FAQs or Frequently Asked Questions

At the moment, I conduct interactive lessons on the Zoom platform and also offer on-line courses recorded in a special format of video lessons (not Zoom recordings) as well as on-line workshops on our website.

ZOOM-LESSONS

Zoom lessons are held in an interactive format and mostly planned in blocks of 10 lessons (for a school term in Australia). You can get access to these courses on a regular basis (by paying for the whole course) or choose a sporadic attendance. I also organise occasional workshops (for example, on school holidays) which are also conducted through Zoom but linked to the concrete date in the calendar. Such standalone events are published here.

We meet at the certain time online using a Zoom platform.
A few words about the platform, if you are not familiar with it.
All that you need is installing Zoom Client for Meetings (for Windows) or Zoom Mobile Apps (for mobile devices) using the below link:
https://zoom.us/download
There is an opportunity to join a session just using a link, without installing a program, but you would have limited functionality and possible problems with the connection in this case.

Zoom platform allows to conduct lessons in an interactive manner. All group members are gathering at the certain time for the lesson, we discuss a topic of the lesson, watch a presentation (if it is required), check that all required art materials are accessible, and start a creative work.
Children see very well all my actions, their order, and receive a comprehensive explanation (camera translates a view from above the canvas in an excellent quality as well as myself from the front view).
We use professional cameras and light, therefore lessons can be easily output on the big screen.
I provide my feedback to the students during the lesson at the important stages of work and we do a common showcase of our art works in the end of lessons.
For those who can’t attend a lesson on different reasons, there is an opportunity to attend it on other day on the same week, with a parallel group (if such a group exists).

ONLINE COURSES AND ONLINE WORKSHOPS

If you prefer recorded lessons, I also offer recorded (and processed for more convenient perception) online courses and online workshops.

These lessons have a lower price (although require much more efforts on their creation), they don’t offer interactivity. One of the pluses of this type of lessons is flexibility as you can run them at any time convenient to you as well as quality of the recording and a special processing of videos what attracts children’s attention.

The course catalog will be constantly extended. Please, use a menu item “Courses” to navigate through.

In short, I have a classical Russian education:
7 years of Art School + 6 years of study at the university in the specialty “Graphic Designer” with all compulsory art disciplines.

I can also add one year of preparatory courses for admission to the University, which was perhaps the most productive in terms of acquiring new knowledge and skills.

I worked as an artist-designer and illustrator in various large companies in St. Petersburg for a long time, also worked as self-employed.

After my move to Australia, I founded my art studio called Fairy Bird Art Studio.

I have been teaching children of all ages and adults since 2014 in Brisbane and Sydney.

At the moment, teaching is my main activity.

You can find more details about me using links below:
https://fairybird.com.au/about-ksenia-khamkova/

I teach in both formats, but, of course, I consider the knowledge in the system to be the most effective. The main format of my online classes: thematic courses in the system, tied to school terms (each course usually consists of 10 lessons).

Within one course on a particular topic, I give children a variety of styles, techniques and materials to try. Everything together develops in the child’s head into a single system.

At the same time, it is also possible to join one-time, in the format of a master class, but it will still be less effective than taking the entire course. The master class format is a separate format. I also do classes like this. These can be master classes on vacation or online. It does not require any experience or specific knowledge. From scratch, we step by step create the finished work. Everyone will succeed!

Yes, you can.

For Zoom lessons, you can always try the first or several lessons by selecting “Add to Cart (Occasional Attendance)” on the course page before registering for the entire course (from the new school term).

You can also visit individual workshops, which are announced on the events page. The link can be bookmarked. Events there will be constantly updated. Having chosen a master class held on a day that suits you, click “Join Now” and all the details will be written on the master class page, including a list of materials, how to register for the event and pay (if paid).

For pre-recorded video lessons, you can try one of the online workshops offered before jumping into full online courses.

Yes, it is possible!

You can take standalone Zoom lessons and on-line workshops.

