Saturday, June 11, 2011

Coming up with a polymer curriculum

Members of the NW Polymer Clay Guild ask me: How do I know if I'm ready to take Jill or Jane or John's polymer workshop? The problem is that there are no clear definitions of what constitutes a beginner, or intermediate or advanced clayer.

So I started to de-construct the problem. What are the skills I use to make my polymer creations? Well, the brooch shown here required rolling a ball for the gold center of the flower, a skinner blend for the flower petals, using a pasta machine to make the leaf cane and borders, and several other skills. Humm, probably not something a newby novice could do in an afternoon.

I'm gonna work at putting my educational background to work in coming up with a curriculum for working with polymer clay. Over the next while, check out this space to see what I come up with. I'll work on a vocabulary of learning first.

We will have three basic levels: apprentices, journeyers, and masters. This terminology comes from the ancient guild system. Each of those three levels will consist of sub-levels. So for example, you may be a beginning, intermediate or advanced apprentice. Check back with me soon to read the definitions of each of these sub-levels. For now, it's back to my research into resources to share with you.