Day 2: Charm Swap and Student Show

I know I'm way behind on posting these. I'm just now starting to catch up on blogging over on Crafthaus after a three week thesis hiatus.

Our last event for Saturday was the opening for the Student Exhibition and this year, we also had a charm swap.

All attendees to the symposium are invited to send a piece of work to be displayed for the duration of the symposium. Space is sort of limited in the case that we reserve for this show, so we ask that participants be mindful of size when choosing a piece to show. The work is shipped to us, and attendees pick up their pieces Sunday afternoon, so we at ECU don't have to worry about return shipping. It's a system that works fairly well for us, except when people don't ship their work on time.

This is one of my favorite parts of the symposium, and my personal biggest contribution. All of the ECU grads head up different committees, supported by our wonderful undergrads, and for both symposia, Marissa Saneholtz and I have co-chaired the Exhibitions committee. The Student show is our biggest responsibility, and we also put together display cases with work from the presenters.

I really loved dealing with the Exhibitions. I swear, I was on the best committee. Unwrapping the work was always a surprise and I love love love seeing the work from different schools. This year we were able to set up the show a week ahead of time, so the rest of the ECU art school got a chance to see it as well. My undergrad helpers Sarah West and Tara Locklear and I came in on a Sunday afternoon to install the work and the handful of people in the building were stopping to take a peak before we had even finished. I think it's so great for students to see what their peers at other institutions are doing, and I know the rest of the School of Art and Design gets excited about it too. I actually had several professors from other disciplines tell me how much they enjoyed this exhibition.

While we've done the student Exhibition both times, this year was the first time we had a charm swap. We've gone a little charm crazy here, thanks to undergrad Tara Locklear. She began coordinating regular swaps about a year ago, and we do one about every 6-8 weeks. Everyone makes a charm and puts it in a box. All the boxes get numbered and then we pull numbers. You get what you get. No switching or pouting.

This system works great for 10-20 people, but we had to tweak it a little bit for 100+ participants. We had everyone (faculty and students) place their charms in an unmarked box, assigned people numbers and called them up by groups. People came and grabbed a box at random, and a safety pin so that they could wear their charm right away.

Charm by Amy Tavern, photo credit Amy Tavern

I also helped out with this event, putting out boxes and keeping the crowd under control with undergrad Lisette Fee, while Tara called out group numbers. It was really great and I had a lot of fun because I got to see many of the charms as people opened them. But the worst part was telling people NO PEEKING! Even Lisette and I weren't allowed to peek! It was so hard to be surrounded by boxes full of all kinds of mysterious, awesome charms and not be allowed to look at them until it was your turn to pull a box. I got a gold powder coated lady by Marissa Saneholtz, and ECU undergrad Sam Woitovich, got my charm, a sterling silver cut out of North Carolina.

These images are both courtesy of the wonderful Amy Tavern, currently a resident artist at Penland. Above, is the charm she made for the swap, which Ken Bova received. Below, is Ken's charm, which Amy received. Not every swap was so serendipitous, but I will say I saw a ton of really awesome charms, and everyone was excited to meet the person who had made their charm. It was a fun way to wrap up an exciting and exhausting first day.

Charm by Ken Bova, photo credit Amy Tavern

Any one can participate in any of our charm swaps, never mind geography! If you'd like to participate in future ECU charm swaps, contact Tara Locklear here on Crafthaus.

Thanks for reading!

Day 2: Panel Discussion

photo credit Dejan Jovanovic

After Nicole's lecture, all of the presenters and speakers participated in a panel discussion, answering questions compiled by ECU students. ECU grad Marissa Saneholtz acted as moderator.

