Stephanie Richey art – Stephanie Richey Art

Art Class Success

My first painting class. What I learned and things to think about for the next time.

Mostly finished Tulip painting with all the supplies laid around it.

Saturday was my first ever art class, hosted by me. I have taught art in the elementary schools on a couple of occasions and I participated as an artist in a camp for middle schoolers once, but I have never taught one all on my own. It was a fun day with great opportunities for me to learn, and hopefully for the students to have fun and learn as well. Also, please forgive the picture quality. I forgot to take pictures until people were leaving, so I didn’t get them all and I was hurrying, so they’re not super great pictures.

The first lesson I learned actually happened before the class. I had left the class open for up to 20 people. I had 12 sign up and 11 show up. While setting up the tables, I realized that just maybe, if I was strategic with how I set up the tables, I might could have gotten 16 in, but 12 was the perfect size for the space, with room enough for materials and elbows at each of the tables.

I learned to simplify. I always think I’ve simplified my lesson plans, whether it’s for seminary, piano lessons, or painting, but when I get into the moment, I realize I was way more optimistic about what could be accomplished, especially because watercolor has to dry completely between layers. Even with hairdryers available, it just takes longer than expected. Consequently I had to simplify while we went along.

I learned that people are super eager to learn new things. Even if they’ve painted before, they enjoy trying it again, or trying it with a new teacher or a new medium. It wasn’t just about leaving there with a finished product, but the whole experience of being there with others, painting, and having fun together. I know this, as that’s one thing I like about attending classes like this, but I forget as the instructor.

When it was all said and done, and people were heading out, most of the attendees said they’d had a lot of fun and wanted to know when the next class was. That was so kind and super motivating to me to want to do another.

This was a great experience for me as a new instructor, and I enjoyed the class and listening to the visiting as we went along. I am grateful I had the opportunity to do it in my little community first, where I know most of the people are very laid back and just excited to have fun things to do here without having to travel to a bigger city to participate.

When I got home I sat down and wrote out a schedule for possible upcoming classes, which got me even more excited. I’m grateful to have this talent to share with others, and would encourage anyone with any kind of talent (that’s everyone), to find a way to share it with others. The extra little bit of money is nice, but the sharing with others makes my heart happy, and that makes it worth while.

Petersville and Beyond

I have never been to Petersville, Alaska, but it was worth the time and bumpy road.

Petersville – There were several more small buildings, only a couple appeared inhabited.

Today after Church my husband, boys and I went for a drive. Next week they will be at a Young Men’s campout and my husband wanted to check out the road and see if he could pull a trailer back where they wanted to go.

I live in Willow, and the Petersville road is about 1 hour north of me in a small town called Trapper Creek. From there it’s about 20 miles West. About 10 miles of the Petersville road is paved and the rest is gravel road. The initial parts of gravel road are well maintained, but the further you go, the more rough the road gets. I wouldn’t take a small car back there, but an SUV or truck will have no problem if you’re a good driver.

The location we were trying to find was about 5-8 miles past Petersville, so we continued on past the several buildings that made up the small town. The road definitely got narrower and rougher as we went up through a pass and down the other side to the river we had been searching for when we started. That’s where, or near where, the campsite will be in a week’s time.

It was not sunny, but it didn’t rain on us until we started home which made the lighting great for pictures and the air clear so we could see across the valleys. Everything was so green and beautiful, with a little snow in the shaded areas on the slopes at the tops of the mountains. It’s fun to get out and explore the world around you. I have been down Petersville Road many times, but only to Oil Well Road where I turned to go visit friends. My husband had never been that far out either, and he’s lived here his whole life.

Total travel time getting out there was almost exactly 3 hours to the campsite, 2 1/2 to the town of Petersville, the last 10 miles taking probably 1 1/2 hours because of how slow going it was. But I didn’t mind, it gave me time to snap lots of pictures and enjoy the changing views. If you’re ever in Alaska and feeling adventurous, this is a fun place to go and explore. Whether you’re planning on camping or just day tripping, the views are well worth the time and bumpy road. There were lots of people out there (it’s a weekend after all), so we didn’t worry about breaking down and being stuck with no one to help. Cell reception was spotty at best past the 10 mile mark on Petersville Road. But it did come in and out as we got texts periodically.

