Final post, and an Introduction

This post concludes my blog on a spring concentration and work-study experience at Penland School of Crafts in papermaking and book binding--thanks for taking a look!   There are many individuals and lots of fine work that deserved more attention than I could give, but I had lots of fun doing the blog.  Please, if you spot any errors in any of the entries or want to share another picture or comment, get in touch with me at ltrettin@bellsouth.net

                                                                                                  Linnie Trettin


If you are looking at this for the first time, you might like a list and summary of the posts (in reverse chronological order, March to May):

1. Before heading to the mountains
 some of my recent work and artistic activities before starting the concentration

2. First week at Penland
 examples of books belonging to instructor Melissa Craig, and a look at the studio, work study start up, working and rooming with other artists

3.  Parties at Penland
 getting to know each other at the Blacksmith studio, a trip to the felting class in the Textile studio

4. Getting down to business
starting to make paper with Melissa, more on our class and studio, a trip to the Glass studio, Heather Bella (studio assistant) teaches coptic stitching and organizes studio clean up

5.  Guest artist, pop up books
weather (cold and rainy in March), Shawn Sheehy teaches pop up techniques using handmade cotton and abaca paper, shots of the dining hall

6.  First Annual Edible Books festival at Penland
our entries in this international event

7.  Getting serious: weeks 4-6
 kozo and abaca, eastern sheet formation, Japanese stab binding, casting and molding, our studio's work in progress

8.  More spring parties
why we made martini glasses and Easter eggs in all the studios and what we did with them

9.  Finishing up
updates on clay and fiber, a few individuals and their work (clay, metals, iron), the last few days

10. A papermaking recap
how a coffee bag becomes handmade paper

11. Results and reflections
examples of my work and some reflections on work study

Results and reflections

In this post, I'd like to show a few of my projects from the Spring concentration at Penland.  I've learned that I like working with both handmade paper and found commercial paper, and even papers some people might consider trash -- I like it all.

Traditional coptic bound blank books (left)

Pages for an artist's book (center), not yet bound.  I plan to ink these pages as collograph plates, apply the prints (reverse images) to the backs of preceding pages (the collograph plates wiped clean), and then bind the book with a Japanese stab binding.

One page in a planned pop up book.  The modified drum leaf binding (book in lower right hand corner) has an accordion that allows each pop up page to open and lay flat.

The next two pieces represent interpretations of two short stories by Flannery O'Connor from her collection Everything That Rises Must Converge (1965).  Both pieces are paper sculptures that consist of everyday functional items (a hand bag and a hat) made out of paper and intended not to function in the ordinary sense but instead to serve a metaphorical purpose as a reminder of a terrible life lesson a character in each story needs to learn.  They are intended to be used in performance (the hat to be worn, the closed bag to be opened so that its contents spill out)

"Ruby Turpin's Celestial Hand Bag"

Made of handmade denim and cotton paper, found commercial papers, string,  raffia, linen  thread, and clear plastic; with pop up features,  coptic binding and Japanese stab binding

Ruby, a character in "Revelation," learns that contrary to her expectations, she will not go to heaven before all the downtrodden people she despises and looks down on, even though she's done plenty of "good deeds."

The hand bag (made of tea bag covers) represents all the daily choices she made, with little more reflection than picking out the morning tea.

But heaven hides in that bag, and the angels give the poor and downtrodden free rein.  It's the sanctimonious, proud people like Ruby who are trapped in a clutch purse, unable to get to heaven despite all their "good" deeds done without sincere concern for others.




(there's a shaped coptic-bound book to the right of the figures in the picture, above)

"The Untended Garden Hat"

Made of handmade cotton and abaca paper, wire, wood, fabric, string and yarn; including a pamphlet stitched book

Mr. Shepherd, a social worker in "The Lame Shall Enter First," takes pride in his ability to engineer other people's lives.   While focused on the challenge of improving Rufus Johnson, a ne're-do-well who says Satan has his soul, Mr. Shepherd ignores his troubled young son, Norton, who eventually commits suicide, convinced that he will be reunited with his deceased mother in heaven.  Norton's interest in garden seeds is the stimulus for  this piece about an untended garden: a hat for Mr. Shepherd to wear in the garden as a reminder of the terrible consequences of serving his own pride rather than minding his moral responsibilities.

