The centerpieces at this year’s 30th Annual Penland Benefit Auction were not simply festive and unique—they were also fully functional! Glass artist Sally Prasch constructed over forty elaborate glass horns, each with a glass rainstick to accompany it. In this photo, a group of auction volunteers gives some horns a celebratory toot that could be heard all across campus.
Lots more photos are now up from auction weekend. View the entire auction slideshow here.
This fall, Sylvie Rosenthal will be returning to Penland to teach a concentration in the woodshop. Her course focuses on furniture and sculpture, but its audience is far wider than that. Anyone fond of whimsical details, anyone interested in conceptual ideas made tangible, anyone eager to prototype and problem solve—all will find something to inspire them in this 8-week laboratory. After all, as American Style noted in a profile of her, Sylvie specializes in being able “to combine function, style and humor in one clean package.” Her work is intricate and detail-oriented, often kinetic, and, in her own words, “steeped in the impossible.” It’s a pretty remarkable combination.
There are still spaces left to take part in the workshop this fall from September 20 – November 13, 2015. Register here.
Sylvie Rosenthal – In this fun and fast-paced workshop, we’ll work in and out of the studio as we make furniture and sculpture for interior and exterior settings. While exploring experimental and traditional construction techniques—including lap, mortise and tenon, and dovetail joints—we’ll make forms, structures, masses to carve, and literal and metaphorical frameworks to support your ideas. Our main material will be wood, but we’ll use other materials—plaster, metal, ceramic, found objects—as projects necessitate. Thinking creatively, solving problems, and keeping safety in mind, we’ll use additive and subtractive processes as we cut, glue, join, shape, break, and fix. Risk taking will be encouraged. All levels. Code F00W
Sylvie Rosenthal is a studio artist specializing in woodworking and sculpture. She has taught at Haystack (ME), Anderson Ranch (CO), University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Penland. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Arts and Design (NYC) and the Mint Museum (NC) and is in the collections of the Museum of Arts and Design, the Fuller Craft Museum (MA), and the Kamm Teapot Foundation (CA).
As the images above make clear, Sylvie has a strong background in wood and fine furniture, but she doesn’t let materials or traditions hold back her designs. As Andrew Glasgow put it in American Craft magazine, “Her sculpture has a fine-furniture maker’s sensibility while her furniture…possesses a sculptural quality that exhibits utter ease at flowing between the genres.” Come bend the rules and blur the lines with Sylvie this fall at Penland.
REGISTER NOW FOR FALL CONCENTRATIONS
September 20 – November 13, 2015
This fall, we’re lucky enough to have Timothy Maddox returning to Penland to teach an 8-week course on sign painting. Part hand lettering, part brushwork, and part graphic art, sign painting mixes a bit of history with a bit of self-expression and projects it on a large scale. It’s a very tactile approach to design that showcases the uniqueness of the human hand. As Tim himself says, “the human quality and the flaws that are inherent in such a direct form of creation are inspiring.” Space is still available to join the workshop, including a limited number of work-study spots. Register here.
Timothy Maddox – This workshop will guide students through a vast array of techniques and practices in traditional sign painting. We’ll start with the basics by learning to draft proper letterforms and developing hand skills with lettering brushes. Then we’ll begin to explore many of the essential skills of a qualified sign painter. Through guided practice and individually developed projects, we’ll cover layout and gilding, brush and material choices, patterns and transfers, and much more. Alongside skill development we’ll discuss practicing this art for profit. This history of sign painting, laced with rich cultural development and identity, will be revealed as we work through materials and techniques. All levels. Code F00D
Timothy Maddox is a studio artist and full-time sign painter who owns Mighty Fine Signs (NC). He has taught at Penland and Arrowmont (TN) and is the recipient of a Windgate Fellowship.
“I want to see more amateur attempts at sign painting instead of computer graphics printed up in minutes,” Tim remarked in an interview with AIGA. “Give me crude letters, bad paint, whatever. . . Creating something by hand connects humanity and puts smiles on faces.”
We’re all for smiles, and we’re certainly keen to join the recent sign painting resurgence after seeing Tim’s work. If you need more inspiration, check out the Sign Painters documentary featured below. What will your sign say?
REGISTER NOW FOR FALL CONCENTRATIONS
September 20 – November 13, 2015
