January 29, 2015

Penland School of Crafts Welcomes Australian Artists

This June, Penland School of Crafts will turn Australian for two weeks when seventeen artists and educators from Australian National University’s School of Art in Canberra take over the fifteen studios–all during the same summer session, June 7-19, 2015.

Jemima Parker, Undefined (wearable) object
Richard Whiteley, head of the glass at Australian National University, and Ashley Jameson Eriksmoen, ANU’s head of furniture, developed the all-Aussie session with Penland programs director Leslie Noell. Both schools share an innovative, practice-centered philosophy, and the session presents an unprecedented chance for makers to study with ANU faculty in the U.S.

Students who attend the session will work with Australian artist-educators at the height of their craft. These artists include Richard Whiteley, gold- and silversmith Simon Cottrell, textile and installation artist Jemima Parker, book and multimedia artist Nicci Haynes, and the artists listed in the teaching studios below.

“There is always an easy, open conversation between studios at Penland, with students and instructors siting this creative exchange across media is one of the things that, in addition to the daily focused classroom experience, makes their time at Penland even more rich.  Said Leslie Noell. “Now imagine what this conversation will be like with seventeen vibrant instructors who have all known and worked together for years. (Not to mention the accents!) I expect the entire campus to crackle.”

Ashley Eriksmoen, who ​previously ​taught at Penland​ ​and will teach woodworking during the 2015 session, sees a progressive synergy between ANU’s ​hands-on ​approach to​ teaching​ craft in the academy and Penland’s intensive workshop context. “[ANU’s] ​undergraduate and graduate programs​ are centered on thinking through a material,” said Eriksmoen. “Our workshop discipline​​s​ involve art, craft, and design–and​ are closely aligned with those at Penland. We offer a high-caliber program Down Under. At Penland, we’ll offer it to students who wouldn’t otherwise make the antipodal journey.”

Among the Australia-based artist/educators who will be teaching during the session are:

Simon Cottrell’s jewellery and objects have been extensively published and exhibited worldwide since 1996. He is currently a researcher and professor in the Gold and Silversmithing Workshop, School of Art, at ANU. Metalsmith magazine published an 8-page feature article on his work and practice. 

Nicci Haynes stretches the definition of book arts to include prints, costumes and performance, video, projection, and spoken word collaboration. Her work explores the idea of the inner world being described physically. Nicci teaches in the Print Media and Drawing discipline at ANU. Nicci’s work was included in the 2014 exhibition Behind the Personal Library: Collectors Creating the Canon at the Center for Book Arts, NYC. 

Jemima Parker is a Canberra-based artist and screenprinter using traditional textile materials and methods, along with drawing and printmaking processes to create work that moves between disciplines and blurs boundaries of creative practice. She teaches textiles at ANU. 

Richard Whiteley is a glass artist renowned for his restrained yet monumental cast glass sculpture. Employing mass, negative space, transparency and translucency, Richard’s work and teaching career have helped shape the current state of contemporary glass. After several years of teaching and studio-based work, he is back in Canberra as Head of the Glass Workshop at the School of Art at ANU. He also maintains his own practice from his studio in Queanbeyan.

January 28, 2015

John C Campbell Folk School Offers Locals Discount Tuition

The John C Campbell Folk School considers local residents a special part of the Folk School community. Visit the  studios, stroll the gardens and nature trails, or experience a concert or Community Dance. Share the excitement of special events such as the twice-yearly Auctions or Annual Fall Festival. As a full-time local resident, you always receive 50% off tuition rates on a stand-by basis. 

Full-time local residents are eligible to enjoy a 50% discount for any regularly priced class, on a space-available basis. To be considered a local student, you must be a full-time, permanent resident of one of these counties:
North Carolina: Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon, or Swain
Georgia: Fannin, Towns, or Union
Tennessee: Polk

Choose from Over 48 Subjects. Students of all levels will enjoy exploring varied craft genres. You'll also savor the cooking, music, dance, and Appalachian culture classes. Browse classes by subject, date or instructor on the  John C Campbell Folk School website. 

January 26, 2015

LAST WEEK for Heartwood Gallery's 30th Anniversary Sale

Hurry over to Heartwood Gallery, 21 East Main Street in historic downtown Saluda NC, to take advantage of their 30th anniversary sale continuing now through January 31, 2015. 




January 20, 2015

John C Campbell Folk School 2015 Catalog Now Available

The new 2015 Folk School Catalog is here. Start making your class wish list, and register online. Choose from over 800 weeklong and weekend classes in 47 disciplines. 

Pick up your Catalog in the Keith House Lobby now. Request a printed Catalogand it will be sent directly to your mailbox. 
 

Perfect for iPads, iPhones, and computers, the Folk School Catalog is now available as a Catalog eBook online.

 Request a printed Catalogand we'll send it directly to your mailbox.  

