Newspapers / Penland Line (Penland, N.C.) / March 1, 2002, edition 1 / Page 4
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L nr Penland Line Spring 2002 Summer Treasure Georgia Deal Gabrielle Fox Deb Stoner Mitch Ryerson Penland summer schedules are never the same old same-old even though the ingredients are constant; excellent instructors who themselves do great work and a mix of approaches: tradi tional, ethnic, experimental, contemplative, technical, whimsi cal, innovative and a few which will defy categorizing. The course descriptions give the clues about what will happen in the class and a good sense of the style. Here’s a treasure map to encourage you to pull out your catalog and take a closer look at summer 2002. There are seven classes that deal with the natural environ ment as subject: Nature’s Patterns St^Packages, Color SCTexture in Nature, Natural Forms in Glass, Painting Pastel Landscapes, Drawing on the Environment, Mixed Media Expression in Nature, Private Viewpoint/Public Work. Go find them! Now look for four classes that offer public, group-oriented projects: Service Ceramics, Steel Fabrication, Private Viewpoint/Public Work, Arts Medicine, Another Mile of Tile. There are also four classes with craft traditions from other countries: Traditional Chinese Bookbinding, Crossing Boundaries: Sharing Spirits, Venetian Style by Torch, Japanese Woodcuts. If you are a writer or a craftsper- son who writes, look for these treasures: The Energy That Holds Up Mountains and Art ^Medicine. Here’s a bit of buried treasure which requires reading instructor bios, close examination of the descriptions, and maybe even reading between the lines. Can you find seven instructors from other countries: two from Canada and one each from Italy, Germany, England, Australia, and Japan or the nine instructors who authored books plus one who founded a magazine and one who is an editor? Take a look at techniques and products and see if you can find three great classes in functional pottery and another in sculpture using stoneware clay. In one class you can make eye ATYPICAL—EVEN AT PENLAND Robin Drei In any given session at Penland the student body is a diverse group of all ages and backgrounds. Women work in the forge, men learn to weave, and stereotypes do not apply. But even so, Madhuri Jalan, a diminutive grandmother from Calcutta was not a typical student in hot glass. Madhuri came to Penland because of a pas sion for glass that dates back to 195^9 when she traveled to Italy as a tourist and saw glassblow- ers at work in Murano. There are glassblowers in the industrial field in India, but she knows of only one who is a woman. “I will be the sec ond,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. Artistic expression has always been impor tant in her life, but Madhuri waited a long time to work with glass. When her son and daughter were young, she did some painting and later worked in clay, but the lure of glass „ . , , . , , , •' o Madhuri Jalan with a pate de was always with her. Two years ago, Madhuri’s husband died from cancer. During his illness she was able both to care for him and to work in her nearby studio, where she found great solace in having something else to do. Her husband and chil dren had always encouraged her to “do what you feel like; go where you want to.” So after his death, she came to Corning, NY where she studied casting, slumping, and fusing. It was there that she learned about Penland. Madhuri spent most of last summer at Penland, taking two hot glass classes, glass casting, flameworking, textiles, and a class in pate de verre, which combined her interests in clay and glass. “The most important thing for me at Penland has been the exposure. It is now up to me to transform what I have learned into my own work,” she said. Madhuri describes her work as “Indianized.” Rob Stern, co-teacher withTherman Statom, felt that her work was largely contextual in terms of her heritage but was always integrated with her own artistic vision. “Of course her work must be influ enced by what she has seen and learned .’’he said. Commenting on her personal contribution to the class, Rob said “She was universally able to connect with people and gave them uncondition al attention. So she quickly became part of the group.” He likes a “familyesque” dynamic when he teaches and she contributed much to that. She prepared an Indian meal for the class which was one of the highlights of the session.” Her presence was felt in other classes as well. When Don Falk and Max Radadada’s class was preparing for a performance piece about weddings, Madhuri, who was married at 14, talked to the group about marriage traditions in India. “I am 61,” she said, “and have usually been the oldest one in any class. But age does not matter. Doors have opened for me here. But with glass there is so much to know that in my life time, I would not be able to learn it all.” —Donna Jean Dreyer 9 Jamie Bennett Katherine Gray glasses and in another one, rings. Which printmaking class uses fiberglass as a base material and which one offers copperplate engraving? In one studio you can learn to make beads and in another you could make something with beads. There are two very different approaches to carving in the same studio. Finally if you ever wonder why you make what you do, there’s a class to explore this mystery. If you found all the treasure buried or out in plain sight, visit the Penland web site (www.penland.org) where there’s lots more: most of the instructor names link to photographs of their work, and many of those pages include links to other web sites. We hope this exercise will make you want to go back to our catalog and read a few pages you may have skipped. And while you’re there, see if you can find classes taught by the makers of the work above. —Donna Jean Dreyer DEVELOPMENT POSITIONS OPEN Penlcind is currently seeking a development associate and a devel opment assistant. Development associate resjxjnsibilities include grants management, writing and reporting, donor cultivation, solicitation, events, and administration of campaign activities. The development assistant manages donor databases, imple ments annual fund campaigns, assists with the annual benefit auction and other special events and donor relationships. Both jobs require a bachelor s degree or equivalent experi ence in a related field, excellent verbal and written communi cation skills, strong planning, administrative, financial record keeping, and organizational skills, a sense of humor, emd high standards of excellence. Experience in managing and trou bleshooting database systems is preferred. Knowledge of the arts in general and crafts in particular is a plus. For more information about these opportunities, contact Barbara Benisch at 828-76^-2359, ext. 14 or send email to barbarabenisch@penland. org. i s This beaut Jill installation at The Pines was the work (JJeannie Mooney. The elements were yellow squares of cloth; the patterns are stains made by pieces of rusting iron. Urjortunately, when we ran this photo in our annual report, we misattributed her work.
Penland Line (Penland, N.C.)
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March 1, 2002, edition 1
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