| Egg Carving Classes |
Ah... teaching. That's what I've always wanted to do with my life: to share knowledge; bring new ideas
into a person's experience; help people think, extrapolate and apply new ideas and ways of thinking into
their lives. I was formally trained as a teacher and have, over the years, taught everything from 3rd grade
through graduate school classes, adult education, I was a National Sales Trainer... It seems that no
matter what I'm doing at any particular time in my life, it somehow ends up involving teaching. The only
thing I enjoy more is carving eggshells, so it was a natural that I would sometime end up teaching other
people how to enjoy this unique art.
The photos above were all taken at an introductory class I always teach at the Rockford Egg Show in
March. The class is for people who have seen carved eggs and either want to learn what it's all about or
want to experience a taste of it to see if they would enjoy taking it up as a hobby or business. Someday I
would like to take this class to every egg show in the country, but this website, my artwork and my related
products and services have a long way to go before I'll be able to hop around to the various shows.
into a person's experience; help people think, extrapolate and apply new ideas and ways of thinking into
their lives. I was formally trained as a teacher and have, over the years, taught everything from 3rd grade
through graduate school classes, adult education, I was a National Sales Trainer... It seems that no
matter what I'm doing at any particular time in my life, it somehow ends up involving teaching. The only
thing I enjoy more is carving eggshells, so it was a natural that I would sometime end up teaching other
people how to enjoy this unique art.
The photos above were all taken at an introductory class I always teach at the Rockford Egg Show in
March. The class is for people who have seen carved eggs and either want to learn what it's all about or
want to experience a taste of it to see if they would enjoy taking it up as a hobby or business. Someday I
would like to take this class to every egg show in the country, but this website, my artwork and my related
products and services have a long way to go before I'll be able to hop around to the various shows.
I do, however, enjoy teaching classes here in my home and it never ceases to amaze me how far people
will travel from all corners of the globe, just to come to my home and learn this marvelously unique art.
Every single student I've ever had, whether they thought they had some artistic talent or whether they
couldn't even draw a stick figure, learned all of the basic techniques necessary to produce gorgeous
eggshell sculptures. After all, like everything else I do or sell, my classes are guaranteed. If you aren't
satisfied with your experience, there's no charge at all. Unfortunately, many art and craft teachers teach
you in detail how to produce one particular piece. When classes are over and you return home, you can
make that one piece over and over, but that's it. The whole focus of my classes is to teach the basics and
to repeat them over and over while learning new techniques that expand upon the basics. I don't ever
care whether or not anyone ever finishes a single egg while they are here because I know that they will
not only be able to finish all of their eggs when they get home, they will also be able to find other
patterns and will know how to attack them with their drills. I have never, nor will I ever have more than
five students in a class because carving eggs can be a complex process and must be taught with a
"hands-on" approach and I have to adjust to each student's pace and to each student's optimum mode of
assimilating new information. Doing that with five students is a huge challenge and doing it well with
more than five is - I feel - impossible. I prefer to give as much personal attention to everyone as I can.
will travel from all corners of the globe, just to come to my home and learn this marvelously unique art.
Every single student I've ever had, whether they thought they had some artistic talent or whether they
couldn't even draw a stick figure, learned all of the basic techniques necessary to produce gorgeous
eggshell sculptures. After all, like everything else I do or sell, my classes are guaranteed. If you aren't
satisfied with your experience, there's no charge at all. Unfortunately, many art and craft teachers teach
you in detail how to produce one particular piece. When classes are over and you return home, you can
make that one piece over and over, but that's it. The whole focus of my classes is to teach the basics and
to repeat them over and over while learning new techniques that expand upon the basics. I don't ever
care whether or not anyone ever finishes a single egg while they are here because I know that they will
not only be able to finish all of their eggs when they get home, they will also be able to find other
patterns and will know how to attack them with their drills. I have never, nor will I ever have more than
five students in a class because carving eggs can be a complex process and must be taught with a
"hands-on" approach and I have to adjust to each student's pace and to each student's optimum mode of
assimilating new information. Doing that with five students is a huge challenge and doing it well with
more than five is - I feel - impossible. I prefer to give as much personal attention to everyone as I can.