The first question presented to the panel, and one I was particularly interested in, was: Do you sell everything you make and how do you decide what pieces to keep for your personal collection? Michael Dale Bernard answered the second part of the question immediately with "The ones that don't sell!", while Caroline Gore chooses not to keep any of the work, preferring each piece to go out and live a good life, in a gallery or with friends. Ken Bova felt that you should keep the pieces that speak to you personally. This idea totally speaks to me, since I have pieces that I know I'll never part with, because they are so personal.

photo credit Dejan Jovanovic

Another interesting question posed to the panel was: What would you save if your house/studio were on fire (family and pets not withstanding). Nicole Jacquard answered with an emphatic "Let it all burn!" and several panelists agreed with that sentiment. Mi-Sook Hur choose to save a certain brooch, simply because it would be easy to grab on her way out the door. Many of the panelists though chose to save either partially finished pieces or sketchbooks.

photo credit Dejan Jovanovic

There was a discussion on labels; what do you call yourself? Metalsmith? Jeweler? Goldsmith? Artist? Bob joined in at the point, recollecting how some fought to get "goldsmith" in the title of SNAG. James C. Meyer interjected at that point, stating that with the price of gold being what it is, he no longer puts "goldsmith" on his business card. The panelists talked about their inspirations, emerging artists they're following and making the jump from school to life.

The biggest thing that I think all the panelists tried to impress on us students, or maybe just the biggest thing I took away, was that it doesn't matter what you call yourself, or where you get your inspiration, or who your audience is, as long as you make personal, genuine work, that speaks to you. Notice what you notice, and be true to your own personal vision.

That, and Orca's Curtains.

Day 2: Nicole Jacquard Lecture

Sorry I'm a bit behind posting these on this blog. I'm still doing a Symposium post a week over on Crafthaus, but I'll be wrapping it up in the next couple weeks.

After all the workshops were over, everyone took a quick break before heading back to the auditorium for Nicole Jacquard's lecture, Technology and the Politics of the Handmade.

Bob Ebendorf, Nicole Jacquard, and Linda Darty, photo credit Dejan Jovanovic

Nicole gave a fascinating talk, and while I have a little experience with 3-D modeling and rapid prototyping, some of the things Nicole covered were completely new to me. When Nicole gave me her brooches to put in our faculty display, and I was amazed at the colors and patterns that had actually been digitally printed onto the material. So I was super excited that she covered this process in her talk.

Nicole Jacquard, Frost Pins, SLS nylon, silver

Nicole uses the 3-D modeling program Rhinoceros, and exports the digital files to various types of printers. The one she uses the most is a Zcorp machine, which is able to print over a million colors. You can also project images onto the surface, which is how Nicole produces certain effects on her pieces, such as the urn pictured below. Nicole also uses Fused Deposition Modeling - where ABS plastic is extruded through a nozle that is heated and the plastic filament is bonded layer by layer as it builds up the form, Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) where a laser fuses nylon powder together (see Frost Pins, above), and a process similar to Stereo Lithography, where ultraviolet light is used to cure a photo sensitive resin.

Nicole Jacquard, Wallpaper II and III, brooches, Zcorp and silver

Nicole had great process shots in her presentation, both of making models in Rhino, and of the various printing processes she utilizes. I know a lot of metalsmiths tend to get scared off by technology being used to make work sometimes, but I think that Nicole has an excellent approach to combing both traditional metalsmithing with these new technologies. You use this type of technology because there is no other way to get this type of results. 3-D printing is just another tool at our disposal.

Nicole Jacquard, Moon 4am, Zcorp

She covered how her family, their lake house, and her Aunt's bar influenced her work. People who make work about their family always interests me. I sometimes feel like as artists we're supposed to make art about lofty social, historical, political topics and I love it when I come across an artist who is dealing with incredibly personal subject matter and putting it out there for everyone to see. It's like saying that this personal thing is just as important as commentary on the war or the environment.

Nicole also talked about her time in Australia, where she earned a doctorate from RMIT, although she didn't originally intend to. She also had great process shots of this body of work which show just how much handwork still goes in to finished pieces that utilizes a 3-D printing process. Even if is cut out with a milling machine.

Nicole Jacquard, Letters and Notes, Zcorp

I can't speak for everyone, but she left the students at ECU VERY excited about the possibilities of using these technologies. We currently don't offer any type of 3-modeling which I think is a bit of a disservice to our students, especially since we have a 3-D printer on campus. Hopefully, inspiration from Nicole will help us to make steps towards intergrating some of these practices in our own program.

For more on rapid prototyping and 3-D printing check out these sources:

Red Eye Express
http://express.redeyeondemand.com

Solid Concepts
www.solidconcepts.com

Quick Parts
www.quickparts.com

Day 2: Slip Casting with Lisa Johnson

So, as I said before, symposium participants attend two out of three workshops per day, which means there's going to be one workshop that you have to miss. Unfortunately, I missed Lisa Johnson's slip casting workshop. You just can't do it all. But I'm going to do my best with what I have at hand.

Photo by Dejan Jovanovic

Lisa was kind enough to put a hand out up on the symposium blog a couple weeks before the event. I went ahead a printed out a copy because even though I knew I wasn't going to be able to make it to her workshop, you just never know when this sort of information might come in handy. The handout is very comprehensive, complete with diagrams of every step, names of artists who use slip casting for sculpture, and tips on selecting an object to mold.

Photo by Dejan Jovanovic

Lisa's workshop took place down in the ceramics studio. This was the first time we had a workshop in another department's studio. All the other workshops take place either in our undergraduate studio, or in the neighboring Art Education classrooms. I thought this went great with our theme of material topics. Last year we had a couple workshops that dealt with found objects and unconventional materials. It seems like this year the workshops focused on more traditional media (wood, painting, ceramics) but adapted for jewelry. It's an interesting dynamic.

Photo by Dejan Jovanovic

Ceramic is a great material on it's own, but it's great to see it combined with metals in a contemporary. I got to see some of Lisa's finished work up close and personal, and she does a great job combining the two. Transition points are always difficult (at least for me) especially when dealing with two different media, but Lisa handles it effortlessly. She brought a necklace for the small present exhibit, comprised of ceramic hand grenades with fabricated metal tops, and a fabricated metal chain. I loved this piece. It was the perfect marriage of materials. I love how Lisa doesn't just limit herself to one medium of the other. She enjoys both, excels at both and allows herself to create work with both materials. I think as metalsmiths we can sometimes get caught up in having to use metal, or mostly metal.

Lisa Johnson, Indiana Princess Wedding Ring

Also, I love this punch bowl. I think it's hysterical. I would have loved to have seen it in person, but I'm sure it was too big to bring all the way from Indiana for just two days. I love that Lisa makes work with a certain sense of humor. Humorous work is a tricky thing.

Lisa Johnson, For the Birds Punch Bowl

I'm sorry I didn't get to see Lisa's workshop, but grateful for the little time I did get to interact with her and for the chance to see her amazing work. If any one out there got to see Lisa's workshop I would LOVE to hear your comments about it!!!

Day 2: Mineral Pigments with Ken Bova

We're very lucky to have Ken Bova with us this year, since Linda is abroad with a group of students in Italy. And while we miss Linda very much, we're all super happy about working with Ken, so we asked if he would teach a workshop at this year's symposium.

Ken Instructing Us on Color

Ken has recently been working with mineral pigment temperas which he mixes himself. I've heard him talk a little bit about it, so I was very excited to see his demo. He started off with a brief power point on the history of mineral pigments as used in Renaissance manuscript illumination. It was really fascinating, especially since these things are still intact today. Works done uses this technique last for centuries or more.

Demo Table

Ken's work table was AMAZING! Colors, gold leaf, rocks and small vials of mysterious powers, some of my favorite things! His samples were simply stunning. I found myself not really caring what kind of jewelry he's made using this technique; I just wanted his sample sheets to frame and hang on my wall.

Tiny Mineral Pigment Paintings

A painter at an artists residency he was attending told Ken her secret to egg tempera. This egg tempera recipe has been handed down from master to student for centuries, and Ken was nice enough to put in all in a handout for us! He also had a recipe for sizing or mordant, the adhesive used in gold leafing, which he also demonstrated. Ken talked at length about color theory, and the minerals he uses, which provide a very specific color range.

Ken Applying Gold Leaf.

Ken showed us how to make the gold leaf sizing, how to apply the leaf, how to grind minerals and how to make the actual egg tempera. This involved Ken doing the most incredible thing with an egg that I've ever seen, and I can't really describe. All I can say is that it took him three tries and he was somehow left with just the egg yolk, absolutely no white. We were all super impressed. After he mixed him color, Ken showed us how to apply it to the paper in thin, even coats.

Ken Bova, (you can get )From There to Here

Ken's workshop was incredibly comprehensive and I can't believe how much testing and troubleshooting he's done on this really obscure (at least for jewelry) technique. I know some artists (myself included) that can be a bit proprietary with their methods, but I think Ken literally told us everything he knew about this subject that he's spent so much time testing and perfecting. I'm excited to see where he goes with this.

Be sure to check out Ken's brand new website!

Thanks for reading!

Ken Bova, Earrings

Day 2: Wood Carving with Dan DiCaprio

After Caroline's lecture, everyone dispersed into the workshops. For the workshops, we have three people present on Saturday, and they teach the same workshop twice. Students choose ahead of time which two workshops they would like to attend. We do the same thing for Sunday's workshops, with three new presenters. So, students get to attend 4 out of 6 total workshops. Not too shabby.Dan demonstrating at the bandsaw.

My first workshop of the day was Dan DiCaprio's Woodcarving for Jewelry. Dan started off with a brief power point on his work and the work of some other artists who carve wood on a jewelry scale. I really enjoyed his process images, which documented each step he takes in creating a piece, from layout, to final finishing. It was also really great to see the work of other jewelry artists using wood, and helped me understand the context of Dan's work a lot better.Pieces in Progress

Dan took us through his entire process, starting with glueing his basic shape to a piece of wood. Next is cutting out the shape with the bandsaw. He gave a lot of tips on how to get into tight curves and how to safely cut something small and/or curved on the bandsaw. I always viewed the bandsaw as a tool for just roughing things out, so it was really cool to see just how well Dan thinks out his final product at this stage in the process, and how detailed he can get at this early in the process.Carving with a bur.

Dan then demonstrated carving and finishing the wood with burs and a flex shaft. I never realized that most of his forms are actually hollow, and he talked a little bit about at what point in the process he slices the form in half in order to carve the interior, then glue it back together. He talked about an easy method of repairing cracks in the wood, and shared resources for materials and tools. Last, he showed us how he inlays silver into the surface of the wood, and talked about adding pin mechanisms.

Dan Dicaprio, Wrap, Ebony and Silver, 2" x 3" x 1.5", Courtesy of Charon Kransen Arts

I found Dan's workshop fascinating. Even though our time in grad school at ECU overlapped by one semester and we still keep in touch, I guess I never realized how little I actually knew about Dan's work, other than I love it. I'm always impressed by people that can carve like this, since I have such a hard time thinking subtractively. I'm very much an additive person. But the methodical detail Dan puts into each piece, how considered every aspect is from the very beginning, amazes me, since I have a completely different way of working. All that care and thought into making something that looks so simple, elegant, and effortless.

But I guess that's what it's all about.

Dan Dicaprio, Curl, Ebony and Silver, 2" x 3" x 1.5", Courtesy of Charon Kransen Arts

Day 2: Caroline Gore Keynote

I was surprised and thrilled when I found out that Caroline Gore was going to be our key note speaker this year. I've been in love with her work since even before I saw her solo show during the SNAG conference in Houston. Caroline's talk Shifting Tradition: A Journey Through Lineage covered the work she completed while in graduate school here at ECU, and during several residencies including the Fiskars Residency in Finland, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska,Florence, Italy and a workshop with Ruudt Peters.

Brooch: Shadowpants 2010
Oxidized sterling silver, gold solder, cotton, silk, thread
21 x 12 x 5 cm
At Palazzo Acciaiuoli, Certosa of Galluzzo, Florence, Italy
photographic reference to site observation, 2007

It was fascinating to see how much the environment affected her work. I love seeing the images next to the jewelry pieces, that direct influence. But Caroline also talked about the intangible aspects of the environment: the city noise in Florence, taking daily walks in Finland, and the storms in Omaha. One of my favorite things she spoke about was seeing moon jellies in an aquarium in Australia, lit in red. She took dozens of pictures, but didn't really do anything with them until years later. I love this example of how as an artist, you just physically and mentally collect whatever speaks to you, not knowing when or how it's going to manifest itself later. This story really resonated with me, since this sort of thing has been happening in my work for the past year or so.

