Learn how to make a valentine keepsake at an upcoming class organized by The Chattery.Looking for a new hobby? The next classes offered by The Chattery can teach you how to drink like a Viking, perfect your improv comedy skills and make a Valentine’s keepsake.
The Chattery is the local nonprofit that basically serves as a matchmaker between people who want to learn new skills and the people who can teach them those skills.
The collaboration makes for “an unlimited variety of classes,” organizers say, ranging from mixology to flower arranging to financial planning. “We not only serve as ambassadors who bring awesome classes and workshops to Chattanooga, but we’re also helping cultivate and encourage your passions,” officials say on the website, www.thechattery.org.
Ideas are welcome, whether it’s a class you want to take or a class you want to teach. Email info@thechattery.org or call 423-413-8978.
Already this month, experts have given advice on how to make and keep New Year’s resolutions and how to begin a meditation practice.
Here’s a look at what’s ahead. The website has links to register.
* Today, Jan. 28: Drink Like a Viking: How To Make Mead & Cider, 6-7 p.m. at Chattanooga WorkSpace, 302 W. Sixth St.; $20.
Mead is sweet, dry and boozy. Cider is light and crisp. Both can warm you up this winter. Danielle Shelton, a food artisan with a master’s degree in medieval history and the blogger behind fermdamentals.com, will share her tips on making these beverages in a demonstration-style class. Sampling the drinks is part of the fun, so participants must be at least 21.
* Saturday, Jan. 30: Introduction to Improv Comedy, 2-4 p.m. at Jazzanooga, 431 E. M.L. King Blvd.; $10 ages 18 and older, $5 ages 13-17.
Postponed from last Saturday due to weather, this class dives into improvisation, a form of live theater in which the plot, characters and dialogue of a game, scene or story are made up in the moment. But improv is more than just making it up on the spot. There are guidelines to follow. Participants will learn these rules by practicing games and simple scenes. You don’t have to be aspiring to a guest spot on “Whose Line Is It Anyway.” Improv can help build business skills and lessen cocktail party anxiety. The instructors are a group of trained improvisers who have been performing together regularly for almost two years, most recently with First Draft Productions.
* Thursday, Feb. 4: From the Heart: DIY Valentine’s Keepsake, 6-7:30 p.m. at Chattanooga WorkSpace, 302 W. Sixth St.; $18.
Jacquie Leavitt, a self-taught mixed-media painter who specializes in whimsical art, will teach how to make a valentine block to stand on a shelf or, with a hook added, hang on the wall. All supplies are included.
* Saturday, Feb. 6: Make Your Own Mardi Gras Mask, 2-4 p.m. at Chattanooga WorkSpace, 302 W. Sixth St.; $18.
Michelle Hatfield, a makeup artist and craft designer, will show how to prepare for any upcoming masquerade parties.
* Tuesday, Feb. 9: Not Your Mother’s Macrame: DIY Modern Wall Hanging, 6-7:30 p.m. at Chattanooga WorkSpace, 302 W. Sixth St.; $33.
Artist Mary Hamby, owner of Twenty Two West at Chattanooga WorkSpace, will offer ideas, instruction and locally sourced materials for a modern wall hanging, also known as a fiber hoop. You’ll take home two at night’s end. They can be hung on the wall as a piece of art or from the ceiling as an interactive mobile.
* Thursday, Feb. 11: Handling Health Care: Solutions for Small Business and Individuals, 6-7 p.m. at Edney Innovation Center, 1100 Market St.; $12.
Not all of The Chattery’s classes are for hobbyists. This one will give insight into navigating health care as a small-business owner or self-employed worker. Instructor is the namesake CEO/owner of Susan M. Freeman Enterprises.
* Tuesday, Feb. 16: Perfect Your Penmanship: Cursive Handwriting, 6-7:30 p.m. at Chattanooga WorkSpace, 302 W. Sixth St.; $18.
If you haven’t composed a handwritten letter since second grade, this class is for you. Instructor is local calligrapher Linda Harris. Supplies are included.
* Saturday, Feb. 20: Writing for Everyone: A One-Day Writers Retreat, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at Proprioceptive Writing Center, Southeast, 1401 Williams St., Suite 210; $45.
This workshop will teach a unique approach to expression called proprioceptive writing, which can help you liberate your creative energies, awaken your emotions, unburden your mind of emotional conflicts, connect with your spiritual self and communicate with strength and clarity. Instructor is Anne Bright, director of the Proprioceptive Writing Center, Southeast.
* Thursday, Feb. 25: Vegetable Fermentation, 6-7 p.m. at Chattanooga WorkSpace, 302 W. Sixth St.; $23.
Danielle Shelton returns with a class on the art, science and history behind making fermented vegetables, such as sauerkraut. Sampling of different veggie ferments is part of the hands-on class, and everyone will go home with a jar of fermented veggies and recipes to try later.