Fall Short Session:
September 24-29, 2023
Workshops are open to serious students of all levels unless specified in course description; beginners welcome.
CLAY FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 24 – 29, 2023 (four studio days)
Jeff Shapiro
Expressive Clay: Pushing into the Unknown
Students in this workshop will step out of their comfort zones and find new approaches to loosening up in the studio to make pieces with character that are challenging yet rewarding. We’ll encourage soft and loose throwing, soft and loose trimming, and manipulating clay with an attitude of abandonment: sprezzatura! Once we’ve established the basics of materials, tools, and processes, the focus will be on learning how to let go. Bring an open mind, a sense of curiosity, and a desire to take risks. Techniques will include throwing, trimming, slab building, and solid clay forming. Bisque-fire only. Intermediate level: basic clay skills required. Upper clay studio.
Studio artist; teaching: Penland, Greenwich House Pottery (NYC), Peters Valley (NJ), Gaya (Bali, Indonesia), La Meridiana (Italy); collections: Carlo Zauli Museum (Italy), Museum of Fine Arts Boston, The Brooklyn Museum (NYC), Fuller Craft Museum (MA); representation: Lucy Lacoste Gallery (MA), Capazza Gallery (France), Kakiden Gallery (Japan).
jeffshapiroceramics.com | @jeffshapiro62
Regular enrollment begins May 1.
DRAWING & PAINTING FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 24 – 29, 2023 (four studio days)
Jodi Reeb
Making your Mark: Encaustic Painting and Photo Collage
This encaustic workshop will bring together several basic techniques to create beautiful, layered paintings rich with texture and translucency. We’ll explore color mixing, scraping, and developing imagery with a focus on using photographs as collage. This process involves printing photographs on lightweight tissue paper and embedding the images in the encaustic medium. We’ll also explore image transfers. Layers can be created by using oil sticks to add pigment above or below the photographs for color and depth. The workshop will also include a brief history of encaustic painting and information about supplies, tools, safety, and preparation of substrates. Lots of one-on-one studio time will help you create and develop a body of work, gain confidence, and expand your voice with encaustic. All levels.
Studio artist; teaching: Minneapolis College of Art and Design Continuing Studies Program, Haystack (ME), Zijdelings Atelier (Netherlands), Ampersand Ambassador Teaching Artist, R&F CORE Artist; two Minnesota State Arts Board Artist’s Initiative grants, Hinge Arts Residency (MN); exhibitions: Gallery One (Minneapolis), Kolman & Pryor Gallery (Minneapolis), Truro Arts Center (MA), Reedy Gallery (MN).
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.
IRON FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 24 – 29, 2023 (four studio days)
Abraham Pardee
From Fire to Form
Learn the fundamentals of blacksmithing by making small functional objects. Using techniques such as tapering, twisting, scrolling, punching, splitting, riveting, and forge-welding, we’ll explore the amazing plastic properties of hot steel to give it shape and purpose. We’ll begin with simple items (hooks, bottle openers) and basic tool-making (chisels, punches) and then move to projects that use joinery to connect components (candlesticks, pot racks, etc.). Whether you’ve never forged before or are looking to review skills and expand your repertoire, this workshop will be a fast-paced survey of forging with an eye toward smart design. Beginning level.
Professor at American College of Building Arts (SC); teaching: Appalachian Center for Craft (TN), Campbell Folk School (NC), Eureka Springs School of the Arts (AR); exhibitions: Best of Tennessee Craft (TN); collections: City of Cookeville (TN), Metal Museum (TN).
pardeemetal.com | @pardeemetal
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.
METALS FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 24 – 29, 2023 (four studio days)
Erica Bello
Solder, Rinse, Repeat
Students in this workshop will develop their fabrication skills through the repetitive process of chain-making. Starting with simple links, we’ll explore soldering techniques used to create movable design elements while developing habits for a streamlined workflow. Through design exploration and pattern studies, students will advance to create more complex chain using fabricated sheet and wire. Clasps and other finishing elements will be carefully considered as these can make or break any design. Along with soldering, we’ll cover sawing, filing, and other basic metalsmithing techniques. All levels. Lower metals studio.
Studio artist; teaching: Baltimore Jewelry Center, Center for Metal Arts (PA), Arrowmont (TN), Penland; exhibitions: New York Jewelry Week, Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), SOFA Chicago.
ericabellojewelry.com | @ericabellojewelry
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.