Brooch: Micro/Macro 2010
24K gold leaf, oxidized sterling silver, leather, bone, glass, thread
8 x 10.5 x 2.5 cm
Along River Tay, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
photographic reference to site observation, 2007

Caroline also gave some great general advice on making work. She talked about not letting your own expectations, or those of other people get in the way of your work, and on the value of letting things go. She told us all that what we make is unique and valid and never to question that, and that authentic work sells itself. Two things I know to be true, but too often forget. She said as artists, we need to know when to shout and when to whisper, something I'm still trying to work on.

Necklace: The Shape of Absence 2010
18K gold, silk ribbon, thread
71cm in length
Absence: by Train & on foot, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
photographic reference to site observation, 2007

It was great to see all of these examples of Caroline's work, even just as images, and to hear how they came about. But I think what sticks with me the most is her attitude towards her work. You don't make work because of some class or assignment. You make work because you need it as much as you need to breathe air. And you make work about what speaks to you, whether it be your dog, or some rocks on the ground, or something you saw years ago. You don't have to make the type of work other people expect you to make. Or even what you expect yourself to make.

I'd like to leave you with three short bullet points from my notes, which I'm going to go post up in my space. Again, these are things we know, or should know, but always bear repeating:

- loosen up

-don't worry so much

-work from the core

Thanks for reading.

Day 1: 20-3-20

20-3-20, University Book Exchange, Greenville, NC

After the Tin Show, everyone headed over to 20-3-2: Rings on display at local art supply store/gallery space, University Book Exchange. 20-3-20 was curated by Justin Klocke, and Mike Ruta and was intended to "get the work into the hands of people". They invited 20 emerging artists to make a ring in 3 weeks, resulting in 20 rings. Origionally shown in Chicago during SOFA, 20-3-20 was then invited to Athens, GA, and Greenville, NC.

Mike Ruta, Gold is Just Metal

The set up of the show truly did get the work into hands of people. Attached by cables to a long, suspended board, the rings were free to be picked up and handled, without the risk of having them walk off or be pocketed. I love this idea. Seriously, does any piece of jewelry ask to be picked up and tried on more than a ring? Especially this rubber stamp Gold is Just Metal ring, by Mike Ruta. The wall behind this piece was covered in post it note, where viewers had tested its stamping properties.

Justin Klocke, 10-SS-AU-X

Joe Churchman, Cabochon

There were many excellent rings, but my absolute favorite was Laura Wood's Tribute Ring. This ring consists of an antique engagement ring incased in abaca paper, framed in silver. This is such a beautiful way to re-purpose, but still preserve a family heirloom. I love the clean, elegant design. The engagement ring becomes a cameo like portrait of its previous owner.

Laura Wood, Tribute Ring

These shows made an awesome start to an awesome weekend! Next up: Caroline Gore's keynote lecture.

Thanks for reading!

Click here for more information on 20-3-20.

Day 1: Sketchbook Show and Tin: The Element of Surprise

Opening Reception for Tin: The Element of Surprise, Mendenhall Gallery, Greenville, NC

The ECU Symposium takes place over the long Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, giving participants time to travel and us hosts time to prepare before everyone gets too busy with school. We have people arrive Friday afternoon/evening and join us for gallery receptions where they can see great work, mingle, and students can meet the local students they'll stay with for the weekend. Lectures and workshops run all day Saturday and Sunday, finishing with a big bash at a local coffee shop Sunday night. Monday is reserved for traveling, recovering, or both.

We're lucky enough to have a little gallery space in our student center here on campus and for both symposiums now, we were able to use this space to host shows relating to our theme of Material Topics. Last year's show was an array of student work from ECU craft's departments and this year we were able to have work from outside the school on display.

