August Issue 2001
Wood Day & Metal Day will be Presented in August at the Folk Art Center in Asheville, NC
The Southern Highland Craft Guild's Wood Day celebration has grown in scope this year to include two new educational features. The 4th annual celebration dedicated to woodcraft for all ages takes place at the Folk Art Center in Asheville, NC, on Aug. 11, from l0am-4pm. Along with over a dozen professional woodworkers, a famous guest presenter and a children's activity area, this year's Wood Day also presents a carving contest from 1-3pm for those keen on sharpening their whittling skills. Each contestant is provided a wooden "blank," and using their own knives, is given two hours to carve a specific figure. No experience is necessary and contestants can bring any carving tools they want for gaining an edge in the carve-off. Even the humble but handy pocket knife is acceptable. The carve-off is emceed by Tom Godleski (Asheville, NC), who will follow the progress of the competition chip-by-chip as blocks of wood become beautiful works of art. Carvings will be judged and prizes will be awarded for greatest detail and completeness.
Any woodcarver, professional or hobbyist, will find Wood Day's highly-acclaimed guest presenter an engrossing part of this year's event. With the help of a grant from the Southern Highland Craft Guild, Swedish woodcarving celebrity Jogge Sundqvist will hold a demonstration of Swedish woodworking techniques from 2 - 4pm. A well-known figure among woodworkers worldwide, Sundqvist will be in the States to instruct a course in Swedish furniture at Country Workshops in Madison County, NC. Sundqvist possesses not only widely esteemed skills and vision in design, but also has engaging presentation skills that attracts a wide variety of audiences. The project demonstrated will be a rustic stool of his own design, made by hand from wood freshly gathered in Madison County. Visitors will observe the use of many hand tools like axes, adzes and gouges, as well as the unique skills of Swedish woodworking from sculpting the seat to boring the mortises and whittling the tenons.
Other well-known professionals from within the region also share their expertise. Famed Brasstown Carver Helen Gibson will be on hand carving her very collectible figures, as well as Asheville woodcarver John Hillyer. Chairmaker Lyle Wheeler (Millers Creek, NC) will be demonstrating the use of hand tools to make his shaker style chairs. Woodturner Rodger Jacobs of Newland, NC will be making the chips fly at his lathe, demonstrating the use of different tools and tricks to make beautiful decorative and functional bowls. The Carolina Mountain Woodturners will share the use of a second lathe during Wood Day. This highly skilled group of regional woodturners demonstrates a wide range of techniques. Instrument maker Rick Long (Clinton, TN) is back to show the start-to-finish process that goes into his bowed psalteries.
Children will have a special activity area to themselves. Craft educator Nora Mosrie (Montreat, NC) will have fun projects for children who may not be ready to work with adult tools. Nora uses scraps from woodworkers' studios as the basis for her project materials, and children will be able to make woodcraft jewelry and other creations. All activities are sponsored by the Southern Highland Craft Guild.
The use of iron in the Southern mountains dates back to the early settlers who forged it into tools and numerous necessary items such as handles, hinges and horseshoes. In every village resided at least one blacksmith with the special skills to build a furnace to heat the iron and strike it into shape against a heavy anvil. In fleeting moments when the iron glows bright red, a blacksmith must know exactly how and where to strike the rod to manipulate it into form.
But metalsmithing is not just about iron anymore. At the Folk Art Center on Aug. 12, the Southern Highland Craft Guild presents its first Metal Day from noon to 5pm, with examples of the many forms of metal craft being practiced in the Southern mountains today. From blacksmiths using heavy hammers and anvils to fine jewelers using precision tools and portable anvils, the many forms of metal craft are explored. Blacksmiths Ron Minnix (Cosby, TN) and Bea Hensley (Spruce Pine, NC) each show their own style of decorative ironwork using techniques that have been passed down for centuries. Contemporary jewelers Rita Rodgers (Lenoir City, NC), Barbara Joiner (Brasstown, NC), and Michele Alexander (Asheville, NC) let us in on the secrets of their wonderful wearable artwork using mixed metals and gemstones. Joan Bazzel (Franklin, NC) gives modern interpretation to the ancient art of enameling and cloisonné, taking us through the long process of adding layers of colored glass to a metal form. The Western North Carolina Metalworkers, made up mostly of fine jewelers, will be in attendance, showing the many tricks jewelers use with metal from grinding, sanding and polishing to pressing, hammering and molding.
Riverwood Pewter (Dillsboro, NC), a long-time production center of the Guild, will be represented, showing how they take a flat sheet of pewter and hammer it into beautiful plates, platters and bowls. Pewter is an alloy of tin, copper and antimony, and the workers at Riverwood Pewter have been creating very lovely tableware from it since 1930.
Children will be assured a place to practice metal working on their own level with craft educator Nora Mosrie (Montreat, NC). A special area for children will enable kids to make a piece of jewelry to take home with them. All activities are sponsored by the Southern Highland Craft Guild.
For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings or call the center at 828/298-7928 or on the web at (http://southernhighlandguild.org).
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