Teaching is just pure passion for me, I love the online classes, but there is nothing better than teaching live!

It is 8.55am, it's the big day! after  being up to the small hours setting up our classroom and making sure everything is as good as it can be, the anticipation of who is waiting in the foyer is so intense, we have a final glance at each other and say "let's do it" we leave the room and walk to the foyer to be met with a mixture of emotions, excitement, nerves, and some very concerned looking faces.

As we introduce ourselves, we are met with a calmer atmosphere, but the anticipation and excitement is still very evident. We walk up to the classroom, and the students get organised and scramble to get the 'best seat's in the house'. Once everyone is settled and has arranged their copious amounts of boiled sweets and chocolates on the table we begin!

It's not long before we pull a classic stunt to break the ice, and the students realise that with us heading the class, this could be an experience not to be forgotten!  Some onlookers perceive this art form to be 'weird' 'off the wall' and rather 'whacky' well, our answer to that is.....

"Welcome to our world"

We run through what the students will be doing, and what they should be able to achieve in the 2 day class. We start to mix our paints, the students start to chat and get to know a little about each other. We all happily paint for a couple of hours, then grab a 'Breath of fresh air' before carrying on.

Then... we hear 'are you serious?' 'I can't do that!' naturally this is in response to us asking everyone to mix a really pretty Lilac and a nice soft green, to add to the darkest brown and whole arrangement of other 'normal' skin tones they have happily been applying to the vinyl. But after some discussion and reassurance that for once, we really are being serious, everyone continues to paint.

At the end of the first day, we announce that tomorrow morning we will add the reds and the finishing touches, everyone leaves the classroom secretively concerned that their babies don't quite look how they expected.

Day 2 and all the students arrive, complaining of sore cheek bones (from laughing so much the previous day) but also up beat having discovered the previous evening (in the pub) that some of them actually know each other from various places on the internet.

We start the class, the dreaded red tones! but once demonstrated the relief of both the novice, and most experienced Artists is amazing! The realisation hits that we hadn't 'Lost the plot with our colours' and that the major part of bring the vinyl to life is done in the early stages, and very little reds are applied.

Now the excitement really begins, the eyelashes are rooted and sealed, the varnish added to the nails, the eyebrows mastered, it is time to put these sweet babies together. We show the best tricks of the trade and before long we have 18 babies put together and dressed ready for photographs........

All the babies pictured above with their rather Proud Artist parents were produced start to finish in the June 2009 Class.

Thank you Ladies for being so FANTASTIC !

and a special Thank you to those who posed for my Camera :)