Arrowmont Pt. 3

I know I'm ping ponging a bit, but I do want to show off some of the work I made at Arrowmont. My first workshop was Plastics and Resins for Jewelry with James Thurman. I have to admit, I'm not a plastics kinda gal. I tend to develop an uncomfortable skin rash as a result of working with most plastics. I also kinda hate the feelof most plastics. Give me stone or glass. But, I was interested in the mold making aspect of the workshop, and hoped to learn about some different resin products that I might not be allergic to.

We experimented with several casting resin, Rio's Colores system, two types of silicone mold materias, and made soon to be pateted Thurmanite; layers of paper held together by layers of industrial airplane resin. We went over the basics of how to turn our plastic components into jewelry, and some studio set up. We also had the best Tuesday night kareoke ever that week.

I, of course spent the week making plastic rocks from model train rock molds and molds I made from rocks I found. Which, as it turns out are pretty convincing as real rocks, leading me to believe that my only real talent is the parlor trick of making fake rocks out of anything. I also made some rosary components with air dry paper clay and the Colores System. I was pleasantly surprised that they turned out exactly how I wanted them too, seeing as I'd never worked with those two materials before. I'm pretty pleased with the finished rosary too, it's perfectly sparkly and oceanesque. Sorry I don't have a picture, but the white/turquoise pieces are the reject components.

I really enjoyed the Thurmanite also. The cutting/shaping isn't super fun, but I really like the results. I just wish I knew what to do with it.

James was super great also, super knowledgeable and super high energy. The class produced a TON of stuff. I probably produced the least, because I was concerned about my skin allergy (which did start to pop up by the end of the week). It was still a great workshop, even if I don't think plastics will ever be my thing (did I mention that I also hate being sticky?), but it's still a good set of skills to have.

Now what do I do with all those plastic rocks?

Arrowmont Recap Pt. 2

Just a few more shots from Arrowmont. It's beginning to feel like forever ago that I was there. I find myself missing it, and wanting to go back.

Arrowmont Recap Pt. 1

Remember when I said last week I was going to be back to blogging more regularly? Well, I'm not doing a very good job, am I? Turns out settling into someone eles's house and studio, even in a town I know, was more stressful than I anticipated. Also, all my friends here are either still in school, or work at ECU. I'm well on my way to becoming a semi-professional house sitter. Which seems like a fantastic use of my education. I suppose I'm feeling a little post-partum depression with having finally finished school.

Anyways, I thought I'd blog a little more about my Arrowmont experience, even though it seems so far away now. I was there for six weeks, three weeks of work followed by three weeks of class. It was really great, but really intense and exhausting. Especially when your roommate's alarms start going off at 5:45 in the morning.
I got to meet an incredible group of people, and we did manage to have some fun when we were off duty. If you haven't been to Gatlinburg, TN, it's rather hard to describe. Arrowmont is this little secluded bubble of art and creativity up on a hill overlooking "The Strip". The Strip is a non-stop neon carnival that caters to tourists. You can find a variety of min golf, old time photos, and air brush T-shirt establishments, wedding chapels, arcades and anything deep fried. Seriously, the whole town smells like hamburgers. The strip is fun in small doses, great for people watching. We would venture out occasionally for Tuesday night karaoke and $1 beers. My favorite place was of course The Doughnut Friar. Best doughnuts ever, and a 3 minute walk from A-mont.

This is Pollard dorm where we (when I say "we" I mean the other studio assistants and work studies, occasionally joined by the fantastic Artists in Residence, or students from the workshops) spent most of our time hanging out on the porch and drinking beer. I'm not gonna lie. I drank a lot of beer at Arrowmont.
Arromont has the most amazing little library. This is just right outside, where you could actually get Wi-Fi. I loved this spot because of the geraniums, and other flowers. The whole Arrowmont campus is just so beautiful.

I also loved this spot because of this view:

I'm an ocean girl through and through, but by the end of my 6 weeks, I really began to fall in love with the mountains. If you went out past The Strip you wound up in the Smokey Mountain National Forest, only about a mile away. I loved the forest and I really wish I would have spent more time there. A big part of Arrowmont culture is the Swimming Hole, up in the forest. The swimming hole is pretty, and had some cool rocks, but overall, not my favorite. I'm not really into cold water, and both places I went swimming at Peter's Valley I liked a lot better.

But I also hated "Taco Day", so what do I know?

