Keepsake Christmas Trees

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly Nov 4, 2009

Remember how as a kid you wanted the largest Christmas tree in town? It wasn’t right unless the top scraped the ceiling, and the branches grabbed everyone who ventured near.

Joan Sullivan has captured that spirit of Christmas by going in the opposite direction - creating miniature heirloom trees that are only 18 inches tall, yet are packed with charm and filled with holiday spirit.

The concept of decorating small artificial trees as a theme was her original idea. “I had done themes for family members, people in the military, and folks in retirement homes," she said. “I made the trees 18 inches because many people don't have room for big trees, and you can drop them in a grocery bag to carry.” They make good gifts, especially for out-of-town friends. The trees are lightweight, so they can be shipped easily. “What better to have over in Afghanistan than to have mementos of your family on a Christmas tree?”

Sullivan visualizes her trees as “a three-dimensional scrapbook.” Starting with a raw tree - available in craft stores - she comes up with a theme that reflects the person’s interests or history. She has used sports, fishing, or color as the unifying element. One “piano” tree she created was for a 90-year-old man who insisted on going to nursing homes every week to play piano. For a Texas flavor, she took a plastic cactus and draped it in lights. Another tree featured a nativity theme. “Whatever you can think of can make a tree.”

Next she adds the decoration. She uses photos, ornaments, small toys, jewelry, and personal mementos. She often goes to the doll department looking for miniature furniture. Sullivan once paid $7.50 for miniature handmade leather boots. “I just fell in love with them,” she said. “Anything you put in a scrapbook you can put on a tree. It depends on what I find.”

In her experience, Sullivan knows people can make them for as little as $20 on up to $150.

Her heirloom trees have brought smiles and memories to youngsters as well. Kids can decorate the small ones, and keep them from year to year, adding items as they grow. The trees hold up well and are easy to store.

You may not even need to store them. Sullivan noted the trees make great nightlights and year round decor when placed on a counter or in a guest room.

Of course these miniature heirloom trees are not meant to replace the statuesque Christmas tree.

“They are more like a wreath on door,” Sullivan said. “And every tree is different.”

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Joan Sullivan will teach Mini Heirloom Trees on Nov 11 and Nov 18. For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.

Drawing out the inner artist

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal Mar 11, 2009

What reaction do a bunch of grown-ups have when they get together to chip rock, mix cement, and dye shirts?

"Fun!" said Ann Witherwax, who teaches classes on Mosaics and Tie Dye for club Ed. "That is almost always the response I see and hear - Wow, I actually did this. Sometimes you draw out an artistic ability you didn't know was there."

Drawing out that inner artist is a mission for Witherwax. The Hunt resident is trained as an art teacher and graphic artist. She teaches children through adults. When I asked about her favorite medium, she hesitated.

"I'm not sure how to answer that - I teach lot of mediums," she said. "But my purpose is to establish creative thinking skills. That is more than making artists - I want them to learn to think creatively."

Witherwax accomplishes this by using art to show there is more than one way to tackle a problem. Her art classes go beyond creating art for art's sake.

"I believe that through teaching art we can train our brains to find many avenues to solve a problem, to build something, to create a piece of art," she said. "As adults, we tend not to do that. Anybody is capable of doing anything. There is more than one way to solve a problem. Using our creative thinking skills, we can tackle anything."

This spring Witherwax is teaching classes in tie dying, mosaics, and garden pavers. These diverse mediums require the student to make choices that draw out the inner person. Creating a tie dye shirt, for example, requires the student to select from a palette of color. With garden pavers, students can embed tiles or stones or even bottle caps, or write words and phrases on polished stone. The finished paver can be one of several in a garden path, or sit alone as a decoration inside or out.

Every piece comes out completely different, which is fine with Witherwax.

"You cannot mass produce tie dye or pavers," she said. "There are a lot of techniques that get different results, and in each project you end up with a wearable or usable piece of art."

For Witherwax, art is more about process than product.

"That letting out of energy that comes with doing art is very healthy, it is relaxing and a release of creativity. There are so many positive results when people allow themselves to go there."

"Going there" requires no artistic ability.

"I feel like God has blessed me with the ability to inspire people to be creative and do their art in very non-judgmental way," she said. "I want everyone's art to be theirs, not like mine."

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Ann Witherwax will teach classes on Tie Dye on March 28 and April 4, and a class on Garden Pavers on April 18. For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com.

