Happy Holidays!!

Riga Porcelain Museum, Latvia

Porcelain jewelry by Lisa M. Johnson was shown at the Riga Porcelain Museum in Latvia during the International Exhibition of Small Forms Porcelain and will be part of the permanent collection. Learn more about the Riga Porcelain Museum at their website!



http://http//www.porcelanamuzejs.lv/?module=Articles&cat_id=1&view=list

Bear breaks into the Candy Kitchen in Gatlinburg

Playscapes: Exhibition by Chandra DeBuse at Charlie Cummings Gallery

Check out current resident Chandra DeBuse's new work online now through November 17th at Charlie Cummings Gallery.  Her exhibition is titled, Playscapes and is a response to living in South Florida and the mountains of Eastern Tennessee over the past year.  In her exhibition statement, she writes:

Dangling Acorn Butter Dish by Chandra DeBuse
Photo by Charlie Cummings

Recently I moved from south Florida to the mountains of eastern Tennessee.  Although Gatlinburg and West Palm Beach are 800 miles apart and are situated in different climates, the similarities between the two places are remarkable.  Both areas contain natural landscapes of astounding beauty, but many visitors forego trips to the ocean or the mountains for a more contrived setting, such as a world-class golf resort, theme park, or outlet mall.  Through observing landscapes of leisure in these two regions: (parks, golf courses, beaches, swimming pools), I am inspired to create voluminous three-dimensional forms with manicured, controlled surfaces and divided spaces.  I create salt and pepper landscapes, multi-level treat servers, and jars, plates, cups, or bowls with hand-drawn characters engaging in various playful activities.  Because I consider all surfaces of my objects as canvas, imagery often wraps around a piece.  These objects become playscapes for pattern and character to frolic, inviting human fingers to also roam the topography, seeking out their own morsels of delight.  . Often it is only through experiencing the piece: physically holding it, exploring it, and hopefully using it, can the whole image be seen.   It is my hope that through this interaction between user and object, a playful attitude is sparked.

Oh Puppy!

Puppy loves the fruit that is falling all over the library patio and other places around Arrowmont. He seems to be no longer afraid of people which prompted Park Rangers to set a trap. So Far Puppy has walked right past the Crispy Cream laden bear cage in favor of the abundant berries and crab apples on campus. Run Puppy Run!

AIR Revolving Presentation v. 1

Here's a first glimpse of our revolving presentation in the Loggia Gallery at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. We will be keeping it fresh with work throughout our residency, hence the name, "Revolving Presentation." This one (verson 1.) has been up since late July. We think our work looks pretty great together. Even better in person. Stop by and check it out!

Mystery Photo

Ok, folks. Here's a fun game for you--and it's an easy one. This is a scene from a popular Gatlinburg location. Who can be the first to name the location where this beauty resides?

First person to answer correctly will receive high praise and recognition. Best of luck!

Fundraising

It's a great week at Arrowmont. The dining hall is full and the energy is high. We are fundraising again this week, this time with cups, prints, a bracelet and a jar. $5 lets you have a chance at one of these fabulous items. $20 buys you 5 chances. Hurry and buy your tickets because it will be all over before you know it. We'll be announcing the lucky winners on Friday.

Come see us on Wednesdays

Every Wednesday from 4:30 to 5:30 pm we open our studios and invite anyone in Gatlinburg to come and see what we are working on. Please join us for drinks, popcorn, and great art. We would love to see you.

Sign UP

This has been a very special week for the resident artists, as we birthed our first collaborative project: a brand-new studio sign. The sign takes the shape of a super-jumbo sized notebook paper: complete with spiral binding and a post-it note! It also can be raised and lowered on a pulley system. How smokin' hot is that?

As awesome as the sign looks now, we realize that it is not quite complete. After all, how can you have a notebook without any doodles? We are all going to work on adding some wacky doodle embellishments within the next week or so. We'll keep ya posted. (Anyone know where we can get a giant thumb tack?)

R-r-r-r affle!

This week we held our first raffle to raise money for the resident artist fund. We are so appreciative of all the support from the folks on campus who bought tickets. Four lucky winners were announced today during lunch.

