Over the past few years I have taught workshops in Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore. Every class has been different, specifically tailored to the group to be taught, and each has been huge fun. Sadly, Covid put an end to that for a while, with my classes in Italy, South Korea and the USA being cancelled as a result of the pandemic.
The situation is improving as I write this and international travel is opening up. Here is some information for organisers who might be thinking about running a gilding workshop in the future, I hope you find it helpful.
I try to combine several workshops in one tour, either using the same venue or locations in adjacent cities / countries.There are two advantages to that. Firstly, I’m very aware of my air miles, and although I contribute to various schemes to offset my carbon footprint, it makes sense to organise teaching tours by area. Secondly, it cuts down on the cost of travel for the associations involved. Filling multiple workshops doesn’t seem to be a problem, with some classes selling out three hours after opening for registration.
I limit my classes to 15 students and travel with 15 sets of gilding equipment (gilders cushions, knives, tips and burnishers) for students to borrow for the duration of the class. The small workshop size ensures plenty of individual attention for each participant.
Toni is such an exceptional teacher. She makes tasks manageable and challenging, but suited for individual needs. We had people who were sufficiently challenged just doing the class assignments and people who work fast who got additional assignments of varying levels of difficulty. It’s all at your own pace and comfort level really. We never felt like we were given things too far out of range and, if it happened, Toni gave us the encouragement we needed to try and guidance to improve.
The person or organisation hosting me arranges my accommodation in an Airbnb or hotel – I’m happy with either. I travel with my husband. He pays his own expenses, of course. I’m always delighted to go out for group meals, but equally happy for everyone to rest at the end of the day leaving us to our own devices. We aim to be undemanding and considerate guests!
We prefer to book our own flights but this is always done with consideration of price and with the approval of the groups involved. The total travel cost is split between participating groups and each adds that amount to my teaching fee. The total amount is payable to me at the end of the workshop by bank transfer. Do contact me for details of pricing.
Gilding on gesso is incredibly slow, painstaking, but utterly rewarding, for the shine that the finished and burnished gold reflects and our class was justifiably proud of their achievement over the two days. A huge thanks to Shas Baker for setting all the arrangements in place, and we all loved Toni, her generosity, care in helping us achieve and solve problems, her wonderful patience, and exceeding good humour. Everyone who was lucky enough to attend either or both of the gold workshops all agreed that the experience was greatly enjoyable. Thank you, Toni, for sharing your knowledge!
Will I give a presentation one evening? Of course! I’ll bring my hard drive, but I will need you to provide a laptop, projector and screen.
As far as the actual class is concerned, I’ll simply need a table to work and demonstrate on – I’m happy with or without a document camera. I’ll also need space to put examples of my work, reference materials and the contents of my well known ‘just in case’ bag.
If you’re interested in hosting a workshop do get in touch at toniwatts@live.co.uk. I look forward to hearing from you!
A huge thank you to all my international hosts who have done such a great job of organising workshops and to my students for working so hard and producing such amazing work!
I can’t thank Toni enough for inspiring and teaching us so many techniques, giving us the freedom to move forward to create our own work. I, along with the others, genuinely can’t wait till you come back again to ‘up our game’ some more. We love you, Toni! Until next time…