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workshops at app ctr for crafts

updated fri 12 may 00

 

Vince Pitelka on sun 30 jan 00

To everyone who asked for summer workshp brochures, I am sorry for the
delay. They are held up at the printer, and will hopefully be ready very
soon. I will get the important info from our Workshops and Events
Coordinator on Monday, and post a message on Clayart with more complete
information about all the workshops, including pricing. Please do not
hesitate to email me if you have further questions.

Best wishes -
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166

Vince Pitelka on thu 11 may 00

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Here it is finally, complete information on our workshops for summer 2000.
These are all five-day hands-on workshops. Some supplies may be provided.
Usually, when the price is higher, it is because more supplies are provided.
Usually you need to purchase your own clay on-site, but we keep the prices
low. In case you have a spouse or friend interested in a different media
area, we have simultaneous workshops in blacksmithing, jewelry, fibers,
wood, and glass. Contact the Craft Center at 615/597-6801 for more
information on other workshops. If you have questions about the clay
workshops feel free to email me.

If you have already requested a workshop brochure, be patient. They're
coming soon. If you have not yet requested a workshop brochure and want
one, please email me your snail-mail address at vpitelka@dekalb.net
Best wishes -
- Vince

WEEK ONE: May 29 - June 2
BEGINNING-INTERMEDIATE HANDBUILDING - Jason Briggs
$245 (includes glazes)
Jason will demonstrate a variety of handbuilding techniques including slabs,
coils and pinch-pots. Projects will emphasize creative thinking & unique
approaches to sculpture & pottery. Participants should be open-minded to the
vast realm of possibilities.

Jason Briggs received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
and MFA from the University of Nebraska. Jason is currently the Artist in
Residence in Clay at the Craft Center. After extensive investigation of
ceramics techniques, he turned his attention to soda/salt fired sculptural
forms with meticulously detailed surfaces. Jason received a Graduate
Teaching Award in 1999, as well as several awards for his work.

PATTERN DEVELOPMENT WITH COLORED CLAYS - Vince Pitelka
$275 (Mason Stains included)
Colored clays offer fascinating decorative and narrative possibilities
rarely seen in contemporary ceramics. This workshop gives beginning through
advanced clay workers a broad exploration of colored clay techniques in
handbuilding and wheel-work. Slide shows will survey colored clay work
around the world. The class will cover clays, colorants, tools, functional
and sculptural concerns, neriage, marbleizing, swirlware, jewelry,
inlaying/laminating, clay murrini and appropriate glazing and firing processes.

Vince Pitelka is Associate Professor of Clay and Head of the Clay Department
at the Craft Center. He holds an MFA from the University of
Massachusetts-Amherst. Vince has exhibited his laminate, colored clay
vessels and sculptures nationally and is the recipient of a National
Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.

WEEK TWO: June 5 - June 9
THROWING: THE COMPLETE STORY - Mel Jacobson & Dannon Rhudy
$245 (includes glazes)
This workshop emphasizes throwing for intermediate & advanced skill levels.
Improving throwing skills will be the focus of the course, but the workshop
will also incorporate a variety of innovative techniques for forming and
firing work, glaze information & recipes, etc.

Mel Jacobson is a Minnesota potter doing functional stoneware. His work
represents a lifetime of work and study. A year and a half apprenticeship,
in the early seventies, to the honorable Kunio Uchida, master potter of
Kyoto, Japan, marked the beginning of his most serious work. Mel has spent
the last few years teaching workshops across the country and has written
several articles for Ceramics Monthly, Clay Times and Pottery Making
Illustrated. For more info about Mel contact: melpots@pclink.com

Dannon Rhudy has presented numerous workshops at universities and arts
centers across the U.S. and Canada, including most recently, workshops in
California, Washington, British Columbia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South
Carolina, Arizona and the FUSION Conference in Canada. Her workshops are
generally aimed at increasing skills of intermediate to advanced level
participants, with intensive instruction in combined thrown and handbuilt
work, and innovative studio techniques. Her work and articles have been
published in Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated. Dannon
exhibits nationally and internationally, and currently teaches and maintains
a studio in Texas.

WEEK THREE: June 12 - June 16
SCULPTURAL FORMS FROM NATURE - Priscilla Hollingsworth
$245 (includes glazes)
Some of the most beautiful and surprising forms are found in the world
around us. Explore pattern, color and three-dimensional form through walks
in the wonderful area surrounding the Craft Center. Participants will
collect samples and make sketches, then bring the findings into the studio
for translation into clay. There will be discussions of contemporary issues
in ceramic sculpture as well as how artists can find inspiration for new
work. The workshop focuses on inspiration and development of ideas.
Beginning to Advanced.

Priscilla Hollingsworth is a ceramic artist whose work includes sculpture,
installations and vessels. She is currently an associate professor of art at
Augusta State University in Georgia. She received an MFA from Indiana
University in Bloomington and an AB from Princeton, where she studies with
Toshiko Takaezu. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions since
1985 and can be viewed at the Craft Center during her exhibition from June
12 to ??? in Gallery Two.

