June 6, 2014
Estertia Austin, the creator of Misty Fuse and Transdoodle Transfer Paper, has taught workshops for us for quite a number of years. We always look forward to her workshops because of her approachable teaching style and her grand sense of fun!
She is teaching her portraits workshop this August, which is always a fun class. I especially enjoy seeing the amazement on the faces of the students when they see how Teri’s techniques make it easy to create dynamic portraits from their photos.
Here are Teri’s answers to our interview questions:
How long have you been teaching and what got you started teaching?
I started teaching in 1980 when my first child was born. I had been a graphic artist which tens to be messy with using the inks and paints. I needed a clean creative outlet with kids around and found that quilting was easy to put down when I needed to run after a toddler.
What is your favorite part about teaching?
I had been a high school art teacher before I started teaching quilting. I just love it when I see (metaphorically) the light bulb go off when someone “gets it” and sees how to use value to create a dynamic piece. I get excited when students realize that they have undiscovered talent, now discovered.
What would you tell your prospective students are three best reasons for taking a workshop?
- To let go of trying to control the outcome of the day and their piece.
- To have the space and permission to go outside of their expressive boundaries.
- To add to and expand the tools in their creative tool box both with new materials and ideas.
What are you currently working on in your own art?
I’ve been working in two different directions. One very planned and thought out in the form of portraits in hand dyed cottons/ and the other very loose and expressive with layered sheer mono prints, experimenting with all different mediums. I find going back and forth between the two expressions satisfies both sides of my personality.
Where is your art currently being exhibited?
I just had an exhibit in Hampton Virginia and have exhibits in a few universities around the country the past few months.
What is your favorite art quote?
Light reveals form.
Describe your studio.
My studio is attached to my home. It’s 20 x 22″ white walls and oak floor. I teach classes as well as do my own work there. I have two work tables raised to waist high. One old oak desk and file cabinets. And of course cabinets and drawers for fabric storage.
Name some of your “can’t” do without tools/products
- black cotton fabric
- Mistyfuse
- Transdoodle transfer paper
- parchment paper
- hand dyed fabrics by Carlene Keller
- 18 mm rotary cutter
- every color of lumiere textile paints!
*******
More Recent Instructor Interviews:
- Joe Weatherly – Animal Drawing and Oil Painting
- Kathyanne White – Digital Printing on Alternative Surfaces
- Paula Nadelstern – Kaleidoscope Quilts
- Laura Wasilowski – Fabric Collage with Stitched Embellishment
- Elizabeth St Hilaire Nelson – Paper Paintings
- Katie Pasquini Masopust – Painter and Art Quilter
- Kathy McNeil – Landscapes in Fabric
- Margaret Evans – Pastels Unleashed
- Eric Weigardt – Bold and Loose Watercolor
- Cathy Taylor – Mixed Media and Amazing Alcohol Inks
******