Job Well Done

Pouring concrete isn’t easy, but it is a job well done.

Today I had the opportunity to go to work with my husband. He was pouring a slab in preparation for building a garage. Not a huge building, so we just poured it as a family rather than hiring a concrete company to pour it.

As we finished up I started to think about what a great opportunity my kids have to work at something so tangible. As this job progresses, as well as any other jobs we’ve had, we have the opportunity to see progress as we go along, big progress, and it’s great for the kids to see that through hard work, great things can be accomplished.

I love the building industry. I also love the art industry, and there are so many more hands on industries that people work in, crafts men and women who create things, things we can gauge progress and accomplishment by. Often when we think about jobs, we encourage our kids to go to college, get a degree, get a desk job that pays well, and then live out their lives at a desk because it pays well.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this kind of a job, but I think we don’t give credit to all the skilled people who keep our infrastructure working whether through building buildings, building and repairing cars, taking care of garbage, growing food, building furniture, cleaning, etc. Much of which doesn’t require much of a college education, but does require quite a bit of training and an immense amount of skill for some. It takes a huge variety of people with an even greater variety of skills for our world to go round.

Finished pouring concrete slab and tenting to keep the rain off.

As we finished up today I thought about the wages my kids make for helping out. Sometimes it’s not a huge amount, depends on the job. But the skills they have acquired as their dad has taught them about building and so many other things, will stick with them as they go through life. They will be able to take that knowledge, whether they directly or indirectly use it, and at the very least appreciate the work that goes into so many different things objects, buildings, vehicles, whatever.

They have also learned though the years what an honest days work is, and that with an honest days work comes an honest days wages. Wages they can be proud of and see what went into that pay. When the customer comes out and compliments the work, or better yet, passes our name on to friends and family, it shows that wages aren’t all that come from doing the job well.

It’s been a productive day. My husband is still sitting at the job waiting for the concrete to be ready to pour trowel. The kids are at home relaxing, knowing they did a great job. I am appreciating the great helpers they are, the great man my husband is, and the jobs we have to pay the bills.

Repentance is possible

Repentance and forgiveness are hard, but the resultant transformation is worth the hard.

Repentance is an interesting topic to discuss with people. There are many people in this world who have set limits on the ability to change, the ability to grow. But Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father have set no limits on what can be repented of, or how many times a single sin can be repented from. I think many of us have that understanding in our heads, but we don’t always have it in our hearts.

I remember when my kids were in elementary school, having a shocking realization of what the world believes about repentance and forgiveness. I was volunteering at the school that day, so I was in a classroom with a teacher. There was an altercation in class where one child was mean to another during a group activity and if I remember correctly, there was a physical interaction on a mild level. These kids were little and so just learning. No one needed to go to the principle, just a teaching opportunity.

The child who had gotten angry and hit or pushed the other child was then reprimanded and told to say sorry, which they did. The other child then politely said, “It’s alright,” to which the teacher reprimanded that child saying, “It’s not alright, just because they say sorry doesn’t make it ok!” I was shocked by the teachers response. This child was trying to be forgiving and was told it wasn’t ok to forgive and move on.

I saw this exact same interaction between students and faculty on several occasions. I am not sure if that’s what teachers are taught to say to students or if these particular faculty members believed the same thing about repentance and forgiveness (these were great teachers who I respect deeply, just a difference in our understanding). I asked my kids if that had ever happened to them, and they all confirmed that yes, they had been told not to say, “It’s alright,” because it wasn’t. We discussed forgiveness heavily during this time and that it’s not only ok to be forgiving, but that the Lord has asked us to forgive all men. We also discussed that weight that is lifted off our shoulders when we take the opportunity to forgive, regardless of whether the other person said sorry or not.

We read about people who have done horrible things, gone to prison, gotten out, and then changed their lives completely, and we’re all inspired by their strength and ability to change. Those are extreme cases that are faith building. But how often do we see our neighbor next door, who one day encroached on our property, or yelled at us for our barking dog, or whatever the case may be, and we get mad at them. We then stop speaking to them, or speak poorly of them in front of our family or other neighbors. We see a need and choose not to help because obviously they’re a bad person. Do we allow others the opportunity to repent, to change and do better? How often do they repent and we can’t see it because we’re too busy holding a grudge?

