Posted on August 21, 2015 by Penland

Going Deep: Sculpture & Furniture Laboratory with Sylvie Rosenthal

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.

Going Deep: Sculpture & Furniture Laboratory

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).

sylvierosenthal.com

Desk and stool by Sylvie Rosenthal — Birdie Suite, 2007. This desk and stool set features a kinetic bird sculpture perched next to the mirror. Ask the bird if you look good, turn the crank, and watch it nod a yes. Photo by Steve Mann.

Whale sculpture by Sylvie Rosenthal — Ballena, 2011. This 11-foot long “whale with a roof rack” is part of Sylvie’s series of “edificios imposibles,” or impossible buildings. Photo by Ramon C Purcell

O'Possum Whiskey, 2005. As Sylvie describes, "The whiskey cabinets beckon as kinetic skulls agree, you should have another drink." Photo by Larry Stanley — O’Possum Whiskey, 2005. As Sylvie describes, “The whiskey cabinets beckon as kinetic skulls agree, you should have another drink.” Photo by Larry Stanley

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.

Posted on August 20, 2015August 21, 2015 by Penland

A Sign Painting Workshop | Fall Concentration with Timothy Maddox

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.

A Sign Painting Workshop

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.

mightyfinesigns.com

“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?

Posted on August 16, 2015August 17, 2015 by Penland

Strengthening Penland’s Future

Rina Kawai drawing — Rina Kawai works in color on her drawing of the Penland knoll in the new drawing and painting studio during Susan Goethel Campbell’s session 6 class *Field Work.*

“I feel as though I have a wealth of new knowledge to take home with me,” said Penland student Margaret Lindsay Barrick. “My time at Penland has reinforced my lifelong dream of becoming a working artist and has given me the courage to pursue that goal with fresh, renewed vigor.” Margaret received a scholarship from Penland to take a painting workshop in the summer of 2013. That workshop took place in a makeshift studio carved out of a building that had once been Penland’s woodshop. When Margaret comes back for another workshop, she’ll find a beautiful new painting and drawing studio with lots of natural light, flexible work-spaces, and an up-to-date ventilation system. This studio was built with funds from Penland’s ongoing Campaign for Penland’s Future.

Launched in 2010, this five-year, thirty-million-dollar campaign was designed to strengthen Penland’s educational programs by improving its studios, housing, and other facilities; rehabilitating historic buildings; increasing program and scholarship endowments; and establishing an elevated, sustainable goal for Penland’s annual fund. The campaign total currently stands at just over $29,000,000, representing 97 percent of the goal.

“This level of support is unprecedented in Penland’s 86-year history,” says Penland’s director, Jean McLaughlin. “People come here from all over the world for new ideas, new skills, and remarkable educational experiences. This campaign is creating improved facilities that will elevate the student experience and financial stability that will help Penland transform lives for generations to come. So many people love this school and want it to have a sustainable future.”

Lisa Blackburn working on top of her photographs — In the new drawing studio, each student has the space to work with the techniques and materials that speak to them. Here, Lisa Blackburn uses her photographs as a canvas to work back into.

More than 2000 individuals and 200 organizations have contributed to campaign projects, which are being launched as funds come in. Students are currently living in two new housing buildings and using new outdoor work spaces at the clay and metals studios funded by campaign donations. The Pines—which includes Penland’s dining hall and kitchen—has been fully renovated. The Penland Gallery and Visitors Center is currently under renovation. Drawing, painting, and book arts workshops are taking place in beautiful new studios. A major information technology upgrade (partially supported by a rural broadband project funded by the USDA) has recently brought high-speed Internet access to all parts of the campus. And campaign fundraising is ongoing for several other infrastructure projects that will begin as soon as funding is complete.

Penland’s endowment has grown from $8.6 million to $17 million, including support for thirty-eight new scholarships and endowments that ensure the long-term future of Penland’s resident artist and core fellowship programs. A further goal of the campaign was to increase unrestricted annual giving from $500,000 to a sustainable $650,000 annually. Penland has met or exceeded this target for the past three years.

While the campaign is not quite complete, its impact on individual lives is already clear. “Without the incredibly generous support of this scholarship, I would never have been able to experience this wonderful place,” wrote Victoria Buchler, a ceramics student who received a scholarship supported by a campaign endowment. “It is incredibly empowering to be immersed in a community of makers, many of whom have dedicated their lives to their craft,” she continued. “Outside of Penland, being an artist can make you the ‘other,’ but here I have been able to refill my wells of confidence and creativity, preparing me to move forward with my art career.”

Detailed information about the Campaign for Penland’s Future, including stories of how the campaign is benefitting Penland’s programs and the lives of individual artists, is available at penland.org/campaign.