The Arkansas Craft School announces an exceptional assortment of craft and visual arts workshops happening throughout the summer months. As always participants are creating some exceptional work under the guidance of our fabulous master teachers…. and they are having a fabulous time!
Here’s the lineup of our workshops for June and July…..
June 5 – 7 – NATURAL EDGE BOWLS AND VESSELS – WOODTURNING WITH GENE SPARLING
Explore how to make various styles of natural edge bowls, pots, and vessels – from regular natural edge open bowls to enclosed pot forms – from green logs, on the lathe. Gene Sparling is a professional wood turning artist who lives in, and has a studio and gallery in the Ouachita Mountains, just outside Hot Springs National Park Arkansas. He creates wooden furniture, sculpture, and beautiful turned bowls, which are displayed at the Ozark Fold Center and the Artkansas Craft Guild among other galleries throughout Arkansas.
RAKU WITH BECKI & DAVID DAHLSTEDT
Raku is a low-fire ceramic glazing method that is exciting, often unpredictable, dramatic, and fun! Glazed pots are quickly heated, then remove from the kiln when the glaze has melted, and immersed in an organic combustible material such as sawdust or newspaper to affect the final outcome. This will definitely be a hands on class!
Dahlstedt’s Pottery is known throughout Arkansas for its beautiful earth tone glazed stoneware. After years of demonstrating at the Ozark Folk Center, Becki and David established a full time pottery business and began producing an extensive line of functional dinnerware, as well as one-of-a-kind pieces. Deeply engaged in the craft community, the Dahlstedts are founding members of the Arkansas Craft Guild, a juried statewide crafts cooperative. Becki also founded the Off the Beaten Path studio tour in Mountain View AR, and sits on the board of the Arkansas Craft Guild and voluntarily manages their gallery in Mountain View.
June 12-14 DOVE-TAIL LOG CONSTRUCTION WITH DAVE SMITH
Master Log-builder Dave Smith will cover all aspects of building a dovetail-style log cabin, from digging the foundation, to chinking, to putting on the roof. Students will be cutting dovetail notches and building a ten-by fourteen foot cabin on site. The construction of the cabin will take place at Bear Pen Farm, which is located in Fox, Arkansas, approximately 25 miles from Mountain View. Lunch will be provided at no extra charge.
Dave Smith moved from Illinois to the mountains of North-central Arkansas in 1972, drawn by the promise of a simpler life lived close to the land. He bought 80 acres of unimproved woodland and over the next 40 years he and his wife, Maria have turned 80 acres of wilderness into a thriving subsistence farm. He built his first cabin, a Navajo-style Hogan at the age of 22. Today Dave and Maria live in a beautiful solar-powered home that they constructed out of virgin yellow pine logs, squared on two sides and built in the style of Appalachian and Ozark dovetail buildings.
Location: Bear Pen Farm, Fox, Arkansas
June 19 – 21 INTRODUCTION TO KNIFE MAKING WITH JIM CROWELL
This class is for beginning knifemakers, and covers how to make a simple stock removal knife. The student will layout, cut out, grind, heat treat and handle a simple full tang knife. Students can go home with a simple, serviceable knife of their own manufacture.
Award winning James Crowell earned the distinction of Master Bladesmith from the American Bladesmith Society in 1986 and was certified as the first, non- founding father instructor for the American Bladesmith Society (ABS) that same year. Jim teaches all over the country and his flawless work, regarded by many as among the best hand forged knives produced, has won many awards and is collections worldwide.
Location: Jim Crowell’s knife-making studio, near Timbo, Arkansas
June 19-21 INTRODUCTION TO PRINTMAKING WITH DANIEL ADAMS
Block printing is a beautiful and ancient process of printmaking from hand carved blocks. The artist carves and image into the block removing all the non-printed area. The surface is then rolled with ink and printed onto paper or fabric. In this workshop students will learn all aspects of the process. The endless possibilities of block printing can be applied to limited edition artist prints, greeting cards, book arts, wall paper or printed fabric.