I’m not justifying anyone’s behavior, but who knows why they acted like that. Maybe one day we were a jerk first and we don’t remember. Maybe they’re having family stress or they have job or money issues that make everything hard. We just don’t know. But when we hold a grudge, it doesn’t make our lives any better, and it doesn’t help their life be any better either. In fact, it creates chasms that get deeper and harder to build bridges across.

We each at some point in our lives have been on both sides, being hurt by others as well as hurting others, intentionally or not. We can repent from hurting others, but we also need to repent from holding grudges. It’s hard to change when others can’t see the progress we’re making because of old grudges or perceptions of us. But when we can be both repentant and forgiving, relationships can be forged and deepened, friendships grow and families become stronger.

I remember one instance from my life, not that anyone was hurt because of the interaction, but I was not totally honest with a friend. She was not aware that I hadn’t been totally honest, but it bugged me for several hours. I finally talked to her and admitted that I hadn’t been honest, worried that this might ruin our friendship. She listened without judgement, expressed gratitude for my honesty, and we moved on. No one would have been hurt by what I had done, but the feeling of relief from her forgiveness was palpable to me.

I am grateful for all the people over the years who have been forgiving in my learning and growing process. I am grateful for opportunity to repent, to be forgiven and to forgive others. I am grateful for the relief of conscience that it brings, and the deepened relationships that result.

Voting With Your Money

Do you avoid businesses that support things you don’t agree with? Are there other options for purchasing products we need?

On my Marketing blog post I asked if there were any topics that my audience might like me to address. Today’s blog post is in reference to one of the suggestions made. The question was how to avoid buying things from big box stores who have opposing political views from your own. I have actually pondered on this subject on many occasions so I thought I would share my thoughts today. And if you have any questions you would like to know my opinion or stance on, please feel free to comment.

There have been quite a few businesses lately that have put forth advertising and products that have been consistent with the political and woke agendas running rampant in our country. These businesses have come to quickly realize however, that regardless of what these parties are trying to normalize and push on the average citizen, most of us aren’t buying into their agenda, and consequently aren’t buying into their companies or products anymore and they have lost millions of dollars because of it.

Specific businesses like these, that sell products in other stores are easy to avoid, simply walk past and don’t buy. But avoiding an entire store, especially a big box store, where many products that we need are being sold, is a completely different, much harder prospect. But, I believe it is something we need to take into consideration when we go shopping, and having looked around my community, I think there are some great ways to avoid big box stores in general.

One suggestion by the person asking the question was buying local. I love this and have been a huge supporter of this for quite a number of years. There are Farmer’s Markets all over the country, in big cities and small towns, and there are so many local people, working hard, trying to make a living for their families, who would love the support (me included)! Farmer’s markets aren’t just about veggies either, there are so many great products that you can get at a local market. At the market I sell at you can buy things like art, soaps, wood products, pottery, baked goods, lunch, snacks, blankets, and so much more, along with the veggies, berries, and fruit.

Besides the market, there are a number of locally owned stores in my area, and I would imagine in other areas, that sell only locally produced items. Some items similar to farmers market offerings, but available all year not just in the summer. Other items as well that you might only find in those stores. These are fun to check out, and offer quite a wide range of options from housewares to clothing to furniture and everything in between. Again, the draw, at least for me, is that I am supporting someone local, as opposed to big corporations with agendas that I don’t care for. Look around your local area for these shops and check out their local products.

Ultimately, there are larger stores that I do frequent. There are also several stores and restaurants that I choose not to go to because they have made very public statements and display’s of what they choose to support, which is their right, but is inconsistent with what I believe, so I don’t shop at the ones that are very vocal. There are also a number of local shops that are very vocal about supporting things I disagree with. While I do like shopping local, and while I wish those shops well in their business ventures, I will not support them with my money. I believe we need to stand up for what we believe, and the dollar is one of the best ways to vote and have our voices heard.