Episode 092: Cameron Taylor-Brown and the Art of Teaching

This week on the show, Felicia is talking with Cameron Taylor-Brown: an artist, weaver, and educator. Cameron studied fibre arts at the University of California, Berkeley with Ed Rossbach and then textile design at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. Since 1985 she's lived in Los Angeles where she's still active in arts and education. Her work is widely exhibited and has been featured in many publications including Fibre Art Now, American Craft, Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot. She teaches design and colour workshops at schools, guilds, museums, and conferences throughout the United States and at ARTSgarage: a teaching studio in Los Angeles. Cameron recently curated the exhibit Material Meaning: A Living Legacy of Anni Albers, which was on view at the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles. Join Felicia and Cameron as they discuss Cameron's past and present in the arts.   "... I always felt confident that I knew... the material well, but initially I was afraid of public speaking... that was my most nervous thing was standing up in front of a group of people... but what I realized was... when you're teaching... a visual medium the people that you're talking to are focusing on the medium that you're talking about, they're not focusing on you and so I began to realize I was the narrator, but they were looking at something else. The minute I figured that out... it was a lot less scary for me to talk to people... and then it's just about sharing something that you love and figuring out to explain it to people so that they own it, not you... one of the really important things when you're teaching is I don't want to create clones of myself. I want people to discover who they are and what their journey is and help them in their particular journey, and I think that's the art of teaching.  " -  Cameron Taylor-Brown on her transition from maker to educator   In this episode, we talk about: 1:36 Felicia and Cameron chat about how Cameron used to be a sales rep for SweetGeorgia Yarns 2:35 Cameron talks about her "retirement" 3:56 How Cameron got into the fibre arts, specifically weaving 9:00 How Cameron made the jump from maker to educator 12:43 Cameron chats about her teaching studio: ARTSgarage 19:45 Felicia and Cameron chat about the difficulty of knowing where to start when you want to pursue a new fibre arts skill 23:00 Felicia asks Cameron if she has any suggestions for anyone wanting to turn their textile art into a business 35:50 Felicia and Cameron chat about the exhibit she recently curated called: Material Meaning: A Living Legacy of Anni Albers 46:18 Felicia's Final Notes   Here's Where You Can Find Cameron: Website: www.camerontaylor-brown.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/CameronTaylorBrownStudio Instagram: @camerontaylorbrown   Thanks for Listening! Thank you so much for joining us this episode! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your fellow fibre art friends. And if you like what we're doing here, please leave a rating and review on iTunes for the show. We read each and every email and bit of feedback, whether it’s on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, so we welcome your comments. Thank you all so much for your continued support of our show! Until next time, enjoy colour!   Music Credits: Playbook of Happiness – by RimskyMusic Click to subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Stitcher Radio Subscribe on Spotify