A terrific time with T!m Holtz at The Queen's Ink
What is a round trip total of 4600 miles and 10.5 hours on an airplane compared to the chance of a lifetime to meet and learn from creative maestro Tim Holtz in 4 workshops over 2 days? Especially when I was already in LA? Nothing.
(Although a truer count would be some 10,000 miles between where I live in Singapore and Maryland)
Nonetheless, my love for all things Tim Holtz alone was more than sufficient. I never regretted spending the 2 terrific days I did in idyllic Maryland 2 weeks ago, stretching myself out of my comfort zone, and learning far more about working with mixed media and metals than I ever would have on my own.
For those of you unfamiliar with him, Tim Holtz is the creative designer for Ranger Industries, and has also teamed up with companies such as Advantus, Stampers Anonymous, Sizzix, Tonic Studio and Core'dinations to design unique products that work perfectly with Ranger's extensive product lines. Here in MWL we carry many products featuring Tim's creativity, ranging from distress inks, stains and powders, to the Idealogy line by Advantus, Sizzix Alterations dies and embossing folders -- the list goes on.
Those who follow my blog would know that I took Tim's series of online classes called Creative Chemistry this past March/April. I said then that learning the mixed media techniques there changed my life, and I still maintain that today. Going for these 4 workshops broadened my horizons even more! Plus I now know the difference between a bonnet and hooded window pediment. *wink wink*
My experience in the classroom began with this smorgasbord of goodies laid out for every 4 students to use :
And with 100 students per workshop, the mood was upbeat and the energy simply contagious! The workshops were held by a local scrapbooking store called The Queen's Ink, located in a historic mill in the little town of Savage, Maryland. The store had leased the ballroom space in the same mill to hold the workshops, and it was just lovely, with the high ceiling and abundance of natural light. It was just perfect in every way.
Here's a pic I managed to get with the Queen herself, Patti Euler, the owner of the store.
She was so very nice and made me feel very welcome to the store, the workshops and the area. I felt so fortunate to have met her, and I really do hope that our paths will cross again in future. I, for one, know that I will definitely look her up whenever I'm in the Baltimore area, and here's my chance also to give a special shout out to Janet, Lolly, and all the rest of the wonderful ladies there at The Queen's Ink whose emails I did not get a chance to write down nor take pictures with, cos they were just so busy making sure that all of us were comfortable and busy ringing us up with our loads of Tim Holtz goodies!
Anyway, back to the workshops. Tim has a natural charm and every one of us, whether new to the art of mixed media or an old hand at it, was blown away by it. We even gave him and his team a standing ovation at the end of the 4th workshop! I particularly loved how he seamlessly wove anecdotes about past classes or products together with descriptions of his products -- which of course, had the desired effect of making us buy them! -- and incorporated them into the entire workshop. He has a great sense of humor and kept us often in fits of laughter!
Take, for example, the fractured doll. This is his version of the Frozen Charlotte doll, now sadly discontinued (image courtesy of his catalogue) :
And this is what he had to say about it :
"We sent one of the broken dolls to China to have them molded, to make, and the first prototype that came back, they put arms on the dolls, and they didn't have arms to begin with. And we were like, what happened? Well, you sent us this doll, but the arms must have broken off, and we added the arms back on. I was like, there were no arms in the box, so they didn't break off. Please, leave the arms off. So we send it back, and they make it again, and so we've already paid for the molds the first time, and that was wrong, and now they make it a second time, and now there're no arms, but they decided it would be a good idea to put shoes and socks on the doll, cos it was barefoot! And by now, we've spent so much money, and I'm like, there were no shoes and socks on the doll. But at this time they were like, it's ok, we'll go and try and patch up the shoes and socks on the mold. So the dolls that you have, if you look closely, there are little socks on there, what's left of it, they're like tube socks, so that is the story of the dolls."
Love it? I did!!
Tim always gives credit to Mario who is his partner and who does all the workshop prep. Here's Mario on one of his rare breaks, looking a lot more relaxed than he normally does -- he's usually running around in the workshop with bits and pieces and general assistance for people.
I sat for all 4 of the workshops offered, 16 hours in total of crafting goodness, and I've come away so much richer for that experience. Look at the exciting projects I made! Of course, the truth is that these are just the promo pics that Tim did for the workshops... my projects are still works in progress save for the first one which is amazingly complete. I will get them done, eventually...
We played with metal foil sheets, alcohol ink, paint dabbers, distress inks and stains, tissue tape etc, -- it was virtually an exposure to the full line of Tim's products. I, and many others, had fingers so inky the nice ladies at The Queen's Ink broke out 2 craft scrubbers and placed them in the ladies' room for us to use when washing hands. In fact, I'm so inspired I'm working on a configurations printers tray now, so look out for the sample in MWL in the coming weeks.
Everyone I met at the workshops was so kind to me -- they knew me as the girl who came all the way from Singapore!! There are a few, though, who merit a special shout out, 2 of them being the 2 ladies who shared my table throughout all 16 hours of workshops, Barbara Rankin and Joyce Shaver. They were the perfect workshop companions, we never had any tense moments at the table even though many of the supplies were shared, and more than that, they shared their company at lunchtime with me even though they were BFFs living states apart, and Barbara had flown up for this event to be with Joyce. Thank you once again ladies, I really appreciated your friendship!
I also met Terri Horvath from Ranger Industries who had driven all the way down from New Jersey. She was yet another truly lovely and friendly person, and I immensely enjoyed talking to her. Wish I had had a chance to know her better, though, but time was limited, especially since she was helping out with the workshop too.
I will always remember those 2 special days in Maryland, where it seemed as if time stood still and I was surrounded by sheer creativeness, from Tim to the ladies across and beside me, and all around me. Lastly, I'll leave you all with a quote from Tim himself which I heard repeatedly over the 4 workshops, one designed to put a smile on your face... He always says that when students ask him how can they tell if their work is dry enough to continue working (remember we worked with paints and other mediums), his answer is "if you touch it and it's not wet, it's dry...."
Groaaaan. I know. But seriously, I think that as students we sometimes become so micro in the whole process of creating that lovely work of art, that we often check our common sense at the door together with our bags, and this just reminds us of it...
I had a lovely time with Tim Holtz & Co., and I hope you enjoyed this little recap!
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPad.