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First Craft School on the Moon!

Our neighbor, frequent instructor, former resident artist and trustee Dan Bailey recently shared with us a series of stills from a photographic animation of a lunar landing he made at Penland in 1983, using multiple slide projectors:

Dan Bailey's Extraterrestrial Kiss

Dan Bailey's Extraterrestrial Kiss

Dan Bailey's Extraterrestrial Kiss

Dan Bailey's Extraterrestrial Kiss

Our neighbor, metalsmith Marvin Jensen, is the astronaut, and jeweler Kathleen Doyle is his alien attacker. Author/illustrator and puppeteer Debra Frasier created the extraterrestrial costume. This was all pre- Photoshop and After Effects, of course, so the props, costumes, actors, and scenario had to be photographed live, in situ, in rapid sequence. The slides were then projected with a programmable two-projector setup that created the appearance of animation. Dan describes the project as an attempt to connect narrative photographic series (like the work of Duane Michals, for example) with early cinema from the 1900s.

Out of this world!

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Fire on the Mountain: Nol Putnam Blacksmithing Lecture Saturday Night

Blacksmith Nol Putnam
Photograph by Roger Foley.

Please join us for a lecture by master blacksmith Nol Putnam in Northlight Auditorium at Penland School, at 8:15pm on Saturday, April 28th.

Nol Putnam opened his first forge in 1973. He taught himself the craft with the help of books, stubbornness, and a mentor. Starting in the early 1980s he undertook large architectural commissions – gates, balconies, and curved handrails. While he still does a few commissions, his work since 2001 has largely been sculptural, ranging in size from the palm of the hand to architectural scale.

Nol is the featured master blacksmith at Fire on the Mountain Blacksmithing Festival, which will take place in downtown Spruce Pine from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, April 28th. Featured demonstrators at this year’s festival also include April Franklin and Mike Chmielewski.

To see more of Nol’s work, you can visit picasaweb.google.com/nolputnam

Hope to see you at the festival and Nol’s lecture!