Summer Workshops

5/CLAY

Pottery Still Life by Christa Assad, 2008. Stoneware, up to 7” in height.

Form Forum

This workshop will help participants develop their sense of form and their understanding of what makes “strong” forms, be they loose or tight pots. Profile, proportion, volume, and good craft—elements that contribute to successful pots—will be emphasized. Using the wheel as a springboard for idea and process, we will then experiment with altering the round form, hand-building, and other methods of construction. Demonstrations will include throwing component parts, cutting, and reassembling forms off the original axis, stacking and nesting pieces, and glazing. Stoneware clays, for their “tooth” and workability, will be used and fired to cone 6 in oxidation for color. Geometry, structure, ritual, design, and earning a living from making pots will be discussed and both functional and sculptural concerns will be addressed. Basic throwing and centering skills required. All levels welcome.

CHRISTA ASSAD maintains a clay studio and ceramic design business, Fourth & Clay Studios, alongside two other potters, in Berkeley, California. She teaches and exhibits internationally. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, The Ceramic Research Center at Arizona State University Museum, and The Penn State Fulbright Scholar Collection, and is included in publications such as Shards (D.A.P./Ceramic Arts Foundation), The Art of Contemporary Pottery (Krause Publications), and 500 Teapots and 500 Pitchers (Lark Books). Christa Assad is represented by Ferrin Gallery, Massachusetts; Harvey Meadows Gallery, Colorado; and AKAR Gallery, Iowa. christaassad.com

5/FIBER

Timber (detail) by Rebecca Ringquist, 2009. Machine stitching and hand embroidery on found fabrics, 31” x 28”.

Fast Draw, Slow Stitch

With a series of fast drawing exercises to loosen up, we will explore blind contour drawings, drawings made with non-dominant hands, and drawings made with feet. Working quickly to collect gestures, a conversation will begin about time and tempo that will continue throughout the workshop. Participants will explore what happens when the same types of drawings are attempted with needle and thread. Sewing machines will take these ideas further, offering a vigorous, often violent way of making continuous lines and texture. A range of traditional embroidery stitches will be introduced, with an emphasis on developing theirown vocabulary of mark making. Transfer techniques, machine embroidery techniques, and ways of combining hand and machine embroidery will be demonstrated. No embroidery experience is required. All levels welcome.

REBECCA RINGQUIST is a Chicago based visual artist. She earned an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, in the Fiber and Material Studies department, where she is now an instructor. Rebecca Ringquist is also the Director of Textile Arts at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago. In 2005, she was awarded an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship. She teaches, lectures, and shows nationally, including exhibitions at Hyde Park Art Center; Northern Illinois University; ARC Gallery; and Fraction Workspace, all in Illinois, and at California Polytechnic State University. She is most recently represented by the Packer Schopf Gallery in Chicago. www.rebeccaringquist.com

5/GLASS

Amber/Blue Green by Sonja Blomdahl, 2005. Blown glass; incalmo technique, 6 1/2” x 12 3/4” x 12 3/4”. Photo by Lynn Thompson.

Color/Vessel/Light

This workshop will focus on the blown glass vessel. The form holds the space and contains the volume within. Shape, symmetry, and style will first be worked out in clear glass. Then color will be added. Color changes everything! Discussions and demonstrations on various color techniques, applications, and tricks will be provided. Learning and continuing to refine basic glassblowing skills will be encouraged. One year glassblowing experience required.

SONJA BLOMDAHL received a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art, after which she studied at the Orrefors Glass School in Sweden. She has taught workshops at Pilchuck, Haystack, and Pratt Fine Arts Center. Sonja Blomdahl has been an artist-in-residence at the Niijima Glass Art Center in Japan and the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. Her work is in museum collections including: the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington; Corning Museum of Glass, New York; Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; the Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, Arkansas; and the Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague, Czech Republic. In May 2007, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Alabama launched Sonja Blomdahl: Incalmo, a major survey exhibition that traveled nationally until 2009. www.sonjablomdahl.com

5/METALS

Tin Rings by Ellen Wieske, 2008. Tin, largest is approximately 3” across the top. Photo by Ellen Wieske.

Material Practice: Jewelry Making

Understanding the characteristics of any material is necessary for gaining control and successful use. Participants will investigate a range of materials—wood, leather, plastic, stone, and paper, as well different kinds of metal, from tin to silver—gathering information for the construction of jewelry. Exercises, discussions, and demonstrations will break down the individual building blocks of material and form to help build a more expanded vocabulary. Jewelry forms of all kinds will be closely examined. All levels welcome.