Born in the Renaissance

As published in the Community Journal (Kerrville TX) Phil Houseal, Oct 08, 2008

"I feel like I was born in the Renaissance."

With Angela Freeman's Italian accent and continental aura, you could easily believe she was. Freeman is Club Ed's expert on all things Italian, from art to history to speaking the language. She will combine all those interests in Il Salotto Del Rinascimento - A Salon of the Renaissance.

While not born in the Renaissance, Freeman was born in the heart of Italy in the region of Parma. She was raised and schooled in Milan. It steeped in her an abiding affinity for the Renaissance.

"I believe it was the most interesting and important part of our history," she said. "There was such an evolution in every field - not just painting, but also sculpture, architecture, philosophy, and literature."

The Renaissance is usually described as a cultural movement that bridged the Middle Ages and the modern era. It began in Italy and later spread to the rest of Europe. The Italian word Rinascimento comes from re- "again" and nascere "be born."

Freeman was born into a family where culture was important. She grew up surrounded by books. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was an officer in the Italian army. She married an American and has spent most of her adult life in this country, where she sees the connection to her beloved Renaissance.

"America now finds in this era something that is popular, so they are becoming more interested in the Renaissance," she said. "The Italian style is liked. Just look at the fashion, the furnishings, the food, even the important buildings in the capital reflect the influence of Italian architecture."

Freeman has compiled - by hand - a 64-page book with examples of the art and influence of the Renaissance ("My husband said this is not just a book - it is an encyclopedia!" she said). She will share it with her students in the class. In her book, she tried to pick the most important figures, not just the most well-known names of the Renaissance: Michaelangelo, da Vinci, and Raphael.

"There are many minor figures that also did excellent work, but who do not enjoy the fame of those three," she said, citing names such as Titian, Cellini, Dante, and Veronazi. "Please come... it will be una posseggiata attraverso il Rinascimento!"

That translates to "a walk through the Renaissance." With Angela Freeman, it is more like "a lifetime in the Renaissance."

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To learn more about this and hundreds of other lifelong learning classes, call 830-895-4386, or visit www.clubed.net.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com.

Arrows as art

by Phil Houseal, (Kerrville TX) Community Journal Oct 1 2008

Everyone knows what skill it takes to flake an arrowhead from flint. But making a stone toothpick?

That is one of the actual pieces created by a flintknapping instructor at the Club Ed Arrowhead Making course.

Local jeweler Jim Morris, who has taught flintknapping at Club Ed for at least a decade, is excited that he will have a very special guest instructor at his Oct. 4 class in Kerrville.

That would be John Kiernan, the internationally-known arrow point specialist.

"I think he is one of the world's greatest pressure flakers," Morris said. Kiernan is so respected in the lithic arts that he was featured on the flintknappers calendar this year.

Kiernan's work is so intricate it is collected as art - something previously unheard of in the world of stonework. He starts with the classic form of arrowheads and spear points, but refines them into eccentrics - intricate and delicate decorative forms that swirl and end in graceful balanced flutes. The reclusive artist engraves his name into every piece with a diamond stylus, partly to ensure no one mistakes them for ancient creations. Morris notes that most serious flintknappers are also amateur archeologists and have great respect for maintaining the historic record.

Amateur flintknappers already seek one of the limited seats in Morris's popular classes. Morris can claim credit as a pioneer in the field of modern arrowhead making. He first fell in love with the stone tools in 1952, and spent years studying the leftover flakes of flint and stone in order to unlock the secrets of how the natives made them. He has written a book explaining the process, and has taught hundreds of students his techniques.

Morris is known in the field for utilizing the same tools and raw materials used by the ancients.

Morris promises other surprises in the all-day workshop. He expects visits from Paul Stein and David Calame, both presidents of the Texas State Amateur Archeological Association.

Since flintknappers support research and interest in archeology, Morris invites all students to bring their own arrowhead collections. The instructors will help identify and classify them, even as they strive to recreate them.

But the goal of the workshop is to have each student produce a finished piece by the end of the day. That is a challenge, as it takes 300 blows to make a typical arrowhead, and any one blow can shatter the stone.

But it is a challenge every true flintknapper embraces, even knowing his first attempt may not be a work of art.

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To see more of John Kiernan's art:
http://lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/2002maykiernanpage2.htm

Jim Morris will teach Arrowhead Making on Saturday, Oct 4. To learn more about this and hundreds of other lifelong learning classes, call 830-895-4386, or visit www.clubed.net.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com.