Penland School of Craft Announces Spring 2021 On Ground Concentration Classes
2021 Spring Concentrations March 7 - April 30 (Scholarships available) are back! Penland School of Craft is proud to announce their return and line-up for workshops this Spring.
”We've been waiting for this day for months now, friends—the day we can invite you back to campus for workshops!” Penland School of Craft
Penland School of Craft is thrilled to have a lineup of six accomplished instructors ready to teach, share and learn with you for eight weeks this spring:
Brien Beidler - Finishing Touches: Materials, Tools, and Methods
The “charming but completely unpretentious*” books made in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries have a unique way of harmonizing skilled craft, quirky aesthetics, and evidence of the hands that made them. With these leather bindings as our inspiration, we’ll explore the process and material details that make them so appealing while leaving room to add our own context to their structure and design. We’ll cover a range of techniques, including sewing on a frame, lacing in boards, sewing endbands, working with leather, and gold tooling with egg glair and gold leaf. We’ll place a special emphasis on finishing (applying decoration to the covered book) and making finishing tools. All levels. Code S00B
*From a description of historic bindings in Hannah French’s Bookbinding in Early America.
Studio artist; teaching: Escuela de Artes y Oficios Santo Domingo (Colombia), Penland, North Bennet Street School (MA), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Alabama, University of Utah.
Matt Repsher - Finding Form and Surface
This workshop will focus on developing form and surface in pots using history, environment, and personal experiences to help students develop a unique voice in clay. I’ll share the techniques I use to create elaborately patterned vessels, including wheelthrowing, handbuilding, carving, and color slip inlay. Working mostly in mid-range stoneware fired in electric kilns, students will push the boundaries of ceramic materials by experimenting with multi-layered surface treatments using colored slips, underglazes, and glazes. Projects, exercises, and conversations will stimulate exploration and growth. All levels. Code S00CA
Studio artist; teaching: Indiana University, University of New Mexico, Penland, Pocosin Arts (NC), Arrowmont (TN), Santa Fe Clay (NM); residencies: Pocosin Arts, Penland resident artist program; collections: Boise Art Museum (ID), San Angelo Museum (TX).
Kit Paulson - The Explorer’s Notebook: Borosilicate Fieldnotes
A notebook is a license to explore the world. In this class, we’ll explore and catalog ideas, methods, and structures in flameworked borosilicate glass. The workshop will have a strong emphasis on daily hand-skill practice, which we’ll temper with drawing, reading, demonstrations, and slide shows. Students will learn techniques in solid structural flameworking and also build a strong foundation for making hollow, blown forms. All levels. Code S00GB
Studio artist; teaching: Pilchuck (WA), Bildwerk Frauenau (Germany), National College of Art and Design (Dublin), Pittsburgh Glass Center, Urban Glass (NYC); residencies: Rosenberg Residency at Salem State University (MA), Tacoma Museum of Glass (WA), S12 (Norway), Penland Resident Artist Program; collections: Tacoma Museum of Glass, KODE (Norway), Renwick Gallery (DC).
Thomas Campbell - Fabrication Fundamentals
This workshop will focus on the fundamentals of steel fabrication with an emphasis on both functional and sculptural design. We’ll begin with weekly exercises and assignments that emphasize proper fabrication technique, design, critical thinking, and problem solving. We’ll build on these exercises to establish a skill set that will support personal exploration. Daily demonstrations will include, but not be limited to, technical drawing and layout, basic sheet-forming, MIG and TIG welding, grinding and sanding, finish work, and patination. We’ll also cover shop safety and efficient work practices. Students will leave with newly acquired skills and a thorough understanding of steel fabrication. All levels. Code S00I
Note: this workshop will not cover forging.
Studio artist; teaching: Haystack (ME), Penland; Haystack Open Studio Residency; exhibitions: Signature Gallery (Atlanta), Blue Spiral 1 (NC), Metal Museum (Memphis), Mint Museum (Charlotte); collections: University of Arkansas at Little Rock; gallery representation: Blue Spiral 1; former Penland core fellow.
David Clemons - Wear a Great Story
Once upon a time… Whether in drama, mystery, social commentary, or personal history, stories link us to our past, teach us lessons, memorialize events and people, and look to project the future. In this workshop, guided technical and conceptual exercises will help students develop and hone their use of materials, form, iconography, and symbols to convey narratives through wearable pieces and small sculpture. Technical information will include surface embellishment, cold connections, soldering, hydraulic forming, casting, basic stonesetting, enameling, and integrating alternative materials. Bring your curiosity and willingness to explore a variety of subjects as we execute numerous pieces and live a great story during our eight weeks together. Some metalworking experience will be helpful, but this workshop is open to all levels. Code S00MA
Studio artist; teaching: University of Arkansas, Penland, Haystack (ME), Pocosin Arts (NC), Arrowmont (TN); Oregon College of Art and Craft residency; exhibitions: Crafting Futures (NC), Wear (NC), Wearable Pewter (IL and Istanbul), Appetites and Objects (MD); collections: Yale University Art Gallery (CT), Metal Museum (Memphis), Arkansas Art Center.
Annie Evelyn - Furniture Sampler
This furniture workshop will include a little bit of everything! Starting with a two-week chair project, we’ll cover machine- and hand-tool usage and the basics of joinery and design. We’ll spend one week on upholstery techniques and make a fully webbed, sprung, padded, and upholstered ottoman. Next, we’ll learn simple digital drawing using Rhino and cut shapes with the CNC machine. Then we’ll use that knowledge to make forms for bent lamination and steam bending. During the last three weeks, students will work on self-directed projects. Throughout, we’ll have fun and organize some campus events to bring people together (safely) to celebrate art. All levels. Code S00W
Studio artist; teaching: California College of the Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, Parsons The New School of Design (NYC); exhibitions: Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), Center for Art in Wood (Philadelphia), Houston Center for Contemporary Craft; publications: Impossible Design by Agata Toromanoff, The Independent Design Guide: Innovative Products from the New Generation by Laura Houseley, American Craft.
Registration is open now on a first-come, first-served basis. Scholarship applications are available through Slideroom and are due December 15, 2020.
Finally, as excited as Penland School of Craft is to open these spring workshops, they can't ignore the fact that we are still in the midst of a pandemic. They have learned a lot since the first cancelled sessions back in March, and they have made sweeping updates to campus to help us operate safely this spring.
Many aspects of 2021 Penland workshops will be altered accordingly. Before you apply, please read their COVID-19 Safety Guidelines so you will know what to expect and what will be expected of you.
FASHIONADO