Summer Sessions

6/CLAY

Exploring Sculptural Ideas

Nomen nescio 144 by Anton Reijnders, 2011. Fired clay, glaze, sponge, magnifying glass, and saucepan, 0.7' x 0.9' x 0.7'.

A maker is confronted with vast and complex choices before starting, or while making work—choices related to beauty, method, skill, content, and context. Through a series of projects this workshop aims to question these aspects and their associated assumptions. Sculptural ideas will be explored by using clay with the option of a combined use with other materials. The focus will not be primarily on learning new methods or enhancing skills. This workshop seeks to enhance awareness of one’s assumptions and as such to open up a mental dialogue—a dialogue which is essential to contemporary art practice. All genres and levels welcome.

ANTON REIJNDERS is teaching at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and is a member of the Artistic Board of the KANEKO, Omaha, Nebraska. He has been twice visiting professor at Alfred University, New York and contributed to conferences, symposia, and workshops throughout the world including Icheon Korea; Foshan, China; Canberra, Australia; Halle, Germany; Oslo, Norway; and Ghent, Belgium. Anton Reijnders contributed to the creation of the European Ceramic Work Center (EKWC) in’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands and is author of the book The Ceramic Process (A & C Black, London and University of Pennsyl- vania Press; US (2005). He is represented by Gallery De Witte Voet, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. antonreijnders.nl

6/FORGING

Between the Sheets: Steel Forming and Fabrication

Winded Orange by Vivian Beer, 2008. Steel and automotive finish, 74" x 24" x 22".

Workshop participants will use and abuse steel sheet material for architectural and artistic metalworking. Both cold and hot, we will sink, raise, bend, roll, and weld our material. All exercises are designed to understand the specific possibilities of forming sheet material culminating in a self-driven individual project in the second week. Students will be introduced to welding, hammer ergonomics, forming techniques, heat, and forge control as well as tool selection and pattern development to achieve hollow constructed sheet metal forms. Be prepared to work hard, experiment, and generate a box full of samples for further explorations. All levels welcome.

VIVIAN BEER received a BFA from Maine College of Art, Portland and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has taught at Penland, Peters Valley, Anderson Ranch, SUNY Purchase, and the Center for Metal Arts, Florida. Vivian Beer’s furniture incorporates the history of industry and architecture with contemporary design, craft, and sculptural aesthetics. Her work has been in exhibitions at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, North Carolina; Fuller Craft Museum, Massachusetts; SOFA Chicago; Palm Beach 3 at the William Zimmer Gallery, Florida; and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. A public art project of hers is installed in Winslow Park in Portland, Maine. She is represented by the Wexler Gallery, Pennsylvania and The Courthouse Gallery, Maine. vivianbeer.com

6/FRESCO

Fresco Workshop:

Traditional Methods/Contemporary Approach

Traffic Wrap by Barbara Sullivan, 2009. Shaped fresco, 48" x 30" x 5".

We have all seen fresco murals in art history books and have even been told the fundamentals of fresco painting, but have you ever wondered how they were actually painted and what methods were used? Workshop participants will learn the techniques of this age-old traditional medium as they prepare substrates of wood and lathe, grind pigments, and paint on freshly laid wet plaster. The focus will be on making portable panels including hinged triptychs, however; there will be plenty of opportunity for experimentation once the basics of the medium are learned to adapt and combine the medium with contemporary materials and ideas. All levels welcome.

BARBARA SULLIVAN received a BA in Art and Creative Writing from The University of Maine at Farmington and an MFA from Vermont College. She learned fresco painting at Maine’s Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, not as a participant but during her eight summers as Chef and Residence Manager. Awards include a Pollock/Krasner Foundation grant and two Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation grants. Barbara Sullivan’s work has been in group exhibitions at Maine’s Portland Museum of Art Biennials, Turtle Gallery, Icon Gallery, and Isalos Galleries; as well as at Anita Shapolsky and The Educational Alliance in New York. Solo shows in Maine include Caldbeck Gallery, The University of Maine Museum, and The Center for Maine Contemporary Art. Barbara Sullivan is represented by Caldbeck Gallery in Rockland, Maine. caldbeck.com

6/METALS

In Fact, Fiction in Fact

Stem-Hoop Neckpiece—Silver by Joe Wood, 2007. Sterling silver, stainless steel, 26".