Stencil Madness

Sorry for the lack of blogging by life at Arrowmont is INTENSE! I can't believe I've been here over a month already! I just finished up my second class: Stencil Madness: Monoprint Gone Crazy with Jeniffer Ghormley. It was frustrating at times, but all in all a lot of fun, and I finally came up with a few prints I'm happy with.

Last week I was in Plastics and Resin for Jewelry with super energetic James Thurman. We did all kinda of crazy plastic casting and mold making. We even made layered paper "Thurmanite", which I really enjoyed. I made a few little things, which I haven't photographed yet, but I'll post them later.

This week I'll be in "The Enameled Image" with Jessica Caulderwood. I'm super excited. It's all kinds of painting and drawing techniques in enamels, which is the area where I feel like my skills are lacking.

Just one more week, and then I'm off to Peter's Valley!!!!

4th of July!!!!

Arrowmont has been a non-stop blur of work and people and bugs and desserts! Yikes! The other educational assistants and I had to move our studio space last week, because there's a class in the sculpture studio this week. I've managed to get a little work done, mostly in my sketch book. It's been really difficult for me to be around so much creativity and so many exciting workshops and not be able to make work. But I've only got one more week of that, and then it's three straight weeks of art party!

I've been to the mountains only a couple times, and out on the strip (usually just long enough to get to the Doughnut Friar). I did venture out for the midnight 4th of July Parade. Talk about some crazy! I've seen a bear, a coyote, some skinks and even went across the border and stood in North Carolina for a bit. The mountains here are stunning, but I still miss the ocean.

Well, I'm off to move a Hollander beater before the fireworks start! Happy 4th!

Arrowmont!!!

Whew! What a crazy few days it's been! I swear, I've been going non stop this whole week past! I made it to Gatlinburg Thursday evening, just in time for dinner. It was a little un-nerving at first, not knowing anyone or where anything was. But after a couple of days, I've got a pretty good handle on things. I think.

My main job as a studio assistant is to make sure the instructors have everything they need. We also help out with the slide presentations and whatever else needs doing. Last week everyone was running around like mad since Arrowmont was hosting a huge benifit Auction. Instructors for this week's workshops came in on Sunday, and yesterday was a lot of trouble shooting and errand running.

Today, the main event was the gas leak they discovered when they finally took the auction tent down. Never a dull moment here.

I'm not permitted to use the studios unless I'm in a class, which won't be for another three weeks. I'm a little bummed, but I went ahead and set up a little studio in the building where the assistants and work studies are allowed to have space.
I brought some work to hopefully sell. The other studio assistants and I are going to try and run an open studio one night a week.

Thanks for reading!

Adrift. . .

I'm feeling a little lost lately. Spiritually, artistically, geographically. I was productive this week in that I got a lot of paperwork done, made two big trips to the post office, took down my show and accomplished a lot in the little time I did spend in the studio. But I did manage to screw up the third enamel in a row I'm making for a brooch. And I'm not nearly finished with all the paperwork/mailing/thank you notes I need to do. Also, I'm putting off something I really need to do, because I don't want to do it, because I'm afraid. I'm more afraid that it will work out, than I am of it not working out. Which is the far more likely scenario.

Most of my friends are at SNAG this weekend. Or Penland. Or abroad. I'm desparately missing Italy these days, but I'm really ready to go anywhere. I've never been so ready to leave a place, yet so sad about how much I'll miss it. I love North Carolina, but Greenville is no longer a good place for me to be, and hasn't been for some time. It'll be good to get away for a while, I'm just afraid I won't make it back.

But I'm headed to Arrowmont shortly. I finally got my classes a few weeks ago and after some mixed feelings (What the heck am I going to do in a plastics class? Monotypes, ok, guess I have to take my printmaking stuff. YES!!! The Enameled Image with Jessica Caulderwood!!! Awesome!) I decided that I'm ready for it all. Ready to suck up what ever experience I can. I've even got some ideas, which I'll blog about later.

I did a travel journal/sketchbook in Italy last summer that I'm really proud of. And I realized that there's no reason why I can't do a similar thing this summer at Arrowmont. It won't be exactly the same, but why not approach it with that kind of single mindedness of capturing EVERYTHING?

I never do well in these "in between times". I'm better if I have a focus and a goal and a routine. But I think my only goal for today may be to go enjoy the Aurora Fossil Festival.

Happy weekend, where ever you are.