Mr. Shepherd of cast denim and cotton fabric, and a pamphlet-stitched book (above)



Without the inspiration of living at Penland with other artists for eight weeks, I probably would not have conceived these projects--certainly not in the same way.  I drank a lot of tea and collected dozens of tea bag covers, pondering why and what to do with them for weeks before an answer suggested itself.  Barbara, my table mate in Books and Paper (below), offered me the mold I used for making little people, as soon as she saw my eyes light up.

Melissa and Heather opened windows on multiple possibilities and were always willing to coach us as we experimented with new forms and processes.  The creative energy at Penland hit each of us differently--but it is simply contagious and all of us felt it at some point.

And a final word on work study (from home, after recovering for several days).  For those of us over 55, several hours of dining hall and kitchen work daily was  challenging.  The staff mean it when they say it will be physically challenging, and several of us left with cranky hands, backs, knees, and feet.  Some us got tired of working to a constant loud techno disco beat (all right, some good stuff, too, and lots of variety in the selections).  But we sure bonded as a group over mopping the floor twice a day, losing our fingernails to bleach water, hauling compost cans, and scraping institutional-size bacon pans that refused to come clean (check out the t-shirt above) regardless of whether we were 25 or 65. The core students who trained us, helped us, and kept us in line did a remarkable job--they are Penland's best ambassadors.

By working at Penland, you not only save a bundle of money, you also gain a visceral appreciation for what it takes to make an arts campus run efficiently so that artists have the physical, intellectual and emotional space to make beautiful and challenging things.

It was entirely worth it.

A Papermaking Recap

All of us learned an amazing amount in eight weeks.  

To remind myself, I'm posting this sequence of photos on how a coffee bean bag (above) 

became parchment-colored, embossed paper with a feathery deckle:

1. cut up jute bag with strands of dyed jute removed (below)

2. fiber after being soaked for days, boiled in soda ash water, soaked again, and drained

3. fiber in the Holland beater being made into pulp (below)--this took about half an hour in all

4. tough fibers wrapped around the gears of the beater.

clean up took nearly an hour and resulted in a tub of tough stuff  (right)

5. But also a nice bucket of pulp for making paper (below)

6. wet sheet of paper with embossing agents (string, twigs, button), ready to be pressed and dried.

I started out pretty scared of the Holland beater, a very expensive piece of equipment that I could ruin if I used it incorrectly, or that (alternately) could chew me up.  But Melissa and Heather walked us through the whole process so many times that I became comfortable and excited about what a beater can accomplish with cut up fabric or tough plant fibers.  The secret is understanding the fiber and preparing it adequately; this takes patience and planning.

The members of the Spring 2011 Concentration in Books and Paper cannot say enough good things about Melissa Jay Craig and Heather Bella,  as brilliant artists and dedicated teachers.   Please, check out their web sites!


http://melissajaycraig.wordpress.com/  (her blog and access to all her sites)


http://www.heatherbella.com/

Finishing Up

After Easter, most studios provided time for students to focus on and complete projects in time for the Spring Auction on May 5 and the final Show and Tell exhibit on May 6.  The auction is important at Penland.  Instructors and students contribute pieces, made individually and collaboratively, to be sold at live auction, and the money raised--often $10, 000 and over--is used to support the scholarship program. Since many of us have benefitted from it, we work hard to give back.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures from the auction (I was just too tired, too busy, and my batteries were dead).  You'll have to take my word for it: it's fun and the bidding wars can be spectacular.  Students, instructors, staff and community people are all there for the action.

