Big World Studio

I’m still glowing from my week-long experience at the John C. Campbell Folk School. There were 8 students in my Introduction to ArtClay Silver class and about 150 students on campus. In addition to the students, there were about 45 guys working on the timber framing of a new blacksmithing barn. I wasn’t familiar with timber framing, but I learned that it’s a process where a building is framed with massive timbers and NO NAILS. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished building on my next visit to the school. Having the timber framers on campus added even more excitement and fun to the energy of the place.

The people I met at the Folk School were amazing! I made a point of eating each meal with a different group of people, so I managed to meet nearly every student, instructor and timber framer by the end of the week. Many of them started calling out “Mango Lady” when they ran into me. I’ve never experienced a place with more creative, interesting, friendly and down-to-earth people all gathered together. It’s a sure bet that my path will cross with some of these folks in the future.

I was excited to be spending the week in the school’s campground. For the first 4 days I was cozy and happy in my tent. On Wednesday night it started to storm. The rain was quite noisy and kept me awake, but the tent held well and all was dry throughout the night. Thursday morning we watched from our classroom studio as the rain came down in sheets. I honestly didn’t think it could rain any harder, but during lunch it did just that and I was starting to get nervous.

I explained to my tablemates that I needed to be excused to slosh up to the campground and check on the status of my nylon home. At that moment, the young woman across from me invited me to move into the empty bed in her room. Jenna had known me less than 20 minutes and she was making this generous offer! My visit to tent-land revealed that the water had rushed down the nearby hill so fast that it didn’t soak into the mulch tent pad as intended, but rather washed up the wall of my tent and managed to slide in between my tent floor and the plastic below. The result was several deep puddles in the floor of the tent, including one right where my suitcase sat.

I quickly gathered everything out of the tent, spread out the wet clothes throughout my car and was back in class on time with a smile on my face. I just couldn’t get over my good fortune to have a dry bed and a new friend!

Another highlight of the week included my first experience with Contra Dancing, which is similar to square dancing. I didn’t know what to expect, and I had no idea what I was doing, but lots of locals participated in the dance and they were very patient and helpful. I quickly figured out how to translate the caller’s instructions and get my feet moving in right direction - most of the time. I was grinning from ear to ear, dripping with sweat and out of breath for the entire hour of dancing. I was on a natural high from this experience for hours!

I’ve posted a few other photos of the campus and people I met at the Folk School in a Flickr Set

My next post will focus on the class, techniques I learned and some photos of the pieces I created.

…and I’m so very excited!  I’ll be attending a week-long “Introduction to ArtClay Silver” class at the John C. Campbell Folk School.  This amazing school, located in far-western North Carolina was founded in 1925.  It offers classes in all sorts of arts and crafts, including metalsmithing, blacksmithing, painting, photography, quilting, glasswork and much more.  Students live on campus, mostly in dormitory-style rooms.  As part of my adventure, I’ll be staying in my tent at the on-campus campgroud.  There’s nothing like sleeping in a tent!

The class will teach me the basics of working with metal clay, which is a medium I’ve been researching for nearly a year.  I’ve had to hold myself back from diving into metal clay work, so I could maintain my focus on polymer clay production.  But, the time is right - I can feel it in my bones.  My instructor for the week will be Pam East, a master instructor for ArtClay Silver, one of the two companies that produce metal clay.  I’m honored to be learning from such a well-respected artist.  This gorgeous bamboo pendent is an example of Pam’s work.

I’ll be back in a future post with more information about metal clay.  I’m sure you’re all wondering how metal can be clay or clay can be metal.  Stay tuned for the answers to those and many other questions!

Why are they special?  Because they were custom ordered by my dear friend, William, as a birthday gift for his lovely wife, Deborah.  It’s quite different to create a piece knowing who will soon make it their own versus making a piece to add to inventory.  The process is quite nerve-wracking as the weight of my expectations, and my patron’s expectations, hang over every step in the creation.

The anxiety was well worth it.  The vases are beautiful and both William and Deborah loved them.  It had been quite a while since I had worked in this large format.  In fact, the larger vase is the largest piece I have ever created.  It just barely fit into my kitchen oven with all of the racks removed.  I had to place it on the floor of the oven on a ceramic tile, and the top edge of the vase was within 2 inches of the top elements.  So close!

William chose a technique that looks complicated, but is actually quite simple.  The sucess of the piece was partially dependent on how well I mixed a coordinated palette of colors.  My goal was that the two vases would look very different and each have a strong color scheme of its own, but that they would coordinate when placed together.  The two vases actually share 5 colors in common.  The larger vase has a shot of copper to complement the range of browns and golds.  The smaller vase drops the copper but picks up a light blue and a deep, dark blue to give it an entirely unique look.

I thought you all might enjoy seeing some photos showing the process involved in creating the vases.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have my macro setting turned on, so those close ups are a bit fuzzy.  Enjoy!

Many, many thanks to all of you who stopped by my trunk show/open house.  And, thanks to all of you who couldn’t make it, but still took the time to check out my artwork online and send positive feedback.  I am truly energized and my confidence in my work is greater than ever.  What fun!

I had several goals in mind when I planned this event.  This was the first formal showing of my work and a great opportunity to network and get feedback from people I know and trust.  It helped me test drive some display ideas and figure out where I need to improve.  Most of all, it pushed me to build up inventory and finish dozens of pieces.  One of the challenges I face is that it’s so much fun to create with clay.  It’s much less fun to sand, buff, bead, cord and generally FINISH these pieces.  I tend to build up tons of “nearly finished” pieces that aren’t ready for sale.  Prepping for this show really motivated me to move from lots of pretty bits and pieces to the ready-to-wear jewelry you see in this photo of my primary display.

Between the show day, orders from long-distance friends and custom orders that resulted from this period of focused production and marketing, my sales this month have far exceeded my expectations.  I know this won’t be an easy path, but this first step has certainly been gratifying!

After a focused period of creation and production, Jim and I are hosting the first public showing of my polymer clay jewelry.  We hope our friends, acquaintances and well-wishers will stop by the house next Sunday, December 7th, 2008 from 2 - 6 pm.  We’ll be serving beverages and munchies, but the main attraction will be the one-of-a-kind handmade art jewelry available for purchase.

 Click here to see a a flickr gallery showing a sampling of what will be on display.