Workshops

2/BLACKSMITHING

The Steel Container: A Study in Form & Decoration

Wood Box by Rick Smith, 2007. Mild steel hardwood rusted surface, 12" x 12" x 12".

This class will focus on the design and form of containers in steel. Design will be a primary focus for the workshop, exploring how combining steel with other media, such as wood or concrete, creates an exciting and very complimentary final product. Functional and nonfunctional approaches will be encouraged through discussion and technical demonstrations. Simple geometric forms such as the cone, cylinder, and hemisphere will act as an underlying structure for approaches to design. Topics to be covered will include forge welding, sheet-metal forming, surface texturing, controlled rusting, limited chasing, repoussé, and simple tool making. All levels welcome.

RICK SMITH is Associate Professor in Blacksmithing/Metalsmithing at the School of Art and Design, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He also maintains his own studio in Murphysboro, Illinois. He received an MFA in Blacksmithing from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. His work has been published and exhibited nationally and internationally and is in the collections of the Decorative Arts Museum, Little Rock, Arkansas; the National Ornamental Metals Museum, Memphis, Tennessee; and Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina.

2/BOOK ARTS

Leather Seductions

Windows in Time by Bonnie Stahlecker, 2004. Red leather with vellum lacing, on-lays, blind-tooling, punched holes, text is ink jet on papyrus, 5 1/2" x 3 3/4".

This workshop will focus on leather-bound books. Leather has long since been employed as a covering for books. Using examples from history, participants will create three distinct books with leather covers. This includes a single-quire tacket binding with a limp-leather cover, a modified version of a case binding, and a 15th century-style book (techniques learned for this last book include sewing a book on raised cords, shaping the wooden boards, sewing headbands, and making a pin and strap closure). Each book will have pages personalized by a profusion of image-making techniques. Covers will be enhanced in numerous ways, including blind tooling, on-lays and embossments. By the end of the two weeks, the lure of leather will persuade you to use it for even more books. All levels welcome.

The book form has beguiled BONNIE STAHLECKER since the early 1980s. The early work involved pop-ups to push the three dimensionality of books. More recently, she has made books bound by historical methods. She is now using many of those techniques to make wall pieces derived from the book form. Bonnie Stahlecker holds a BFA degree from the University of South Dakota, Vermillion and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Recent exhibitions include a one-person show at the Indianapolis Museum of Art Library and a group show, Prints & Artist’s Books, at the Clara M. Eagle Gallery at Murray State University, Kentucky.

2/CLAY

From Slime to the Sublime

Sugarcoat by Benjamin Schulman, 2007. Powdered sugar on chocolate, 7" x 11" x 18".

This workshop will focus on both traditional and non-traditional mold-making techniques. Participants will be introduced to rubber molds and the broad range of possibilities for castings. Rubber molds can help artists overcome certain limitations of traditional plaster molds, such as undercuts. They also allow the artists to cast in a wider variety of materials, such as resin or even chocolate, and to alter an object before a plaster mold is made. These mold-making techniques provide an important tool by which artists may further their artistic vision. Participants will also engage in additional material demonstrations, including non-ceramic surfaces, and group critiques. All levels welcome.

BENJAMIN SCHULMAN currently resides in Springfield, Missouri, where he is a Professor at Drury University. He received a BFA from Pennsylvania State University and an MFA from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia. He has had solo exhibitions in Seoul, South Korea; New York, New York; and Wilmington, Delaware, as well as numerous group exhibitions. He has been an Artist-in-Residence at The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts and at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he was the recipient of the Evelyn Shapiro Foundation Fellowship. In 2002–03 he spent a year as a Visiting Professor of Art at Kyung Hee University in South Korea.

www.benjischulman.com

2/FIBERS

Pushing the Boundaries of Fiber: Create, Transform, Repurpose

Atlantic City in 1905 by Jozef Bajus, 2005. Interfacing, multiple layers of old postcards, silkscreen printing, cutting.

In this workshop, participants will push the boundaries within the natural properties of synthetic, cellulose, and protein fibers, combining them with found and repurposed materials. Students will begin by creating two- and three-dimensional sculptural and patterned forms through the use of the physical qualities of heat, moisture, pressure, and dye chemistry in shibori and other techniques. Students will learn the fundamentals of dyeing and printing protein fibers, which adapt very well to shaping. Forms can range from installation, sculpture, garments, or sculpted wall pieces. All levels welcome.

