Press & Newspaper Information - Yadkin Valley Craft GuildThis page of our site will feature previous newspaper articles about the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild as well as press worthy updates (press releases) for publishing in your local newspaper.
Press Release By Denise Lyon The Yadkin Valley Craft Guild has quickly become an important part of the tapestry of the local arts community and of downtown Elkin in particular. Their Gallery on Main Street is a gathering place of talented local craftspeople and their works, and on a monthly basis offers a different intriguing Exhibition that is a favorite at Elkin's 4th Friday events.
Event Announcement
Yadkin
Valley Craft Guild – “With the Grain”
– An exhibition featuring the works of Guild Members in wood will open with a
reception on Friday, August 22 from 5 – 8 pm at the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild
Gallery at 122 West Main Street in Elkin.Enjoy the opening and an evening of 4th Friday music and
events in Historic Downtown Elkin.The
exhibition ends September 25th and a new one opens every 4th
Friday. Event Announcement Yadkin Valley Craft Guild - "New Potters Exhibition" - A new show featuring the works of the students in the inaugural classes of Clayworks ceramics and clay studio in Elkin. Opening reception is Friday, July 25 from 5 - 8 during Historic Downtown Elkin's "4th Friday" events. The show runs until August 21 and a new one opens every 4th Friday.
Event Announcement Yadkin Valley Craft
Guild
– “Gems and Jewels and Goblets, Oh My!” - A shiny and glittering exhibition
featuring the works of Guild Members in jewelry, glassware, and stained glass
will open with a reception on Friday, June 27 from 5 – 8 pm at the Yadkin
Valley Craft Guild Gallery on Main Street in Elkin.Enjoy the opening and an evening of “4th
Friday” events with music by “Big Daddy Love” as well as the shops, restaurants
and winery in historic downtown Elkin. The
exhibition ends July 24 and a new one opens every 4th Friday.Learn more about the Guild at 336-835-2717 or
at www.yadkinvalleycraftguild.org. Event Announcement The Yadkin Valley Craft Guild presents “Shades of Blue,” opening Friday, May 23rd in conjunction with Downtown Elkin’s Fourth Friday. Featuring new works by YVCG members (ie: local and regional artisans), the “Shades of Blue” exhibit will showcase pottery, jewelry, glasswork and more, all incorporating the color blue. The YVCG will open a new show every month during Fourth Friday, with a reception from 5:00 to 7:00. For more information visit our shop at 122 West Main St., Elkin, call us at (336) 835-2717 or visit our website:www.yvcg.org. Support your local arts!
Event Announcement The grand opening of Yadkin
Valley Clayworks ceramics studio and classroom is this Saturday, May 17 in
Elkin during the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival.Visitors can tour the studio, meet local potters and ceramicists from
the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild and sign up for classes which begin in May.The newly renovated studio is the first of
the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild’s satellite craft education facilities and is
located at the edge of Elkin Recreation Park on Front Street near the Elkin
Fire Department.Thanks to the Town of
Elkin, Surry County Commissioners and the Golden LEAF Foundation, the new clay
shop has a bright and shiny new face of white walls and colorful furnishings
with lots of posters illustrating many facets of ceramics.It is2,500 square feet and boasts 10 wheels, a new heavy duty slab roller,
two clay extruders, two new kilns and numerous other items to make a fun and
rewarding clay experience for anyone attending classes.Initial classes offered will include
beginning and intermediate classes in hand building and wheel throwing, bead
making and other ceramic jewelry forms, wind chimes clay works, ceramic bird
houses and numerous children’s and youth classes.Courses will be offered and added depending
on public interest.Hundreds of hours
of planning and volunteer work have gone into the opening of the new
studio.It is anticipated to be the
first of several more media studios offered by the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild in
glass, metal, wood, fiber and photography.Get the complete class schedule, costs and more information on the
Yadkin Valley Craft Guild at www.yadkinvalleycraftguild.org.
Press Release Inspiration + Education
= Creation
By Mary Mascenik
When you see a handmade
item for sale in a shop or craft fair, do you find yourself wanting
to touch it, turn it over, hold it up to the light or examine the inside?
You likely want to figure out how it was made. You examine the
workmanship. You appreciate the subtlety of the details, but you
never really get close to the process of its creation.
This Friday night, at the
Yadkin Valley Craft Guild’s main gallery at 122 West Main Street in
Elkin, you will have an opportunity to see behind the scenes in an artisan’s
studio. Through photographs, you will see the Guild’s apprentices
at work, learning from their mentors and developing the skills necessary
to produce a finely-crafted product. You can also meet both mentors
and apprentices, ask questions, and understand how they are coping with
the devil in the details. Quilters will be demonstrating the attachment
of binding to several completed quilts. Light refreshments and
beverages will be served. Everyone is welcome to the opening night
celebration, from 5 – 8 pm on Friday, April 25th.
The show runs through May 22nd.
Titled “Inspiration +
Education = Creation,” the gallery show features the works of ten
apprentices in clay, glass, wood-turning, and printmaking/frame-making.
Apprentices work from 8 to 35 hours a week with their mentors (and on
their own) to build sufficient skill to start earning an income from
sales of their products. The Mentor-Apprentice Program is funded
by grants from the NC Rural Center and the Golden LEAF Foundation.
It is a grassroots economic development effort to build artisan entrepreneurs
in an 18-county area in northwest North Carolina and southwest Virginia,
where heavy job losses occurred in the textile, tobacco and furniture
industries.