January 17, 2015

Featured Artist: April Franklin

submitted by Penland Sketchbook

April Franklin is back at Penland School of Crafts this winter, and for the first time, her job is simply to make what she likes. A former core fellow, April has previously appeared at Penland as a work-study student, a studio assistant, and an instructor. For the past week, she’s been a winter resident in the iron studio, making (among other things) two Damascus rings:

The rings, we’re happy to note, are for April’s marriage next fall to ceramic artist and frequent Penland instructor Kathy King. The couple makes their home in Watertown, Massachusetts, with April visiting Providence to forge and teach at the Steel Yard, while Kathy teaches at “that school in Cambridge.” April and Kathy met during Penland’s spring concentration in 2012. During the concentration, Kathy (instructor in the clay studio) broke her hand and underwent surgery. All is well now, and the accident “slowed Kathy down for me,” said April, half-joking. 

 During our visit to the studio, April helped current core fellow Meghan Martin with some strategy for a buckle. She also took some time to give a knife-sharpening demonstration this week. April had a dose of dry wit for fellow blacksmiths who specialize, as she does, in knife-making. “Do not tell anyone that you know how to sharpen knives. People will show up with a bag of them.” 

We’ll have more posts here about our winter residents in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can keep up with the flurry of studio activity on our Instagram account.

January 16, 2015

"Retirement" Sale Continues at Gallery Minerva

With the end of the gallery's days looming, there are still exceptional deals available.  Here are a few: Michael Alfano's iconic(and giant) "Foot" is now just $300.  Or Shu Wu Lin 's beautiful oil paintings for , well, check it out... There's also a Michelle Miller figurative and a little Sedgwick triptych, too.

Get a Pablo Dent sculpture, a Michelle Miller, Shawn Krueger, Kate Lackman or Nathaniel Galka painting, before they are returned to the artists. There are still several Anne Bachelier signed Gallery Minerva Show posters for $50 each and a copy of her "Le Livre" book for $100.

Cheryl Gross "Z Factor" t-shirts and books are $20 each As for the gallery stuff: If anyone is interested in the Gallery Minerva exterior sign, or the steel "ART" street sign, just contact the gallery. There is also have the white bar and barstools that were used as a desk. Just make an offer an any of these.

Until it closes, Gallery Minerva and Gallery Asheville is located at 8 Biltmore Avenue in downtown Asheville NC. 828-699-2787 

January 15, 2015

Matthew Branyan's Exhibition at HandMade in America

Now through February 27 HandMade in America is featuring the works of woodworker, Matthew Branyan. Matthew has loved working with wood since childhood. However, it wasn't until later when he and his wife Laura began building their own homes that he actually began crafting furniture and other functional works.

"Each piece is a product of my hands from log selection to final finish. Lines are simple, graceful, and complementary of the natural beauty inside each tree. A beauty matured over many decades and deserving of the indefinite preservation that a craftsman's hand can provide." - Matthew Branyan.

Artist's Reception:  February 11, 2014 from 5:30-7 PM at the Beverly-Hanks & Associates Discovery Center, 1 Town Square Boulevard in Asheville NC.

January 14, 2015

Upcoming Events at the Asheville Art Museum

January 15, 10:00 - 11:00 AM - Yoga in the Galleries.   Start the year off right. The Museum offers yoga classes in the galleries the first and third Thursday of each month. A certified instructor will lead participants in relaxation yoga, inspired by the surrounding art. Bring your own mat, yoga props (if you have them) and wear comfortable clothing.

January 16, 12:00 - 1:00 PM - Lunchtime Art Break. What You See Is What You See: American Abstraction After 1950 with Frank Thomson, Curator. The Museum presents Lunchtime Art Breaks, a series of gallery talks and presentations designed to inform and engage you in dialogue with members of our curatorial and education departments, docents and special guests.  Free with membership or Museum admission


January 18, 2015, 1:00 - 5:00 PM - the last day to view Mary Frank: Finding My Way Home. Come see this evocative exhibition before it closes.

January 20, 10:30 AM - Tot Time. Held at ArtPLAYce for Children. Free with membership or Museum admission (children under 5 always admitted free). Parents and caregivers with pre-school age children are invited to bring their youngsters to the Museum's interactive Art PLAYce for Children to this monthly series called "Tot Time," featuring a new guided art activity designed especially for tiny tots each month. Participating children must be accompanied by an adult.

The Asheville Art Museum is located at 2 South Pack Square in Asheville NC.


January 13, 2015

Open Call for Fine Artists and Mountain Crafters 18th Annual Greening Up the Mountains Festival

Greening Up the Mountains Festival, which brought between 10,000 to 12,000 people to the mountain town of Sylva NC last year, is now inviting fine artists, mountain crafters and food vendors to apply for a booth in it’s18th year as the premiere spring festival for Western North Carolina. 

On April 25, 2015 from 10 AM to 5 PM the festival, sponsored by the Town of Sylva, will once again take place in downtown Sylva. The event includes demonstrating visual artists and traditional crafters supported  by a mountain community which honors its artisans and natural environment. 

Daylong events will be held on Main Street and in the Bridge Park, beginning with a 5K race sponsored by the Jackson County Recreation/Parks Department. Children’s activities, demonstrations, a youth talent contest and live performances by a wide variety of Jackson County musicians will be featured throughout the day. 

An application may be downloaded from the website, www.greeningupthemountains.com, and will be accepted through April 15, 2015. For more information, call 828.631.4587.