To the left, you can see one crazy group of women who chose to
spend almost a week with me back in August of 2000. Way in the
back, sitting at my dustbox is Gail Muenster, the woman in red
(with her tongue stuck out at me) is LaQuinta Long and the
woman closest to the camera is Shelia Wilburn. These three were a
handful, difficult to keep on task at times, but eager to learn, and
all three still carve eggs. I usually pick very difficult patterns for
class because I'll be there to help or to answer any questions and I
firmly believe that picking easy projects is an insult to students and
doesn't give them a lot of personal satisfaction and motivation. Nor
does working on something easy teach a lot of the necessary basic
techniques students need to have learned before leaving my house.
spend almost a week with me back in August of 2000. Way in the
back, sitting at my dustbox is Gail Muenster, the woman in red
(with her tongue stuck out at me) is LaQuinta Long and the
woman closest to the camera is Shelia Wilburn. These three were a
handful, difficult to keep on task at times, but eager to learn, and
all three still carve eggs. I usually pick very difficult patterns for
class because I'll be there to help or to answer any questions and I
firmly believe that picking easy projects is an insult to students and
doesn't give them a lot of personal satisfaction and motivation. Nor
does working on something easy teach a lot of the necessary basic
techniques students need to have learned before leaving my house.
| Click on picture to enlarge |
So how do you get in on all of this fun? Well, you give me a call, or if that isn't possible, send me an
email regarding scheduling. It is preferable to do it during the week and the number of days you want to
spend learning depends on both your budget and on what you want to learn. I don't teach any classes for
less than four days anymore because you can't assimilate nearly enough information in less time. There
are many different styles of carving. For example, there are three basic types of filigree carving, two
basic styles of emu egg carving, there's surface engraving, relief carving and combinations of all of these
styles. If you are just starting out and don't even have a drill or compressor yet, we'll need at least 1/2 of
a day to talk about what you need and what's available. With that in mind, we can, in a four-day class,
learn the basics of two different types of carving. Five days will allow us to cover some of the more
advanced techniques. As you can see, it all depends on you.
Tuition costs might be another factor. All classes are a minimum of four days and tuition is $750.
Pricing for more than 4 days is negotiable. There is an additional $50.00 charge for materials, no matter
how long the class is. I currently plan to teach on a regular schedule, such as the third week of every
month, and I also plan to take the show on the road as well, so you'll soon see a calendar on this page
with all scheduled classes. For now, I'd be happy to teach every week and am currently flexible enough
to work around any student's schedule. The sooner you contact me, the sooner we can plan to get started,
so if you want to learn how to carve, don't put it off. Let's talk as soon as possible. Contact me using one
of the methods below. I very much look forward to seeing you soon!
email regarding scheduling. It is preferable to do it during the week and the number of days you want to
spend learning depends on both your budget and on what you want to learn. I don't teach any classes for
less than four days anymore because you can't assimilate nearly enough information in less time. There
are many different styles of carving. For example, there are three basic types of filigree carving, two
basic styles of emu egg carving, there's surface engraving, relief carving and combinations of all of these
styles. If you are just starting out and don't even have a drill or compressor yet, we'll need at least 1/2 of
a day to talk about what you need and what's available. With that in mind, we can, in a four-day class,
learn the basics of two different types of carving. Five days will allow us to cover some of the more
advanced techniques. As you can see, it all depends on you.
Tuition costs might be another factor. All classes are a minimum of four days and tuition is $750.
Pricing for more than 4 days is negotiable. There is an additional $50.00 charge for materials, no matter
how long the class is. I currently plan to teach on a regular schedule, such as the third week of every
month, and I also plan to take the show on the road as well, so you'll soon see a calendar on this page
with all scheduled classes. For now, I'd be happy to teach every week and am currently flexible enough
to work around any student's schedule. The sooner you contact me, the sooner we can plan to get started,
so if you want to learn how to carve, don't put it off. Let's talk as soon as possible. Contact me using one
of the methods below. I very much look forward to seeing you soon!
| Gary LeMaster ◦ 415 Terrace Road ◦ Iowa City ◦ IA ◦ 52245 Ph. (319) 338-2094 Fax (319) 339-9133 Email eggzotica@mchsi.com |
| Website created by Gary LeMaster • All contents © 1996 - 2008 by Gary LeMaster and The Eggshell Sculptor |
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