Current apprentices are:
Dianna Heft of Elkin in wood-turning under mentor Glenn Mace
of Mocksville; Erik Dahlager of Traphill in printmaking/frame-making
under John and Shirley Furches of Elkin; Linda Jacobs of Mocksville
in clay under Warren Moyer of the Sawtooth Center in Winston-Salem;
Jessica Wright of Hamptonville in clay under Richard Montgomery
of Surry Community College, Dobson; Charles Cummings of Dobson,
Shirley Edwards of Hamptonville, and Mary Mascenik of State Road in
glass under Barbara Elmore of State Road; and Sybil Stafford of
Clemmons, Bill Colvard of Jonesville, and Georgie Stone of State Road
in clay under Doris Petersham of Elkin.
An aspiring craft artisan
who would like information about the Mentor-Apprentice Program should
consult the Guild’s website, www.yadkinvalleycraftguild.org, or contact
the program’s coordinator, Mary Mascenik, at 336-414-7749.
Press Release
A Picture
is Worth a Thousand Words
This old adage has never
been truer for today’s craft artisan who vies with thousands of able
competitors for acceptance into regional and national shows. These
are venues where the artist gains credibility, possibly wins a “best
in show” award and, not incidentally, hopes to make sales.
In the pre-digital age,
the jury committee of a craft show required images of an artist’s
work to be presented in slide format; that is, taken by a film camera
and made into a tangible cardboard-edged mini-photo. The artist
then labeled these originals appropriately, filled out a paper application,
and US-mailed this bundle to the jury committee of a given craft show,
hoping that it wouldn’t get lost or damaged in the process.
The artist would repeat this laborious and costly endeavor for every
show to which he or she wanted admission.
The jury committee, continuing
this time-consuming and exacting work, would load the slides of all
entrants in order, hopefully, not backwards or upside-down,
hopefully, without a thumbprint in the middle or a wayward slide
lost under the table, hopefully. All this before the gathering
of jurors in a dark room to witness days of projected slides on the
silver screen, comments, opinions, and the inevitable slide stuck in
the projector.
Looking back, it’s a
wonder the show ever got off the ground!
Nowadays, digital photography
prevails for craft show applications. Its ease and cost effectiveness
make it logical for both the artist and the jury. Further pushing
both into the digital age are the photographic equipment companies:
they’ve discontinued production of the accoutrements of the traditional
film slide: the projector and the screen.
But, entrepreneurship to
the rescue! There are now at least three web-based companies that
provide “soup to nuts” coverage of the application process for nearly
all juried fine craft shows. ZAPP (www.zapplication.org), CaFE (www.callforentry.org), and JAS (www.juriedartservices.com) are examples of these helpful enterprises.
The artist simply selects
from a list of craft shows represented by the website, completes an
application, and highlights the digital images of artwork from a gallery
of photos previously uploaded to the site, all of which are password
protected. The artist controls the layout of the works and sees
exactly what the jurors will see. For a small fee, the site submits
each application to its appropriate jury committee.
The result is that all
artwork in the system is in a consistent, high-quality, digital format
which the jurors can score online. No more bleary eyes after hours
in a dark projection room, plus an easier and fairer consideration of
each artist’s application.
Because a picture is indeed
worth a thousand words, the digital images of an artist’s work should
be of the highest professional quality. To that end, the Yadkin
Valley Craft Guild is sponsoring a two-day workshop in digital imaging
on Saturday, April 5 and Sunday, April 6, 2008.
Titled “Professionally
Photograph Your Artwork in a Cube,”
the workshop includes lectures, slide shows and a hands-on component
presented by Tom Zwierlein. He will teach artists working in any
medium how to digitally photograph their artwork in a tabletop “cube”
for professional results.
Tom Zwierlein, studio artist
and visual arts coordinator, has been teaching art at the Lovett and
Callanwolde Arts Center in Atlanta since 1987. He has taught at University
of Kentucky and has been a visiting artist at many craft schools and
colleges, including The Penland School, the Hambidge Center, and the
Georgia High School Governor's Honors Program at Valdosta State.
Mr. Zwierlein was a founding faculty member of the Anderson Ranch Ceramics
Program in the late 1970s under the direction of Paul Soldner, and is
a contributing writer for the international ceramic magazine Clay Times.
His educational credentials include both photography and ceramic majors
at Kent State University where he earned his BFA in the early 1970s.
He continued there as a studio potter for a few years before pursuing
his MFA at the University of Kentucky.
The two-day workshop fee
is $30 for Guild members and $45 for non-members. It is possible
to register for either the lecture or the hands-on session. Enrollment
in the hands-on session is limited due to space and equipment considerations.
The Saturday, April 5 program will take place in the cooperating ceramic
department of Surry Community College in Dobson. The Sunday, April
6 program will take place at the Recreation Department facility in Elkin.
Each day’s session will run from 10 am to 4 pm.
Applications are available
from the Guild’s website at www.yadkinvalleycraftguild.org or by telephoning the Guild Gallery
at 336-835-2717.
Press Release Guilds of Yore Continue to Thrive
Today
Unique handmade products
are the new growth industry in this corner of North Carolina, though
the folks here are no strangers to making things by hand. Women
through the centuries have worked with fibers - spinning, knitting,
weaving, felting, and sewing them – while the menfolk tended the animals
that produced those fibers. That stereotype has changed with the
times, but the guilds that have encouraged their efforts have not.
