Most of the Group
I'm back from the 5th polymer cruise from California and I've been knee deep in registrations for next year's polymer and metal clay cruise to Alaska. More on that below.
This was our best cruise ever with an intimate setting on our first four-night cruise. Everyone clicked and got to know each other in this short time. As usual, tons of goodies were given out to all. A total of three goodie bags were received by students thanks to our generous sponsors, plus loads of other creative gems were handed out in class and demo sessions. We had so many wonderful donations for our drawings that everyone won at least three door prizes, some worth hundreds of dollars!
Just Some of the Swag!
We had to stops at Catalina Island and Ensenada where instructor Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg got her latest tattoo. Most people stayed aboard the ship for bonus demonstrations by KLEW (Karen Lewis) and myself. We had two theme nights on this trip: "It's a Fiesta, Not a Siesta," celebrating our stop in Mexico. Several of our passengers really got in the swing of things with their outfits and a conga line at dinner. Our other theme night was apropos for the ship's formal dinner - "Claysino Royale." We had a clay poker chip swap that night along with loads of shared pranks between staff and previous students. Over half of our attendees were repeat offenders cruisers with Art Across the Oceans.
Lisa Lambright and Our Surprise Adoption by the Michael and Melody Crisman
On our last class day at sea, someone shouted that they saw a pair of dolphins on the port side. That pair soon turned into a pod of hundreds of dolphins frolicking just outside our classroom window. How often do you attend a workshop like that? We ran out en masse to watch this unforgettable sight. Check out this video on Youtube. It's not the best quality and I ran out of memory before I could pan farther out to sea where dolphins could be spotted jumping out of the water as far as you could see.
Immediately after we had crystal column classes at Brea Beadworks. Thanks to the students who stayed over to add this to their trip, especially Kay Vincent from the UK!
Next August (14th) Art Across the Oceans leaves from Seattle on a seven-night adventure to Alaska! During our days at sea, we'll be holding a package of 5 workshops (2 metal clay and 3 polymer clay) and at least 6 demo sessions. Our amazing teachers include: Katie Baum, Art Clay Silver Master and President of the Art Clay Society, Christi Friesen, Julie Picarello, Jackie Truty - Art Clay World President and Master Art Clay Instructor, and myself. Although this cruise sold out all sixty seats in a record 13 hours, we are taking names for the waitlist. For more information, click the highlight link for Art Across the Oceans.
Take a peak at the Polymer Paradise '11 album to see just how much fun we had!