Woodcut Class week 3

Today is Tuesday, so must be time for another woodcut class.

Two weeks ago my students were complaining a bit about the temperature there in the building, since the main air conditioner was broken.  I passed word to the people there and shortly afterwards I got two e-mail from the current director apologizing for that.  She mentioned that the plan was to acquire a (barely used) air conditioner/furnace and have it installed on August 7th.  I stopped by the Boatworks late last week to see how this went and was told that the air conditioner was still not replaced, so I verified that nothing was scheduled in the front gallery on the 14th.  We do have a working wall unit in the front room, and I had held the class there before.  Means hauling the tables and chairs a little further from the closet, but the lighting is much better.

Today is Tuesday, so it must be time for another rain storm.

This part of the state was hit very badly with rain yesterday, lots of local flooding, road closures, etc.  Forecasts were saying it could happen again today.  Most of the day was hot and sunny, but late in the afternoon the sky started getting dark, very dark to the west.  Decided to go to Belmar a little earlier than usual, just in case.  Got a spot next to the building, on what passes for high ground.  Went up to the corner to get my traditional pizza slice for supper and brought it back- no rain yet.  Still had some stuff in my car from yesterday's class, and got the rest loaded in the sunny weather.  Brought that stuff into the building, still no rain.  Turned on the from room air conditioner, brought out a few tables and chairs.  Then a pizza break.   I used the extra time to finally sand smooth the ends of all the tools I had cut the handles of a few weeks ago, and marked the size and blade style on them.  I knew one would not be coming, from e-mails she had sent me, but I was prepared for the rest.

Close to the official start time the students started to arrive.  In the end, 5 showed up, including the one who missed last week, all ready to work.  They didn't mind the room change, as they all remembered how oppressive the weather in the back was last time we met.

So five we were and that was enough to keep petty busy.  Everyone had done at least a little work since our last meeting, but no one had finished, so everyone was busy.  Rain did show up eventually, but it was very brief and I didn't notice it happening- just noticed some drops on the front door window. By the end of the night, still no one was finished, but everyone was a little closer. We meet again in two weeks, one last time for this group.