In between all my wedding orders, I also teach the DECO Clay Craft Academy courses to interested enthusiasts. Recently, two of my students passed the instructor examination and are now DECO certified instructors. I have a bunch of other students who are also in the process (either they are just awaiting the review of their examination pieces that they submitted or are almost done with the 3 components required to apply for instructor certification. The 3 components are a theme project, a tall vase arrangement and 3 size roses. I wanted to share the theme projects because I am so happy with everyone's creativity and they all used the skills and techniques they learned over the course of the last year or so to create some very imaginative pieces.
I could not be more proud. Everyone has a different level of skill and talent, but they all created something amazing! Check them out!
The above image is from my newly certified instructor, Sau Wei. Sau Wei is very into doll making and making Chinese dolls, something she loves to do and is very talented at, I might add. She has worked with different clay mediums but was very fascinated with the CLAYCRAFT by DECO soft clay. She did a beautiful job of a Chinese garden with a princess and her entourage. Very innovative right down to the birds on the flowers!
Barbara created the piece above. Barbara sews costumes and ballroom gowns for her daughter who dances professionally. So this is her theme project. Barbara is also a newly certified DECO instructor and she will be teaching out of Tracy, California and surrounding areas! 
Judeanna did this whimsical piece above. Molded from a straw hat. She initially just wanted to do flowers around the brim, but I encouraged her to add the element of figurines so we did butterflies and bees in class and from there she used her imagination and skills to create lots of imaginative design elements and used glitter to embellish the cute bugs and critters! Judeanna is almost finished, she just has her tall vase arrangement to complete. My hope is that she will offer classes in the Pleasanton, California area when she is finished!
Magdalena created this cute beach scene piece. She was very nervous about doing miniature size of anything because her hands are not as petite as many of my students, but I encouraged her to try. We practiced the shells in miniature size and I helped her create the little cute crab. I got her accustomed to trying to make the flowers small. She did a great job and I'm very proud of her accomplishment when I know this was quite challenging for her to do in small form! Magadalena just turned her projects in for review!
Candy did this cute winter wonderland theme. When she brought it to class I was wondering what happened to her original idea which was supposed to be a wedding theme. I absolutely love the turtle and penguin. Candy just submitted her projects for review, so within a month's time she'll hopefully be a certified instructor as well.
This last theme project is from my student, Myrna who came all the way from New Jersey to take classes with me. She's an anal clay freak like me. LOL. She's a perfectionist in everything she does and she always pushes herself to figure things out. I encouraged her to make things out of clay rather than using birch branches to create her tree. Granted she could have taken the easy way out, but I reminded her that it's all based on creativity using the clay. Her phonograph with a morning glory flower with the daisy record is super cute. The whole thing is cute and the little thing on the daisy is a cupcake! Myrna loves cupcakes! Myrna will also be submitting her items for review this week so in a month's time she will also be a DECO certified instructor once she goes through the review process.
I am very proud as I said before of all my students. They did a phenomenal job and they really did this on their own without much help from me. It amazed me what they came up with and how much creativity they used to create the final product. I'm so excited to have new instructors to spread the art of CLAYCRAFT by DECO and the DECO curriculum so that more interested enthusiasts can take classes since I cannot by myself do it all. It's their chance to share the art with others. I have a few more students close to finishing so when they do I will again share their projects as well.
In August, I have two students coming from out of state (Florida and New Jersey) to start the CI curriculum and another lady in February coming all the way from the UK to come and take the full curriculum so by the end of her stay she will be able to be an instructor. It still amazes me how far away people are willing to come to do the art of DECO, but it truly is a gift to be able to do this art form and be part of the DECO family of instructors and students!
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I've been working on some fun little creations the last couple of days. My super duper fantastic bride Alicia is having a big soiree in Maui at the Grand Wailea next week and she asked if I could recreate or create should I say a clay version of butterflies and flowers to match the cake picture above. I so struggled with this one, but I finally found a burst of creative energy and found what I wanted to do. So here are a few shots of the things I'm working on.
The inspiration photo had initials on it, but I didn't trust myself to make a Swarovski crystal "A" so I ordered an acrylic mirror style A from a great Etsy artisan, www.justtoppers.etsy.com. They were super helpful and got it out to my right away! I decided to embellish it with some flowers and a butterfly since Alicia said she didn't think she would re-use it and need it to be plain.
