Summer Faculty Show

The Appalachian Center for Craft is featuring the Visiting Workshop Faculty Exhibition until August 4 in Gallery One.  All the craft media are represented by emerging and professional artists.  I have the bowl above in the show as I will be teaching Handbuilt Vessels in July. Check out the Craft Center website http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/PDF/Craft_Center_Workshop_Catalog09.pdf for more information on the workshop offerings.

Weekend Workshop

A couple of weekends ago at the Craft Center, I taught a hand building workshop on making plates and platters. I had four students who were great! We had a fun time in the studio making crazy plate and platter forms, although we did not neglect the traditional forms. We discussed form in relation to function and a variety of surfacing techniques. Some of the participants were really into texture and form, while others were more interested in using slips and sgraffito. The pictures are from show and tell at lunch on Sunday, and of the students being creative. Other workshops were going at the same time in metals, blacksmithing, fibers, and wood. The Appalachian Center for craft has many of its summer and fall evening workshops still open. Call the office at 615.597.6801 to register or for a catalog and information about workshops go online at http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/wkshops.html.

ACC Resident Exhibition

From now until early June, my new work and that of my fellow Resident Artists will be on view in Gallery I at the Appalachian Center for Craft.  I displayed my Beauty Slugs #1-3 as seen above. Jessica Jones, fibers, hung beautiful tapestries that invite the viewer to get lost in all the layers and lines.  Sung Yeoul Lee, metals, presented the viewer with broaches as jewelry/sculpture. Trey Gossett, wood, included wall pieces and sculpture. Andrew Najarian, glass, recreated candy, such as a lollipop ring, and displayed it next to the original.  Exhibitions resident, Sarah McClary, installed her metal smokestack trees.  Hopefully, I'll get more pictures of the show up soon.

NCECA 2009

This past week in Phoenix, AZ, the 43 Annual Conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) was held. In conjunction with the conference, many of the galleries, museums, and universities in Phoenix and the surrounding towns hosted ceramic exhibitions. I was there as a representative of the Appalachian Center for Craft. Vince Pitelka, head of ceramics, and I sat at the table in the Exhibitor's Hall passing out pamphlets and workshop catalogs, seeing old friends, and making new ones. I did manage to sit in on a few panel discussions on installation art and promoting your work on Friday afternoon. In the evenings, I was able to see a few exhibits, have dinner with friends, and walk around downtown Phoenix. For more information on this, past, and future NCECAs visit www.nceca.net.

Dogwood Arts Festival Gala and Awards Ceremony

Thursday evening Meredith Lewis and I attended the Dogwood Arts Festival Gala and Awards Ceremony for the Regional Juried Fine Arts Exhibition in Knoxville, TN.  She and I both had two pieces juried into the Dogwood Arts Festival Regional Fine Arts Exhibit. We had a fine time at the Gala partaking of the yummy hors d'oeuvres, gourmet chocolates, wine, and dancing.  In addition to the party, the Dogwood Arts Festival along with ORNL gave out five awards.  First place went to "Quote",  www.quotemusic.net a collaborative effort of music and visual art, second to Crystal Wagner, www.crystalwagner.com, a printmaker/sculptor, third to me, and two honorable mentions.  The photos above are of the first through third award winners with juror, dancing after the awards, and finally my two pieces in the exhibit.

Celebration 2009

Today was the 11th Annual Appalachian Center for Craft Celebration.  We had food, music, demonstrations in all the studios, and an area for kids crafts.  I worked the Build a Bowl booth with students from the Craft Center and volunteers from the high school in Monterey, TN. They were a huge help wrangling all the kids that came to make bowls.  All the bowls, approximately 300, will be donated to the Cookin' on the Square event in October to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.  

Art Comes to School

For the last month, Rob Harvey, a potter from Dowelltown, TN, and I have been participating in the Art Comes to Schools program which is a joint effort between the Appalachian Center for Craft, the Tennessee Arts Commission, and three area schools. The purpose of this program is to bring professional artists working in fibers, clay, and metals to rural schools and have students participate in hands on projects that culminate in an exhibition of their works. Rob and I taught the clay portion to fifth graders, middle schoolers, and high schoolers. We visited each school twice. On the first visit we had them create masks using slabs, newspaper, and most of all their imaginations. The second visit involved finishing the bisque masks with paint, feathers, beads, and other embellishments. In addition to the hands on approach, we taught them a little about the history and use of masks. I think some of the students, surprised themselves with their creativity. All in all, it was very rewarding working with the students and teachers. The pictures above are from our visit to Gordonsville, TN. They are in order from top to bottom: Rob working with several students, the bisque masks, students finishing the surfaces with art teacher Jenny Ford, and finally, a few of the end products.