Nurturing the Creative: Art Class At Spiva
I just added a one-of-a-kind, handcrafted fused glass serving tray to my collection. Big deal, you’re thinking. Well, it is a big deal because – drumroll, please – I made this tray MYSELF!
More accurately, I designed and prepped it myself.
Yes, I’m super proud of it because I’m not so talented in the arts.
But life’s about learning new things and keeping oneself challenged, right?
Luckily, Joplin’s George A. Spiva Center for the Arts offers art classes that explore a variety of themes and media, like a Saturday afternoon Fused Glass Tray class.
I’d always been curious as to how these pieces were made, and having the chance to create one myself sounded like a unique opportunity, so I signed up.
![](https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-me-jane1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=0f6d7a44cfddc2e4ed97507fd9bae6e3 320w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-me-jane1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=be0e8031a861081a05b5b668bf03148c 540w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-me-jane1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=b343547849adc292e8722440d71606c2 600w)
The teacher for my class was local glass artist Jane McCaulley, who teaches a class at Spiva about once a month. Check out her glasswork here.
While Jane introduced herself, I glanced at the tools we’d be using that day. They seemed foreign to me (except for the Sharpie – I know Sharpies), and I began to get a bit nervous.
![](https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-tools1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=4682b75416ce88f8a5b3f5b0ee3aa369 320w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-tools1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=5be09db79e8e6fd29126575a9524072e 540w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-tools1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=d7e5dfa34a3d8a3f1a75789b9de3b814 596w)
But with Jane’s clear instruction and helpful visual aids (she’s a former elementary art teacher), I began to relax. When Jane mentioned that she offered a glass camp for kids in the summer I thought, “If kids can do this, then why can’t I?”
Our project that Saturday required us to use pieces of colored glass to decorate a clear glass piece which would eventually become a tray.
First, we learned the names and functions of the tools on our table and also practiced using each of them.
Then we went hunting.
Hunting for pieces of colored glass that would complete our artistic visions, that is.
![](https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-shards1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=fb7078c5b678475168d8ee41c0529a5e 320w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-shards1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=dd082f248f077dd02c37ec827b1dca8c 540w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-shards1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=4f1d9780e8b0dec96512a7ce222f423c 600w)
![](https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-sticks1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=6d3f3e61043ff5c8a90ca69e4f5424f9 320w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-sticks1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=95a0def29fa9347c863e182f0a0902cd 540w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-sticks1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=c5766405503923e55d69e56dabd276df 600w)
I wish I could say that I had a grand vision of what I wanted my tray to look like, but didn’t.
I had nothing.
Nada.
So I just starting sifting through glass and picking out pieces that “spoke” to me, like the one that had an iridescent sheen that changed from blue to green in different light (Pick me, I’m shiny!), and another that sported a dragonfly pattern (Pick me, I’m interesting!)
If the piece looked peculiar, I snatched it up – with the exception of the one with the snowflake pattern that I immediately rejected because of my utter disdain for snow and cold.
![](https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-glass-prelayout1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=848d96b2c7a17c00741c1186c637a081 320w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-glass-prelayout1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=01cca909e7b7d4c1ceb3ffed9aa56e58 540w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-glass-prelayout1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=04f1f39a3bd242622ea19add58dc2c9a 600w)
Next, I unloaded my loot onto the white paper at my table, then sat back and considered it (like any professional artist, of course).
That’s when I started to feel a bit panicked again. How was I going to turn this Island of Misfit Glass into a respectable piece of art?
Then I remembered Jane’s encouraging words: There was no right or wrong way to do this.
I picked up one piece and placed it on the clear glass.
Then another, and another.
Once I was satisfied with my pattern, I leaned back and admired it.
I’d done it!
It was unusual-looking, but I’d done it.
Wait!
I wasn’t done – I still had to glue the pieces to the tray (with Suave hairspray, of all things), and before I could glue them, I had to clean them.
That meant I had to remove every single piece I’d worked so hard to arrange on there.
Sigh.
Oh, well. I snapped a photo of my pattern (thank goodness for smartphones), and then began the painstaking cleaning/gluing/replacing process.
Jane had instructed us to leave our trays at our spots when we were finished; she’d take them home and fire them and then we’d be able to pick them up the following week.
I took one last look at my chaotic, mismatched tray and thought, “Well, at least I had fun and I learned something.”
![](https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-layout1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=f335cf9fafbaf1b9dcf2aee260ff9546 320w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-layout1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=a4445160dca3409fb636d61450a7059d 540w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-layout1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=9c295ee0bfb95d7db45b48acea8ce101 700w)
![](https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-play-table1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=60b534411b638dcc5cdb82e5de974fc7 320w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-play-table1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=14d8e0d2373a7fcf52ed9cd740711718 540w, https://visit-joplin.imgix.net/images/spiva-class-play-table1.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=5b77aaa59a15983b18b44f0b10d0c670 700w)
My kids were amazed, too. They wondered how I’d painted on it to make the cool colors and patterns.
Ha! Fooled them.
Fooled myself, too.
It appears that I can be artistic once I accept that there’s no wrong way to create something.
And the bonus?
I now have an eclectic “artisan” tray to use at my next dinner party.
Spiva is located at 222 West Third Street, and the art classes are taught on the second floor. When you’re there, allow some extra time to browse through the art exhibits for inspiration.