Teacher Profile - Pat Whitlow February 17 2019, 0 Comments
Pat Whitlow will be teaching her first class at the Bay School in March. Her Wire Crochet Necklace class will be on Saturday, March 16. In this class students will make a beautiful bead and wire necklace which looks complicated but is really quite easy to make.
A few questions to Pat:
What made you start teaching?
I actually began making jewelry (in my 50s) when my mother-in-law gave me some old buttons that had belonged to her mother. My original necklaces were made of buttons crocheted on crochet cotton, because crocheting was what I knew how to do. From there I somehow advanced to more traditional beading projects. An opening came up at my local Michaels for a jewelry instructor. I taught there for several years and then began teaching at the Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center. When friends learned that I was making jewelry, some of them wanted to learn also, so I have taught a number of classes in my home and for various groups.
What do you get out of teaching?
I love meeting people and teaching classes. My feeling is that if you have a talent in a particular area, it should be shared. One of the things I enjoy most is seeing how folks put their individual touch on the things they create.
Tell me something people would be surprised to find out about you.
My husband and I have owned a small office furniture business for the last eleven years. Coming from a corporate background, it has been a truly amazing experience to build a company literally from the ground up--we started out in our tool shed--see it grow, be able to employ a few other people, and, hopefully, help some folks out along the way.
I am also president of a group called Moss on the James which is a chapter of the P. Buckley Moss Society. This group, in addition to appreciating Pat Moss' work, has a mission to help out local charities, especially those that involve children. Since Pat previously resided in Mathews and her Portfolio is located there, I am sure many in Mathews appreciate her enormous talent and generosity. At 85 she still paints daily and is a truly amazing person.
