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Announcing the Elizabeth Brim Scholarship Fund


An outpouring of support for 2023 Outstanding Artist Educator Elizabeth Brim has helped establish the Elizabeth Brim Scholarship! We invite you to help endow a scholarship in honor of Elizabeth Brim’s pioneering and sustained contributions to the blacksmithing community! Any amount is greatly appreciated.

“Few people have been as committed and have contributed as much to Penland as Elizabeth Brim. Not only is Elizabeth a rockstar in the blacksmithing world, she is a great friend and inspiration to so many who enjoy the Penland experience. If Elizabeth has touched your life, directly or indirectly, we invite you to be a part of her legacy by donating to the Elizabeth Brim Scholarship. We are thrilled to honor Elizabeth Brim’s legacy by creating this opportunity for future generations. ”

-Susan Owen, friend, mentee, peer

BE A PART OF ELIZABETH’S LEGACY

Deep Penland Connections

Elizabeth was Penland’s iron studio coordinator from 1995–2000 and then settled permanently into a house and studio just a mile from the school. Over three decades, she has taught many workshops at Penland and other craft schools including Peters Valley in New Jersey and Haystack in Maine. She has demonstrated at numerous blacksmithing conferences, organized two symposia at Penland, and been a role model and inspiration for countless aspiring blacksmiths. She continues to be an integral part of the Penland community.

Iconic, Innovative Work

Elizabeth Brim is known for her life-sized, steel replicas of traditionally feminine objects such as hats, dresses, pillows, and flowers; for her expressive and fluid use of the material; and for her facility at inflating steel forms with compressed air.

Elizabeth Brim, Excess, 2008. Steel. Metal Museum Permanent Collection 2009.8.1. Gift of John & Robyn Horn.

Watch Elizabeth inflate a steel pillow.

Honoring Elizabeth

Over the summer, Penland honored Elizabeth as Outstanding Artist Educator at the 38th Annual Penland Benefit Auction. Twenty blacksmiths who are near and dear to Elizabeth created special works of art, inspired by her for the occasion. Friends and colleagues shared how Elizabeth has touched their lives. Many of these artists have contributed to the Elizabeth Brim Scholarship fund, bringing us closer to our goal of endowing a scholarship that will provide opportunities for blacksmiths for generations to come.

Elizabeth has given so much to Penland and to the blacksmithing community. We invite you to be a part of her legacy by donating to the Elizabeth Brim Scholarship fund. Donate today!

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Community Open House 2024

What a magical day! On Saturday, February 24th, 2024, visitors, volunteers, and staff alike were treated to a day that was as varied in activities as it was in weather. As makers of all ages strolled from one teaching studio to the next, exploring media like wood, clay, and glass, the weather vacillated between sparkling blue skies and bright sunshine to Dippin’ Dots snow and swirling fog.

Visitors printed inspiring posters designed by local youth

Learning and Exploring

Ten of Penland’s teaching studios offered a thoughtful hands-on activity designed to be enjoyed by any age and any level of ability. Over 130 volunteers were on hand to help orient visitors and share their passion for craft. And, as often happens in Penland’s studios, we saw those who had just learned a new technique passing their knowledge along to others. This continued throughout the day as visitors learned to weave, print, forge, etc., creating finished objects to take home, including 375 poplar magnets, 300 metal relief images, and 80 forged iron hooks. Over 700 visitors included tiny tots wielding hammers, established artists trying something new, and community members who surprised us with their creative takes on each activity. See more photos from the day HERE.

Makers of all ages learned to forge hooks in the iron studio

Nice!

Student Print Collaboration

Visitors to the Penland print studio created prints using Lego dots and printed inspiring posters on the Vandercook presses with help from volunteers. The takeaway poster was designed by students from Mayland Early College High School (MECH) engaged in PATH WNC’s Youth to Youth (Y2Y) program. Visiting the Penland letterpress studio back in October, these students learned about poster design and letterpress printing from Penland print studio coordinator Adam Leestma and brainstormed ideas that would promote positive messages in the community. Their “Enjoy the Little Things” poster was selected for visitors to print during the Open House. More posters will be printed soon to be hung in area schools!

Making Lives Meaningful Through Making 

Established in 1929, Penland’s mission is Making Lives Meaningful Through Making. Throughout the year, this takes the form of intensive craft workshops, residencies, gallery shows, and community outreach. We believe that generosity enhances education, with close interaction between people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds promoting the exchange of information and ideas for the benefit of all. The Community Open House is a celebration of community, creativity, and the joy of making.

Volunteers in the clay studio shared their skills with visitors who learned to throw a clay vessel or create a sculpture

Come back soon…

As February draws to a close, we are preparing for another action-packed year at Penland. We hope that visitors and neighbors take advantage of all that Penland has to offer, including local standby scholarships for our intensive craft workshops, kid’s camps and youth workshops, rotating exhibitions in our Gallery and Visitor’s Center, a network of walking trails, the Penland Coffee House and Supply Store, a self-guided tour, the Penland Resident Artist studios at The Barns, and many events throughout the year. Fire on the Mountain is coming up on April 27th!

Visitors to the Penland photography studio made cyanotype handkerchiefs

Miss Lucy in the mix!

Thank you!

Community Open House would not be possible without over 130 volunteers, Penland staff, and our open-hearted visitors. We are so grateful to everyone that made the day possible. Thanks to Lil Pete’s barbecue truck and our hard-working coffee house staff who served hundreds of hot drinks to visitors. Thanks to Ellie Richards for designing this year’s volunteer apron. Thanks to Sibelco, who sponsored the volunteer luncheon and who’s employees were among the day’s volunteers. And thanks to PATH WNC and the students who designed the letterpress poster!

