For immediate release

Contact:

Tracy Michaud Stutzman
tstutzman@mainecrafts.org 207-564-0041
50 Mayo St., Dover-Foxcroft, Maine 04426

Early Registration for Haystack Weekend Workshop

The Maine Crafts Association, a state-wide non-profit organization promoting craft artists, announces open enrollment for the annual weekend of workshops at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle. The workshops are open to both MCA members and non-members and will be held May 15-18, 2008.  A discount goes to those that register early (by February 28, 2008). Contact MCA at info@maine.crafts.org or 207-564-0041 to get application materials.

The weekend workshops are taught by professional craftspeople from around the country selected for the exceptional talent and ability to teach all levels from beginners to advanced.  The exciting line up for this spring includes sessions exploring personal symbols in fiber, enameling, wood and clay surface treatments, metalsmithing, and tin can art.

Craft artist Michael Cullen from Petaluma, California offers a wood workshop entitled: Exploring Patterns and Color. The focus of this workshop is to create and integrate color, texture and pattern on wood. Sample boards and a simple kaleidoscope will be the surface canvas for applying new knowledge. Be prepared for an experience of exciting creativity and unconventional techniques that promote working freely and making discoveries.  All techniques taught in this class can be directly applied to designing, building and texturing furniture. Michael Cullen’s work has been published widely in both books and magazines, such as Scratching the Surface; Inspired by China, Fine Woodworking, Woodwork and American Craft.  His first book: Tops, The Universal Toy (Linden Press) will be out in summer of 2008.      

Those enrolling in Dereck Glaser’s workshop: Metal-Smithing within the Elements, will receive an in-depth view into the world of blacksmithing. Utilizing natural elements; earth, air, fire, and water, participants will learn fire management and control, hammering techniques and material handling. Several of the basic processes of forging steel into useful and decorative objects will be covered. Areas of interest include; simple joinery, botanical forms, historic reproduction, material selection, forge welding and volume study. All students electing to enroll will be exposed to substantial heat, flame, smoke, dirt, soot, sharp edges and more dirt; you gota love it! Dereck Glaser is the owner/operator of DG Forge in Winthrop, Maine. He is also the Executive Director/Blacksmith Instructor of the New England School of Metalwork in Auburn. He has been a featured demonstrator and instructor at numerous venues. His most recent gallery showing was with Maine Sculptors at the Atrium Gallery in Lewiston, Maine.

From Providence, Rhode Island, Jason Green is back in Maine offering a workshop on exploring sculptural clay tile using press molds and hand building techniques. Demonstrations, discussions and hands-on studio inquiry will guide participants as they investigate a variety of fabrication, mold making and surface development methods. Students will expand their own work in a supportive studio environment that encourages experimentation, sharing ideas and creative risk taking. Jason Green’s artwork uses brick, tile and fabricated architectural elements in combination with decorative interior surfaces. His patterned fragments are made using traditional and experimental methods and investigate the relationships between objects, physical spaces, time and memory.  Green has taught ceramics at Walnut Hill High School in Natick, MA since receiving his MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University in 1998.

Back by popular demand, Bobby Hansson from Rising Sun, Maryland offers a unique class  based around the humble tin can, that ubiquitous modern-day vessel. The tin can serves as the starting point of artistic exploration.  Tin working techniques; both traditional and innovative; will be taught; and new ones will be discovered. The creative possibilities extend from the functional to the ornamental, from the wearable to the musical – well somewhat musical. You’ll never look at a tin can the same way again! Bobby Hansson, author of The Fine Art of the Tin Can, has made artwork from tin cans for over 40 years. He has taught tinwork at Haystack, Penland, Arrowmont, Parsons, Peters Valley to name a few.

Have you ever wondered why certain elements, icons, designs, colors and graphics keep showing up in your artwork or even on objects that you buy? We are drawn towards these symbols and tend to use them unconsciously when we create or decorate. Susan Sorrell from Greenville, South Carolina will help you begin your journey exploring your own personal symbols with doodling, embroidery, and printing on fabric. Students will complete a small fiber piece and some pieces to be finished at home. 

Susan Sorrell is a full-time fiber/mixed media artist. Her background is in painting and graphic art, plus she has a Masters Degree in Art Education.  She started working with fabric in 1998 and has been exploring the different ways to express herself with thread, paint and fiber. Susan has been published in many fiber art books and articles about her artwork.

A great introduction to enameling is offered by Stell Shevis from Camden, Maine. This workshop will allow the student to practice several techniques including sifting and graffito, wet inlay, silver inlay, cloisonné and painting enameled surfaces with oxides of metal.  Stell’s enamel pieces have been juried into 7 International Enamel Exhibits, as well as Galleries and Museums around the country. She has written articles for Glass on Metal and her work is featured in Lilyan Bachrach’s book “ Contemporary Enameling” published by Schiffer. Recently she produced two DVDs demonstrating two different techniques that she has developed. 

Each workshop runs from Thursday through Sunday at noon, with evening activities and entertainment. Tuition for workshops includes room and board and basic tools. Haystack Mountain School of crafts is located on Deer Isle, on one of the most spectacular sites along the Maine Coast.  The award winning architecture at Haystack consists of a series of buildings, decks, and stairways cut into a heavily wooded bluff overlooking the ocean, providing an inspirational backdrop for the creative environment.   For more information please contact 207-564-0041 or info@mainecrafts.org.

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Calendar Listing:

Maine Crafts Association presents a spring weekend of contemporary crafts taught by nationally know artists at the fabulous Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine.  Michael Cullen, wood patterns and color; Dereck Glaser, metalsmithing; Jason Green, clay systems and surfaces; Bobby Hansson, tin can art; Susan Sorrell, personal symbols in fiber; Stell Shevis, enameling. May 15-18. FMI contact info@mainecrafts.org , 207-564-0041 or go to www.mainecrafts.org.