If you are in the neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI, I will be there a LOT this year. Coming up in August is the Handweaver’s Guild of America conference, Convergence. It seems like it’s a little early to talk about this one, but I know that attending a big conference like this takes some planning ahead. I have never been to the HGA conference before, but I have heard stories from many of the weavers I know. I am looking forward to being a part of it!
What am I teaching?
Thursday August 4 is a “super-seminar” called Marketing Yourself Online. In this session, I do a roundup of all of the popular social media platforms and talk about how you can make them work for you as an artist. Whether your social media goal is to sell your work or get gallery exposure, there are platforms that are going to help you with that better than others. Basically my goal is to help you compare and contrast and get the start of a social media plan that will help you narrow down your options (because we all know you can’t do everything!) and start a plan.
In the afternoon on Thursday, I do another super-seminar called Photo Basics. In this session, I am not going to teach you how to take photos but rather how to work with the ones you have. Every call for entry or online submission, has very specific specifications that they want your photos to follow. 300dpi at 5×7, sRGB, <3MB. If all of that looks like gibberish to you then THIS is the session to decode that! We will talk about simple edits, cropping, resizing and most importantly how to set up the photos so you don’t get disqualified for not following instructions.
Friday morning is a seminar of Intro to Digital Fabric Design. This is a quick and dirty intro to everything you need to know to get started designing and printing your own fabric. See lots of samples and ideas and participate in a collaborative fabric design in class.
Friday afternoon is Photo Boot Camp. This one gives you strategies for taking better photos. We will talk in depth about lighting, equipment (both professional and DIY), and quick edits that can make all the difference. We will also practice looking at shots and diagnosing what to do to make it better.
Saturday is my favorite of the sessions. It’s an all day class about Designing & Printing your Own Fabric. It will cover the basics just like we do in the seminar, but this class lets you work hands-on all day. We will complete several small design projects throughout the day to give you ideas and techniques you can use to create your own designs and coordinating prints.