JOZEF BAJUS is Associate Professor of Design and Coordinator of the Fiber Program at Buffalo State Collage, Buffalo, New York. He holds an MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia, where he taught textile design and was Chair, Department of Textiles. Jozef Bajus’ work has been exhibited internationally; including Postcard Series, Art Dialogue Gallery, Buffalo; On Paper—New Paper Art, Craft Council Gallery, London; Chongju International Craft Biennial, Korea; the National Fiber Exhibition Strands of Fabrication, Fe Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and International Fiber Conference Convergence, Walker Gallery, Denver, Colorado. He has taught numerous workshops both nationally and internationally including Haystack, Penland, and Arrowmont.

Integration by Carol LeBaron, 2006. Wool, acid due, hand stitch, clamp resist, 52" x 56".

CAROL LEBARON is an artist, educator and curator. She has an MFA in Textiles and Art History from Rhode Island School of Design, and a Teaching Certificate from Brown University. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including University of Strathclyde, Glasgow; Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft; and the Tennessee Arts Commission Gallery and has completed several Artist's Residencies. Her work is in the Surface Design Journal, Fiberarts Magazine, and Fiberarts Design Book Seven. She received a major research grant for her work with wool from East Tennessee State University, and has curated several exhibitions. She taught at Rhode Island School of Design, several universities, Peters Valley, Arrowmont, Penland, Oregon College of Art and Craft, and currently teaches Textiles at Georgia State University and Art History at East Tennessee State University.

2/METALS

Fingerjewels

Brilliant Fingerjewel by Lola Brooks, 2006. Stainless steel, smoky quartz, champagne diamonds, 18k gold, 4.5cm x 3cm x 3cm.

Perhaps no other jewelry format has achieved such atlas-like stature as the finger ring. Laden with historical and cultural drama, it functions as a unique signifier of information, offering clues about power, desire, status, beauty, wealth, accomplishment, ownership, education, and legacy. From this vantage point, participants will start their exploration by carving, sculpting, and polishing a chunk of turquoise, then fabricating a means of attaching it to the finger. From there, students will use anything at their disposal, as well as basic enameling and various fabrication and setting techniques, to create fingerjewels, fantastical or demure, leaving no stone unturned. Basic jewelry making skills required.

LOLA BROOKS is a metalsmith who lives and works in New York City. She divides her time between teaching, making art jewelry, and what she considers her fashion jewelry. Her teaching includes University of the Arts, Philadelphia; Rhode Island School of Design; SUNY New Paltz, New York; and Penland. Her jewelry has been featured in Metalsmith, American Craft, Vogue, InStyle, and Out magazines, as well as various Lark Books publications. Collections include Samuel Dorsky Museum, New Paltz, NY and the Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin. In addition to solo exhibitions at Sienna Gallery, Lenox, Massachusetts, group shows include The Progressives, Facere Gallery, Seattle, Washington, and Process and Promise: Art Education and Community at the 92nd Street Y, New York.

2/WOOD/MIXED MEDIA

Creating Time for Hand Work

Untitled by Kenton Hall, 2006. Limestone and steel, 33" x 47" x 16".

Power tools are essential for accuracy and efficiency. Yet, hand tools often distinguish a maker or a studio-made object. Hand tools may become favorite tools if students take the time to explore and develop the qualities these simple tools offer. Each day of this workshop the power tools will be shut off for three hours while participants improve hand skills and develop textures using traditional and non-traditional tools and materials. Participants are encouraged to bring hand tools, unusual pieces of wood, and other materials/objects. Typical projects include: boxes, small cabinets and tables, and sculpture. Basic and advanced wood joinery, shaping, and finishing will be demonstrated along with mixed media fabrication. All levels welcome.

KENTON HALL is Professor of Sculpture and Furniture Design, Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He has an MFA in Furniture Design from RISD and has studied sculpture and philosophy in the US and Canada. He enjoys the challenges of a variety of materials and has exhibited functional and sculptural work in wood, bronze, iron, steel, stone, ceramic, and glass. A recipient of grants, residencies, and commissions; his record of exhibitions include: Toyamura International Sculpture Biennale 2007, Japan; Rocking Chairs, Museum of Art & Design, Louisville, Kentucky; Defining Vessels, Chico, California; and Transformation: Works in Wood, Columbus, Ohio.

www.odjects.org