Summer Workshops

7/BASKETS

Midare—hexagonal weave by Jackie Abrams, 2008. Painted cotton paper and waxed linen thread, 11” x 8” x 13”.

Baskets, Vessels, and Forms

What are the possibilities of woven forms? Explore shape, color, surface design, and technique, using painted cotton paper as the basket material. Learn one or several techniques, including bias plaiting, cathead weaving, hexagonal weave with interlacing, and their endless variations. Cover the forms with additional layers, applications of paper, and knotless netting. Learn the rules that can be adapted and broken. All levels welcome.

JACKIE ABRAMS has been a basketmaker since 1975 when she first apprenticed to Ben Higgins, an 81-yearold traditional white ash basketmaker. Since 1990 she has been exploring the possibilities of paper as a basketmaking material. She received an M.Ed. in Humanistic Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Jackie Abrams’ work has been in exhibitions at the Fuller Craft Museum, Mobilia Gallery, and CraftBoston in Massachusetts; Philadelphia Museum of Art Crafts Show; and the Ohio Craft Museum, and is in the collections of the Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin; Asheville Art Museum, North Carolina; and the Michigan State University Museum. She will be a featured artist in State of Craft in 2010, an exhibition of the history of studio craft in Vermont. She has taught throughout the US, and in Canada, Ghana, and Australia. www.jackieabrams.com

7/BLACKSMITHING

Yellow Box Series by Stephen Yusko, 2007–2008. Forged and fabricated steel, 4 1/4” x 3” x 3” (each).

The Poetics of Steel

During this workshop, the emphasis will be on the exploration of form, line, and surface while working primarily with forged and fabricated steel. Through discussions about design, function, and demonstrations of techniques we will create objects that balance the industrial history of the material with a gracefulness of form. Along with forging solid bar stock and tubing/pipe, participants will learn how to create pattern and texture on sheet/plate. Whether your preference is heat-and-beat or finessed-finishes, we will work towards the goal of achieving beauty and grace in what we make. All levels welcome.

STEPHEN YUSKO is artist-inresidence at Rose Iron Works in Cleveland, Ohio. He received a BFA in Sculpture from the University of Akron, Ohio, worked as an apprentice, then as artist-in-residence at The National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, and received an MFA in Metalsmithing from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Stephen Yusko has taught at Haystack, Penland, Peters Valley, and the New England School of Metalwork, and has demonstrated at the 1998 Asheville and 2000 Flagstaff ABANA Conferences. He recently had an exhibition of new furniture works at the William Busta Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio, and his work will be in Iron: 2010 at the Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. www.stephenyusko.com

7/BOOK ARTS

Palimpsest by Sas Colby, 2006. Pencil on Vellum, 12” x18”.

The Transparent Book: Working with Layering, Transparencies, and Overlays

Transparency, whether in a book or two-dimensional artwork, elicits mystery, elegance, and complexity. In this workshop we will write and draw on evocative materials such as vellum, rice paper, tracing paper, silk organza, and film. We will experiment with pencil, ink, stitches, and transfer techniques on these diverse materials, layering our works into a complex palimpsest of pages. Several bindings, including the Coptic stitch, will be demonstrated. A lively interactive class process will include writing exercises and discussions of metaphor and symbolism to develop content for our books. All levels welcome.

SAS COLBY has been making, exhibiting, and teaching art for more than thirty years. Her mixed media artwork has been exhibited internationally and is in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia; the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. Sas Colby was awarded residencies at the Ucross Foundation, Wyoming; Villa Montalvo, California; and at the Djerassi Foundation in California. She has been a visiting artist in Australian universities and throughout the US. She divides her time between Berkeley, California and Taos, New Mexico, where she leads annual art retreats. www.sascolby.com

7/CLAY

Cruce by Cristina Cordova, 2009. Ceramic and metal, 9'.

Figure: Form + Content

This workshop will offer strategies for constructing and understanding the figure in clay. Departing from anatomical references, we will explore the expressive potential of gesture and generate a visual language rooted in an exploration of meaning through sculptural formats and scales. Techniques will include small- and large-scale slab construction for pedestal and wall pieces, figurative rendering from visual sources, detailing strategies for achieving clarity and interest, moldmaking, and glazing. Work will be fired to cone 05-1 in an electric kiln. All levels welcome.