Also, you can sporadically join the lessons on the Zoom-course, although an attendance of the entire course would give more comprehensive understanding of the topic learnt. You can click on “Add to Cart (Occasional Attendance)” button in the end of the course description.

Please, pay attention that places in Zoom group are limited and there can be no opportunity for the occasional attendance. In this case, a button “Add to Cart (Occasional Attendance)” will be inaccessible. Therefore, it is always better to book a place on a course by paying in full, especially taking in view that it is 30% cheaper.

My general recommendations for choosing a group are as follows: from 5 years old – the younger group, from 8 years old – the older group, from 10 years old – teenagers and adults.
It needs to be realised that recommendations are just recommendations. Everything is very individual and depends on the child.

For older children (from about 7 years old) the answer is yes! You can enroll in the junior and senior group for Zoom lessons at the same time, choosing a convenient time in each group (lessons are held more than once a week, that is, you can choose the time).
You won’t be bored in the group for beginners. The tasks there are a little bit simpler, the lessons are a little bit shorter but they are no less interesting for older children.

The schedule for Zoom courses may change from time to time, depending on the preferences of the majority of participants.

For the course held from January 26 to April 1, 2023,

Time of lessons:

– Every Thursday, 17:00 – 18:30 Queensland time (UTC/GMT+10) (in Sydney and Melbourne +1 hour)

– Every Saturday, 17:00 – 18:30 Queensland time (UTC/GMT+10) (in Sydney and Melbourne +1 hour)

It is enough to join the lesson either on Thursday or Saturday, as this is the same lesson – whatever is more convenient to you.

If you do not live in Australia, you can find the correspondent start times for your lessons here:
https://everytimezone.com/
Alternatively, you can use this site to convert the time to your clock:
http://www.gmt.su/time-calculator/

The cost is quite affordable.

For Zoom classes: $30 occasional attendance and $23 regular attendance (prepaid place on the course).

The cost of an on-line workshop (video lesson) is about $10 with access for 3 months and $15 with access for 6 months.

The cost of an on-line course (10 video lessons) is about $100 with access for 3 months and there are options with periodic payments: $25 per month for 6 months (payment monthly, cancel subscription at any time) and $50 per quarter for 12 months (payment quarterly, cancel subscription at any time).

Variants with monthly and quarterly payments are convenient if you want to purchase multiple courses and stop the subscription once a course is finished or abandoned – as it implies a payment for only the first month/quarter done at the time of purchase. It is possible to cancel subscriptions for each course individually, even if they were purchased at once (through one cart). Monthly/quarterly payments will continue being automatically withdrawn from your card till the end of subscription unless a subscription is cancelled.

A variant with the upfront payment is optimal for the cases when you are sure you will complete the course in the given time – as it provides the best price for the entire subscription. A full sum is paid at the time of purchase and no further payments will be made from your card in this case.

You can use a longer subscription period to combine your subscription with other products and to give your child a choice to select the order in which the specific courses and workshops are completed.

You will be able to select a “Subscription variant” on the product page after adding a course to the cart (on the course page), or by going to the product page directly through the product catalogue.

Remember that you can always make up the missed Zoom lesson on another day in the same week, if there is a neighboring group of your age (see schedule).

Lessons in the junior and senior groups are the same in terms of topics and tasks within one week.

Another option is to do the lesson using a record made from the session (please, contact me).

Discounts are possible through the use of coupons, but they will be timed to coincide with important events and usually sent out in the newsletter (do not rush to unsubscribe :)).

Also, from 2023, all Zoom courses and individual Zoom workshops are delivered in a family format.

What does it mean?

While you are paying for one child in the family, all family members who are suitable for age and interested in this program can join, including from different devices.

Invite everyone to draw with you: brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, grandfathers, grandmothers, and pets!

I created these lessons primarily for bilingual children who speak or are trying to learn 2 or more languages.
If a child at least understands Russian, then, in my experience, it will be quite enough to understand what is happening in the lesson.
Considering this, I explain everything in the most simple terms and very clearly.

