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The Evil Instructor |
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Written by Dara Spiotto
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Monday, 04 June 2007 |
 I got this amazing brainstorm for a class a while back. It came to me when I was thinking of how taking classes can sometimes upset a student’s applecart or peace of mind when a kit is involved. I think we inadvertently see a class sample and think, “I want to wear that exact bracelet!” and so we tend to pick out the same colors or beads, or we go to our favorites and stick within that color pallet. With a kit, you get what you get. You may hate the colors, and therefore you may not want to take the class.
You’ve heard me say before that you should just do it anyway. By working with other colors than what would be the “norm” for you, you tend to grow beyond your limits and expand your horizons. So while this was all rolling around in my brain I decided to push some buttons by teaching a design class in a new way.
 I found a willing bead store to let me try my experiment, and then I went through my bead hoard and pulled out all kinds of stuff in strands. Glass, metals, lucite, crystals, wood, porcelain, shell, clay, vintage stuff, and more. I even chose some weird focal pieces that were crazy, like rocks I had drilled and beaded beads I had made. It all got lumped into a big mish mash pile on a table top, and we were ready to rumble.
I had 13 students. I wondered if that would make my class unlucky. Would they riot? Would I disappoint them? Would I live to tell? At this point I was committed so I jumped in. I told them they’d be making a set of jewelry, and they could decide what the set would be, as long as a necklace was involved. They could do any combination of necklace, bracelet, earrings, anklet, hair stuff, whatever. It was up to them. Freedom of choice! They were excited. We talked about colors (primary, secondary and complimentary), structure, design, shape, texture, size and details. We discussed stringing materials at length. A bit of arguing about clasps, but that’s another whole story. We gathered around the table, and I told everyone to choose 10 strands that spoke to them.
Now keep in mind that I didn’t tell them that they had to match, or anything else. I didn’t tell them that they had to use all the beads in their set of jewelry or even tell them how much they’d need. For all I knew, they’d pick out 10 strands of all the same bead! Here’s where I started to sweat.
 See, I watched them groping and digging in the pile. They agonized over each choice, only to begin over when they found a new strand they liked. One had 52 strands and had to narrow it down to 10. There were gorgeous color runs from light to dark, some were natural hues and others were more like 80’s jewel tones. One woman had selected all bone, horn and wood, being a happy hippy type herself and thinking she would be wearing her creations later. Sound effects filled the room, with lots of OOOooohhhh and Aaaaaahhhhh and one woman was a squealer. What a joyful noise, those happy bead women were blissfully content. It took about an hour. Once they had their precious 10 strands, plus whatever they found that they refused not to give up, they stood in a circle around the table. I asked them if they were satisfied. Yes, they said. I asked if they wanted to reconsider. No, they said. One woman said that her beads had become her children and she wouldn’t let them out of her sight. :-) Then I dropped the bomb.
I told them that we’d begin. I said, “Now we’re ready to begin creating our pieces out of any stringing materials and findings you wish, in any way possible to assemble them, including wire wrapping and weaving. But first there’s one last step. I want you to pass your beads to the person on your left.” Gasp!
It was quiet. No one moved. They clung to their “children” and stared at me. Then they glowered. Then they steamed. No! They began to protest at me, wrinkling their noses and scowling. I was prepared. I had imaginary bullet-proof protection on. I knew they’d pitch a hissy. So I let them. And then I made them pass their beads over. Ohhh… if looks could kill.
 Poor Elizabeth picked out her favorite bead shapes, flat coins, in her favorite colors… amber, sienna and copper. She now had to work with big, chunky pink, purple and orange that was handed to her begrudgingly by Rachel. Rachel “got stuck” with Misha’s ivory, abalone and silver. Man, you’d think they were handed apple red with mint green! Sputter, sputter, sputter. I let them grumble for a few minutes. Then I told them to go sit down and visit alone with the new beads. It should give them time to get over the attitude problem and get some creative juices flowing. Once in a while I heard a whimper or some pretend crying, but I ignored them.
Pretty soon the room was humming with busy beaders. They didn’t hold back. Not that they didn’t squawk a bit here and there. But there was a lot of friendly teasing and fun going on, too. After another hour of designing and building sets of jewelry, we were ready to reveal some stuff. Everyone got to do a short presentation on their finished pieces and talk about how it was to work out of their comfort zone. Some people said it was awkward to work with someone else’s beads with that someone else in the same room. Others said they were reluctant at first, but got into the groove quickly.
 Everyone had the choice in the end to give the finished pieces back to the original person who chose the beads. I’m happy to say that some students even loved their new pieces and didn’t want to give them back. Hooray! Mission accomplished. And in the end, they didn’t hate me anymore. Whew. In fact, on the way out the door, one woman turned to me and said, ‘You’re evil, but I love you. Thanks.” I can live with that.
So make yourself work with colors you usually wouldn’t. It won’t be as bad as you think. I’ve heard people say before that they’ll never work with orange or yellow, that those colors are hideous. I don’t think they’ve ever seen a California sunset over Los Angeles. Or a herd of California poppies blazing on the side of the freeway by the thousands. Trrryyyyy it. You might liiiike it. Begin with apple red and mint. Everything else will seem easy. |
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