Local fiber artists of
all stripes, from aspiring to accomplished, are sharing their skills
through support groups, as they have for generations in this neck of
the woods. Several venues offer encouragement and hands-on support
to artisans and hobbyists in quilting, spinning, weaving, felting, knitting
and crocheting.
To judge from the turnout
at the initial meetings of the Foothills Quilt Guild, there are
a good many people interested in the art and craft of the quilt.
And the numbers are growing. Some 25 quilters have come to each
of the three meetings so far, and more than 50 are on the group’s
mailing list. They are experienced quilting instructors and craft
show prize winners, as well as eager intermediates and curious beginners.
Their ages span thirty-something to nonagenarian.
Joan Sanders and Carol
McDowell created the group, which is loosely organized and has no officers
or dues. “The quilting group actually grew out of a desire to
get to know like-minded folk in the neighborhood,” says Carol.
Both women attended the annual show of North Carolina Quilter’s Association
in Mars Hill last year and came away determined to start a guild here
in Elkin. They assumed they’d be starting small. However,
the volume of interest in their show at the Galloway Episcopal Church
during the Pumpkin Festival last September proved them wrong.
Quilters came out of the woodwork to volunteer their handiwork for display.
More than 80 quilted items – bed-coverings, wall-hangings, pillows,
vests, even an ecclesiastical stole – were submitted by area quilters.
“We lost track of the hundreds of people who came,” says Carol.
“We’re very grateful to the parishioners of Galloway for generously
providing their historic church for our show.”
It was an auspicious beginning
for the group, which has since featured several educational programs
at its monthly meetings. Topics such as “quilting with neckties”
and “the decorative use of yo-yo’s” (an 18th century
flattened cloth embellishment) have informed and entertained the quilters.
Georgia Bonesteel, who designed the Teapot Museum quilt, has discussed
her inspiration and shown her work, as well.
The Foothills Quilt Guild
meets at the Foothills Arts Council, 124 Church St. in Elkin, on the
third Tuesday of the month at 1 pm. Their next meeting is February
19. Anyone interested in attending is welcome. For further
information, call Carol McDowell at 336-526-5159 or Joan Sanders at
336-835-6351.
Another local source of
camaraderie, inspiration and support for fiber artists is the Mountain
Homespun Fiber Guild. As a group, they have shared their
love of color and fiber for more than fifteen years. They welcome
new members interested in weaving, spinning, knitting, crocheting and
any of the many ways of manipulating fibers. The guild meets on
the second Tuesday of each month, rotating its meeting place among Elkin,
Sparta and Independence, Va. It is also loosely organized, with
members from each of the three geographic areas planning upcoming meetings.
They have an annual “Dye
Day” in early fall when members bring a dye pot full of collected
plant materials, like pokeberry, goldenrod, lichen or walnuts, to share
with the others in naturally dyeing various fibers. The fibers
themselves are often harvested from animals owned by members:
mohair from goats, wool from sheep, angora from rabbits, even the under-fur
of dogs! Members have enjoyed one-day workshops in marbling cloth,
felting, and triangle loom weaving, among other topics. Sometimes
an excursion is planned to a fiber show at a museum or to the Piedmont
Craftsmen and Fiber Company gallery shops in Winston-Salem. Currently,
a small study group within the guild is learning the subtleties of overshot
weaving.
For further information
on the Mountain Homespun Fiber Guild,
call Nancy Goodwin at 336-527-2038 or Kathy Hill at 276-579-3190.
The Circle of Friends
Yarn Shop and Fiber Art Studio,
located at 120 West Main Street, Elkin, is another source of ideas,
supplies and friendship for the needle-clickers, shuttle-throwers and
twisted-spinners among us. Owner Ruth Hutton is a member of the
Yadkin Valley Craft Guild and has had a 26-year career in textile design
for jacquard looms. The palette of yarn colors in her shop is
eye-popping and the various fibers and textures make the yarns incredibly
versatile. She carries looms and spinning wheels, as well as a
large inventory of knitting, crocheting, and felting supplies.
The large work table in the center of the store is usually abuzz with
happy creative conversation. Ruth’s hands-on assistance makes
her a fiber artist’s treasured friend. Spinning and weaving
instruction is available by appointment, as is studio time for fiber
preparation, spinning, dyeing, and weaving. She offers both evening
and weekend classes in a continually changing spectrum of projects.
These are best explored on the shop’s website: www.circleoffriendsnc.com.
February is for lovers, and for lovers of fibers, Ruth has a “Sweetheart
Sale” with their name on it. Plan to stop in and get lost among
the yarns. For further information, call Ruth Hutton at 336-526-3100.
And finally, for those
with considerable weaving or spinning skill, the Handweavers Guild
of America offers a “Learning Exchange” program. Focusing
on one targeted topic, the participants in this program mail small samples
of their work to a coordinator for critique. Four exchange programs
are offered each year, two in spinning and two in weaving. This
is truly a global fiber support group for accomplished artisans,
and is an option to those for whom a local guild is impractical.
To be included, a person must be a member of the Handweavers Guild of
America, which can be achieved via their website and requires no juried
approval. For further information, visit www.weavespindye.org.
