Penland post part III

Now that it's September, almost fall, my time at Penland feels like it was ages ago! I've been a bit delayed with my posts for my time at Penland, especially because SO much happened during that time and I took quite a few photos.

So here his a bit of a bump in the timeline of the posts (I have more studio visits but have to prepare the names etc.).

this post concerns the last days at Penland with the auction and special gift our class gave to our instructor Amir Friedman.  Amir is a really good teacher, he pushes you mentally and physically to give more than 110 percent!   With that being said, so did the students, pushing each other to work harder!  Barbara McFayden (a very skilled and veteran metalsmith) brought up an idea to make Amir a badge of honor, we all loved the idea immediately.  This would be a collaborative piece, each of us working on a component of the badge.

I don't think we knew what we were getting into, but in the end the piece was SO special and fun to make.  When we presented Amir's badge, he was speechless - which is very, very rare! 

Amir's badge of honor (copper, silver, brass and tin) 2013.  

Amir being his goofy self wearing his new badge proudly.  

Collaborative necklace components.

And yes, we even did a collaborative necklace.  An idea that came about discussing the classes and similarities with Rebecca Frank, the instructor for the steel/wearable sculpture course.  

Final collaborative necklace completed.  Each student made about 3 inches of the necklace. 

A donation item for the Penland auction.

Samples of steel work from Rebecca Frank's class. 

Samples of work from Amir's class.  

Laurel Fulton's rabbit neckpiece. LOVE

Rachel Mauser's cicada and paper brooch.  She worked so hard on these.  

Very cool chair. 

Glass neckpieces. 

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Aurelian Nights is almost here...

Almost a week away...oh jeez, I'm excited, nervous and close to elated that it's almost here!

Below is one of the show posters we had designed.  I wish the jewelry was less clustered but I wanted to have several images on the poster to get a wide representation.  

The image on the left, bracelet is Laurel Fulton (steel and brass), the middle necklace is Drew Curtright (LOVE it, she blackened copper and then added some sparkle) and then Ellen Hinrichs amazing neckpiece. 

Event RSVP on Facebook

And an additional poster for The Closet.  I love the variety of girls, styles and poses.

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Classmates at Penland

It's funny when you take a workshop, you end up learning just as much from your classmates as you do from your teacher.  My classmates at Penland are very talented and creative; we all had different backgrounds but had a really great time making diverse pieces out of our alloys. 

Here's a review of my new friends from Penland. 

Kim Zitzow working on her boat. 

Kim made a very cool boat from her alloys, I wish I had a photo of it.  And for the background of the boat she used her rust water on paper.  It was a perfect backdrop.  Kim and I bonded over working for Biba Schutz, tho I never did production work for Biba, as Kim does currrently, however Biba's zany personality is something to bond over!

Laurel Fulton working on her copper 'paper' bag.

Laurel is such an awesome and funny person, as well as a multi-talented artist.  Laurel has been coming to Penland for over 5 years now.  She does printmaking, painting and metals and she's an art teacher in Colorado.  Good times spent with this lady.

Carol Haggig and Amir Friedman, two of my favorite people at Penland.

There really are no words for Carol and Amir, the three of us had too much fun exchanging ideas, gossip and enjoying the creative process at Penland.

You can read more about Amir in my artists profile.

Carol will get her own profile review soon.  I will say that I truly enjoyed her generous, positive and open spirit.  Carol challenged me to always work and get moving.  She couldn't stop making! In that, she and Amir are very alike, they love to create - constantly.

Carrrrol (as we say her name) working on her many beautiful pieces.  I just love her french accent.

Keramit Reiter making tiny, tiny jewelry.

I didn't get to know Keramit as much as I would've liked but I'll say this, she loves to make itty-bitty pieces.  I admire her willingness to go small, very small.

Our lovely assistant Julia Heineiccus.

Julia was my refining buddy, she was great at getting us all set up and keeping everything safe.  I love her ingenuity in her jewelry too, she makes elegant bracelets and rings from brass wire and gold plates them.  Very lovely. 

Casting with Amir, was a bit wild (he likes his flasks HOT!)

Towards the end of the two weeks at Penland, Amir was hell bent on casting.  He was using any machinery possible.  It was fun casting with him because he has such high energy and I learned a new secret....shhh, I can't tell!

Robbie Wolff taking one of his many naps.  He has an amazing collection of stones. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about my new artist friends.  Thanks for visiting.

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