I do have a few final pictures from other studios:

The Clay studio, after one of the kiln openings

Cathy's cups (left)
The busy work space (below)

An empty kiln (left) Mirriam working on a clay whistle (right)

The Textile studio, once all the felted hats were completed

more hats and other soft sculptures (below)

               A spread from Susan's felt "touch and feel" book (right)








And here are a few shots of students with their work:

Ann, a city planner and ceramics artist from Alaska (on the right in picture at left) who made a herd of ceramic wooly mammoths;

Mammoth in different stages: from sketch to finished ceramic with removable felted coat

 Lee (left), a computer programmer from Seattle Washington, who made complicated small objects and jewelry out of metal;






the little house (below) has a chair at the window

Callie (singer and musician from North Carolina) and Pete (school counselor from Hawaii), both of them talented blacksmiths with their own anvils and years of experience:

 Callie









 hamburger jewelry box
                          (right)

detail (right) of wooden  piece (left)

Pete with martini "glass"




















In retrospect, I wish I'd taken more time to document all the amazing artists I met at Penland.  We learned so much from each other, and perhaps more so from comparing techniques, applicable to a wide range of creative pursuits, in different media.

During the last week, we each finalized our own work, while paying close attention to each other's,  and then we said our good byes:

Here are two pictures from the last events:  a couple of auction items (right) and the paper table at the show and tell exhibit (left)

The last day in the Book and Paper studio: 

from left to right, Barbara, Amanda, Josiah (partially behind Amanda) and Jenna

Saying "Thank you!" to Melissa Jay Craig and Heather Bella for all the hard work they put in over eight weeks

And all the while, people still had to eat so work-study and core students continued to keep the dining hall going.  It was open 24 hours so students could come and go and grab a bowl of cereal or cup of tea at weird hours (which many did).  The core students did a wonderful job of keeping everyone entertained with drawings and schedules they posted on a chalk board each morning.  Here's Rachel drawing a Penland version of "The Scream" at 6:45 in the morning, before starting on dining hall set up, so it would be ready for us at breakfast at 8 AM.

And no matter how busy we got, dogs still had to be walked.  Here's Jackie, the wood studio instructor, taking  her German shepherd (whose special wheels offset tired old legs) for her daily walk.

More Spring Parties!

By the end of April, the weather starts to get nice, just in time for a big annual event at Penland, the community Easter Egg Hunt.  This coincided with the completion of a large new deck providing expanded work space for the  clay and metals studios, which seemed like another good opportunity to celebrate. So, for 2011, Penland hosted a Good Friday Martini party on the new deck (to which every one was supposed to bring a martini glass representing his or her studio) and then an Easter potluck and egg hunt for the surrounding community (to which artists contributed decorated eggs representing their studios).

 Director Jean McLaughlin, Executive Director of Penland (above) looking elegant.

 Melissa (below), relishing the olive after enjoying her martini from the kozo cup.

Easter Sunday April 24, was a beautiful day for a community brunch and egg hunt.  Penland's kitchen (known  for its spectacular meals) supplied the Sunday breakfast dishes and people coming from nearby towns brought  pot luck dishes. Penland core students hid the eggs on campus around noon (Core students are the artistic workforce "backbone" --they reside and take classes for two years while managing the work study students each session and planning events like this one.) Kids under 7 yr olds got the first stab at finding eggs, some of which are elaborate and beautiful collectors' items.  Then  the hunt was opened up to adults.  Hundreds of people turned out, as they do each year, for this joyful event.

 Jean McLaughlin, Executive Director of Penland (above), in another one of her guises, with Jerry Jackson, Deputy Director.

Kim, the incredible baker at Penland's kitchen, and a snappy dresser.



To sum it up: for several weeks, regardless of whether we were learning techniques in fiber or clay, metals or glass, paper or iron--we were also designing eggs and martini glasses!   This helped diffuse any tension we might have felt about the state of our work at this mid-way point.  These events were lots of fun.  They also were scheduled so as not to interfere with anyone's religious activities (church on Sunday or Passover, for which a Seder was held in the dining hall with an appropriate meal).