Five Days

I just got back from a wonderful 5-day visit to the Penland School of Crafts. The reason for the trip was to be a visiting artist for current Fall concentration instructor, Adam Whitney. I spent two days with his class teaching chains and connections. I did a few demos and gave a presentation about chains and another one about my work. It was great to spend time in the studio. I enjoyed Adam's students and loved spending time with Adam, himself. He's a good friend and we hadn't seen each other in two and half years (!) because he was teaching in Malaysia. We had a lot of catching-up to do.

Adam demonstrating how to use the metal crimper

I also went to two different openings, one for the resident artists on Friday and the other for the Core Fellows on Saturday. Both shows were wonderful! The current residents are such a strong group and it's exciting for me to see as a former resident. They make me so proud! The Core Fellows are also making incredible work as they seem to get more sophisticated every year. The resident opening was in Asheville at the Asheville Area Arts Council Gallery and the Core Show happened in Northlight on the Penland campus. It was also my pleasure to serve the Core Fellows supper on Saturday before the opening. Core Show day is my favorite day of the Penland year and serving dinner to these lovely people feels very special. 

The rest of my time was filled with visits with friends, thoughtful discussions about art, and walks around the campus. I love every moment of my time at Penland and it always feels like coming home.

sculpture by resident artist, Tom Shields

Penland's Core Fellows

the view from the porch of the metals studio early one evening

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Pins for the Core Fellows 2011

For the third year in a row, I made pins for Penland's core fellows for their annual exhibition. This year I quizzed them about their favorite colors, patterns/textures, and numbers. Then I used this information in whole or in part to create personalized shadowbox brooches filled with things they like and that remind me of them. Each piece also features a teardrop to symbolize sentiment and how important they are to me.

I worked on the pieces all week and assembled them on Friday. Around 2pm I only had four done, and with five left, I was terribly worried that I would not finish. In fact I was sick to my stomach! Somehow I did, though, and was able to present them to the group at their celebration dinner at 6pm. 

More images on Flickr.

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pins for the core fellows

the opening for the penland core fellows' annual exhibition was this past friday. the day of the show has become quite a celebration around here. core students have a special dinner prepared for them, they are given handmade gifts, staff members and others volunteer to do their jobs, they are chauffeured around in a hilarious theme-decorated van, there's an opening reception, a roast, and a party. it is definitely one of my favorite times here and this years exhibition is truly remarkable. i was astounded when i saw it for the first time friday afternoon. during spring concentration i taught core seminar, an hour-long weekly class, and the fellows liked it so much, they asked me to come back. i am now teaching during this fall's concentration. needless to say, i have become quite fond of all of them. they are a wonderful group of incredibly talented artists. i was one of the people who made them mementos this year for the show. i made a brooch for each fellow, personalized with materials or imagery that they like and that reminds me of them. it was great fun to figure out the perfect material for each person and even more fun to see their reactions when they opened them up.

pin for rosie with layers of waxed paper cut with scallop scissors

here's a list of the current core students with links, if available:

ele annand
daniel beck
jason bige burnett
leah frost
jessica heikes
ian henderson
rosina saqib
amanda thatch
mark warren

the show runs through november 14 at the penland gallery. it's a beautiful show and a must-see of you live nearby or find yourself in the area.

more images of the pins on flickr.

thanks for reading.