I am super excited to let those who haven't been watching the internet-sphere that two of our casketeers have taken some new steps in their sharing of their tremendous design acumen. I am proud to have played a small role in encouraging and mentoring these new ventures as I really want to help ensure that there is a next generation of fabulous teachers. It is payback for the amazing teachers - Shay Pendray, Mary Dick Diggs, Judy Jeroy, and Joanne Harvey who saw what I might have to give in the future and decided to mentor me and not see me as a threat. Their generosity requires that I pass it along to bright talent that crosses my path.
We have all known that Rachael Kinnison is a tremendous artist, teacher, business woman, etc. for years and had been really enjoying travel teaching to some fine events in England and the east-coast pre-covid. Rachael seems to master any media she touches! The shut down with covid seemed like the perfect time to establish an online teaching presence. Rachael was going to teach a beaded piece at a small seminar that had to be canceled in 2020 and I just couldn't watch so much preparation sit on the shelf! So we worked together to have my site secretly host the course so she could learn to build out her own and bring her computer/internet infrastructure up to where it needed to be to host her own Online Academy. It has been fun to get the inside scoop on what is coming and help with all the frustrating bits about web building. Just last week the final edits were finished and I 'test drove' the new site. So excited and I think I was the first to sign up for her gummed-silk casket course!!
Katie Strachan has graced our eyeballs with amazing works of original embroidery and beading as well for several years on NING. She has had an independent show of her works at the San Fransisco School of Needlework and Design, doing small projects with them and a lovely talk about her stumpwork. I secretly popped up in the talk - looking to see if her speaking was as awesome as her design and technique and it was! Then I conspired with Access Commodities to ambush her. :-) Lamora and I convinced Katie that she was going to be the next 'it' girl in needlework. Both Lamora and I believe that Katie is the bridge between our older audience of historic needlework fanatics (you have to admit, we are a bit fanatic!) and the younger generation who have a different color sense and desire for creative exploration. So regular zooms commenced to talk about the business of needlework and the ways in which she could reach out to the next generation of embroiderers began. I know she has been noted! Her floss tube videos have gained an audience and I won't spoil the surprises - but watch Katie for a lot more really great stuff!! She has all kinds of things cooking.
As I study the caskets and the long time period they were popular, it is unescapable that the teaching went over generations of women with originators and those who picked up the mantel and expanded the reach and scope. I am excited to see what they do next!!