Press Release By Mary Mascenik “We never expected to
sell what we did on our opening day,” said Deb Saladin about the debut
of Howlin’ Wolf Creations, a new stained glass shop located
at 113 West Main Street in Elkin. She and her partner Sally Johnson
had a $1000 day on December 15th when their doors welcomed
customers for the first time. “Now we have a mark to beat,”
said Deb. The pair, who started a stained glass hobby in an attic
room eight years ago, is thrilled with their new business.
Howlin’ Wolf Creations
is located in the former Surry Gift Shoppe space and hopes to benefit
from the familiarity of that local landmark. The owners are members
of the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild where they have volunteered as saleswomen
every Saturday. “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the
Guild, the Town of Elkin, and our co-workers. With their encouragement,
we realized, ‘Hey, we can do this!’” said Deb.
Their opening is a triumph
for the Guild also, whose goal is to enhance economic development in
an 18-county area in northwest North Carolina and southwest Virginia.
Howlin’ Wolf Creations fulfills the mission of the Yadkin Valley Craft
Guild to develop professional crafts markets and to promote crafts education.
The shop joins other businesses on West Main Street that are devoted
to art, fine craft, needlework and antiques.
Howlin’ Wolf Creations
stocks a broad variety of glass, tools, patterns and information for
the craftsperson, as well as completed works such as sunshine catchers
and mobiles. The owners aim to create a one-stop shop for everything
that’s needed in glass crafting - including inspiration. Evening
and weekend classes will begin in mid-January at the West Main Street
studio. These will feature both leaded and foiled stained glass,
fused and slumped “warm glass,” and jewelry encompassing many techniques.
The studio plans to feature artisans from the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild
demonstrating how to combine skills from other media with glass.
In addition, Deb and Sally will offer children’s mosaic art camps
in the summertime. The primary focus of their shop will be instruction
and the partners anticipate that their biggest revenue will come from
classes.
“It’s a working studio
for us too,” said Sally. “We’ll still be taking orders for
custom installations and working on them here. We welcome folks
to stop by and watch. There’s always a pot of coffee on.”
The partners supply glass items to the Gift Shop at Old Salem and to
All Things North Carolina in Mocksville. They received a commission
on opening day to create a large hummingbird window panel for a new
construction project in Hamptonville. Both Sally and Deb enjoy
the beauty of glass. “It’s incredible how many things you
can do with it. We’re always amazed by the splendor of the colors
when we hold a finished project up to the sunlight,” they said.
Press Release
By Mary Mascenik
Is the high price of gasoline
eating up your Christmas budget? Why not think local
this holiday season and give your family and friends creations handmade
by the artisans of the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild?
The craftsmen and women
of the Guild are local Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin County folks, as well
as residents of 15 other counties in Northwest North Carolina and Southwest
Virginia. Some work for the pure enjoyment of it, others for the
income it provides their families. “It’s all high-quality,
beautiful stuff, but not all high-priced,” says Margaret Griffin,
administrative assistant at the store. “You can find something
lovely for $12 or something remarkable for $100, and everything in between,”
she continues.
So, keep that gas money
in your pocket! If you live close enough to the Guild’s gallery
store at 122 West Main Street in Elkin, you might even walk to
the shop and burn calories today to savor later in the season.
Children can visit the shop on their own and actually afford a simple
treasure that will put a twinkle in a parent’s or grandparent’s
eye. Salespeople will guide the young ones to potential gifts
in their price range.
The Guild shop has a broad
and affordable selection, from stocking stuffer to masterpiece, and
purchasing an item there keeps the economic benefit in the Yadkin Valley.
If you’re traveling this holiday season, visiting people who’ve
moved away from here, bring a piece of their North Carolina memories
with you. Consider a hostess gift like an angel crafted by Sandy
Hovey ($12-$15), a lighthearted chef made from a large gourd by Myrna
Hester ($18.50), or a fluted clay votive dish fashioned by Barbara Whitaker
($16). These are homegrown works of art and as authentic as the
landscape.
Have a big brother who’s
a basketball player? The Guild shop has a tiny gourd celebrating
the sport for only $4.50. Delicate and golden starfish Christmas
tree ornaments, handmade by Julie Ottesen, cost $7.15. Youngsters
might glue this year’s school picture to the back and give it to Mom
as a keepsake. Maybe a New Year’s resolution to organize the
family coat closet could get started with a wrought iron coat hook (Crews
Ironworks, $12) at the bottom of everyone’s stocking.
Visiting a pottery lover
in California? Consider the miniature jugs by Aaron Blackwelder.
At $10-$12 each, they are light on the pocketbook as well as the suitcase.
A cornucopia-shaped wall vase (Sandy Hovey, $15) or a candle surround
(Lynda Sanders, $16) would fit the bill as well.
If it’s unique earrings
you’re after, the Guild Gallery Shop offers a generous variety at
prices from $15-$30. They are imaginatively designed and finely
made. Check out the clay and mixed media earrings by Doris Petersham
and the fused glass ones by Barbara Elmore and Charlie Cummings.
Vintage German molds were used to make reproduction glass for earrings
by Carole Wells that feature Swarovski crystal and sterling silver.
DB Designs has a unique collection in fine silver and gemstone.
Breadboards, pasta measurers,
wooden spoons and spatulas by Lynn Childress would be welcome in any
kitchen ($4-$17). Just right for that morning jolt of java, there
are coffee mugs ($12-$15) in many fanciful shapes and sizes, absolutely
unduplicated anywhere else.
