Workshop Review: Christa Assad

So I thought I would finally share some of my photos from the Christa Assad Workshop that I went to with a couple of girlfriends a few weekends ago.

First off Solano Valley College was so nice to open its doors for this free workshop. Instructor Kathy Kearns was very kind and the potluck was off the hook! Assad had some good things to say, too. Ha!

So this was a demo workshop, we just sat and watched Assad do her thing while we bombarded her with millions of questions. I felt a little awkward 'cause I think my friends and I totally dominated the conversation. I'd feel worse though if we hadn't been asking such awesome questions and Assad hadn't had such valuable answers. There was a fantastic slide show, which helped me think about how I translate my own inspiration into my work and just watching how Assad builds her pieces was pretty exciting. It's so hard to remember some times that most of her work comes from right off the wheel.

Because right now I'm handbuilding only in my own work, I found her general artist/professional advice to be the most valuable aspect of the day. So to share a few tidbits (not neccessarily direct quotes, mind you)...

Christa says:

-Just show up. (This seems key somehow.)

-Refining a form is how you get to a perfect form. Resolve your designs. (Along the lines of some other advice I was privy to recently.)

-Make time for a beer at the pub with friends! (This one has been the favorite of Sarah's and mine so far.)

I'm looking forward to upcoming workshops with Sharon Virtue and Diana Fayt the next couple of weekends. Those should be right up my alley right now as I struggle with the surface of my work.Stay tuned for those reviews! :)