Sketchbook Pages, Mendenhall Gallery,

ECU grads Abigail Heuss and Josh Craig had the idea of asking people to send in a photocopy or print out of a page in their sketchbook to be put on display for the symposium and later complied into a book. I think that this is a great idea in theory, because I think most of us enjoy looking at other people's sketchbooks. But when it comes to sharing our own, well, we take a different view. I know I choose one of the more bland pages out of my own sketchbook, since most of what I keep is only for me. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way, and we all have sketchbook hang ups, which is why I think participation wasn't as high as it could have been. Still, what was there was fun to look at.

We were also able to have Tin:The Element of Surprise up for the symposium. Curated by Marlene True, Tin exhibits the work of contemporary artists who utilize tin as a material in their work.

Works by Terri Blond, Tim Lazure, and Bryan Peterson

Marlene states: "Color, images, and text found on tin cans are designed to lure and entice us to purchase the products they contain. However, once consumed, the can has served its intended purpose and is often thrown away. Sometimes they find their way into the hands of an artist. This is where transformation begins, as they are a great source for color, text, and narrative. What we throw away says a lot about us as consumers referencing culture, time, politics and taste. These references can be manipulated in an infinite number of ways to create new meaning in relationship to form and function. While recycling is not the focus of this exhibition it does illuminate what can be done when creative and intelligent thinking are applied to post-consumer materials."

Marlene True, Pocosin 2, Steel, Tin, and Plastic, photo by M. True

Tin as a material seems to be growing in popularity. Several of our recent and current grads either make work predominantly out of tin or incorporate tin elements. And while I have little to no desire to work with tin, I really enjoyed this show. After seeing the same types of work in tin from the same people simply because we share space, it was really great to see work I was unfamiliar with along with the work of my friends. It put both the work and the material in a broader context. Tin, I now realize, is incredibly versatile.

Marlene True, Pocosin 3, Steel, Tin, and Plastic, photo by M. True

There were a ton of great pieces in this show, but my favorites were Marlene's Pocosin Pendants. I tend to gravitate towards minimal and subtle pieces, and these are right up my alley. They're quiet, not trying to smack you in the face with any kind of overt statement, but you can sense something in them. A breath, a sense of place, a sense of something personal and meaningful, something poetic. Or maybe they are just simply beautiful in color and arrangement. All in all, just a few of the wonderful pieces in an amazing show.

Tin: The Element of Surprise has been shown in Edwardsville Art Center in Edwardsville, IL, Montana State University in Bozeman MT. and is still currently on display at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. It will soon travel to College of the Albemarle in Manteo, NC.

Blogs Abound!

So a couple days before the symposium, I was invited by Brigitte Martin to blog about it over on crafthaus. I'm way excited about this, and my first post went up yesterday! I'll be re-posting everything over here too, but posts will always be up of crafthaus first. I'm still in the process of contacting participants for images and permissions, etc. but I wanted to do a quick introductory post to kinda start things off:

This student organized intercollegiate symposium, Material Topics, was originally conceived by East Carolina MFA candidate, Laura Wood as a way to connect with fellow students and faculty from neighboring schools. With the support of our wonderful faculty and the hard work of both our graduate and undergraduate students, the idea rapidly developed into a two-day event including lectures, workshops and exhibitions. Educators, professionals and students of all levels came together to share their passion for materials and making.

Now in its second year, this East Carolina University sponsored event has drawn
participants from across the country. Co-chaired by MFA candidates Kat Cole
and Laritza Garcia, this year’s theme was Shifting Tradition, emphasizing new
techniques, alternative materials, and exciting dialogue on the current direction of
the field. Once again our students out did themselves, putting on a spectacular event.

As a graduate student at ECU, I've been fortunate enough to both help organize and attend this event both years. I was also fortunate enough to be asked to blog about this year's event here on crafthaus. Over the next few weeks I'll be blogging more in depth about the presentations, the exhibitions, and topics of this incredible weekend. I hope that through these posts you are able to get the overall feel of the event.