And Sir, if you’ll be
giving your sweetheart an engagement ring for Christmas, how about presenting
it in an elegant lidded ceramic box (Sybil Stafford, $12-$16) or
(why not go all out?) an exquisite miniature Nantucket basket (Julie
Ottesen, $179). The contents are sure to surprise her and the
box will be a treasured souvenir of the big day.
The Yadkin Valley Craft
Guild Gallery Shop at 122 West Main Street, Elkin is open Tuesdays through
Fridays from 10 to 5, and on Saturdays from 11 to 3. Smaller
satellite shops are located at the RagApple Lassie Winery in Boonville
and at the Foothills Arts Council in Elkin, where the annual Art-For-Giving
sale continues until December 20th every Tuesday through
Saturday from 10-4.
Yadkin Valley Craft
Guild
– “Gems and Jewels and Goblets, Oh My!” - A shiny and glittering exhibition
featuring the works of Guild Members in jewelry, glassware, and stained glass
will open with a reception on Friday, June 27 from 5 – 8 pm at the Yadkin
Valley Craft Guild Gallery on Main Street in Elkin.Enjoy the opening and an evening of “4th
Friday” events with music by “Big Daddy Love” as well as the shops, restaurants
and winery in historic downtown Elkin.The exhibition ends July 24 and a new one opens every 4th
Friday.Learn more about the Guild at
336-835-2717 or at www.yadkinvalleycraftguild.org. Event Announcement The Yadkin Valley Craft Guild presents “Shades of Blue,” opening Friday, May 23rd in conjunction with Downtown Elkin’s Fourth Friday. Featuring new works by YVCG members (ie: local and regional artisans), the “Shades of Blue” exhibit will showcase pottery, jewelry, glasswork and more, all incorporating the color blue. The YVCG will open a new show every month during Fourth Friday, with a reception from 5:00 to 7:00. For more information visit our shop at 122 West Main St., Elkin, call us at (336) 835-2717 or visit our website:www.yvcg.org. Support your local arts!
Event Announcement The grand opening of Yadkin
Valley Clayworks ceramics studio and classroom is this Saturday, May 17 in
Elkin during the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival.Visitors can tour the studio, meet local potters and ceramicists from
the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild and sign up for classes which begin in May.The newly renovated studio is the first of
the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild’s satellite craft education facilities and is
located at the edge of Elkin Recreation Park on Front Street near the Elkin
Fire Department.Thanks to the Town of
Elkin, Surry County Commissioners and the Golden LEAF Foundation, the new clay
shop has a bright and shiny new face of white walls and colorful furnishings
with lots of posters illustrating many facets of ceramics.It is2,500 square feet and boasts 10 wheels, a new heavy duty slab roller,
two clay extruders, two new kilns and numerous other items to make a fun and
rewarding clay experience for anyone attending classes.Initial classes offered will include
beginning and intermediate classes in hand building and wheel throwing, bead
making and other ceramic jewelry forms, wind chimes clay works, ceramic bird
houses and numerous children’s and youth classes.Courses will be offered and added depending
on public interest.Hundreds of hours
of planning and volunteer work have gone into the opening of the new
studio.It is anticipated to be the
first of several more media studios offered by the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild in
glass, metal, wood, fiber and photography.Get the complete class schedule, costs and more information on the
Yadkin Valley Craft Guild at www.yadkinvalleycraftguild.org.
Press Release Inspiration + Education
= Creation
By Mary Mascenik
When you see a handmade
item for sale in a shop or craft fair, do you find yourself wanting
to touch it, turn it over, hold it up to the light or examine the inside?
You likely want to figure out how it was made. You examine the
workmanship. You appreciate the subtlety of the details, but you
never really get close to the process of its creation.
This Friday night, at the
Yadkin Valley Craft Guild’s main gallery at 122 West Main Street in
Elkin, you will have an opportunity to see behind the scenes in an artisan’s
studio. Through photographs, you will see the Guild’s apprentices
at work, learning from their mentors and developing the skills necessary
to produce a finely-crafted product. You can also meet both mentors
and apprentices, ask questions, and understand how they are coping with
the devil in the details. Quilters will be demonstrating the attachment
of binding to several completed quilts. Light refreshments and
beverages will be served. Everyone is welcome to the opening night
celebration, from 5 – 8 pm on Friday, April 25th.
The show runs through May 22nd.
Titled “Inspiration +
Education = Creation,” the gallery show features the works of ten
apprentices in clay, glass, wood-turning, and printmaking/frame-making.
Apprentices work from 8 to 35 hours a week with their mentors (and on
their own) to build sufficient skill to start earning an income from
sales of their products. The Mentor-Apprentice Program is funded
by grants from the NC Rural Center and the Golden LEAF Foundation.
It is a grassroots economic development effort to build artisan entrepreneurs
in an 18-county area in northwest North Carolina and southwest Virginia,
where heavy job losses occurred in the textile, tobacco and furniture
industries.
Current apprentices are:
Dianna Heft of Elkin in wood-turning under mentor Glenn Mace
of Mocksville; Erik Dahlager of Traphill in printmaking/frame-making
under John and Shirley Furches of Elkin; Linda Jacobs of Mocksville
in clay under Warren Moyer of the Sawtooth Center in Winston-Salem;
Jessica Wright of Hamptonville in clay under Richard Montgomery
of Surry Community College, Dobson; Charles Cummings of Dobson,
Shirley Edwards of Hamptonville, and Mary Mascenik of State Road in
glass under Barbara Elmore of State Road; and Sybil Stafford of
Clemmons, Bill Colvard of Jonesville, and Georgie Stone of State Road
in clay under Doris Petersham of Elkin.
