A WEEK AT PENLAND: TEXTILES, ENGRAVING AND MASONRY

A 29" X 32" quilt I designed and completed in Martha Clippinger's "Intuitive Geometries" class at Penland. Thanks for the red stripe fabric, Martha!

There is always something special about Penland. This week was spent in a textile class. We learned to put planning aside and work intuitively  It took a while for me to feel comfortable as I usually design everything ahead of time. By the afternoon of the second day it seemed like everyone was in full swing with projects growing and mistakes being turned into amazing work. Here's a photo journey of the week:

Beautiful moss covered steps greet visitors on their way to the supply store.

A mountain view was visible from our work tables.

Stitched projects hung from clothlines in the workroom.

Projects were placed on the design wall for study.

Some students worked on large projects.

There was an informal exhibit of work at the end of the week so we could all visit and learn about the other classes.

A close-up of part of the display by the engraving class taught by Pierce Healy.

The engraving class even made their own tools!

The masonry class, led by Joe Dinwiddie,  worked on building a stone wall and stairway.

Close-up of stair area

The wall even provided a place to store your moonshine.  After all, this is North Carolina.

After returning home, I found a great spot for the quilt.

We couldn't have had a better group of people working together.  A special shout out to Martha and Ann who worked to make this class informative, fun and a truly memorable experience.

FINAL WEEK AT PENLAND, HARD TO SAY GOODBYE

Penland is a place that grows on you quite quickly. There is so much activity. Studios full of glass workers, metal workers, weavers, book makers and others make the time there exciting and inspiring.  The second and final week of weaving class with Michael Rohde went by way too quickly. If you ever have a chance to take a class with him, you will thoroughly enjoy the learning process.  Here are photos from the week.

I gravitated toward the stripes I use so much in hooked work.  The weaving is completed, but I still have finishing work to do.

Renee completed a beautiful runner using a lot of great texture.  She even included horse hair. Every time you look at it you see something different.

Dana used a combination of eye-catching brights juxtaposed against black.  She is a textile designer whose work can be seen here.

Carl created a great optical illusion we could not stop looking at.

Kate made use of neutrals to create subtle shading.  She is an artist whose work can be seen here.

Heather used her creativity, weaving a yoga mat from weather stripping material.  She is in the interior design industry. Check out some of her work here.

Thursday was auction night.  I donated one of my crow pieces and Michael donated two beautiful rugs.   A fun, exciting evening for all.

Friday was show and tell. Kate did a wonderful job with the weaving display.

Our graduation photo. I could not have asked for a better group of people to spend time with.   It was hard to say goodbye on Friday, but all good things must come to an end.  Hopefully, we will run into each other again at some point.  If any of you from class are reading this, I wish you nothing but the best.

It is amazing what a group of people can accomplish in two weeks.  Enjoy the people you meet along the way in life, keep the great memories and have a great day.

WEEK ONE AT PENLAND AND TWO PIECES JURIED IN TO "PUSHING THE LIMITS"

Wow! This has been a full week. I'm learning a whole new vocabulary with heddles, reeds, sheds, shuttles, inlay, twill, shot, bubbling, etc.  Though it is exhausting, there is nothing quite like Penland to have the opportunity to become totally immersed in a craft with instructors who are at the top of their field.  Our instructor (Michael Rohde) has some beautiful work which can be seen here.

With no knowledge of the weaving process before this week, I have decided to work on a group of smaller pieces.  I need to work on technique and hopefully will see some improvement with each piece.  Here are some photos from the past week.

The weaving room

A demo on preparing the warp threads

Beginning to place warp threads onto loom.  I think I will need to see the whole process done about 50 times before I finally get it!

Warp threads are placed through the heddles (the small silver bars hanging down) which hang on the shafts (the black frames).  There are 8 shafts on this loom.

Here is my first attempt.  You can see near the front of the photo how I was beginning to draw the warp inward by weaving too tight.  I then began to go too loose and had a few yarn loops hanging from the back.  The top third of the piece was much better.

This second piece is going much more smoothly.  The weave is good, but I would like to have nicer edges.  I'll work on that this coming week.

Below are photos of work by other students in the class.  I love the variety of ideas people have.  

This just reminds me of a wonderful cozy sweater to throw on during a chilly day.  Great texture.

This is a twill weave.  The green and gray are wonderful together and, of course, I love all the stripes!

Who doesn't love blue and white!  I really like the variation of solid and striped blocks.

In addition to class this week, I was notified of two works being juried into "Pushing the Limits: New Expressions in Hooked Art 2012".  The juror this year was Kristin Muller, Executive Director of Peters Valley Craft Center in Layton, New Jersey. Juried in were "The Rain Will End" and "Freedom to Come and Go".  

Face new challenges, never stop learning and have a great day!

"CLIFF BY THE SEA", PREPARATION FOR PENLAND CLASS

"Cliff by the Sea"  13 1/4 X 10 X 2 1/2  Lori LaBerge 2012

One more rock rug was completed before I spend the next two weeks taking a weaving class at Penland. The rock used for "Cliff by the Sea" reminded me of the White Cliffs of Dover.  A photo of the cliffs can be seen here. Since the area of the cliffs has a fence line, I created one for my own "cliff".

 Close-up of fence and rock,  "Cliff by the Sea"  Lori LaBerge  2012

The fence took on a rougher look, weathered a bit by time. Old picture hangers, nails, wire and fishing weights were gathered. The weights were used as buoys hanging from the upright posts of the fence.

