What a week this has been!! Today was kind of a get-it-all-together-and-pack-it-up kind of day. In my class, people still had some hand-dyed items to heat set and dry. While Kathrin helped them with that, Leslie demonstrated spinning silk. She gave us each a little sample and off we went. Leslie advised spinning it from the fold as it's easier to manage that way. What a strong thread it makes!
I visited the Gift Shop and paid off my debt. I bought a few Christmas presents, got some ideas for projects for Andy's new hobby, bought little surprises for Earl Gray's caretakers, etc. After lunch, several of us just sat and visited in the herb garden -- knitting, talking, spinning, just a relaxing time together with new friends.
At 3:00 PM, we had a class meeting to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly re: the class. This was the first time Kathrin and Leslie had taught this class and they wanted feedback. No one could think of anything but good, so the meeting was short! Kathrin and Leslie gave each of us a Certificate of Achievement and Andy took a class picture for us. Above is a picture of Davidson Hall where our studio was housed.
Next, it was time to get ready for the student exhibit. Being a first-timer, I didn't know what to expect. We went up to the Keith House's Community Room and found covered tables with risers, easels, etc. on which each class could display their work. And display we/they did!!! What a fabulous amount and quality of work! Very inspiring! Please click on each picture to see a larger view. I'm going to show a picture of each class's exhibit table. I hope the captions stay with the photos once I hit SAVE. We'll see!
First, is our exhibit - SPINNING & DYEING. We had a great display made better by Judy's laptop computer which played a continuous loop of pictures Kathrin took during the past week. The pictures were fantastic! and added so much to our display.
The next class to be represented was HIKING. This class hiked a total of 36 miles during the week. Each morning, they would don their backpacks, grab a bag lunch, and hit the trail. Their display was also enriched by the photo loop playing on the laptop. Great photos!
Now, this is a class I can definitely see myself taking!! ENAMELING. Their work was gorgeous!! They made jewelry, switchplates, and just tiles. Some were enameled over copper and others over steel. Some were handpainted, others were stamped and then painted. All were gorgeous!
PAPERMAKING This class made paper with a wide variety of materials. They even made little bags out of their paper. They displayed their marbleized paper and rag paper.
HERBS This class displayed herb wreaths, bath salts, satchets, recipes, paper made with herbs, herbal vinegars, etc. This week, they were very busy -- working in the garden, cooking and making / sharing a lunch and afternoon tea, AND making all the things you see here.
WOODTURNING This class really turned out the stuff! The woods they used were so pretty. Look at this one with turquoise inlay. This one was my favorite.
CLAY This class concentrated on the formulas to make glazes. I heard one student mention that she was taking the class because she wanted to make tiles for her new bathroom. In the photo, you see pieces of clay that have been stuck into different glazes to test the colors.
BLACKSMITHING This was another class that seemed to be prolific! They made a lot of stuff for a week-long period. Andy made a toilet paper roll holder, an assortment of hooks, three hose guides, and about six tools for use during blacksmithing. One student made five very pretty knives. Another student made a rack with hooks to hang in a kitchen or hallway.
JEWELRY OH MY GOSH was this stuff ever gorgeous!!! Some of it was just silver or gold. Other pieces had stone(s) set in them. Some of it was woven. The instructor brought some stones with her, some of the students brought their own, and one student actually made the glass beads she was using.
BEADWEAVING This seemed like a really neat class. Each student designed their piece on graph paper and then executed the design on the bead loom. Prescription eyeglasses and/or magnification - definitely mandatory for this class!
MIXED MEDIA Look at all the work the Mixed Media class generated! WOW!
BANJO What pressure! These folks were all beginners. Learning to play and then to have to play and sing in front of 100 people the first week! They did a great job!
Last but certainly not least was the TIMBER FRAMING class. These projects were BIG! Most everyone worked on something for their garden - an arbor, a covered swing, a gazebo, etc. The projects all come apart -- note the pegs. Mandatory for this class - you had to drive a vehicle capable of carrying your project home at the end of the week! One of these projects was being driven back to Wisconsin!
There were people here this week from ALL over. I met a staff member of the New York Times from New Jersey, an oncologist from Louisiana, an anesthesiologist from Virginia, a classmate from California, etc. Just like the class participants here, the instructors were from all over. The Mixed Media instructor was from Mississippi, the Clay and Enameling instructors were from Florida, the Timber Framing instructor was from Tennessee/Oregon, the Blacksmithing instructor was from Ohio, etc. They are also some of the best of the best. The Timber Framing teacher teaches a course at Duke University on Alternative Architecture to the Architectural Engineering students. He has been asked to participate in building the governor's house in Jamestown as part of the 400th anniversary celebration. One of the Mixed Media students is a graphic illustrator and illustrated an excellent herb book sold in the gift shop. Of course, when people learned that, the gift shop sold out of the book and he was kind enough to autograph everyone's copy. I met a staff member of the New York Times from New Jersey, an oncologist from Louisiana, an anesthesiologist from Virginia, etc.
From all walks of life, paths cross at John C. Campbell Folk School.