An aspiring craft artisan
who would like information about the Mentor-Apprentice Program should
consult the Guild’s website, www.yadkinvalleycraftguild.org, or contact
the program’s coordinator, Mary Mascenik, at 336-414-7749.
Press Release
A Picture
is Worth a Thousand Words
This old adage has never
been truer for today’s craft artisan who vies with thousands of able
competitors for acceptance into regional and national shows. These
are venues where the artist gains credibility, possibly wins a “best
in show” award and, not incidentally, hopes to make sales.
In the pre-digital age,
the jury committee of a craft show required images of an artist’s
work to be presented in slide format; that is, taken by a film camera
and made into a tangible cardboard-edged mini-photo. The artist
then labeled these originals appropriately, filled out a paper application,
and US-mailed this bundle to the jury committee of a given craft show,
hoping that it wouldn’t get lost or damaged in the process.
The artist would repeat this laborious and costly endeavor for every
show to which he or she wanted admission.
The jury committee, continuing
this time-consuming and exacting work, would load the slides of all
entrants in order, hopefully, not backwards or upside-down,
hopefully, without a thumbprint in the middle or a wayward slide
lost under the table, hopefully. All this before the gathering
of jurors in a dark room to witness days of projected slides on the
silver screen, comments, opinions, and the inevitable slide stuck in
the projector.
Looking back, it’s a
wonder the show ever got off the ground!
Nowadays, digital photography
prevails for craft show applications. Its ease and cost effectiveness
make it logical for both the artist and the jury. Further pushing
both into the digital age are the photographic equipment companies:
they’ve discontinued production of the accoutrements of the traditional
film slide: the projector and the screen.
But, entrepreneurship to
the rescue! There are now at least three web-based companies that
provide “soup to nuts” coverage of the application process for nearly
all juried fine craft shows. ZAPP (www.zapplication.org), CaFE (www.callforentry.org), and JAS (www.juriedartservices.com) are examples of these helpful enterprises.
The artist simply selects
from a list of craft shows represented by the website, completes an
application, and highlights the digital images of artwork from a gallery
of photos previously uploaded to the site, all of which are password
protected. The artist controls the layout of the works and sees
exactly what the jurors will see. For a small fee, the site submits
each application to its appropriate jury committee.
The result is that all
artwork in the system is in a consistent, high-quality, digital format
which the jurors can score online. No more bleary eyes after hours
in a dark projection room, plus an easier and fairer consideration of
each artist’s application.
Because a picture is indeed
worth a thousand words, the digital images of an artist’s work should
be of the highest professional quality. To that end, the Yadkin
Valley Craft Guild is sponsoring a two-day workshop in digital imaging
on Saturday, April 5 and Sunday, April 6, 2008.
Titled “Professionally
Photograph Your Artwork in a Cube,”
the workshop includes lectures, slide shows and a hands-on component
presented by Tom Zwierlein. He will teach artists working in any
medium how to digitally photograph their artwork in a tabletop “cube”
for professional results.
Tom Zwierlein, studio artist
and visual arts coordinator, has been teaching art at the Lovett and
Callanwolde Arts Center in Atlanta since 1987. He has taught at University
of Kentucky and has been a visiting artist at many craft schools and
colleges, including The Penland School, the Hambidge Center, and the
Georgia High School Governor's Honors Program at Valdosta State.
Mr. Zwierlein was a founding faculty member of the Anderson Ranch Ceramics
Program in the late 1970s under the direction of Paul Soldner, and is
a contributing writer for the international ceramic magazine Clay Times.
His educational credentials include both photography and ceramic majors
at Kent State University where he earned his BFA in the early 1970s.
He continued there as a studio potter for a few years before pursuing
his MFA at the University of Kentucky.
The two-day workshop fee
is $30 for Guild members and $45 for non-members. It is possible
to register for either the lecture or the hands-on session. Enrollment
in the hands-on session is limited due to space and equipment considerations.
The Saturday, April 5 program will take place in the cooperating ceramic
department of Surry Community College in Dobson. The Sunday, April
6 program will take place at the Recreation Department facility in Elkin.
Each day’s session will run from 10 am to 4 pm.
Applications are available
from the Guild’s website at www.yadkinvalleycraftguild.org or by telephoning the Guild Gallery
at 336-835-2717.
Press Release Guilds of Yore Continue to Thrive
Today
Unique handmade products
are the new growth industry in this corner of North Carolina, though
the folks here are no strangers to making things by hand. Women
through the centuries have worked with fibers - spinning, knitting,
weaving, felting, and sewing them – while the menfolk tended the animals
that produced those fibers. That stereotype has changed with the
times, but the guilds that have encouraged their efforts have not.
Local fiber artists of
all stripes, from aspiring to accomplished, are sharing their skills
through support groups, as they have for generations in this neck of
the woods. Several venues offer encouragement and hands-on support
to artisans and hobbyists in quilting, spinning, weaving, felting, knitting
and crocheting.
To judge from the turnout
at the initial meetings of the Foothills Quilt Guild, there are
a good many people interested in the art and craft of the quilt.
And the numbers are growing. Some 25 quilters have come to each
of the three meetings so far, and more than 50 are on the group’s
mailing list. They are experienced quilting instructors and craft
show prize winners, as well as eager intermediates and curious beginners.
