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March 2021
Essential Work
Essential Work March 20 - April 24 When the world shut down a year ago, many of us put our lives on pause. People were ordered to stay home, and only work deemed essential carried on. Artists make work for different reasons, but often the artist’s job is to help themselves and others work through difficult thoughts or emotions, or to interpret and digest pivotal social and cultural events. They make work in hard times because they have to. For…
Find out more »April 2021
H2O and Other Interpretations | Jean McLaughlin
Jean McLaughlin will exhibit in the Community 2D Gallery in Burnsville April 3 - May 1, 2021. "My reconnection with printmaking began in the Penland studios after a very long hiatus. The complexity and immediacy snagged me as it had in the past, and I began to explore monotypes, monoprints, woodcuts, and lithography anew. These works were printed from woodcuts carved during the month of January 2021 while I worked in the Penland studio." - Jean McLaughlin The Burnsville gallery…
Find out more »Blizzard Folded Book Structure with Karen Hardy
Blizzard Folded Book Structure with Karen Hardy Stranded by a snow storm during travel, artist Hedi Kyle passed the time experimenting with paper, and invented a unique folded book structure that came to be known as the “blizzard book.” Since then, the basic pattern has been altered and expanded to create numerous additional designs, including the crown book, wheel of fortune, blizzard pockets, crown card, and blizzard boxes. Developed by Hedi and her protégés, a key feature of all these structures is their…
Find out more »May 2021
What a Relief!
What a Relief! A Collection of Relief Woodblock Prints by Local Artists May 8 - June 5, 2021 What a Relief! is an exhibition of the large-scale woodblock prints made by the 18 participants in our October 2020 workshop with BIG INK. After countless hours of carving, participants printed their blocks on BIG INK’s traveling press. The smallest of these large-scale prints is two by three feet, with the largest being four by eight feet. BIG INK, founded in 2012…
Find out more »Pressing Forward
Pressing Forward May 8 - June 5, 2021 Owen Gallery Toe River Arts has invited Asheville Printmakers to exhibit in the Owen Gallery in Spruce Pine. Asheville Printmakers is an independent alliance of artists who express themselves through the medium of the print. Their membership encompasses both experienced and emerging artists, as well as those new to printmaking. Learn more about Asheville Printmakers at ashevilleprintmakers.org. Featured image: A print by Georgia Deal. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Find out more »Community 2D Gallery | Kristan Five
Kristan Five will exhibit in the Community 2D Gallery in Burnsville May 15 – June 19, 2021. "In theory, my work is inspired by our earth's landscape. Globally, much of nature shares the intrinsic beauty of organic lines, textures and color with the human contribution of synthetic elements. This visual union creates complements of color, shape and texture that offer tremendous inspiration for my work. This work is an expression of my belief that landscape is a moment rather than…
Find out more »Monoprints without a Press! with Melanie Finlayson
In this special class, Melanie will push you to experiment with many different monotype techniques! Monotypes are one-of-a-kind prints made by applying and removing inks with a paintbrush or a roller to a plate and then printing the image onto paper. This can all be done without a press! Additional layers can be created by applying another element you will learn called Pochoir, resulting in rich, layered, complex prints. Inks can be wiped and scratched off, dotted on, applied or…
Find out more »Ready, Set, Fold: Innovative Book Structures with Karen Hardy
Ready, Set, Fold: Innovative Book Structures with Karen Hardy Learn the secrets of unique and intricately folded book forms that do not rely on sewing or adhesive. This workshop will focus on bookbinding techniques that take the architecture and action of the book to new levels through masterful paper engineering. Participants will begin with a suite of books folded from a single sheet of paper, building on this basic foundation with more advanced projects. These include such inventions by renowned artist…
Find out more »Twined Basket with Sarita Westrup
Twined Basket with Sarita Westrup When: Saturday, May 22, 2021, 10 AM – 4 PM Where: Toe River Arts Spruce Pine Owen Gallery Create a beautiful and functional twined basket in the round. Learn how to weave with round reed, begin with a six-pointed star base and weave a spiral to form the basket. Finish the lip of the basket and add a strap to hang on the wall. This is a wonderful beginning level basket weaving class; all levels are…
Find out more »The Basics and Beyond: Soft Slab Handbuilding with Liz Zlot Summerfield
This workshop intends to demystify working with soft slabs and paper patterns and offers the essential components to creating unique slab built pots. Participants will learn slab building techniques such as rolling, beveling, and darting while they work on forms such as cups, creamers, and lidded objects. Demonstration and hands-on work time will include pattern making and the construction of a spout, lid, and flange. Included in the workshop is a discussion and demonstration on surface treatment using terra sigillata…
Find out more »June 2021
Soft Slab Construction with Custom Textures and Specialized Surfaces with Amy Sanders
This demonstration and hands-on workshop will focus on soft slab construction while exploring a wide variety of surface enhancements using texture and pattern as an inspiration. Participants will construct personal mark-making and texturing tools to use in their own work; as well as create stamped bisque molds. During the workshop we will also create a variety of forms on which to employ our new surface techniques including an altered slab cup, a plate, and a serving dish. Emphasis in instruction…
Find out more »Two Generations | Ken and Galen Sedberry
Two Generations | Ken and Galen Sedberry June 19 - July 24 Visitors will explore the creations of father and son, Ken and Galen Sedberry. Explore works produced from their shared studio, kiln, booth space, and aesthetic space where ideas are translated into pots. These shared spaces deliver work that is both parallel and divergent. Featured images, left to right: Ken Sedberry, Galen Sedberry Photos courtesy of the artist.
