TUTTIE'S TEACHING PHILOSOPHY is to guide the student to recognize and bring out the spirit of the wood. She believes that once an individual learns the processes and techniques, they may go anywhere the wood takes them. Her motto is "design always takes precedence over detail". Students learn to develop a rough piece of found wood into a lovely, smooth, and shapely sculpture, with proper cleaning, sanding, shaping, and polishing. Attention is paid to the final stage of the process, which is the selection and incorporation of the proper base to complete the sculpture.