ELLEN WIESKE is an artist who works in many materials. Primarily a metalsmith, she received a BA from Wayne State University and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, both in Michigan. She has taught many workshops and courses including; Arrowmont; Penland; Haystack; 92nd St. Y, New York; and at the Massachusetts, Oregon, and Maine Colleges of Art. Her work has been shown at the Farcere Gallery, Seattle, Washington; Craft Alliance, St. Louis, Missouri; SOFA Chicago; Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston; Cranbrook Art Museum; Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio; Detroit Museum of Art; Wustum Museum of Arts, Wisconsin; and in Germany, New Zealand, and France. Ellen Wieske maintains Dowstudio, her studio/gallery with potter Carole Ann Fer, in Deer Isle, Maine. She has also been the Assistant Director at Haystack since 2003. www.dowstudioDEERISLE.com

5/PAPER

Only One Ocean by Amanda Degener. Welded metal, ball bearings, handmade paper, and surface treatments, 18” x 12” x 12”.

Handmade Paper and Some Artists’ Books

Participants will learn several book structures. Your ideas will motivate which structures you pursue. We will work primarily with Belgium Flax fiber. The goal is to get the elements you choose—text, images, 2D or 3D paper, and structure—all working together to make one-of-a-kind books and to make your own paper. Final paperswill have a rich variety of dark colors and a leather-like strength and feel, even some foil or mica for a little flash. Participants will also explore Asian papermaking and Japanese surface treatments like Orizome fold and dip dye and Suminagashi, a tree ring type pattern. Approaches to the artists’ book will include tunnel, explosion, flag, and accordion books, and text exercises. All levels welcome.

AMANDA DEGENER is co-founder of Hand Papermaking Magazine and, with Bridget O’Malley, is co-proprietor of Cave Paper Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has been active at Minnesota Center for Book Arts, which included being their first artist-in-residence and first Artistic Director. Amanda Degener received a BA from Bennington College, Vermont and an MFA in Sculpture from Yale University School of Art. She lectures and teaches internationally in venues including Sweden, Italy, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Australia, and China. www.Cavepaper.com

5/WOOD/MIXED MEDIA

Glo Bo by David Fobes, 2009. Cast concrete, aluminum, paper mache’, lamp parts, 9” diameter, varying height to 65”.

Domesticrete

The main focus for this workshop will be casting and forming unique concrete objects for a variety of creative, domestic scale projects including table tops, small counters, and lamp bases. Participants will produce a range of samples and explore design options for their own project. Wood structures in relation to concrete design will also be explored. Form making, mix recipes, attachment methods, finishing procedures, and special design effects will be covered. Emphasis will be on materials and methods that require no specialized tools, and on projects that can be accomplished in the garage or home studio. Previous hand and power tool experience helpful. All levels welcome.

DAVID FOBES is an artist, studio furniture maker, master builder, and educator. He has been making a variety of 2D and 3D work for twenty-five years and has exhibited at the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; the Turning Center, Philadelphia; Oceanside Museum of Art, California; Huntsville Museum of Art, Alabama; Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston; Peter Joseph Gallery, New York; and the Memphis College of Art and Design, Tennessee. David Fobes has taught previously at Haystack and Penland and is currently a lecturer in studio foundations at San Diego State University. www.misterfobes.com

5/VISITING WRITER

BILL HARRIS is a playwright, poet, critic, and Professor of English at Wayne State University, Michigan. His published plays include: Riffs; Coda; He Who Endures; Stories About the Old Days, which featured jazz singer Abbey Lincoln; and Every Goodbye Ain’t Gone, with leads Denzel Washington and E. Epatha Merkerson. The latter two premiered at New York’s Federal Theatre. His books of poetry include The Ringmaster’s Array and Yardbird Suite: Side One, which won the 1997 Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award. Bill Harris’s Birth of a Nation, a historical critique written in verse, was recently published by Wayne State University Press.

A Joke, A Poem, A Novel...

We begin by telling jokes and analyzing their structure. An understanding of that basic form gives an entrée into the mechanics of writing any narrative work, including poetry, short story, creative non-fiction, stage play, screen play, or novel. Techniques of imaginative writing, to help you find the sound of your own voice, will also be presented. These will include getting ideas, description, setting, aspects of character, dialogue, observation, and interference, and obligatory scenes. Rewriting will be emphasized.

Visiting artists augment the session with informal activities and are not workshop leaders.