Congratulations to: Nick DeFord, Textiles instructor who won Dustin Farnsworth's four prints (2 stone litho and 2 letterpress); Sarah West, Educational Assistant and metalsmith who won Lisa Johnson's Knob Ring; Jim Norton, Glass student who won Chandra DeBuse's Swimming Pool Salt and Pepper Set; and Steve Hewitt, Glass student who won Phil Haralam's large bowl. Winners are pictured with their prizes. Thanks everybody!

Puppy

Bears! Bears! Bears!

We have a new studio mate named Puppy. He is a 300 pound black bear that visits out studio every couple days. Hopefully we can get a photo in the following weeks and share it on the blog.

The following is some great info on bears here in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Enjoy!

Black Bears

www.nps.gov

Arrowmont Residents 2011-2012: Glamour Shots

With a huge 'thank you' to our photographer Jill, we will soon have photos on the Arrowmont web site. Keep your eyes peeled under the 'current residents' tab on the Arrowmont site for the coming changes including biographies, work photos, and website links. We are so happy to be here, and maybe soon we will take you on a virtual tour of our studios as we dive hands first (har har) into the first month of our residency!

Best-

Lisa, Phil, Dustin, and Chandra

Blue Spiral One: New Exhibitions

Hello Friends!

I wanted to let everyone know that three of my pieces (never before seen!) are currently being shown at Blue Spiral One in Asheville in the Exhibition WOOD Moving Forward. The Exhibition will be on display through September 30th and features the work of Hunt Clark, Gail Fredell, Robin Horn, Stoney Lamar, Simon Levy, Robert F. Lyon, Philip Moulthrop, Matt Moulthrop, George Peterson, Sylvie Rosenthal <3, Norm Sartorius, David Sengel, and Bob Trotman. All exhibits have been changed throughout the gallery with some very wonderful work. For full details on the Artists showing, check out the show card here.

Hope you can make it out to the show!

Dustin

The Clay Studio, Philadelphia: The Sixth Annual Marge Brown Kalodner Graduate Student Exhibition

For all you Arrowmont followers in the Philly area, current resident Phil Haralam is included in the The Eighth Annual Marge Brown Kalodner Graduate Student Exhibition at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia. The opening is Friday June 3rd from 5:00 to 9:00pm and the show runs until until July 24th. Go meet Phil at the opening and see the work. Trust us, it's worth it!

Millipede: Journey of One Thousand Legs

We, the 2011 - 2012 Resident Artists: Chandra, Dustin, Lisa and Phil are settling into our new house and studios. One of our first visitors was this snazzy-looking millipede. Watch his legs form waves as he makes his way across a table in the resident artist studios.

From Wikipedia: The name "millipede" is a compound word formed from the Latin roots mille ("thousand") and pes("foot"). Despite their name, millipedes do not have 1,000 legs. Common species have between 36 and 400 legs.

A final farewell to everyone who has seen us through this amazing and memorable year! We are all off to other adventures out in the big wide scary world.. and let me tell you, leaving the Arrowmont is not an easy task. So here is one last picture, now hung above the TV at the Smoky Mountain Brewery. Thank you!

The reception was amazing, let me just tell you! We ate, we drank, we partied with all our friends and families. Everyone was lucky enough to have family members come to town. The resident house was packed with parents inhabiting the front porch on a 24 hour schedule. It was a great weekend, and we now have bags of chicken in the freezer! The food was over ordered just a bit, but it was delicious! Thank you El Primo II!! We were also lucky enough to have the dazzling talents of Sir Kevin McGuire providing us with lovely musical entertainment. The hokie pokie was rocked out at the end of the evening, for the tiny guest.

This past weekend, Shawn, Andy and Jenn all traveled to Chattanooga for the Four Bridges Art Festival. Friday was rainy, Saturday was windy, but Sunday was just right! We met many fabulous people and of course could never say enough wonderful things about AVA and everyone working with/for them. Pictures to come of both the reception and Four Bridges!

We know everyone has been watching the news as images and stories come in from Japan. An amazing ceramic artist Ayumi Horie has set up an online fundraising auction for Japan. 100 % of the proceeds will go to Global Giving's Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. The auction is set to take place between March 24th- March 27th. We're asking for you to please pass this along to everyone you know, every little bit helps. Thanks everyone.

