Independent Study 10 Ways to Get Creative This Spring By Lynda Wheatley If you want to learn how to grout a tile floor or install a new toilet…well, you already know where to go. But if the coming spring is motivating you to learn something that’s actually fun and can improve your home or life, we’ve collected a host of in-person and virtual options that’ll take you from zero to hero and grant you some better dinner conversation starters than, “So I was turning these flange nuts on our new toilet yesterday…”
1. Make Your Own Dishware: Wheel Throwing (Traverse City) Transforming a wet lump of clay into a beautiful, functional shape isn’t simply a metaphor for life; it’s also what your hands do during the age-old practice of wheel throwing (derived from the Old English word thrawan, which means to turn or twist). ClaySpaceTC will provide the clay and teach you how to make your own real-life, usable piece of dinner or serving ware in one of five two-hour workshops remaining this spring. Keep your expectations high: By workshop’s end, you’ll have created an object that’ll be glazed, fired, and yours to keep. Next class, $35, is April 1. See clayspacetc.com for more.
2. Learn How to Hunt Your Own Dinner: Zero to Hunt (Online) Want to feed your family free-roaming grass-fed meat? Go one better than buying or raising your own animal and learn how to hunt Michigan game. Built for beginners, Zero to Hunt gives advice and insight on topics unique to the novice adult hunter, such as selecting your first weapon and gear, anxiety about taking an animal’s life, wild game nutrition, sighting a rifle scope, finding a hunting partner, and more. There is instruction for those interested in specific game—deer, ruffed grouse, rabbit, deer, turkey, and squirrel—and those curious about archery, hunting preserves, and how to hunt on public land. Start at zerotohunt.com, where you can also sign up for a newsletter and coaching.
3. Make Your Own…Everything: Tinker Studio (Old Mission Peninsula) Tinker Studio isn’t only a (newly moved and expanded!) place to wander about and gape at handmade jewelry, scarves, paintings, photography, ceramics, and other art available for inspiration and purchase; it’s a place for makers of all levels, curious beginner to seasoned pro. What we love best is that you don’t have to stick to prescheduled classes—you can simply scope out the shop’s available offerings and schedule a class in what interests you. Whether you (and up to three friends) want to learn how to weave on a loom, create an accordion book, paint a landscape, bead “by the piece,” draw, make jewelry, or undertake some other artistic endeavor, you can customize and schedule a two-hour class for $50 per person (adult learners age 16+ only) or a three-hour class for $75 per person. Four-class workshops range from $100 to $150 per person. Learn more at tinkerstudiotc.com
4. Add Horsepower to Your Kid’s Reading Skills: Circle M Acres (Ellsworth) So Circle M Acres’ Learning with Four-Legged Leaders is not technically a do-it-yourself workshop— more a do-it-with-a horse’shelp workshop—but its literacy program, which just launched this month, helps kids from pre-K through SAT prep learn and improve critical reading skills… while they’re sitting atop horses. Yup. The equestrian hub’s “horse-powered” reading program (not riding program) is based on 10 years of research and employed by facilitators from around the world. It’s also darn fun for students who struggle to sit still with a book in hand. The introductory rate is $90 for three sessions. Call (231) 714-0103 or email Jeannamichelek@gmail.com for more information.
10 • march 21, 2022 • Northern Express Weekly
