Penland School of Craft

aerial view, Penland campus

So here it is, my official post to share a gigantic, big-adventure, life-list, happy, crazy-excited, enterprise I am about to embark on.  In April I found out that I received a full scholarship to the Penland School of Craft. Full, as in classes paid for, and room and board paid for.  I have such gratitude for such generosity.  

What is Penland about?  According to their website, Penland is "a national center for craft education located in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains" and its "focus on excellence, its long history, and its inspiring, retreat setting have made it a model of experiential education".  If you haven't gone to the website, well, then, abandon this blog post right now and hit it.  You won't be sorry you did. 

I have no idea what to expect during my time at Penland, but I do know it has the feel of adult summer art camp and serious work combined into one cool package and I can't wait to find out what that might be like.  According to their student handbook "While at Penland, you can expect to work hard, learn a lot, make friends, and forget about the rest of the world in an isolated setting without the distractions of phone, TV, or daily newspapers.You can also plan to have fun, eat well,and get the kind of rest that comes from total immersion in something you love".  Amazingly awesome. I honestly can't remember ever having an adventure like this by myself, no family, no friends, no significant other, just me.  GULP.  Well, just me and a bunch of crazy artists, new friends I haven't made yet. Um, hell to the yeah.

The Pines Portico - dining hall, rooms, life

A big thank you to my dear friend Rachel Williams  and one of my favorite profs at LSSC, Dr Melanie Wagner, who both wrote beautiful, amazing letters of recommendation for me.  I have no doubt that the letters helped significantly in my getting the scholarship.

printmaking desks and studio
one of these will me mine, yeah.

The class I am taking is John Hitchcock - Print Blitz: Alternative Screenprint Methods held in the printmaking studio.  Scroll down almost to the bottom of the page on the link and you'll find the Week 5 class.  I really don't have any experience in printmaking at all, but have had interest percolating for quite a while now.  Interest percolating and a sense of it running parallel to some other work I've been doing.  My watercolors tend to be little illustrations, which I think lend themselves to printmaking. And during my drawing class at school one of the things I loved most was pen and ink.  Some of my work done during that time period had the strong feel of printmaking.  So...parallels and interest and I'm ready to take the next step right off the ledge and into two-and-a-half weeks of wtf. Yeah.

Here's the address for snail mail while I am there:

Michele Pietrzak
Penland School
PO Box 37
Penland, NC, 28765

I'd love to hear from you while I'm tucked snugly in the mountains of North Carolina, that much is for sure. Please write, send a postcard, make a silly drawing on a paper placement, fold it into origami and put it in an envelope, just send me something sweet and fun to open while I am gone.  I'd really love it.

Gratitude.  Excitement.  Promise.  Happiness.

Sculpture Workshop

   I had a fabulous creative time this past Saturday at fiber sculpture workshop held at Mount Dora Center for the Arts. I spent the day with five other fabulous women artists.   The class was taught by Regine Dossche.

Class in Progress
Liz, Lynn, Kate, Regine, and me
(Krysta not picutred ~ Photographer)

Liz Wincup

Lynn Herrick

Kate Hall

Krysta Smith
Regine Dossche

and Me!

 It was beautiful, really.

We spent the morning building the body with wire, aluminium foil and masking tape.  Then we took a break for lunch at Oudom Thai right next door to the MDCA where we had an interesting time and experience with some new foods. There were a few first time Thai eaters, and Regine treated us all to fried cheesecake, which I had never had before.  Oudom does it in such a nice way, it was fabulous, but I think I'll try and avoid it. So bad! But, oh, so good!

making the armature

Kate Hall concentrating on her mermaid

After lunch we came back and used Powertex, a textile hardener that comes in beautiful natural colors...white, green, grey, red, terracotta, etc. to create the covering and drapery of the sculptures.  

Lynn Herrick

 

Me, work in progress, wet sculpture
adding her shawl

I loved this medium and hope I can explore the many other ways to use it. It seems limitless, really.  I'm so proud of my girl, I love her so!

finished sculpture
10"x7"x12"

Hi there, I'm so happy to have a new blog with all the info for my art and art related activities.  Thanks for checking it out.  Love!

Robot Love card

Where you can see my art

~Mount Dora 2nd Friday Gallery Walk~

Original Paintings, Prints and Cards and Me (live and in person)

April 12, 2013

6 - 8ish

This event happens every 2nd Friday in Mount Dora.

Walk all over beautiful downtown Mount Dora 

 and see a bunch of great art. 

I will be the featured artist at 

Sonia Watson's

Earth Diva Studio

One of the many great 

Baker Street Artists' Studios 

located in the 

Sunset Building 

301 N Baker St

Mount Dora, Florida

Come on out to see me and all the other fantastic artists 

that call Mount Dora home.

~Serendipity Gallery~

Original Paintings, Prints, and Cards

April 2013

Located right next to Bev Neal's 

Painting Outside the Lines Gallery

440 N. Donnelly St

Mount Dora, Florida

Just go to One Flight Up and head straight down the 

hall and it's the first gallery on the left.

Pop on over to Bev's right next door before

stopping in for a snack and beverage

at 1FU.

~Under the Cherry Blossoms~

Cards

This is a great little shop located at 

443 North Donnelly St

Mount Dora, Florida

They specialize in handmade goodies and local artwork

right in downtown Mount Dora.

Owners Lynn and Lori and the best and 

you can find all sorts of great art and fun things.

Stop on in.  

Tell them I said "Hi!"