The Story of Clay Carnival, formerly known as “Boot Camp”
By “Dixie” Bunnuchi-Kato
Sue Kelsey (“Fern”), Cathy Johnston (“Trixie”), and their mom “Roxie” were the original Bunnuchi Sisters. For some reason, they adopted me (“ Dixie”) and I found myself caught up in the Bunnuchi brand of fun. This fun included an annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas where I was taught the finer points of slot machining.
The group grew, as we added friends of the Bunnuchis. To the fourth pilgrimage, Judy Belcher, Jacqueline Lee, and Lisa Pavelka joined in the Vegas fun. It looked like it was going to become a growing annual event! As we (some of us more than others Fern being the lucky one) lost our shirts to the one armed bandits, the thought occurred that we might do something more constructive. How about teaching?
So, in the summer heat, the first teaching session was held at the library. Lisa (now working for Amaco and Fimo), being a Vegas native, was able to procure the site used for their guild meetings. Judy Belcher taught in a “closet”, while Lisa and I taught at opposite ends of the main room. All in all, it was successful, but claustrophobic students were unnerved in Judy’s classes and the noise level in the main room presented another set of problems. Still, it worked. But, we knew we could do better and include more artist/friends, too.
When we began planning out first major Boot Camp now known as “Clay Carnival” event, finding the right site was of primary importance. Cathy Johnston, negotiated a deal with the Imperial Palace (it’s the little blue hotel on the strip between two great, big ones). Through her efforts, we acquired teaching rooms and students were able to get reduce hotel rates. Lisa served as our “Master of Ceremonies”. Klew’s husband Carl, handled the store. Van Aken donated the clay for the classes. The rest of us helped out however we could.
Boot Camp Dec 04 featured 8 teachers who taught 4, 1 ½ hour classes per day over a two day period. The format borrowed (with a change or two) from a conference at which I had taught in Yosemite. We divided attendees into 4 groups. Teachers moved from one classroom to the next so that, each attendee had received instruction from all 8 teachers without having to move an inch, Students were asked to bring only their basic Polyclay tool kit and a pasta machine.
So, here we are presenting our seventh seminar. Classes will now be 4 hours long. That means a total of 32 hours of clay classes!
We’ve even got a Pizza Party.
We’ll still have a sales area with artwork and products to sell. And, there are more surprises, so stay tuned! Hey, how about a polymer Poker Chip Trade?