Starting from observable “fact,” workshop participants will engage in a studio practice directed toward the creation of poignant “fiction.” Whether the origin is a person, a place, a narrative story, an object, or an idea, we will focus on the most salient qualities and create works that celebrate the significant. Studio practice will be primarily jewelry—metalsmithing. drawing, planning, and production will include the use of Photoshop, Illustrator, Rhino 3D and, of course, hand methods. The Haystack fab lab will likely be called on as a resource for mediating our fictions with their exotic technologies. All levels welcome.

JOE WOOD has been a Professor at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston since 1985, teaching Jewelry, Metalsmithing, and other classes. He received a BS in Art Education/Design from State University College at Buffalo, New York and an MFA from Kent State University, Ohio. Joe Wood has taught workshops at venues such as The Royal College of Art in London, Haystack, Penland, and Arrowmont. His work has been in exhibitions including Schmuck 2001, Munich Germany and Signals: Late 20th Century American Jewelry at Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, and is in the public collections of the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Museum of Fine Arts, Racine Wisconsin; and Boston Museum of Fine Arts. joewoodstudio.com

6/MIXED MEDIA

Accessing Creativity from the Kitchen Sink

Deep Breathing by Kai Chan, 2009. Stainless steel, silk thread, silk organza, cotton cloth 55 5/16" x 13" x 3 5/16". Photo by Cheryl O’Brien.

Workshop participants will work to develop ideas by taking chances and making alternative approaches. The goal is to connect personal experience with material, shape, form, color, and structure in making. The workshop will have an emphasis on experiments in finding the appropriate method of construction to chosen materials. Students will also examine, discuss, and explore possibilities of their own and others’ work. All levels welcome.

Textile artist KAI CHAN is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Canada. He is the recipient of the Jean A. Chalmers National Crafts Award and the Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence in the Fine Crafts. Kai Chan’s work is in the collections of Museum London, London, Ontario; Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; the Library and Gallery, Cambridge, Ontario; Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimusem, Norway; and the Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa. Kai Chan: A Spider’s Logic–a Thirtyfive Year Retrospective Exhibition is currently touring in Canada, until the end of 2012. kaichan.ca

6/QUILTS

Black + White + Color = Quilt

In Time by Elizabeth Busch, 2010. Quilt, 21" x 47 1/2".

Workshop participants will create dramatic surfaces for quilt tops, painting with Transparent and Opaque Textile Paint mediums on 7oz. cotton duck
and black Trigger cloth—two very different mediums and processes. We will review the basics of good composition and design, through exercises on paper and will make one or two painted and sewn quilt tops—painting the first week and sewing the second. From photocopies of your recent work, you will hang a ‘gallery’ on your work wall. We will talk individually about these images and explore the origin of ideas, how one piece leads to another, and how to ‘listen’ to what your work is telling you. We will also cover how to look at finished work, establishing a way to be objective about our own and others’ work, using constructive criticism as a positive tool. All levels welcome.

ELIZABETH BUSCH has made painted quilts since 1983, and since 1987 has been making a living as a self-employed artist, mainly with her large-scale commissioned wall quilts and suspended kinetic sculpture. She received a BFA in Painting and Art Education from RISD. Elizabeth Busch has taught workshops throughout the US and abroad. Numerous awards include the Quilts Japan Prize and Best in Show from Quilt National, and Surface Design awards from Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, New York. In 2009, she was given a retrospective exhibit at the Visions Art Gallery, San Diego, California. Elizabeth Busch’s quilts are in the collections of the Museum of Arts & Design, New York; International Quilt Study Center and Museum, Nebraska; the Haneda Hotel, Tokyo, Japan; and Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport, Florida. elizabethbusch.com