Their ages span thirty-something to nonagenarian.
Joan Sanders and Carol
McDowell created the group, which is loosely organized and has no officers
or dues. “The quilting group actually grew out of a desire to
get to know like-minded folk in the neighborhood,” says Carol.
Both women attended the annual show of North Carolina Quilter’s Association
in Mars Hill last year and came away determined to start a guild here
in Elkin. They assumed they’d be starting small. However,
the volume of interest in their show at the Galloway Episcopal Church
during the Pumpkin Festival last September proved them wrong.
Quilters came out of the woodwork to volunteer their handiwork for display.
More than 80 quilted items – bed-coverings, wall-hangings, pillows,
vests, even an ecclesiastical stole – were submitted by area quilters.
“We lost track of the hundreds of people who came,” says Carol.
“We’re very grateful to the parishioners of Galloway for generously
providing their historic church for our show.”
It was an auspicious beginning
for the group, which has since featured several educational programs
at its monthly meetings. Topics such as “quilting with neckties”
and “the decorative use of yo-yo’s” (an 18th century
flattened cloth embellishment) have informed and entertained the quilters.
Georgia Bonesteel, who designed the Teapot Museum quilt, has discussed
her inspiration and shown her work, as well.
The Foothills Quilt Guild
meets at the Foothills Arts Council, 124 Church St. in Elkin, on the
third Tuesday of the month at 1 pm. Their next meeting is February
19. Anyone interested in attending is welcome. For further
information, call Carol McDowell at 336-526-5159 or Joan Sanders at
336-835-6351.
Another local source of
camaraderie, inspiration and support for fiber artists is the Mountain
Homespun Fiber Guild. As a group, they have shared their
love of color and fiber for more than fifteen years. They welcome
new members interested in weaving, spinning, knitting, crocheting and
any of the many ways of manipulating fibers. The guild meets on
the second Tuesday of each month, rotating its meeting place among Elkin,
Sparta and Independence, Va. It is also loosely organized, with
members from each of the three geographic areas planning upcoming meetings.
They have an annual “Dye
Day” in early fall when members bring a dye pot full of collected
plant materials, like pokeberry, goldenrod, lichen or walnuts, to share
with the others in naturally dyeing various fibers. The fibers
themselves are often harvested from animals owned by members:
mohair from goats, wool from sheep, angora from rabbits, even the under-fur
of dogs! Members have enjoyed one-day workshops in marbling cloth,
felting, and triangle loom weaving, among other topics. Sometimes
an excursion is planned to a fiber show at a museum or to the Piedmont
Craftsmen and Fiber Company gallery shops in Winston-Salem. Currently,
a small study group within the guild is learning the subtleties of overshot
weaving.
For further information
on the Mountain Homespun Fiber Guild,
call Nancy Goodwin at 336-527-2038 or Kathy Hill at 276-579-3190.
The Circle of Friends
Yarn Shop and Fiber Art Studio,
located at 120 West Main Street, Elkin, is another source of ideas,
supplies and friendship for the needle-clickers, shuttle-throwers and
twisted-spinners among us. Owner Ruth Hutton is a member of the
Yadkin Valley Craft Guild and has had a 26-year career in textile design
for jacquard looms. The palette of yarn colors in her shop is
eye-popping and the various fibers and textures make the yarns incredibly
versatile. She carries looms and spinning wheels, as well as a
large inventory of knitting, crocheting, and felting supplies.
The large work table in the center of the store is usually abuzz with
happy creative conversation. Ruth’s hands-on assistance makes
her a fiber artist’s treasured friend. Spinning and weaving
instruction is available by appointment, as is studio time for fiber
preparation, spinning, dyeing, and weaving. She offers both evening
and weekend classes in a continually changing spectrum of projects.
These are best explored on the shop’s website: www.circleoffriendsnc.com.
February is for lovers, and for lovers of fibers, Ruth has a “Sweetheart
Sale” with their name on it. Plan to stop in and get lost among
the yarns. For further information, call Ruth Hutton at 336-526-3100.
And finally, for those
with considerable weaving or spinning skill, the Handweavers Guild
of America offers a “Learning Exchange” program. Focusing
on one targeted topic, the participants in this program mail small samples
of their work to a coordinator for critique. Four exchange programs
are offered each year, two in spinning and two in weaving. This
is truly a global fiber support group for accomplished artisans,
and is an option to those for whom a local guild is impractical.
To be included, a person must be a member of the Handweavers Guild of
America, which can be achieved via their website and requires no juried
approval. For further information, visit www.weavespindye.org.
Press Release By Mary Mascenik “We never expected to
sell what we did on our opening day,” said Deb Saladin about the debut
of Howlin’ Wolf Creations, a new stained glass shop located
at 113 West Main Street in Elkin. She and her partner Sally Johnson
had a $1000 day on December 15th when their doors welcomed
customers for the first time. “Now we have a mark to beat,”
said Deb. The pair, who started a stained glass hobby in an attic
room eight years ago, is thrilled with their new business.
Howlin’ Wolf Creations
is located in the former Surry Gift Shoppe space and hopes to benefit
from the familiarity of that local landmark. The owners are members
of the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild where they have volunteered as saleswomen
every Saturday. “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the
Guild, the Town of Elkin, and our co-workers. With their encouragement,
we realized, ‘Hey, we can do this!’” said Deb.