In addition to that, this is a great incentive for children to develop Russian, even if it is not their native language. In my experience, the sole desire and efforts of the parents are not enough, a very significant factor for the development of the language is the INTEREST OF THE CHILD.

If he or she sees that some important and interesting knowledge for him/her is given in a language that is difficult for him/her, then the difficult language becomes only a small and completely surmountable obstacle on the way to new knowledge (provided that the child has a sincere interest in fine arts).

Another important factor: COMMUNICATION WITH PEERS,
and seeing that other children, like yours, actively use this language – in this case, the language ceases to be “dead” and uninteresting, with the coming understanding that this is a living language that can be actively used!

Do not be afraid of difficulties, this is a unique opportunity to take double advantage of the lesson: for your child it will be both fine arts lessons and a Russian language lesson at the same time. Double benefit!

Yes, at the moment.

– Organise a comfortable workplace so that there is enough space on the table, it is not very scary to get it dirty (for this, the table can be covered with oilcloth, for example).

– Check that all materials for the lesson are prepared in advance (there is a list of materials in the description of each lesson / workshop on the site).

– The quality of materials is very important (I send parents a list of recommended types of materials and certain brands that have proven themselves well in the lessons at Fairy Bird studio.)
It greatly impacts on how quickly the child will cope, how much pleasure he/she will receive from the process, and how bright and effective the work will be in the end. Good materials are extremely important!

– When following the link to the Zoom session, do not forget to enter the real name of the child (for better communication) – Show your child how to turn on / off the camera and sound (icons with a crossed-out camera and microphone in the Zoom window).

– Check that the device from which the lesson is broadcast (computer, tablet, laptop, wide screen TV) is controlled fairly easily by the child himself.

– Organize high-quality communication. Use, if possible, a device with the largest possible screen and the best possible camera on it (with which I can see the child) for high-quality feedback.
The picture I often broadcast can be displayed on a big screen – if you have such an opportunity, then use it by all means.

– Create good lighting for the child’s workplace so that he/she sits in front of the light. It is very difficult to give feedback when I can only see the silhouette of a child (if the light comes from the student’s back), or when using a camera with a very low resolution.

– If I recommend that you familiarise yourself with some theoretical material before the lesson (listen / read / view a fairy tale or theoretical information on the topic of the lesson) – do it in advance, and the child will learn much more from the lesson than without such preparation.

– Send me photos of finished work for feedback – I can comment on children’s work, give some advice and leave words of support if necessary.

This is absolutely normal, especially for teenagers. You can join without a camera, but then send photos of finished work so that I can see the progress, and the child gets feedback.

The site is fully bilingual. This means that the entire interface of the site, all courses and all products are presented in both Russian and English. You can use either of these two languages ​​to browse the site, select a course, and purchase it. The language can be switched at the very top or at the very bottom of any page. However, please note the language in which the course is taken (on the course page). At the moment, all published lessons are taught only in Russian. Regardless of the language of the site you used when purchasing, the course will be available to you in your profile and the menu item “My Courses.”

There are only two peculiarities that are worth mentioning.

If you ordered part of the course subscriptions in the Russian interface, and part of the subscriptions in the English interface, then to manage these subscriptions on the Subscriptions page, you will need to select the appropriate interface language, since then all subscriptions will be divided into two lists (according to the subscription language). The same is applicable in relation to the list of available courses in your profile.

The second peculiarity is that all subscription correspondence (transactional letters about the order, activation of the subscription, payments, cancellation and expiration of the subscription) will come to you in the language in which the subscription was ordered. The exception is the official payment receipt (from Stripe or PayPal), which will always be in English.

I hope having a bilingual website will be helpful, especially if there are more than one language spoken in your family. Unlike courses, posts are initially published in Russian and it takes some time to translate them into English. Therefore, if you don’t see any post about the latest news in the English interface, please switch to the Russian one.