The long-distance mentor dynamic

My teacher, Charles, lives in Juneau, Alaska. You may wonder, "How does that work?" It is not ideal. However, it works surprisingly well due to the wonders of the internet. I email him questions and images of my progress and he makes comments and suggestions. I snail mail color photocopies as I get closer to the finished work. However, his plate is full, on top of being an iconographer, a father, and a newly ordained deacon, he has a full-time job with the diocese which requires a lot of travel. (In fact, he is in San Jose right now)

Charles does not own a cell phone and _is_ an artist. I usually don't get responses right away- at all. I suspect this will be less hampering when I have more experience, but as a beginner, I am at more of a disadvantage. Charles' teacher is in France. He is an elderly priest and their correspondence happens by snail mail only. I guess I have nothing to complain about. Then again, Charles is a master- I suspect he doesn't need to be hand-held as much as I do (my keen intuition at work). It is good for my enneagram eight personality that would like to CONTROL the situation. God has a good sense of humor.

I am a little stuck at the moment, because I need some help with the recipe for the foundation of the halo. I decided to use clay bole as a foundation which is different from the foundation for the Baptism icon. I used it for my previous icons, but it was a long time ago, Charles was with me and I didn't take good notes. I sort of want to just DO IT. But, I have visions of a big cracked halo on Mary and Jesus. I hope to resolve this shortly and have another visual post. Thanks for reading,

Sharon