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Announcing Our Newest Resident Artists

We are very happy to announce three new resident artists and welcome them into the Penland family. They will arrive on campus in September to begin their three-year residencies.

Nate Cotterman

“My position in the glass world is to use the material to solve problems and pay homage to the craft tradition. I strive to make work that is intriguing, functional, and timeless while looking for the unique in the mundane.”

Nate Cotterman currently lives with his family in Los Angeles, CA, where he works as a professional gaffer at 141 Penn Studio. A native of Ohio, Nate graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a BFA in glass and has taught and demonstrated across the US at institutions such as the University of Montana, Cleveland Institute of Art, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pilchuck School of Glass, and Penland. As a glass designer/maker, Nate brings a modern interpretation to glass objects using traditional Venetian glass blowing techniques, challenging low-end production with innovative design and handmade quality. During the residency at Penland, Nate plans to explore larger ideas in both complexity and scale and looks forward to the opportunity to be influenced by and collaborate with “a community of exceptionally skilled and creative people” in a range of media.
natecotterman.com

Jason Hartsoe

“I believe good art has a firm foundation in the work that came before it. It is by building on and blending the influences of historic ceramics and by varying these themes into new translations and experimentations that my work and career will progress.”

Jason grew up in NC in a home full of pots made by his grandfathers and their fathers before them. After receiving a BA in English from Belmont College, in NC, Jason chose to pursue a ceramic education by apprenticing with master potters; he learned on the job as an assistant in England at Winchcombe Pottery, in Virginia with Dan Finnegan, and as an apprentice with Michael Hunt and Naomi Daglish at Bandana Pottery just down the road from Penland. Jason’s work reflects these influences and experiences and has continued to evolve during short residencies in Star, NC; Shigaraki, Japan; and Cortona, Italy. During his residency at Penland, Jason is looking forward to the opportunity to build a wheel in order to explore larger forms, establish his own studio for the first time, develop his voice as a maker, and seek an audience and market for his work.
hartsoepottery.com

Kit Paulson

“[In transitioning from furnace glass to flameworking] I learned that in unfamiliarity with a process or material can lie great freedom and possibility….I want to make meaningful, intentional objects.”

Kit’s interest in glass started in the hot shop and led her to earn a BFA at Alfred University. She followed her degree with years of assisting other glass artists and developing a production line of functional glass. Though her love for the material persisted, she began to feel disillusioned with what she was making. At that time she discovered flameworking and began to shift her process and intention to include time-based work incorporating flameworked glass. With this new direction, Kit made the commitment to earn an MFA at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where she will culminate her studies in May. Kit’s most current work uses ornament and intricate, time-intensive constructions as a way to collect and tell stories. During her residency Kit will build a flameworking studio to support her new creative direction as she seeks balance between making meaningful work and supporting her career as an artist.
kitpaulsonglass.com

Our 2018 Resident Artist Program selection process was, as always, thorough, thoughtful, and difficult! There were many outstanding candidates but only three available positions. This year we received 71 applications from across the US and abroad. Our selection committee did an outstanding job reviewing and evaluating applications; they generously offered time, energy, and perspective to the entire project. Thank you to everyone involved in this year’s selection.

We do not anticipate any openings in the Resident Artist Program in 2019; our next application deadline will be January 15, 2020 for artists working in all media except hot glass.

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Penland at VisArts!

work by Susan Feagin, Ellie Richards, Ian Henderson, and Amanda Thatch
Ceramic tray by Susan Feagin, wooden boxes by Ellie Richards, metal hammer by Ian Henderson, indigo sample by Amanda Thatch

Penland’s studio coordinators keep everything ticking in the studios—they communicate with instructors, order supplies, ensure that our spaces are equipped and ready for a wide variety of workshops, and troubleshoot on the fly. They’re an incredible source of knowledge in their areas and a primary point of contact for our students. But outside of their jobs, each coordinator is also a talented artist, and we’re thrilled whenever they get an opportunity to show their work or teach a class.

This spring, we’re excited to have seven Penland studio coordinators heading up to Virginia for a weekend “Penland Takeover” at the wonderful Visual Arts Center of Richmond. Their workshops will run Saturday, May 12 and Sunday, May 13 from 10 AM until 4 PM. If a weekend of learning something new with some of our favorite people sounds like time well spent, then we’d encourage you to sign up! Registration for each of the following workshops is open now.

The Sculptural Box
Ellie Richards, All Levels

Indigo Paste Resist
Amanda Thatch, All Levels

Slip Transfers on Clay
Susan Feagin, Intermediate Level

Exploring Letterpressed Objects
Jay Fox, All Levels

Blacksmithing Spoons + Bottle Openers
Daniel T. Beck, All Levels

Tool-Making for Jewelers
Ian Henderson, Intermediate Level

Printing + Manipulating Cyanotypes
Betsy DeWitt, All Levels

Over the years, so many artists have benefitted from time at both VisArts and Penland. We’re grateful to VisArts for putting together this awesome weekend of programming and for strengthening the connections between our two organizations!

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Community Open House 2018

Every year, the Penland Community Open House falls on a Saturday afternoon in March, one week before our spring workshops begin. With the help of over a hundred expert volunteers, we run activities in each studio that highlight the different mediums we teach at Penland, from ceramics and letterpress to hot glass and wood. All afternoon, visitors come through to watch and learn and—especially—to get their hands dirty and make something themselves. It’s the perfect way to wake up our studios after the sleepy weeks of February and to celebrate the craft and community that have been at Penland’s heart since the very beginning.

This year, we welcomed roughly 700 visitors to the Community Open House—young, old, experienced, and complete beginners alike. Some activities were returning favorites, like learning to throw a clay pot on the wheel, forging a steel hook with hammer and anvil, casting a small object in pewter, decorating a sheet of paste paper, and blowing a glass cup. But there’s always something new, too, even for those who come back to enjoy the open house year after year.

In the photo activity, for example, visitors got to decorate their very own cyanotype tote bags to take home. The process started in a “dim room” where UV light had been blocked from the windows with a red film. There, visitors laid out patterns on their coated bags from cut paper stencils—geometric shapes, their initials, mountainscapes, and more. Once complete, the patterns were held in place by sheets of clear plastic and exposed in the sun for twelve minutes. The coated areas that saw sunlight turned a deep, rich blue, while the areas under the black paper remained white.

Also new this year was a raku activity on the kiln pad of the clay studio. Visitors got to choose a bisqued pot, glaze it, and then watch as our expert volunteers loaded it into the kiln, heated it up to a glowing orange, and then quickly transferred it to a smoking barrel of wood chips and sawdust. The whole process took under an hour, and a certain aura of magic seemed to cling to the pots as they emerged with shiny coats of bright red and jewel green. Not a bad souvenir to take home with you!

We couldn’t make all this fun happen without the dedication and hard work of our wonderful volunteers. We also owe a big thank you to Dr. Taylor Townsend, DDS of Spruce Pine, who generously supports the Community Open House each year. And finally, thanks to all our visitors for joining us—we love sharing Penland with you!

See more of this year’s activities in the slideshow below.