WEEK FOUR: June 19 - June 23
MOLD & MODEL MAKING FOR THE POTTER - Jonathan Kaplan
$300 (includes mold-making supplies)
Take the fear out of working with plaster - this workshop will cover the
basics and familiarize beginning through advanced students with using
plaster as a method for making ceramic objects. Topics include: chemistry of
plaster, specific applications, draft, mixing, pouring and forming for slip
casting molds; also, diagnosing a model, simple block molds, case molds.
Participants will bring a simple ceramic form they have made and will then
make a multiple part block mold of the object for slip casting and make a
simple case mold. Beginning to Advanced.

Jonathan Kaplan has been involved in ceramics for over 30 years as a master
mold maker, designer and potter. His business, Ceramic Design Group in
Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is a design and domestic manufacturing facility
for pottery, giftware and ceramic art industries producing work for the
tabletop, household, garden, gift and other markets.

WEEK FIVE: June 26 - June 30
RAKU & SAGGER FIRING - James C. Watkins
$245 (includes glazes)
This workshop will demonstrate the "how-to" for creating large platters and
double walled vessels. Mr. Watkins will also cover his sagger and raku
firing methods, address surface decoration, and interpretation and response
to the physical environment. Beginning to Advanced.

James C. Watkins is a ceramic artist who has been working with clay for 30
years. His work is included in the White House Collection of American Crafts
and the Shigaraki Institute of Ceramic Studies in Shigaraki, Japan. Mr.
Watkins is a Full Professor in the College of Architecture at Texas Tech
University in Lubbock, Texas. He received his BFA from the Kansas City Art
Institute and his MFA from Indiana University.

WEEK SIX: July 10 - July 14
THE CREATIVE EDGE OF CLAY - Robert Piepenburg
$245
This raku oriented workshop will provide a creative context where personal,
aesthetic and clay concerns can be expanded. Emphasis will be on individual
resources for creative growth, group interaction, form concepts and firing
techniques. Ongoing critiques, throwing and handbuilding demonstrations will
examine unexplored resources for giving shape to our clay and ultimately our
life. Intermediate & Advanced; Materials Fee TBA.

Robert Piepenburg is a well-known artist, author and creative pathfinder who
is experienced with creation processes and at assessing personal talents
leading to higher levels of creative vision and work. He has been the
recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and several
Michigan Council for the Arts Creative Artist Grants. His works are in many
private and public collections, including the Smithsonian. He was recently
selected as Outstanding Teacher of the Year and his book, The Spirit of
Clay, has been described as a technical partner and spiritual friend to
those seeking to expand and clarify their knowledge of themselves through clay.

CHINA PAINTING - Kurt Weiser
$300 (China Paint Kit Included)
This workshop will explore the use of images on the surface of porcelain
using China paint (overglaze enamel). Discussions will cover use of imagery
and employ slide lectures, historical context, photography, drawings, etc.
to encourage participants to explore images for the surfaces of their work.
Also covered will be the technical aspects of china painting such as mixing,
applications and multiple firings. Intermediate.

Kurt Weiser is well known for his intricate techniques and imagery in china
painting. He is currently Professor of Ceramics at Arizona State University
in Tempe, where he has taught for the past 12 years. Weiser has an MFA from
the University of Michigan and a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in
Missouri. Most recent solo exhibitions include the Montgomery Museum of Fine
Arts in Alabama, Frank Lloyd Gallery in Santa Monica, California and Garth
Clark Gallery in New York. Recent group exhibitions are The George M.
Gardiner Museum of Art in Toronto, JBK Gallery in Amsterdam and the Garth
Clark Gallery "Ceramics Millennium" in Amsterdam.

WEEK SEVEN: July 17 - 21
INVENTING THE FIGURE - Paula Rice
$245
Participants will make figurative objects in clay. How to penetrate beneath
the surface of an idea, become more in touch with the feeling itself,
avoiding forced elements - - all are discussed as the class moves forward
with work in the studio. Paula will present slide lectures on her own
sculptural work, as well as the figurative work of ceramic artists
nationally. She will demonstrate dowel and slab construction, coil building,
press - mold techniques, stacking systems and a variety of surface
treatments, such as terra sigillata. There may be some experimentation with
low temperature firing techniques, such as sawdust and raku firing.
Intermediate & Advanced.

Paula Rice is currently professor of ceramics at Northern Arizona University
in Flagstaff and has an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in
ceramic sculpture. She has taught workshops and presented lectures at
Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Hawaii Craftsmen Council and the Sydney School
of Art in Australia. In the last several years Paula's work has been
influenced by her southwestern surroundings and she has been constructing
figures embracing the notions of
figure and landscape simutaneously.