I have also been busy ordering supplies for a rug weaving class with Michael Rohde at Penland. It is a two-week course with studios open 24-7.  I will let you know how it is going next week.  The thought of combining weaving and rug hooking has been in the back of my mind for a while and I am hoping I can acquire enough skills to make this happen.

Since I am new to weaving and have not created a design yet, I had a difficult time ordering colors.  How much of each color will I need?  There is red, orange, light purple, dark purple, white and black.  Hopefully, it will all work out.

Some of the typical supplies for classes.  On the back right side, there is  a book on rug techniques by Peter Collingwood.  I'm finding the book fairly technical.  It should be easier to follow when I am actually looking at a loom rather than visualizing one.  I could not find a site of the late Peter Collingwood's work, but his son Jason has a great site here.  Lots of geometric eye candy under the gallery heading.

Here are items I am totally unfamiliar with.  On top are a heddle hook, for threading and a rug beater for packing down each row of weaving.  The second row is a temple for keeping the edges of the rug straight.  The bottom two are stick shuttles for holding the yarn as weaving is done.  Do I sound like I know what I'm talking about?  I'm so much more comfortable with rug hooking tools.

Yesterday, I started creating an art journal with photos of colors, textures, and ideas for the class. It is great to feel like a kid again, cutting and pasting photos from magazines. 

Here is my journal page on texture.  Bumpy, rough, furry, I love them all!  Most of the photos I cut out are from one of my favorite magazines, Interior Design.  

Next up were design and color.  You can really learn a lot about yourself by doing this exercise.   There was no surprise that I veer toward contemporary designs.  The surprise came with the circles, not a shape I find myself using much.  I love all color combinations, but analogous ruled with a bit of complementary.  The simple act of pasting one picture over another gave me some great ideas for future pieces.

Grab yourself an art journal (you don't need anything fancy), reach for your inner child and have a great day.

ON THE OTHER END OF A RUG COMMISSION

I was excited this past week as FedEx drove up the driveway to deliver a carpet sample of a rug my husband and I are having commissioned. I have done quite a few commissions on rug designs, but this time I am enjoying being on the other end.

Rug sample section of a rug being designed for our home by Alicia Keshishian.

When I took a color class at Penland School of Crafts, the designs of Alicia Keshishian really caught my eye. The entry of our home needed a 10-foot runner, so after classes were finished I spoke with Alicia about a design for this area. She has been a joy to work with. My husband and I e-mailed our thoughts about design to her along with photos of the entryway. Alicia took everything into consideration in creating a look that would fit perfect in our home.

Some of the wool samples sent for thoughts on color. Most of these colors were lightened up in the design process.

My husband is a competitive rifle shooter along with having been captain of the U.S. Palma Team. We have been lucky enough to have had the chance to travel to a number of foreign countries through his sport. I wanted the rug to somehow represent this part of his life. Rather than a straight forward target design, Alicia came up with a great abstracted look for it. This was perfect as it keeps with her own sense of design, yet still speaks to us.

  Close-up of rug design by Alicia Keshishian.  The motifs are in silk wool.

We have given the green light on the final design. The weaving process will take a while and I will post pictures of the rug when it arrives and is placed in the entryway of our home.

Our entryway, patiently awaiting its new rug.

As a rug maker and artist, I would recommend that anyone in the same profession commission a work at least once to be able to see it from the other person's side. It allows you to have a deeper understanding of why a person is asking for specific features in a work.

Try seeing things from someone else's perspective, keep true to yourself and have a great day.

A WEEK AT PENLAND

Penland! Wow! Part of me is exhausted and part of me is full of color and design ideas waiting to be created. "Chromalicious: Color Liberation" was the class and instructor Alicia Keshishian infected all of us with her love of color. By mid- week I could not even go through the lunch buffet without noticing how the tomatoes, pineapples and beets created a delicious analogous color scheme. Here is a photo tour of the week:

A totally inspiring view which compliments the many inspiring people at Penland.

Here is the home away from home for the week. Alicia had strands of color chips hanging in the doorway to greet us on the first day of class.

Everyday the work table was covered with something new for the class to work on. Here are color chips which we used to show our favorite and least favorite colors. We also spent hours placing all the colors in order according to hue and value. A real eye-opener in how individuals view various colors.

Breaks were taken to visit other studios and Alicia was creative in using this time for us to search for various colors throughout the campus. This photo shows glass artist Martin Janecky forming a face out of glass. Absolutely mesmerizing.

A daily trip to the coffee shop is a must. I can recommend the hot spicy cocoa introduced to me by classmate and friend, Lucy.

A wonderful display of "artist plates" was showing in the Penland gallery. The gallery is open to the public, so please stop by to view some amazing work if you are in the area.

We had a great time with colors, creating names such as Flander's Field Poppy and Punch Bowl. This helps you see how you view color. 

Work table in action.

Kara's study of the interaction of color.

A great example of a glass created in class by artist Laurey and the color study which inspired it. Laurey also runs an Asheville restaurant. Click here to find out more about it.

A joyful group of scarves created by members of Janet Taylor's dye class greeted us on the last day of classes.  Right after this photo a breeze caught the scarves as if they were waving goodbye to us.

The week went by way too fast. Tears fell as we all said our goodbyes. It is amazing how close people can become in one week and how our interest in art and color brought us together. To all of you reading this who were in class, I love you all. You are wonderful artists and wonderful people. Keep the creativity and color in your lives shining.

If you ever have the chance, I would encourage you to take a class at this wonderful school. It is an unforgettable experience that will stay with you forever. Have a great day.