slowly she turned

Our class created a huge diversity of animals, including some that came into new existence. Some photos are not great – I had planned to take better ones but time got away from me and there was a crowd at our display and the end-of-week show-and-tell.

I’ll go around the room in my memory – first up is Willow Daniels, a work-study student at JCCFS. She made a squirrel, a turtle, a mouse, and a parrot.

Since you can see Anne Woodward’s bee up there, she’s next. It is an endangered species of bee and I’m sorry to say that I don’t remember the name. Next to it is a red kangaroo that became a monster, and she was working on a Medusa hat/footed bowl with snakes, of course. Her work table is below.

Geri Forkner’s table was next. Her favorite, and one of my favorites in the class, was a simple ball on bird feet. She made a huge chameleon with eyes that lit up, a bird with bark wings, and a blingy chicken.

Claire Dunaway Cyr made a honey badger, a bison, and was working on a female cardinal before she had to leave early.

Next to me was Diane Arthur, who worked on getting this elegant rabbit just right most of the time we were there. There were so many oohs and ahhs over it at the display. Her unfinished project was a robin.

On the other side of me was Pat Younger, who focused on making her possum, and was working on a baby possum when we ran out of time. She and her husband drove all the way from Colorado to take classes here! This possum was big and she worked on it meticulously. 

Katrina Stone spent most of the week making a spectacular flying pig, who she named Esther in honor of Esther the Wonder Pig. (Google her.) She is a feltmaker so she felted the wings while she was there. The first animal she made was a darling little hedgehog who is lying on its back under Esther. Unfortunately I didn’t get a good photo of it.

There was another Laurie in the class – Laurie Ballard. She made a beaver and her possum in progress was on display as well. She was the one who suggested I find a Barbie leg with a high-heeled shoe to go in Gertie Gator’s mouth, as well as the person who suggested the strand of beads for the teeth. A great problem solver and I loved her sense of humor!

Karen Bills was an inspiration to us all, I think. A truly positive force in the class. She began with a skunk, then a huge paper wasp, and ended with an exhausted sparkle bird. The underside of the wasp was as lovely as the top. You can see Katrina’s little hedgehog and Willow’s turtle in the second photo with the “Last Bird.”

And those were our classes’ animals, made by a talented and creative group of women. See the previous post for my alligator, woodpecker, and the start of a squirrel.