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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Studio visit with Joanna Gollberg

Two days ago, our Kinetic Adornments class took a field trip into Asheville to visit several artists' studios and also check out galleries. 

We were so lucky to have Shana Loconsole in our class; she knows and works for several artists in Asheville and she was able to use her connections to get us a special tour of these artists.  I'll be posting photos of the visits over the next several days.  

Our first stop was Mora Jewelry, and Joanna Gollberg's amazing studio.  Joanna was so gracious, knowledgeable and forthcoming with her struggles and success' as a jeweler and co-gallery owner with Marthe Le Van (Mora Collection Jewelry).  Joanna has such a great studio space and methods for working with a wide variety of stones. 

Below are photos I snapped, hope you enjoy!

Bench of Jeff, who co-rents the studio with Joanna.

Shana and her brother looking over Joanna's bench, as well as Shana's bench.

An ingenious system for drawing down wire!

Joanna being her funny, smart and generous with her time! 

SO envious of her stone collection, was like being in a candy store!!

laid out pieces and jewelry ready for stones to be set.

Our class (minus 3 students).  We've become a little family over the past two weeks.

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I'm at Penland!

So here it is another beautiful and glorious summer at Penland.  We're only four days in and I'm just loving it!  I'm learning alot and having fun at the same time.  I'm assisting my good friend Amir Friedman.  He is teaching a kinetics adornment class which covers so much yet it's essential to learn in jewelry and metalsmithing.

this will be brief as I'm also working on several projects and commissions all at once! Below are 'sketches' in wire of springs and forming them in endless ways.

I'll continue to post more over the several days and weeks so stay tuned and thanks for visiting!

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Kinetic Adornment course at Penland

I'm so thrilled to announce that I will be returning once again to the land of Penland this summer, not as a student, but as a teaching assistant for my very talented friend, Amir Friedman! 

You will recognize Amir's name from the post I did last year on the course we took with Jana Brevick.  Amir and I really bonded over our love of casting and just being plain silly and having fun in the amazing metals studio at Penland. 

Casting with Amir. 

Amir will be teaching Kinetic Adornments, which really delves into movement in jewelry and how it responds to the body.  Although kinetics aren't my specialty, I'm really looking forward to learning from Amir and the students.  Returning to Penland is always wonderful; it truly is an escape from society and into a world of craft, making, jewelry and sharing the love of art.
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