Being a Core Fellow has been the most unexplainable experience of my life. How can you explain that for two years you got to live with a group of talented artists, run wild in 9 fully equipped studios, take classes with an ever-changing list of knowledgeable instructors, live, work, and play in Penland, NC…
Goodbye dear Penland I love you.
Recently my dear friend and ceramicist Veva Edelson asked me to assist her with a couple of projects. I helped her with the graphic design for the cream carton above. I also helped her update her website with new images, check it out: VevaEdelson.com. Watching her current work come together has been truly insightful. I love seeing the care and time that goes into each piece.
I went for two long walks today. Quiet and beautiful.
Here it is the new home of Two Step Press, Quill and Arrow and Flatbed Splendor. We are so happy to have found a nice home in West Asheville. The moving in starts on January 1st and hopefully by mid January will be wrapping up. We just have to get a Vandercook #4, Universal III, C&P, guillotine, and 4 Cabinets of type in. No sweat right?
I am so excited to be sharing space with such lovely and talented ladies! I couldn’t imagine a better way to start a new shop.
I just got back from an adventure to New England. It was great to see new places and old friends (Jessica Heikes is rad!). I especially enjoyed my time in the middle of the snowy Maine woods sitting next to a very very old wood stove. Also, I finally got to visit John Barret’s Letterpress Things shop in Massachusetts. Above are photos of the bounty I left with! If you ever get the chance I highly recommend visiting his shop. It is stocked well, organized well, and John was a delight to speak with.
Last week our class went to visit Loy McWhirter at Hellbender Press. It was truly a treat. Loy has a vast collection of presses, type, books, and such. Some of my favorite things were the ATF Specimen book and Loy’s collection of oil cans.
Mercedes Jelinek came up from Louisiana to be the studio assistant in Thomas Neff’s photo class this past summer. On top of being a great photographer she has the rare talent of being able to make people feel comfortable and welcome in front of the camera. Each day at Penland she set up a portable photo booth and took passerby’s photos. After she processes the film she sends each person a quick contact sheet of the photos. It was fun to see people engaging in this project and even more fun to receive my photo strip in the mail last week. Check out her website here to see some of her recent projects.
A peek at my tent sculpture. With a few more late nights and early mornings I might just get this thing done.
Ian Henderson’s amazing toolbox hardware. Come check out the finished piece at this years Core Show. Opening October 14th at Penland.
I am back in the letterpress studio! This fall I get to spend eight weeks in the shop with Paul Moxon. I picked up a copy of his new book, Vandercook Presses, and you should too! It features a beautiful letterpress cover and loads of information about Vandercooks. I am also in the midst of looking for studio space in Asheville. Beth and I found a 1450sqft space, we just need 3 friends to join us.
This past week I was assisting in Penland’s letterpress studio for the Instructor Retreat. It was an amazing event at which about 100 instructors came to work and experiment in new mediums. Above is a shot of Matthew Hebert‘s Arduino demo. It blew my mind.
I am an artist , designer and printmaker living and working in North Carolina. Go Away Winter is a collection of my days.
