Spring Eight-Week Concentration
March 6 – April 29, 2022
Workshops are open to serious students of all levels unless specified in course description; beginners welcome.
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The scholarships for these workshops have been awarded.
NOTE: Participation in Penland workshops currently requires proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Before you apply, please read our COVID-19 Safety Guidelines document.
Clay Spring Concentration
March 6 – April 29, 2022
Caroline Douglas and Jenny Mendes
Parts Unknown
Deeply mining surface exploration and personal content will be the launching point for this workshop. Working with low- and high-fire clay, we’ll use both form and narrative to push the boundaries of the material. Two- and three-dimensional handbuilding; experimentation with slips, underglazes, and terra sigillata; low fire, and atmospheric firing; and creativity exercises will lead to the development of unique bodies of work. Caroline and Jenny’s friendship and their experience working together in clay will be the catalyst for an engaging, interwoven, collaboratively-taught workshop. All levels.
“Who looks outside, dreams.
Who looks inside, awakens.” -Carl Jung
Caroline: studio artist; teaches nationally and internationally; residencies: Glasgow School of Art (Scotland), Findhorn Foundation (Scotland); exhibitions: Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (CO), Loveland Sculpture Show (CO), Coors Western Art Exhibit (Denver); publications: 500 Animals in Clay, Dreaming Out Loud: An Artist in Clay Rebuilds Her Life.
carolinedouglas.com | @carolinedouglasart
Jenny: studio artist; teaching: Arrowmont (TN), Penland, Santa Fe Clay (NM), West Dean College (UK); multiple Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist fellowships; former Penland resident artist; other residencies in France, Slovenia, Macedonia, Turkey, Serbia, The Netherlands, Latvia; exhibits nationally and internationally in galleries and juried exhibitions.
Glass Spring Concentration
March 6- April 29, 2022
Dan Mirer
Intentions and Inventions
Go deep into thoughtful design during eight weeks of intensive glass work. With a focus on the hot shop, this workshop will encourage a curious, problem-solving mindset as students develop an innovative vocabulary of techniques and create considered, refined objects. Using analog and digital design, we’ll make molds and tools from wood, plaster, graphite, metal, rubber, and wax. We’ll cover graphite/plaster turning molds, wooden blow molds, hot blow molds, and cold blow molds. Students will be encouraged to incorporate cold working, kiln forming, and flameworking into their processes. Both beginners and experienced glass artists will discover challenges and possibilities that will stretch their work in new directions. All levels.
Studio artist: teaching: Corning Museum (NY), UrbanGlass (NYC), Alfred University (NY), Snow Farm (MA), Pilchuck (WA), Toledo Museum of Art (OH), Tyler School of Art (PA), Penland; residencies: UrbanGlass, Corning Museum, Toledo Museum of Art, Museum of Glass (WA).
Metals Spring Concentration
March 6 – April 29, 2022
Suzanne Pugh
Wunderkammer
Let’s take a journey of deep investigation into fabrication and forming techniques, with a detour into lost-wax casting, to develop stronger skills in pursuit of the perfect, odd, and perfectly odd object. Students will engage with individual but guided explorations as they make objects of curiosity–containers, small sculptures, belt buckles, and other specimens–to build our cabinet of wonder. Expect to finish many pieces in these eight weeks while staying open to experimentation and play. All levels.
Note: This workshop takes place in a studio that has stairs that compromise access. It is made partially accessible by a stair lift.
Studio artist: teaching: former associate professor and head of metals at City College of San Francisco, University of Georgia Cortona Program (Italy), Haystack (ME), Metalwerx (MA); exhibitions: Velvet da Vinci (CA), Five Pins Project (CA), HYART Gallery (WI); work published in The Metalsmith’s Book of Boxes and Lockets and Chasing and Repoussé (Brynmorgen Press).
Photo Spring Concentration
March 6 – April 29, 2022
Mercedes Jelinek
Processing Process
This workshop will take students on a journey through analog, digital, and hybrid photographic processes. We’ll cover large-format camera use, film development, and traditional darkroom printing. We’ll also scan film, shoot digitally, and use these files to make archival inkjet prints. From there, we’ll learn to further manipulate our photographs through collage and alternative photographic processes. This workshop will also cover basic and advanced shooting techniques, composition, framing, digital workflow, archiving, digital editing (with Lightroom or Photoshop), and more. All levels.
