Spring workshops offered at the Appalachian Center for Craft

SMITHVILLE – A variety of spring workshops are now being offered at Tennessee Tech University’s Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville.

The workshops being offered for February are as follows:

  • Feb. 19 – Forge Steel Letter Openers with Jay Replogle, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.,cost is $125. Forge and finish your own letter opener while learning how to operate a coal forge and several basic forging techniques. No previous experience necessary. All materials are included in the course. Please wear cotton clothes; closed toe shoes are required.
  • Feb. 19, Feb. 26, March 5 and March 12 – Introduction to Hand-building with Jonathan Strong, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m., cost is $250. Gain an introduction to clay from its raw state to its finished form. The primary focus of this course is hand-building including pinch pots, whistles, coiled forms, stamps and slab-built forms. You’ll learn to use these techniques to create your own pieces and glaze and prepare them for firing on the last day of class. Included in the course fee are 50 lbs. of stoneware and a basic pottery kit. Please bring an apron or old towel and a small bucket for water. Participants must return to campus when the course is complete to pick up their fired work.
  • Feb. 19, Feb. 26, March 5 and March 12 Crash Course in Floor Loom Weaving with Rebecca Smith, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., cost is $250. Learn all about floor loom weaving with step-by-step instructions on preparing a warp, dressing a loom and weaving cloth. Unpack the how of weaving and learn to read basic drafts and demystify the loom. While uncovering the intuitive language within the structure of weaving, we’ll talk about traditions, modifiers and the magic of the warp and weft of it all. Participants are asked to bring their own scissors, ruler, slippers or socks, sketchbook/notebook, pen/pencil and assorted weft yarns (please wait until after the first class to bring yarn).
  • Feb. 19 – Decorative Papers for Your Artwork with Claudia Lee, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., cost is $125. Spend a day making original, decorative papers to use in all your art projects. Work with pigmented pastes, wax resist, India ink, masking, gesso and more. Learn to apply these techniques in your home studio! No previous experience necessary. All materials are included.
  • Feb. 19 – Create a Glass Heart with Fae Palentyn, offering three separate one-hour sessions, 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., cost is $60. Learn to shape hot glass from the furnace. Gather glass, add color and use tools to form the shape that your heart desires. No experience is necessary for this one-hour workshop. All materials and shipping the final piece to your home are included in the fee.
  • Feb. 26 – Introduction to Suminagashi (Japanese Water Marbling) with David Heustess1 p.m. – 3 p.m. via Zoom, cost is $50Explore this amazingly beautiful technique and begin your journey to designing papers and fabrics for anything from book arts to garments. Suminagashi is a very simple set up – suminagashi inks, a tray of water and paper or fabric – but the array of patterns and designs are endless. No experience necessary and this technique can be done almost anywhere. See the website for a list of materials needed.
  • March 5 – The Art of Pyrography with Myra Orton, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. via ZOOM (Deadline for registration is Feb. 18.). Cost is $125. Gain experience in learning how to wood burn a design board, a rustic tree branch Christmas ornament, and a wooden sunflower coaster. This class is filled with in-depth instruction and guided hands-on time. Skill level is beginner to intermediate. See the website for a list of materials needed.

The Appalachian Center for Craft is a campus of the nationally accredited School of Art, Craft & Design within the College of Fine Arts and is located at 1560 Craft Center Dr, Smithville. To register for these workshops, visit https://epay.tntech.edu/C20205_ustores/web/store_main.jsp?STOREID=94.

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