Their opening is a triumph
for the Guild also, whose goal is to enhance economic development in
an 18-county area in northwest North Carolina and southwest Virginia.
Howlin’ Wolf Creations fulfills the mission of the Yadkin Valley Craft
Guild to develop professional crafts markets and to promote crafts education.
The shop joins other businesses on West Main Street that are devoted
to art, fine craft, needlework and antiques.
Howlin’ Wolf Creations
stocks a broad variety of glass, tools, patterns and information for
the craftsperson, as well as completed works such as sunshine catchers
and mobiles. The owners aim to create a one-stop shop for everything
that’s needed in glass crafting - including inspiration. Evening
and weekend classes will begin in mid-January at the West Main Street
studio. These will feature both leaded and foiled stained glass,
fused and slumped “warm glass,” and jewelry encompassing many techniques.
The studio plans to feature artisans from the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild
demonstrating how to combine skills from other media with glass.
In addition, Deb and Sally will offer children’s mosaic art camps
in the summertime. The primary focus of their shop will be instruction
and the partners anticipate that their biggest revenue will come from
classes.
“It’s a working studio
for us too,” said Sally. “We’ll still be taking orders for
custom installations and working on them here. We welcome folks
to stop by and watch. There’s always a pot of coffee on.”
The partners supply glass items to the Gift Shop at Old Salem and to
All Things North Carolina in Mocksville. They received a commission
on opening day to create a large hummingbird window panel for a new
construction project in Hamptonville. Both Sally and Deb enjoy
the beauty of glass. “It’s incredible how many things you
can do with it. We’re always amazed by the splendor of the colors
when we hold a finished project up to the sunlight,” they said.
Press Release
By Mary Mascenik
Is the high price of gasoline
eating up your Christmas budget? Why not think local
this holiday season and give your family and friends creations handmade
by the artisans of the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild?
The craftsmen and women
of the Guild are local Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin County folks, as well
as residents of 15 other counties in Northwest North Carolina and Southwest
Virginia. Some work for the pure enjoyment of it, others for the
income it provides their families. “It’s all high-quality,
beautiful stuff, but not all high-priced,” says Margaret Griffin,
administrative assistant at the store. “You can find something
lovely for $12 or something remarkable for $100, and everything in between,”
she continues.
So, keep that gas money
in your pocket! If you live close enough to the Guild’s gallery
store at 122 West Main Street in Elkin, you might even walk to
the shop and burn calories today to savor later in the season.
Children can visit the shop on their own and actually afford a simple
treasure that will put a twinkle in a parent’s or grandparent’s
eye. Salespeople will guide the young ones to potential gifts
in their price range.
The Guild shop has a broad
and affordable selection, from stocking stuffer to masterpiece, and
purchasing an item there keeps the economic benefit in the Yadkin Valley.
If you’re traveling this holiday season, visiting people who’ve
moved away from here, bring a piece of their North Carolina memories
with you. Consider a hostess gift like an angel crafted by Sandy
Hovey ($12-$15), a lighthearted chef made from a large gourd by Myrna
Hester ($18.50), or a fluted clay votive dish fashioned by Barbara Whitaker
($16). These are homegrown works of art and as authentic as the
landscape.
Have a big brother who’s
a basketball player? The Guild shop has a tiny gourd celebrating
the sport for only $4.50. Delicate and golden starfish Christmas
tree ornaments, handmade by Julie Ottesen, cost $7.15. Youngsters
might glue this year’s school picture to the back and give it to Mom
as a keepsake. Maybe a New Year’s resolution to organize the
family coat closet could get started with a wrought iron coat hook (Crews
Ironworks, $12) at the bottom of everyone’s stocking.
Visiting a pottery lover
in California? Consider the miniature jugs by Aaron Blackwelder.
At $10-$12 each, they are light on the pocketbook as well as the suitcase.
A cornucopia-shaped wall vase (Sandy Hovey, $15) or a candle surround
(Lynda Sanders, $16) would fit the bill as well.
If it’s unique earrings
you’re after, the Guild Gallery Shop offers a generous variety at
prices from $15-$30. They are imaginatively designed and finely
made. Check out the clay and mixed media earrings by Doris Petersham
and the fused glass ones by Barbara Elmore and Charlie Cummings.
Vintage German molds were used to make reproduction glass for earrings
by Carole Wells that feature Swarovski crystal and sterling silver.
DB Designs has a unique collection in fine silver and gemstone.
Breadboards, pasta measurers,
wooden spoons and spatulas by Lynn Childress would be welcome in any
kitchen ($4-$17). Just right for that morning jolt of java, there
are coffee mugs ($12-$15) in many fanciful shapes and sizes, absolutely
unduplicated anywhere else.
And Sir, if you’ll be
giving your sweetheart an engagement ring for Christmas, how about presenting
it in an elegant lidded ceramic box (Sybil Stafford, $12-$16) or
(why not go all out?) an exquisite miniature Nantucket basket (Julie
Ottesen, $179). The contents are sure to surprise her and the
box will be a treasured souvenir of the big day.
The Yadkin Valley Craft
Guild Gallery Shop at 122 West Main Street, Elkin is open Tuesdays through
Fridays from 10 to 5, and on Saturdays from 11 to 3. Smaller
satellite shops are located at the RagApple Lassie Winery in Boonville
and at the Foothills Arts Council in Elkin, where the annual Art-For-Giving
sale continues until December 20th every Tuesday through
Saturday from 10-4.
|