Well the first weekend workshop has come and gone! This year Arrowmont extended the weekend workshops by one day, and the reviews went well. We started thursday evening with a few hours of instruction and getting everyone familiar with studios. Friday morning we all hit the ground running!

Andy taught a figurative ceramics class and rocked out, making up to the last moment and putting the hot box to good use. Jennifer's enameling class had the kilns going all weekend, making and laughing as hard as they could. Both Andy and Jenn had an amazing time teaching the workshops, and can't wait until next time.

The residents would like to send a huge THANK YOU out to everyone who came this weekend. The energy on campus was amazing to have after the long winter. The staff was excited, the instructors and students were amazingly wonderful and of course the work study rocked it out! We are super stoked for this next year of workshops and are already looking forward to this coming thursday when we get a whole new group in!

Also, as a side note spring had sprung here in Gatlinburg and the flowers are up! Daffodils, tulips, forsythia, japanese magnolia and those tiny pale purple flowers by the road are all in bloom! Jenn is raiding the flower beds to decorate her hair and constantly getting chased away by Big D and Big E, the two men who keep Arrowmont's grounds looking so beautiful!

The Show is up! YAH! Oh joy! Now I have a few more moments to spend with your lovely faces.. gazing into your eyes. How they shine like diamonds in the sky... what? That is just the reflection from your glasses. Oh... well... close enough.

For those of you who won't be able to make the show.. or simply can't wait until you do, here are a few sneak peek photos! Taken by our very own Shawn "kiss me I'm Irish" O'Connor. His holiday is coming up soon... get ready with the green dye in the water fountains.

Shawn, Andy and Jennifer are also preparing for the Four Bridges Art Festival in Chattanooga, TN. The three of us received 3 of the 5 emerging artist awards. Go Arrowmont! Rolling deep! So if you happen to be in the Chattanooga area April 16th and 17th stop on by and we'll be more than happy to sell you a few pieces of beautiful original artwork! Until next time my darlings.

Hello again, sorry to have been gone for so long. A few updates, our show is getting closer so we are all in the grind of making lots.

We also wanted to share with everyone a website about the Radical Jewelry Makeover, this is a project that is a collaboration of re-made jewelry. Donations in the form of "old" jewelry are made and then revamped by students and volunteer jewelers. A wonderful project, the pieces that have been made from RJM are beautiful and inspiring.

Residency at Arrowmont also has its perks. Recently we were honored with a backstage tour of the Ripley's Aquarium across the street from Arrowmont. We got to stand nearby as Sharks were fed, pet an octopus and learned how much it cost to feed a leafy sea dragon each week. They only eat live food.. the name I don't fully recall, something along the lines of snailmice? krillmice, maybe?

We also have a lovely photo of our dear ceramic residents showing off their mad clay working skills at Roswell Art Center West, Ga. The audience was spell bound, even if the jokes were bad. Both Shawn and Andy greatly enjoyed their time there and appreciated the support of everyone who participated.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, just to let you know, according to channel 10 News, Live at 5. Arrowmont Residents are FAMOUS! We're on T.V!!! Check it out! Of course we chose Shawn to do the talking for us... him being Irish.

Well Hello to the New YEAR!!! 2011!! whoooo hooo! Everyone has returned from a restful Christmas Holiday and we are all jumping back into the swing of things here. This week we are sadly taking down the Figurative Symposium Exhibition, but good news the Sevier County Biennial Juried Exhibition is going up! Everything will be installed by this Friday, just in time for the opening reception.

Next week we begin teaching adult and children's community art classes! Our show is going up in about 2 months and we are all feeling the pressure building... building .... building!!!! AH! Care packages containing baked goods, toothpaste and whiskey, will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much! You are all such dears.

Also, our busy ceramic residents are headed to Georgia this weekend to set up their show at the Art Center West. Above is their show card. If you would like to read more about the exhibition, click here, and you will be taken to a magical land filled with ceramic wonder and the beautiful creations of Shawn (kiss me I'm Irish) O' Connor and Andrea (that's amore) Moon.