Studio artist; teaching: East Carolina University Italy Intensives Program, Appalachian State University (NC), Penland; former Penland resident artist; exhibitions: Odgen Museum (New Orleans), SoHo Photo (NYC), Satellite Art Show at Art Basel Miami, Pingyao International Photo Festival (China); publications acquired by Museum of Modern Art (NYC), Guggenheim Museum (NYC), Metropolitan Museum (NYC), Whitney Museum (NYC), Library of Congress (DC), Aperture Foundation (NYC), Getty Institute (Los Angeles).
Print & Letterpress Spring Concentration
March 6 – April 29, 2022
Jamie Karolich
Print/Process/Production
Letterpress is a democratic art form; it disseminates information widely through its ability to produce multiples. Whether you are experienced or new to letterpress, this workshop will explore this democratic idea and what it means to learn, share, and reproduce. Students will gain knowledge in multiple printing methods and processes, including handset type, polymer plate printing, die cutting, wood and linoleum relief printing as well as experimental techniques. Front loaded with technical information and small collaborative projects, this workshop introduces print techniques and encourages students to think outside of their own creative default. Students will have time to journey into their own self-guided projects and can expect to leave with a new, diverse portfolio of prints that exemplify traditional and experimental techniques and explorations. All levels. Letterpress studio.
Printer and proprietor of Small Batch Studio; co-organizer of Southwest Print Fiesta (NM); exhibitions: New Mexico Printmaking Invitational, New Grounds Remarque Print Workshop (NM), Light Studio (NM), El Sol (NM), At Work (IN), PLAY (NC); residencies: The Common Press (CO), Arrowmont (TN), Western New Mexico University, smART Kinston (NC), Penland Core Fellowship.
Textiles Spring Concentration
March 6 -April 29, 2022
Erika Diamond
Body as Armature
Using ourselves as inspiration and armature, we’ll create objects for the body by following the basic principles of the scientific method: observe, collect, measure, experiment, hypothesize, test, and modify. Our sculptural forms will connect conceptually and physically to the body as metaphoric and literal extensions of the self. Starting with the idea that a stitch is a hole—in any material—connected to another hole with something functioning as thread, we’ll explore inventive methods of creating form, including additive textile techniques (stitching, knitting, coiling, weaving, bobbin lace), and casting and then deconstructing materials (cutting, drilling, etc.) to turn them into pliable cloth. We’ll discover how to wear new materials as we mine the personal meaning behind them. All levels.
Note: This workshop takes place in a second-floor, walk-up studio that is made partially accessible by a stair lift.
Studio artist, assistant director of galleries at Chautauqua Institution (NY); teaching: Virginia Commonwealth University, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design (CO); residencies: McColl Center for Visual Art (NC), STARworks (NC), ABK Weaving Center (WI), Platte Forum (CO); exhibitions: Form & Concept Gallery (NM), Dorsky Gallery (NYC), Kent State University Museum (OH), Fiberart International 2019 (PA); commissions: costumes for Charlotte Ballet (NC); collections: San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (CA).
Wood Spring Concentration
March 6 – April 29, 2022
Christina Boy
Spruce It Up!
After spending way more time inside your home recently, are there areas you’d like to make more efficient, more meaningful, or simply more cozy? While learning the fundamentals of woodworking technique, tools, and safety, we’ll build small pieces of furniture—stools, benches, side tables, mini-cabinets—to spruce up our everyday spaces. We’ll start by covering basic techniques such as simple joinery and milling rough-sawn lumber. As our work progresses, we’ll go into greater depth according ot the needs of each student’s projects and designs. At the end of eight weeks, both you and your home will be enriched. All levels.
Studio artist; former Penland core fellow; teaching: Arrowmont (TN), Penland (NC), A Workshop of Our Own (MD), Sawtooth School (NC), Chestnut Creek School of the Arts (VA), Orange County Libraries (VA), representation: Troika Contemporary Craft Gallery (VA), Penland Gallery; exhibitions: La Difference (VA), Penland Gallery, Southern Highlands Craft Guild (NC), Crossroads Gallery (VA).