Just as a quick preview, here's a list of this year's presenters:

Ken Bova

Michael Dale Bernard

Dan Dicaprio

Caroline Gore

Mi-Sook Hur

Nicole Jacquard

Lisa Johnson

Tom Muir

More to come!

Please, please feel free to join my group on crafthaus!

(Sorry that third paragraph is so weird. It looks fine in my editor, I swear.)

Whew!

What a weekend! We had our long awaited symposium "Material Topics" this weekend. We had metals students from University, Appalachian State, Winthrop, VCU, and even someone from SCAD. Of course there were a ton of ECU people, even some from outside the metals department. We even had alumni and some community members from outside the university. I think our final count was up around 100 people!

The whole thing kicked off Friday night with an opening for a fantastic show between ECU metals and textiles. "Adroit" is currently up at Mendenhall Student Center here on campus. If you haven't seen it you should go! There was much mingling as everyone from out of town started to arrive.

Saturday morning Mary Hallem Pearse from UGA gave a WONDERFUL opening lecture on her work and image and object. It was so inspiring! Then we split up for break out sessions: Rob Jackson's The Eloquent Nail, Linda Darty's Enameling in the 21st Century, and Mary's Design Challenge. I spent the first session assisting Linda. Even though I'm pretty familiar with enameling and have seen several of Linda's demos, it was still exciting for me. There's so much that can be done with enamel, and sometimes I forget what all my options are! She also gave a short power point that had tons of inspiring images and even threw in some fascinating historical details. It was so cool to see people with little to no enameling experience get so excited! Nobody wanted to actually try anything just then, they just wanted Linda to keep talking!

After lunch, I went to Mary's Design Challenge. She also gave a quick presentation full of great work by other artists dealing with alternative materials. Then, we each got to choose one or four materials to work with: rubber bands, scotch tape, saran wrap, and this black plastic mesh (similar to what you sometimes buy fruit in). We could only use that material and hot glue and scissors. We weren't allowed to talk for the first 30 minutes, but let that material speak to us. I made a funny hat, and a brooch out of the black mesh.

We then had a panel discussion with Rob, Mary, Angela Bubash and Margaret Yaukey (App. State), Courtney Starett and Micheal Gayk (Winthrop), Christine Zoller (head of ECU textiles dept.), Linda and Bob. It was really fascinating. We discussed whether the current publications accurately portray our field, the need for critical writing in the field, CAD fabrication and a few other things, followed by a little reception for the show of student work from all the participating schools, and later, much partying.

Sunday started off with more breakout sessions: Tool Making with Tim Lazure, Beaded Beads with Christine Zoller, and A Brush of Creativity with Bob Ebendorf. I did Bob's work shop, which was so great. There was a variety of materials (including leftovers from Mary's class!) and the object was to just play with the materials and make brushes. These pictures are from Bob's class. I went to my space and made four brushes with stuff I had. I took a little break after that, because I was so wiped out, but wound up back in the second session of Bob's class and made a couple more brushes.

Linda then gave her presentation on the resurgence of enameling, and then we broke down the display of student work, and people took these to their critique sessions. I critiqued with Linda and Mary and several other students. It was good to see and talk about work from other schools, as well as work from our own undergrads that I'm not terribly familiar with. I had a really great talk with Mary, and I'm just in love with her work.

Margaret Yaukey gave a presentation on funerary urns that was really wonderful and fascinating. It was a perfect way to wrap up the symposium. Bob made some closing statements and then it was time to really party!

It was kinda like a mini SNAG, only I got to see the other side. This was a primarily student organized event, with wonderful support from our faculty. I was part of the exhibitions committee, so I got to handle work and set up with displays. It was a lot of work, but I really did enjoy it. I wish I would have gotten to spend more time with the visiting faculty, who were all super awesome. I also feel like I didn't get to do a whole lot of networking with my peers. I only had one visiting student stay at my place, and most of my time at the symposium was spent running around doing my part to make sure things were running smoothly. But I did get a chance to connect with a few people.

All in all, the symposium was a huge success. There's already talk of next year. Not to shabby for something that started as a little idea from some grad students!