Penland Show and Tell

Friday morning came too early, bringing with it a mixed bag of emotions. Most of us would be gone after lunch and, while it would be good to get home, it would be difficult saying goodbye to classmates, to Susan who taught us so much and to all the new friends we made at Penland. But there was one last event to attend - one that happens at the end of each Penland session - Show and Tell.

All of the classes displayed examples of their work in the same building where the auction had been held the night before. Encaustic painting, Iron, Woodworking, Textiles, Metals, Bookbinding. Letterpress. I saw some remarkable work, but my camera only had eyes for Lower Clay's menagerie. The following is a small representation of all the animals born during our two week session.

Because Cynthia was one of Susan's aides, she didn't have as much time to work on her sculpture. Her dog, here, was barely leather-hard.

BJ, the service dog, stands patiently while Alycia sees each of her classmates' sculptures with her fingertips. Cynthia is in the background.

Alycia's raku rabbit was a class favourite, as was Pam's raku rhino. Directly behind toward the back is on of Elaine's cats.

Paulus Behrensohn and Susan Halls discuss the students' work.

I was particularly impressed with the variety in the sculptures; the various animal choices, the individual styles, the mix of smoke, raku and salt fired finishes.

I have to admit, it was a great feeling seeing Brutus displayed with so many other fine animals. I'll be exploring this technique (both in forming and in finishing) on many future sculptures.

Here is Linda's salt fired horse...

...and her daughter Mary's raku Komodo Dragon.
Pictured left to right, Mary's Pikka, Sunny's goat (which I absolutely love) and Mark's free-form animal.

I'd guess our class created 3 times as many animals as are pictured here. Perhaps more. I know I seldom left the studio before 1AM, many nights later than that. And there was never a night when I was the last to go. We were, to say at the very least, prolific.

My bags already packed & loaded, I stopped by Lower Clay for the last time to say goodbye. It certainly looked a lot different, sans sculptures on banding wheels and classmates intently focused on their work. Sad, really. But it won't look this empty for long. The Glaze Calculation class moved in last night.

Besides, something tells me, I'll see Lower Clay again someday.