As I seem to be the Brooklyn social chair, last Saturday I convinced Marta and Christie to attend the Brooklyn Skillshare with me. The first ever in Brooklyn, this was basically a day-long series of free workshops teaching all sorts of random skills from arts and crafts to cooking. I found out about it from Brooklyn Based - which you should all sign up for if you live in Brooklyn. Pretty much every week it tells me about something awesome I really want to eat, go to or participate in.
The first class I went to was Bike Mechanics 101. I had wanted to go to a screen printing class, but that was the only one requiring sign up and it was full. I figured I should learn a little about keeping up my bike since I have become a bike commuter in the last 6 months, so Marta's boyfriend Kenneth and I popped a squat for that class while Marta and Christie went off to learn about Henna. I learned a few new things about taking care of my bike, but more importantly, I learned that I am not mature enough for bike class. Way too much talk of lube, nipples and nuts. Sure, these are all bike parts, but I was one hot giggling mess.
Second up was Upcycling 101: Bottles into Glasses and Vases. More simply: learning how to cut glass bottles and turn them into useful stuff. This was by far the coolest class with the most awesomely fun energetic teacher(s). Jackson, who writes for the blog Super Forest, was bursting with energy - which could have easily been annoying, but was actually entertaining in this case. The demonstration pretty much consisted of showing us how to make the top of a glass bottle break off like magic in cold water over and over again, but that never ceased to be amazing.
Finally, I hit up Natural Jewelry Casting. I really had no idea what to expect with this one, but I have always been fascinated by learning how to cast jewelry and I thought I might be able to pick something up. As it turns out, this class wasn't really something one could pick up easily to try at home like glass cutting, but it was still pretty awesome. In a sense, it was like having an open studio session with the teacher Timothy Gasbarro as he melted down silver and poured it into a can of beans to make cool casts that he turns into rings, earrings, and cuff links. Pretty neat.
Overall, an inspiring day. Definitely made me want to go home and get out my craft box, laminating machine, sewing machine, scraps and all sorts of other artsy fartsy supplies and projects I've been ignoring for awhile. Like this blog... Does that count?
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