Daniel Adams is a professor in the Department of Art and Design at Harding University. He teaches printmaking, graphic design, and a variety of art history and visual aesthetic courses. His work is widely exhibited and collected.
JULY WORKSHOPS
§ JULY 3: 6:30 – 8:00 ART-NIGHT- TURNING ON THE POTTER’S WHEEL
w/ David Dahlstedt This is a Free event. David will demonstrate his amazing skill throwing skills. Dahlstedt Pottery will be available for sale
JULY 4: FUN IN THE MUD – ONE DAY OF CLAY WITH DAVID DAHLSTEDT
This one day clay immersion gives novice ceramic explorers a chance to get their hands in the mud to learn the basics of shaping clay. There will be demonstrations for a slab clay project, as well as wheel throwing. Students will have the opportunity to try hand building techniques; such as a pinch pots, coil pots or slab form, or receive hands-on assisted wheel play time. On the wheel, students will learn simple throwing techniques by throwing “off the hump” after clay is already centered.
JULY 11 – 13: HAND CARVED WOODEN BOWLS WITH OWEN REIN
Learn to carve Beautiful wooden bowls in a variety of shapes and sizes using only a few
simple hand tools and locally harvested green wood. Each aspect of will be covered. Appropriate to all skill levels, this class is for those with strong arms who appreciate a quiet and slower way of working with wood than power tools.
JULY 15 – 16: THE BUSINESS OF CRAFT – GET READY FOR YOUR SUCCESS WITH ROBERTA KATZ-MESSENGER
A two-day workshop/seminar to get you ready for the next step in your craft career.
Wherever you might be professionally, whether you simply have a passion or are already an accomplished artisan, “Your Success” lays out the steps to overcome roadblocks and achieve your objectives. Roberta Katz-Messenger and Sue Allen Pico bring experience, practical advice, resources, ideas and answers to a workshop built around you. This team has the expertise you need. Get the steps for creating a body of work, setting achievable goals, and having a successful marketing plan. Join “Your Success” for small group discussions and one to one counseling. You will take away a plan tailored just for you, the steps needed to achieve that plan, and resources needed for the next step in your career.
JULY 25 – 26: PORTABLE WEAVING -TABLET WEAVING WITH ANGELA SCHNEIDER
Tablet weaving or card weaving uses simple equipment to produce patterned warp-faced bands. This workshop covers the basics of reading a pattern, setting up a warp and weaving. Produce multiple patterns on the same warp by changing the turning sequence. We will weave a sampler, and then you will select your own pattern and weave a project.
JULY 31 – AUG 2: WOODTURNING WITH JIMMY CLEWES
Jimmy Clewes is not your ordinary woodturner. Upon a first meeting one would think of him as a renegade, a free thinker and not within the stereotypical image of a woodturner. His charming British style, unending wit, creative mind and magnetic personality are only some of the attributes that make him popular in the woodturning demonstration circuit. In this class, Jimmy will cover everything from the basics to more advanced techniques and tips. Projects will include the turning of bowls, platters and boxes. As a technique of embellishment, the coloring of wood will be included in the class instruction. Emphasis will be upon improving tool technique, reducing the need to sand. Design, shape, form and aesthetics will be considered in all projects.
For more information on these and other classes visit…
Arkansas Craft School’s website, www.arkansascraftschool.org
here you can learn more about these and other upcoming classes. Find registration forms, and information about scholarships as well as scholarship application forms. Students may also sign up for classes by calling Lucia Vinograd at (870) 269-8397.
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The Arkansas Craft School, located in Mountain View, Arkansas is dedicated to the education of aspiring and practicing craft artisans for success in the Creative Economy. The Craft School partners with Ozarka College and Pulaski Technical College, who offer Continuing Education credits for all Craft School courses. Support for the Arkansas Craft School is provided, in part, by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, and the National Endowment of the Arts.
For more information and to registration for one of these workshops go to www.Arkansascraftschool .com or call (870) 269-8397
