Little inspirations...

I think teaching is an opportunity to constantly be inspired by the folks around you. I am fortunate to be able to teach students in the Creative Genius studio as well as watch others teach in the studio too. And the students who have come through here are more than a little inspiring to me. My teachers have a variety of experiences that have brought them to a place where they are comfortable enough to teach others and they are all top notch in terms of talent, teaching ability and pedigree :)

Cody, during digital photo class with me

We have some really creative and fun folks who have been in our pottery classes, some great talent coming out of Digital Photography classes (both kids and adults too) and really unique perspectives in our Painting and Drawing Classes for Adults. Painting and Drawing for Teens is always full of creative surprises too. Jewelry classes also host a huge pool of talented folks with great design ideas who learn all about how to make their ideas happen.

A pic that Cody, my student, took of me

Floral Pottery shown by Andrea Smeraski

I just love the idea that folks get to come into an environment that I created from nothing and get inspired to create the way they do. I find it fascinating to see the progress that is made and it is even more rewarding when I start to see posts on facebook that just blow me away (good job, Kathleen! )




One of my favorite quotes is fitting:
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes; art is knowing which ones to keep."

Kudos to all who create and who have the guts to not only make the effort but to put themselves out there with their creations.



And the award for worst blogger in the world goes to...

I have been a completely lame blogger.
That being said, it has not been for a lack of good intentions. October through December were spent on a myriad of photo shoots and then onto the editing and order-processing part of the equation.For those of you who don't know, I am a professional photographer and co-own True Story Photography in addition to owning and operating Creative Genius. What can I say, I have a need to  keep myself very occupied :)Amidst all of the good business stuff (and it really was all good stuff), I also worked full time in the gallery, first preparing for and then executing on our holiday season sales. Fortunately, the holidays went very well and we're now on to January, the beginning of which has been spent on organization, planning and tax stuff. Not my most fun time of year, although the planning part is fun!

Let's discuss the fruits of my planning for a moment:
This year we are beginning a new referral program to reward those customers who constantly talk about us. I figured I had so many great supporters at Creative Genius and a referral program would help them earn some points that they could utilize throughout the year. To me, it was a great way to thank them for something they already do anyway. None of them expected any rewards which makes the perks even better.
I truly have the nicest, most supportive customers around and they are the reason that Creative Genius continues to be in operation for the past seven years. Thank you! (and you know who you are!)

We're also doing a new lunch/mini- party program for some of the offices in the area who employee folks who shop at Creative Genius. This one is in the works and we're excited for our first group to join us at the end of this month. We'll let you know how it goes...

Another big item on the list-- made a major purchase at the end of last year: a new kiln which leads into the last planning thing on the agenda...we're going to finally do some fused glass workshops. Please don't be confused with all the gimmicks out there-we're talking REAL KILN-FUSED glass in a real kil with a qualified instructor who works with glass. Yippee! I want the first workshop to be something totally useful and fun. We should have details shortly...first and foremost, we have to get it set up and we will definitely keep our customers posted. It may take a little time but at least it's here, officially here.
Stay tuned....and hopefully I will not win any more awards for worst blogger in the world...I can DEFINITELY win better awards than THAT...:)
Julie

Upcoming Workshops at Creative Genius

Okay, so I have been very bad at keeping this updated. I have some pretty valid excuses/reasons for this but let's just say that summer camps, preparation for summer camps and the potential for moving the gallery all have kept me pretty busy since April. In between all that was a busy summer rolling right into a busy fall so there are no complaints on my end but I will recognize that I have not been faithful in my updates. That being said, I wanted to post some sample photos for some upcoming workshops happening at Creative Genius. More dates and workshops are being added all the time and there will be some new offerings showing up soon on this packed list of creative things to do.

Samples shown are for the following workshops:
Linoleum Block Printing Workshop
Stained Glass for Beginners
Stained Glass Pendant Workshop
Precious Metal Clay Workshop
Beaded Wire Cuff Workshop
Corrugated Metal Jewelry Workshop
The Art of Spirals Jewelry Workshop
Memories of Summer Jewelry Workshop

We also offer walk-in workshops for kids on many Saturdays from Oct through early May and by appointment too.
To view samples and upcoming dates for all our workshops, visit www.creativegeniusonline.com/upcoming_events.htm
To register for any of our great creative offerings, here's how to do so:
visit the gallery at 32 North Main Street in Medford, NJ
call Julie to register at 609-714-1131
Email Julie at jbaselloholt@verizon.net