Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Learn From The Masters

pic: Anne-Marie at Brambleberry with protection.

I am looking for a soap making class here in sunny south Florida. I need a mentor.

If you don't already know Anne-Marie Faiola from Brambleberry, Otion and her blog, Soap And The Finer Things In Life, allow me to introduce her to you. She is a young entrepreneur (I think she is 28??), owns at least three successful businesses, writes a popular blog, teaches soap classes and has time to run, boat, fly and take on being an official soap judge in the latest soap competition for the American Dairy Goats Association among a million other things I have no idea about. I am sure I have completely forgotten some glaring accomplishments she's achieved, but this is what my brain can conjure up at the moment.

She teaches soap classes at Otion, The Soap Bar location in Bellingham, Washington. I really wish I could do that with her. I have so many questions and am so interested in learning everything I can. In fact, I'd love a whole series of classes to try out soaping under a master's critical eyeball. In the quest to find soaping geniuses, I think I've found that Florida in general is lacking people who do this. As you know, I am originally from Brooklyn and stuff like this oozes from every alley and neighborhood. No lack of artistic genius and certainly no lack of sharing one's talent. It is almost a prerequisite to be the knowledgeable one in whatever the art might be.

I think everyone wants to be a guru in something!

I would love some input about soap classes in your area, so that I can share them with other folks. Folks like me who are chomping at the bit for some soap making fun. If you are a Florida Soap Queen and want to teach me, let's talk. If you teach or know of soap classes, give me info so that we can all get good at keeping this an art form that hopefully will never die. Yeah? (As Chef Ramsey would say).

ps: I love Chef Ramsey :)

3 comments:

SingingWolf said...

I wish I could help you...but I'm having the same problem in NE Florida (Jacksonville). I just got the soaping bug about 6 months back and only really started making CO soap in August. *sigh*

So much to learn...

Anne-Marie said...

Thanks for the shout-out! It's very kind of you.

Why don't you plan for a fun weekend trip to Bellingham during the summer? It would be great to get away to the beautiful PNW and make soap all weekend, wouldn't it?

Also, Lori Nova from the Nova Studio in California does soapmaking classes at her soap studio so if Washington isn't your idea of a fabulous time, there's always California.

Thank you again for the kind words. They are high praise coming from someone as talented with formulations as you are.

Alana said...

I have taken some classes from Lori at the Nova Studio and she is great. She has a soapmaking boot-camp that covers everything!