SOUTHWEST POTTERY TECHNIQUES - Michael Wisner
$245
Participants will learn handbuilding and outdoor firing techniques to create
Southwest pottery. The process will begin with digging and processing local
clays. Coil building and slab techniques will be emphasized to create
vessels and effigy figures, and stone polishing and graphite techniques will
be employed to burnish the clay surface. Human hair brushes will be made to
decorate the pots; many varieties of firing will be covered so students will
have many options to continue this process at home. All skill levels

Michael Wisner has been making pottery for the past 13 years. He has had the
great fortune to work and study with many masters of the Southwest pottery
traditions, including Lucy Lewis, Emma and Dolores Lewis from Acoma, Fawn
from Hopi, Laura Gauchapin from Jemez and also Juan Quezada from Mata Ortiz,
Mexico (Quezada was presented with the national honor of Artist of the Year
for Mexico in November 1999). Michael began studying with Juan in 1989 and each
year spends two to three months in the village studying and working with
local artists. As his work has developed, he has been interested in taking
these techniques into modern art, which is reflected in his use of more
contemporary shapes and asymmetrical designs to decorate the surfaces.

WEEK EIGHT: July 24 - July 28
ARCHITECTURAL CERAMICS - Marcia Selsor
$250
This class will encompass designing for architectural ceramic ornament,
including corbels, fountains, columns, tiles, fireplace surrounds and
archways. Beginning to Advanced.

Marcia Selsor has been teaching at Montana State University since 1975. She
studied ceramics with Bill Daley at the Philadelphia College of Art and Nick
Vergette at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Her interest in
architectural ceramics combines her passion clay and her intellectual
curiosity of historical architecture in Spain and Central Asia. Marcia has
received Fulbright Scholars' Awards to both Spain and Uzbekistan, where she
has been inspired for her designs. Her architectural pieces have been
exhibited at the Banff Center in Alberta, Canada, the Fetzer Center in
Kalamazoo, Michigan, Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, Montana, to name a few.

FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION CONTACT THE CRAFT CENTER
Appalachian Center for Crafts, 1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
(615) 597-6801, (615) 597-6803 (FAX), or visit www.craftcenter.tntech.edu

GENERAL WORKSHOP INFORMATION
LOCATION & DIRECTIONS
The Craft Center is located in Middle Tennessee approximately 60 miles east
of Nashville and 120 miles west of Knoxville off I-40. From I-40, take Exit
273 onto Hwy. 56 going south for six miles. Upon crossing the bridge over
the lake, turn left immediately at the Craft Center sign (wooden with yellow
lettering on a stone base). That road will take you to the Craft Center
facilities.
WORKSHOP FEES & REQUIREMENTS
A 50% deposit on workshop fee and room/board (if applicable) must accompany
the registration form in order to secure a space in the workshop. The
balance must be paid 10 business days prior to the class. See specific
course descriptions for fee information. Participants must be 18 years of
age or have consent from the instructor to participate in the workshop program.
ACADEMIC CREDIT
Credit is available for some courses through Tennessee Technological
University. Academic fees are in addition to workshop fees. Prior
admission to TTU is required. For more information, contact the Craft
Center, (615) 597-6801.
WORKSHOP HOURS
The classes run from 9am to 4pm, Monday - Friday. Studios are opened in the
evening at the discretion of the workshop instructor. There are also
evening slide presentations and/or demonstrations by the instructors open to
all workshop participants.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE
Registration closes 3 weeks prior to each course; classes have limited space
- Register soon.
REFUNDS
The Craft Center can refund deposits, etc. if notice of participant
cancellation is received no later than 30 days prior to the class. Due to
faculty contracts, material acquisitions, housing and travel agreements, no
refund can be made or applied to other classes after that date. Full
refunds will be made if the Craft Center cancels the workshop.
SUPPLIES
Supplies are purchased by the workshop students; many supplies can be
purchased in the Craft Center Gallery Store. A list of supplies necessary
for any given workshop will be sent to registered participants with their
confirmation packet.
MATERIALS FEES
In some workshops the instructor furnishes supplies and a materials fee is
paid directly to the instructor.
ROOM & BOARD
The cost for Room & Board for a week-long workshop is $265. This includes
five nights (Sunday through Thursday) of shared housing (no single
accommodations available); 15 meals at Mama Lea's Cafe (Sunday dinner,
Monday through Thursday breakfast, lunch and dinner, and Friday breakfast
and lunch). NO REFUNDS FOR MISSED MEALS.
MAMA LEA'S CAFE
The restaurant at the Craft Center is under new management and will be
providing a variety of tasty menus throughout the summer.
HOUSING
Each bedroom has a bathroom, closet, beds and dressers. Rooms are
air-conditioned; linen, blankets and pillows are furnished. Housing is
limited and room assignments will be made on a first come, first served
basis. The Craft Center cannot house families. However, a list of area
accommodations (including nearby camp sites) can be furnished upon request.
Pets are not allowed. Lakeside Resort, approximately two miles from the
Center, has cabins with great views,
lake access and a private boat dock. For information about Lakeside Resort,
call (615) 597-4298.

Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166