Wood studio visitors customized poplar wood magnets using many different techniques

So creative!

2024 Community Open House Activities
  • Clay Studio – Making pots at the wheel or small clay sculptures
  • Glass Studio – Hands on lampwork bead making and hot glass demonstrations
  • Letterpress Studio – Printing posters designed by students from MECHS Youth to Youth on the Vandercooks and Lego printing with homemade presses
  • Metals Studio – Embossing designs of local plants and wildlife onto metal foil
  • Papermaking Studio – Learning the basics of paper sheet formation and pulp painting while making fun paper butterflies
  • Photography Studio – Making original cyanotype prints using patterns from nature, science, and architecture.
  • Paste Painting – Making sheets of decorative paste-paper using pigmented paste and colorful sheets of paper 
  • Textiles Studio – Making small tapestries and watching floor loom weaving and spinning demonstrations
  • Iron Studio – Forging wall hooks
  • Wood Studio –Customizing wooden magnets through shaping, carving and painting

We took lots of photos! You can find them HERE.

This magnet says it all: “This is awesome! Making wood things!”

Local artist Kurt Anderson helped visitors explore the magic of paste painting

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A Two-Headed Sweater About Being an Artist

Kendall Ross with her work in the Penland textiles studio.

Penland Winter Resident Kendall Ross‘s art sweaters have won the hearts of curators, art-lovers, and the internet. Known for her bright colors, mind-bending color work, and confessional style, Kendall makes her creative home in her native Oklahoma City where she is a full time studio artist. At Penland, we were charmed by the quickness and ease with which Kendall seems to bring her work into being . We were also honored to host Kendall for her first artist residency.  “I was so inspired by the talent of the other artists I was working around and the support of the Penland staff,” she said. “I feel like I’ve formed so many new and important connections in my life with new friends and artists.”

Kendall completed quite a bit of work while here at Penland. One finished piece was a two-headed sweater about her relationship to her creative practice that she encouraged us to try on at show and tell.

We took the opportunity to interview Kendall about her two-headed sweater. Please enjoy!

Kendall uses “StitchFiddle” to plan out her designs

INTERVIEW WITH KENDALL ROSS

What inspired the two-headed sweater? 

Right now, I am inspired by the idea of making pieces about the relationship I have with my work and artistic process. When I’m writing text though, I love to use language that could be taken in so many different ways based on who is reading it. So for me, the two-headed sweater is about my relationship with people’s perception of my work, but someone else could think it’s about a bad relationship. 

I wanted to put two different sweaters into one piece because the way I feel about the creative process is essentially two sides of the same coin. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few years trying so hard to be taken seriously or be seen as a real artist, but at the end of the day, it shouldn’t matter what anyone else thinks because the work and the process of creating is ultimately mine. For me, though, there is no way to get rid of the fear of how people will see you and what you do, so even when you focus on the process for yourself you’re still carrying the fear and the baggage of perception and expectation with you. 

Also- truthfully, I just thought it would be so funny to make a two-headed sweater and I wanted to see if I could do it successfully, haha. I loved watching people try it on at Show and Tell. 

Trying on the two-headed sweater at show and tell

For us craft nerds: How did you make it? 

I hand-knit each piece using a combination of intarsia and stranded (fair-isle) colorwork. I spend a lot of time charting out and designing each piece using software called “StitchFiddle,” which is essentially digital graph paper where I can notate where I need to change colors when I’m knitting. 

I knit this piece in six pieces. I started by knitting the front left, front right, back left, and back right panels. I seamed all of those together and knit both sleeves in the round. The last thing I did was pick up and knit stitches around the neckline to make the folded collars and wove in all the ends.

How long did it take you to knit the two-headed sweater? 

I started this piece on the first Saturday of the residency. At that point, I was working to knit up the back panel of the big vest I made, which is mostly one color. I can’t work on something simple for too long before I get antsy, so I designed the chart and started knitting the black and white half of it before I finished the vest. 

Most of the piece was made during the second week of the residency after I finished the vest. I was determined to complete the two-headed sweater because I wanted to have a piece that was made entirely during my time at the residency. I was working on finishing the second sleeve the morning of the last day so it would be ready for people to try on at Show and Tell. 

What was your two-week Penland Winter Residency like? 

I could probably talk about this for hours, but it was literally incredible. I don’t have an art school background, and I had never done a residency before so I had no expectations of what the Penland Winter Residency would look like. I was so inspired by the talent of the other artists I was working around and the support of the Penland staff. I feel like I’ve formed so many new and important connections in my life with new friends and artists. 

I am in a unique situation compared to other artists because knitting is so portable, so it’s not like I needed to do a residency to have access to specific facilities like a kiln. However, the time and space to focus on my work outside of my day-to-day environment was so impactful and pushed me to create work that is different than what I normally create. I could say so many good things about my time at Penland, and I’m excited to return someday!

Is knitting your full-time job? What’s next?

Yes! I knit full-time! I have a lot of exciting things lined up for this year, including a solo show at the Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Art Museum that opens in August. 

During my time at Penland, I started thinking about ways I could shift my practice to create work that is bigger and less wearable than what I usually create. I’m excited to make new exciting and weird things in the future!

Thank you for sharing your practice, Kendall!