Craft Throughout Ashville

The first stop we visited in Ashville was the Folk Art Center. It was established by the Southern Highland Craft Guild. The Center showcases many different types of crafts created by artists throughout the Appalachia region. The Guild dates back all the way to 1938. We learned about how Ellen Turner was one who helped start the crafts movement. It was a way for local artists to create objects to sell or trade to help them survive.

Handmade In America

Handmade in America is an amazing nonprofit organization who reaches out and finds local craftsman. They put their work on displays or in books to help promote their work. I was so impressed on how much they care for their local artists and craftsman. I learned that it is important that as an interior designer I need to help promote local artist in my designs. The organization put on a gallery that displayed how an entire room can be created just by craft and look amazing.

This piece below is a piece designed by a local artist on display in the Gallery. It is a large cabinet made for storing jewelry.

Center for Craft Creativity and Design

Lia Cook works took over the gallery in the Center. She is trying a study where she takes images and transforms the pixels into weaves.She is investigating how people see images. I had the opportunity to be apart of an experiment for Ms. Cook. I had to stand in front of a normal picture and compare how I felt when looking at it and one of her finished products. It was amazing how each piece made me feel so different. Below is an example of her work.

Oriole Mill

The Oriole Mill is Located in Hendersonville North Carolina. It is special because it is one of the few mills left in the United States.The building is also unique because it contains massive clerestory windows that allow in natural light. The machines were purchased to save them from going out of the country. Bethanne Knudson and Stephan Michelson bought their first loom in 2004. The mill contains 5 Jacquard looms and two Dobby looms. They only use the best of the best yarn that you can buy. They believe in creating fabric that can last forever and will not get worn out. The process is long but precise.

The First Step to the who production

River Arts District

Sarah Wells Rolland

Below is an image of Sarah Wells Rolland, a local potter at The Village Potters. She first started working with clay when she was 28 and  has been making beautiful pieces of pottery for over 20 years. Her work throughout the whole studio took my breath away. I have never experienced craft as beautiful as hers.

American Craft in Asheville

Folk Art Center

Our first stop through our Asheville trip we stopped at the Folk Art Center. The Folk Art Center is the home of the guild system which was started in 1930 by missionary women. These women started the guid system to keep local traditions alive and help local farmers make money. The local women that were weavers would make coverlets and local crafts people to make handmade crafts to market and sell. The guild started with 8 members and is now across 9 states with 900 members. One of the artisans work that I was interested in was Walter Steven. Walter crafts ceramics from dug up clay and formed into pottery. On the pottery were western scenes painted on porcelain and uses of crystallized glaze.

Handmade in America

We stopped by Handmade in America for our second stop. Handmade in America is an exhibit to showcase local handmade craftsmen. The purpose is to support local communities. By purchasing these local items you know your money is going to people in your community and supporting your local economy rather than corporations. Every item is handmade so you also know you are receiving an item of greater quality. All of the items in this exhibits main intent was functionality. They designed so that the items could be used. One set of pottery I was interested in was a set of mugs by Michon Sentner. When I asked about the artist's inspiration, our guide did not know much about this particular artist rather than he designed his pieces to be functional.

Center for Craft Creativity and Design

At our third stop at the Center for Craft Creativity and Design we we asked to give our reflections on the exhibit. Lia Cook has her collection of weaved coverlets with imagines of children in them. I thought it was amazing to be able to weave coverlets of this size and then even more so that they could weave such clear images within the pattern.

The Oriole Mill

The mill was started in 2006 as a location to create various fabrics. The building was chosen for the mill for the high amount of natural light. This mill differs from others because of the large amount of open space between each loom. They decided to do this to create a safer work environment and believe in quality over quantity. The process to creating a fabric starts out by using the creole to warp the threads onto spools. They then use the looms to weave the fabrics. They use the Jacquard loom for more complicates patterns. The mill can produce coverlets, fabrics, blankets, pillows, bedding, and etc. 

The Museum of Appalachia:

My focus at the Museum of Appalachia was mainly on metal, and the guns of the museum really stood out to me with their intriguing background stories.  I found there were many other uses of metal in Appalachia similar to today.  The purpose I focused on was the metalwork on the guns used during the time period.  

the collection of guns- note the decorative metal work

a pistol created by renowned Tennessee Gunsmith, Hacker Martin.

Hacker Martin was a well-known gunsmith in the Appalachains.  Martin (1895-1970) was very talented in multiple aspects. Some of his many specialties include fiddling, owning and opperating a grist mill, and being an expert gunsmith.  

During the times of the Revolutionary War when these guns were made and used, owning a gun was similar to owning a car in present day.  Your gun was almost a representation of your wealth status or your social status in general.  There was a story told at the museum about David Crocket selling his gun for a woman he was in love with.  Guns were also of great use in the Appalchains at this time for protection and a source of food.  I found the gun exhibit both interesting and beautiful.  

Camp:

The word camp is defined on Google as "Deliberately exaggerated and theatrical in style, typically for humorous effect." I see it as a synonym for tacky or even ridiculous.  To me the antonym of camp is plain or bland.  

http://pinterest.com/trumsey2/camp/ - my pinterest expounding upon the term "camp"

Camp:

After googling the word "camp" i came up with the definition: "Deliberately exaggerated and theatrical in style, typically for humorous effect."  I feel as though camp is a simple word with a more complex meaning, for it can be interpretted differently.  I find it as the synnonym of words like tacky, gaudy, and sometimes even ridiculous.  I see the word as an antonym for plain or ordinary.  I also searched "camp" images and came up with the ones shown below.

http://pinterest.com/trumsey2/camp/