Hocking College is hosting classes revolving around different mediums of art throughout the spring, leading into summer. The Hocking Makers Network, or HMN, Visual Arts Center has made an effort to provide classes that will allow anyone to become acquainted with beginner-level art.
On Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. there will be an Intro to Flameworking class where participants will learn the basics of using a torch and glass rods. Furthermore, attendees will be making beads that will be ready to be picked up the following day.
Sabrina Suman, Hocking Makers Network instructor, will be hosting the class, and she looks forward to seeing new faces.
The class allows seven participants, and social distancing guidelines will be followed. The class is available for those 15 years old and up.
Suman said the class will start off with introducing participants to the safety guidelines. Following will be an overture of the equipment and different terminology. The class will be a chance for people to obtain insight to a little bit of the science and history of glass.
“I like to describe my class zone as a creative space to learn and try new things that could possibly feed your senses,” Suman said. “And that's a private setting with hands-on demonstrations and a comfortable learning environment. It also allows people to excel in such an advanced medium of art that they typically would not have the access to do so.”
Suman wants participants to definitely take the chance to move forward and give flameworking a chance.
“Nobody is good with glass when they first start,” Suman said. “That is something that is (practiced). It takes muscle memory. But once you get it, you never lose it, and you will always retain what you learned in this class, which I think is pretty special.”
Continuing the events, Community Glaze Night will also be held Saturday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. This event is free to all ceramic workshop participants and HMN members. The night was made to bring artists in the area together and be in each other's presence.
As of now, the community glazing is only open to people who have taken Hocking’s ceramics workshops, but Whitney Goller, program manager of Art and Design, said it is hoping to open the class to the whole public next month.
At Community Glaze Night, everyone's pieces are bisque-fired. Participants can come back and use glazes to decorate their pieces and make them either food safe, aesthetically beautiful or whatever direction they want to go.
“It's really cool because we have an intersection of people who are super interested in pursuing art — if not a career, then at least it is like a side hustle,” Goller said. “Then, we have people who come in just for the experience. For example, two weekends ago, there was a ceramic workshop, and there were people there for someone's birthday. There was someone who had taken it three times, and then just now took a level two … There are people who come in to just have fun for (the) evening. So, that's a really fun place to be in our workshops because it brings a lot of energy and life to what's happening in those spaces.”
Goller added it’s really nice to bring together Hocking students and alumni, and it's a nice mix of people who are attending the classes.
For the summer, there will be a plethora of classes, including different workshops. Anyone interested can check out Hocking Makers Network’s website.
“It's really exciting when people enjoy it, first of all, but especially seeing people who return and work on growing their skill,” Paige Fox, studio assistant, said. “We do get some people that just wanted a weekend trying something new. But then we also have people who keep returning and want to build on those skills, and it really becomes a hobby for them.”