Find out more »Multilayer Screen Printing
Multilayer Screen Printing with Stormie Burns When: June 26 – 27, 9AM – 5PM Where: Toe River Arts Spruce Pine Owen Gallery Register here. Screen printing is one of the most versatile and accessible methods of printmaking! Learn to transfer your drawings and mark making onto silkscreens. In this two-day workshop we will create a small edition of two-color prints on paper while exploring various methods of generating transparencies, exposing screens using photo emulsion, screen registration, and ink mixing. We…
Find out more »Exploring Low Fire Surfaces with Liz Zlot Summerfield
Are you interested in working at low fire but feel intimidated with addressing the surface? This workshop intends to demystify low fire surfaces by introducing you to several techniques, many of which can be used at any temperature. The layering of these techniques has the ability to create a unique depth to the surfaces of your work. The workshop will cover slip trailing, underglazes, sgraffito, and making and applying terra sigillata. All of these techniques can be applied to sculptural…
Find out more »July 2021
Stream of Consciousness | Kat Turczyn
Kat Turczyn will exhibit in the Community 2D Gallery in Burnsville July 3 - 31, 2021. "After almost 40 years of experience in the field of public health statistics, I began painting in oils and have taken numerous workshops from acclaimed painters around the U.S. to perfect my broad-ranged style, which continues to evolve. My art has won recognition through features in magazines, a blue ribbon, and public commissions and showings, and hangs in many private homes around the country…
Find out more »Expressing Inner Thoughts: Bust Out with Melisa Cadell
Participants in this workshop will learn simple hand building techniques enabling them to build ceramic bust forms. They will explore their ability to develop content and build forms that represent the human embodiment of complex emotion. There will be ample discussion about surface considerations specific to the bust and various sculptural forms. Besides working with clay, we will do exercises in free writing as a way to create new ideas for our work. This workshop will offer several ways to…
Find out more »Fresh Produce
Fresh Produce | New Work by Penland School of Craft Studio Coordinators Owen Gallery July 10 - August 14 This exhibition will highlight current work made by the studio coordinator team from the Penland School of Craft. This group of ten individual artists approaches the field of contemporary craft from the broad perspectives of functional objects, sculptures, and two-dimensional works, representing a material range of paper, photography, printmaking, metal, textile, ceramic, wood, and glass. Unique to Fresh Produce | New…
Find out more »Inked Up: Introduction to Block Printing with Roby Leigh Summerfield
This workshop offers the essential components to creating unique relief block prints. Participants will learn how to carve linoleum, ink blocks, and print their own personal imagery. Demonstrations include imagery transfer, building texture, and instruction of the required tools needed to create their own prints. There will be plenty of hands-on work time and each participant will leave with several prints and the required skills to continue their printmaking journey. Open to all levels ages 14(+) Artist Biography: Roby Summerfield…
Find out more »August 2021
Orbits and Fields
Orbits and Fields | Artists Connected to Appalachian State University and the Penland School of Craft August 6 - September 11 The artists in this show move in a wide variety of orbits around and through both Appalachian State University and the Penland School of Craft. Their paths cross one another as fellow students and teachers, as co-workers, co-residents, and fellow community members. They have not all met, but they know one another, in the way that they share common…
Find out more »Community 2D Gallery | Simona Rosasco
Simona Rosasco will exhibit in the Community 2D Gallery in Burnsville August 14 - September 11, 2021. "I gain my creativity from the beauty and diversity of the four season here in WNC, something I never really experienced while living in Florida." - Simona Rosasco The Burnsville gallery is open Thursday - Saturday, 10:30AM - 5PM. Photos courtesy of the artist.
Find out more »Upholstery
Upholstery with Annie Evelyn When: August 16, 21, 22 Where: Toe River Arts Spruce Pine Owen Gallery Register here. Over the course of this class we will completely re-upholster a chair from start to finish. Students will learn to properly remove old fabric, minor frame repair, spring tying, material selection, webbing, cutting foam, basic sewing, stapling, tacking, etc. Please be aware that if you choose to bring a larger chair, finishing may be an unreachable goal. Each student will receive…
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