Ceramics artist Julie Guyot spent a little time at Penland recently, as a visiting artist in Kathy King‘s clay concentration. She had some sweet things to say about the experience on her blog. Some sweet hipstamatics of the campus, too.
"view from the dining hall" by Julie Guyot
“There is just something about being in a place where everyone “gets” what you do. How often do I get a chance to take a break from my life, from the news, from my meetings, my dog, my house and studio and just “be”? Student or teacher, I was still immersed in art and craft. I was surrounded by makers and people who support makers. I ate, I danced, I walked up some serious hills, I saw some amazing ceramic art, I talked with great people and I drank a lot of Gingeraid. I connected. In short, I was inspired….”
Student Diane Kirschenbaum rolling dye/reduction material onto a foam stencil in preparation for making patterned silk scarf through the vat-dye discharge process. The gist of the process is this: A reduction agent is mixed with vat dye, applied to pre-dyed fabric and then steamed. During the steaming process the pre-dyed color gets removed and the vat dye gets deposited.
So, after Diane finished rolling the mixture onto the stencil, she transferred it by pressing the stencil onto the piece of blue silk in the right of the photograph. Then it was processed with steam. The one-week class in the process was taught byJanet Taylor, who learned it twenty years ago at Penland.
