Gratitude for those who voted for
Copper Cat Studio for best Art Class in Reno News & Review's Best
of Northern Nevada 2018! After last year's ballot stuffing that
awarded Famous Dave's (yes the chain) best for everything including
best chef, best waiter, best appetizer, best bloody mary and
more...even best margarita (yeah right), I kind of boycotted the
whole thing. I didn't even realize that the first round of the
competition was even happening until the last day of voting. During
the second round I chose not to campaign to get votes just to see
what might happen. I did this for the reasons above, as well as that
I'm hesitant to cast our net too wide to get people to come to our
studio. Recently, someone from one of the local news stations called
to try to get me to buy advertising. I told her I don't advertise and
besides I don't want to promote on that kind of scale. She said, Oh
we can work with any budget. Then I had to explain that it wasn't a money thing, but
that we are a small word of mouth kind of place that
doesn't have a problem filling our classes and I want to keep it that
way. The energy here is amazing and we don't have problem customers.
We truly attract the right people. I like the people that come to our
workshops, so I'm likely to like their friends, and so on. I've
always held that belief, even when I was working out of my home
studio, that if one student showed up, then for some reason they
needed a private lesson. Much of the time, they needed a safe place
to be able to talk and we ended up connecting on a deeper level than
if we had a room full of people. If it were two students that showed
up, there was something in common with them that they were meant to
connect. And so on. I am blessed to say many of my students have
become friends that I deeply care about. We have anywhere from 8-15
classes, with a total of 30-75 students through the studio in any
given month. We don't allow alcohol. Our teachers are professional
artisans who exude enthusiasm and passion for their craft and who are
exceptional teachers. It's kind of cool that we are a hidden gem and
we got third place behind two places that can accommodate those
numbers in a couple of classes. Congrats to Picasso & Wine and
Pinot's Palette. I know the owners of both (I even painted the “Van
Gogh Beach Scene” at Pinot's Palette) and they have paved the way
for people in our community to learn what being creative can do for
the soul. So thank you to all who voted and who gave a nod to Copper
Cat Studio. Hoping that will bring more of our people together at the
studio. Namaste
