Kate Church Workshops were Spectacular!

In November the Flying Phoebes doll club of Hayward flew world-renowned artist and creator of fabulous polymer sculpted figures, Kate Church, from her home in Nova Scotia for three 2-day workshops. Kate is internationally known for her work in conjunction with Cirque du Soleil. Two of the workshops were on her "Dancing Fools," inspired by the characters in the Cirque. The third workshop was on "Transformation," her original wall hanging creation of a figure's metamorphosis between butterfly and human form. Some people took both classes, and the overwhelming consensus was that these workshops were the most enjoyable, informative, and inspiring any of the participants had ever attended. The following six photos are of examples of Kate's pieces she brought with her to serve as suggestions of possibilities for the Dancing Fools.

 Kate was so hands-on in her encouragement and assistance in helping us achieve our visions. Here she helps Pamè create her Dancing Fool on an Eiffel Tower.

Kate carefully and thoroughly demonstrated the steps in sculpting the heads, hands and feet of the figures. This example is of Kate's rabbit-eared head.

 

An important part of the classes were the creation of shoes and bare feet. These samples of some of Kate's shoes served as inspiration for us all.

This photo, as well as the next three, are examples of Colleen's Dancing Fools. Some are not quite finished yet, but they show the wide range of ideas that our talented members came up with in the creation of their figures.

 

 

 

This Dancing Fool was the creation of Elizabeth. Love the pinwheel she made for him to hold. Not quite finished yet, but more photos will follow in ensuing posts of the figures as they are each completed and brought for "show and tell" at Phoebe meetings.

Daisy completed finished two figures for a single scene. I'm sure there are others soon to be completed. We are looking forward to seeing them!

 

Marjorie completed her "Dancing Fool" and added cute shoes and a dangling scarf—and a great hat complete with a flower!

 There are sure to be many examples of completed "Transformation" sculptures in coming months. This one was completed by Donna.

 

Daisy is working on the completion of the "Transition" head shown above. Below is the one she finished in class.

 

 

 

Rosie is hard at work in the "Fools" workshop, making hands to go with the three figures she has started.

Sharon is shown admiring the head she made for her "Transformation."

 

Mary proudly shows us her work in progress. It was a lot of work to do in the short span of two days, and while it was a lot of information to absorb, Kate was so helpful when she wrote out detailed instructions for all of us to keep, thus eliminating the necessity of taking notes in class. Hurrah for Kate! That was wonderful!

 

Kate is shown giving Geri helpful advice on the hands she is sculpting, which include gloves, in "Transformation." 

 

Again, we all loved the class, and it was so much fun spending time with Kate, who is such a truly sweet person, as well as an incomparable instructor. We have already started a dialogue with her to come back again next year for another workshop. We would be so thrilled if that works out!