PHOTO FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 24 – 29, 2023 (four studio days)
Dan Estabrook
The Handmade Negative
This short session will introduce two methods for making photographic negatives, both of which predate the advent of film: the calotype paper negative and the wet-plate collodion glass negative. Working with raw chemistry and simple materials, students will make photographic negatives suitable for printing with almost any process. While we work, we’ll discuss the history and syntax of each process: how the method for making the negative affects the images created with it. Bring your own props and costumes if you wish, or venture out into the beautiful North Carolina landscape. Cameras will be available in the studio. All levels.
Studio artist, visiting assistant professor at Pratt Institute (NYC), frequent Penland instructor since 1994; exhibitions: Catherine Edelman Gallery (Chicago), Daniel Cooney Gallery (NYC), Wilson Museum (VA), Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art (SC); recent projects include a handmade artist book project in collaboration with Nathan Carter, published by Threestart Books (Paris).
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.
LETTERPRESS FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 24 – 29, 2023 (four studio days)
Bridget Elmer
Engaging Ephemera
This workshop will explore the letterpress as a tool for creating engaging paper ephemera. We’ll cover the basics of letterpress, printing from handset type, ornaments, and printer’s cuts. Students will also learn one-sheet and accordion book structures that work well on the letterpress, giving them a lot of options to explore. Each student will produce an edition of letterpress-printed ephemera designed to encourage contemplation and inter/action. All levels. Letterpress studio.
Studio artist, printer; co-founder of Impractical Labor in Service of the Speculative Arts, co-owner of Print St. Pete Community Letterpress (FL), artist member of SPACEcraft (FL); teaching: Ringling College of Art and Design (FL), Colorado College, Florida State University, Ox-Bow (MI); collections: Brooklyn Museum (NY), Tate Britain (London), Yale University (CT), University of California-Los Angeles; published in Adventures in Letterpress (Laurence King) and 500 Handmade Books (Lark Books).
impractical-labor.org | printstpete.org | explorespacecraft.com
@flatbedsplendor @impractical-labor @printstpete
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.
PRINTMAKING FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 24 – 29, 2023 (four studio days)
Jessica V. Gatlin
Silkscreen Monoprints and Monotypes
Students in this workshop will create a series of quick, spontaneous prints. Using a combination of screenprinting and mixed-media techniques, we’ll build collaborative and individual compositions on the spot, reacting to each previous layer as we go and generating many unique prints. Technical information will include temporary stencils, photo emulsion, found objects, and watercolor/water soluble techniques. We’ll also discuss systems theory and other iterative practices. All levels. Printmaking studio.
Assistant professor at University of Maryland-College Park; other teaching: Ox-Box (MI), Tennessee State University, Penland; residencies: Wassaic Projects (NY), Ox-Bow (MI), A.C.R.E. (WI), Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts (Poland); exhibitions: COOP Gallery (TN), Co-Prosperity Sphere (IL), Seedspace (TN), The Holland Project (NV).
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.
TEXTILES FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 24 – 29, 2023 (four studio days)
Stephanie Santana
Printmaking on Textiles
In this workshop, we’ll transform fabric through relief printing, monoprinting, and screenprinting. With a focus on self-directed experimentation and play, students will develop their own motifs and textures by carving rubber blocks, manipulating paint on gelatin plates, and creating stenciled artwork for screenprinting. Students will leave with a small portfolio of textile studies for reference or to incorporate into other projects. All levels: beginners encouraged. Third-floor textiles studio.
Studio artist; founding member of Black Women of Print; teaching: Fabric Workshop and Museum (Philadelphia); recent exhibition: “A Contemporary Black Matriarchal Lineage in Printmaking” at Highpoint Center for Printmaking (Minneapolis); collections: Metropolitan Museum (NYC), Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles), Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Smith College Museum of Art (MA).
stephaniesantana.com | @stephanie___santana
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.
WOOD FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 24 – 29, 2023 (four studio days)
Fabiano Sarra
Making Three-Legged Stools with Hand Tools
Students will learn fundamental skills for hand-tool woodworking as they build a three-legged stool with Windsor-style joinery. Within that format, each student will have creative freedom to design their own seat shape, leg profile, and leg angles. Topics will include drilling holes by hand with the help of sight lines, the theory and practice of tapered mortise-and-tenon joinery, and using hand tools for flattening and shaping seats and legs. This workshop will appeal to those new to woodworking as well experienced students who want to learn more about working with hand tools. All levels.
Studio artist; teaching: Penland (NC), Anderson Ranch (CO), Rochester Institute of Technology (NY), Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY); residency: Haystack Open Studio (ME); exhibitions: Center for Art in Wood (Philadelphia), Burchfield Penney Art Center (NY), Memorial Art Gallery (NY).
fabianosarra.com | @fabbajabba
Regular enrollment will begin on May 1.