AN art teacher is using her skills online to keep families creative during the coronavirus lockdown.
Teresa Keeling has already racked up more than 200 followers on her Facebook page where she teaches children, young people and adults alike how to draw, paint and create crafts.
Ms Keeling is currently in isolation herself, away from her work as a teacher at The Woodlands, in Ferryhill, where she helps children with particular challenges.
She said: “I am still working and I feel the best way to work is to teach the community. I can still teach – it doesn’t matter who I teach.”
The teacher also leaves special projects outside her home, in Thorngate, Barnard Castle, for people to take home and decorate.
Currently people can pick a salt dough Easter egg from the creative tree outside her home to take home and decorate, and in the past she has put out ladybirds and grateful hearts to show support for the NHS. Her Facebook page, called The House of Arts and Crafts, gives step-by-step instructions in how to complete different projects, ranging from a recipe on how to make salt dough through to how to draw and paint an Easter bunny.
It is also interactive with a number of her students showing off their work on the page.
She also urges people to message her on Facebook if they get stuck or want to try something new.
She has thanked Kirklands Nursery for providing supplies, as well as Peats butchers for providing the flour for the dough.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