CRISTINA CORDOVA is a studio artist in Penland, North Carolina. Originally from Puerto Rico, she received a BA from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez, an MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, and completed a three year residency at Penland. She received an American Craft Council Emerging Artist Grant, a North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship Award, and an International Association of Art Critics Award. Cristina Cordova has taught workshops at Penland and Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts, both in North Carolina; Mudfire, Decatur, Georgia; and Santa Fe Clay, New Mexico. She is represented by Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago, Illinois and Hodges Taylor Gallery in Charlotte, North Carolina. www.cristinacordova.com

7/METALS

Sunburst Whistle by Donna Penoyer, 2008. Fine silver, 24K gold, citrine; hollow-form metal clay construction, keum-boo, 2 1/2” x 2” x 1/2”. Photo by Donna Penoyer.

Holding Dear and Breaking Free: Dynamic Hollow Forms in PMC

Containers—treasure chests, nests, cages, ancient urns, secret decoder rings—are intriguing for their mysterious spaces and the precious objects they protect or restrain. Students will develop their own themes and narratives, using the idea of the miniature container as a jumping-off point. The medium will be Precious Metal Clay (PMC), a form of fine silver that is malleable and worked like clay, but fires to pure silver with a torch or kiln. Through hands-on practice and thought-provoking guidance, students will make jewelry-sized structures in PMC. Demonstrations will range from organic, draped forms to systematically constructed frames and boxes, as well as the teacher’s specialty: sculptural, wearable, whistles. All levels welcome.

DONNA PENOYER creates one of- a-kind and limited edition jewelry. She has taught nationally at the PMC Conference and the Bead & Button Show, as well as Touchstone Center for Crafts, Farmington, Pennsylvania and Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Donna Penoyer has written for PolymerCAFE and Art Jewelry and two of her pieces appear in Amulets and Talismans (North Light Books). In 2008, her jewelry was featured in an invitational exhibit of international metal clay art at Purdue University, Indiana. Her work is in PMC Guild Annual (2007, 2008, 2009) and her whistle ring Journey Companion was chosen for the 2009 edition’s cover image. www.donnapenoyer.com

7/WOOD

Rosie IV by Chris Pye, 2008. London Plane, 28”.

Wood Sculpture: Exploring the Elements of Design

The goal of this workshop is to develop ‘sculptural literacy’: finding a language for talking about three-dimensional objects in terms of their sculptural ‘elements’; being conscious of how and why a piece ‘works’, or doesn’t. Through individual and group exercises, we will investigate the principle and supporting elements found in all sculpture; we will get a feel for their essential duality and balance, and how they affect the viewer. Our principle material will be wood to which we can add other found materials, and students will learn the rudiments of carving and sharpening techniques. All levels welcome.

CHRIS PYE is a member of the British Master Carvers Association and has some thirty years of experience as a woodcarver and sculptor. From his studio in Herefordshire, England, he works on a broad spectrum of commissions, including lettering, heraldry, furniture ornamentation, architectural carving, and sculpture with clients including the Prince of Wales. Chris Pye is the author of eight books, numerous articles, and three DVDs on woodcarving. www.chrispye-woodcarving.com

7/WRITING

The Ground of Listening—Writing Workshop for Poetry and Short Prose

Using the marvelous domain of Haystack as base camp, and exploring the wide terrain of mystery and detail we each carry with us, as well as pivotal poems by others, we will write every day, in class, out of class, paying patient attention to what springs up on the page. Allowing words and lines to sprout, grow, connect, surprise. Sharing, discussing, suggesting. We are all beginners, who will wander, walk, and wonder. All levels welcome.

NAOMI SHIHAB NYE has written or edited nearly thirty books, including collections of poems, children’s picture books, two novels for teens, and personal essays. She lives in old downtown San Antonio, Texas. An itinerant visiting writer since graduating from Trinity University, Texas, Naomi Shihab Nye has conducted writing workshops and given talks and readings in hundreds of venues around the world. But Haystack, where she was visiting artist in 2006, remains one of her favorite places.