGE'. I think Roger Cox and others in the group were behind the intimidation effort as well. Everyone somehow knows I can't resist a challenge. Sunday afternoon, as some were preparing to leave I could resist no longer. We whacked out six disks of Precision Board for the base plates and I brought out the jigsaw and some scraps of thicker board so each participant could form the armature for the head. The challenge was on. Speed was definitely a factor, but creativity was the key. One idea inspired another, and six cartoon moose head sculptures instantly were underway. Each 'contestant' was intent on out doing the others in good natured fun. Each participant was the winner for they pulled off a small sculpture most thought they were not capable of previous to the workshop.

Sadly at this point I was so tired I never thought to get pictures of the other moose and the talented people hard at work on them. I was simply doing my best to stay out in front and keep up with everything else going on as well. But here's a picture of my effort taken this morning...

As we intently worked on our moose the discussion inevitably went to a topic long discussed at previous workshops. When would we hold an advanced sculpting workshop? And as I saw the brilliant but humorous moose sculptures unfolding it gave me cause to really have a frank discussion with them of what was wanted, just what this 'advanced' workshop might entail. 

The Sign Magic Workshops will continue twice each year without doubt. I enjoy teaching them and they are successful. But it may just be time to go one step further and hold a special workshop that focuses on our way of adding sculpture to our unique signs. Each attendee would create a fairly complex project in three long but fun days. Each would weld an armature, carve, sculpt and paint their creations in that time. The projects would share a similar starting point and inspiration but each participant would be encouraged to take it in their own unique direction. Through the process we would discover multiple solutions to the same problem. It would be like our 'B is for bug' exercise but on steroids.

I'll be contacting previous attendees of our workshops to get input as to what this new workshop might encompass, based on their experience at past workshops. 

I think this may be fun...

-grampa dan

Group fun!

Each person who attends the Sign magic Workshops adds to the fun and learning. Questions, comments and personalities make each workshop different from the others. While we have a definite agenda and program planned, we also leave plenty of time for things to go the way they will as the event unfolds. The computer programming certainly played an important part in this workshop, but the hands-on time was also a very important part of the workshop. Every minute of the four days was high energy, full of laugher, good natured teasing, sharing 'secrets' and experimenting. Incredible art was produced, and the enthusiasm grew as the event unfolded.

As per our tradition we gathered outside the big magic doors for our group picture. The smiles tell the story of the event well.

Thanks to all who worked so hard to make it possible. And thanks to our guests who made it a success!

-grampa dan