Community is key at the Folk School, so it’s exciting to have quilter, artist, and community organizer Zak Foster join us as our first Olive’s Porch Artist in Residence. Zak will be both leading community projects and working on personal projects at the Folk School and Olive’s Porch through April 24. Enjoy our interview!
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After almost thirty years in Brasstown, Bob Dalsemer has moved to a lovely new home in a residential community in Black Mountain, North Carolina where he joins a number of musical friends. But rest assured, he took a piece of Brasstown with him: a wonderfully whimsical quilt. This quilt was created and blessed by lots of his friends who pieced and sewed a little bit of their hearts and memories into a beautiful expression of thanks for helping us understand that music and dance are a natural part of a full life.
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One of Pepper’s specialties is Southern scrap quilts, both making and collecting. Pepper explains that Southern scrap quilts, particularly from North Carolina, are a fascinating study in frugality, family life, and beauty.
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A chef by trade, Penny has been teaching Cooking at the Folk School since 2000. In 2008, she also started teaching Quilting, Sewing, and Needlework. Let’s get to know Penny a little more. Enjoy our interview!
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Expand your ideas about printmaking with found objects in a new weekend class taught by artist Lauren Koch: Traces of Beauty: Rust Printing. Rust printing is a unique way of mark making that utilizes steel and iron to create images on paper and cloth. I recently talked to Lauren about her work, rust printing, and her relationship with the Folk School. Enjoy our interview!
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In our recent letter from Folk School Director Jerry Jackson, Weavers’ Work Week was featured in Janet Davis’ story (if you missed it, read the letter online here). I thought this would be a great time to talk to Pam Howard, the Folk School’s Resident Weaver, about this special week. Weavers’ Work Week is an annual tradition at the Folk School where skilled weavers are invited to come for a week and volunteer their time to do projects around campus and make improvements in the studio. Let’s learn more from Pam…
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This past weekend, instructor Alice Russell taught a Quilting class. She brought some samples of her quilting, including this beautiful quilt she recently created for the Quilts of Valor Foundation which provides quilts to heal and comfort our service members and veterans. We think that’s pretty awesome! Go Alice!
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I had the pleasure of having my first ever Folk School Quilting class taught by one firecracker of a quilter, Audrey Hiers of Blairsville, GA. This lovely lady has been picked to be featured in McCall’s “Quilting” Magazine 6 times and her “Crazy Dazies” designs is a McCall’s pick of their top 16 scrap quilts. She is teaching “Appalachian Holiday Quilts” during Holiday in the Mountains Week, December 7-13. I caught up with Audrey about quilting and more. Enjoy our chat!
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To have the freedom we had as children: to explore, to try new things, to dabble, to be alright with not being good at it, to immerse ourselves and relinquish all responsibilities for awhile… sound good? Since 1925, John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC has been answering the call of adults who want to have fun learning about music, art, nature, crafts, gardening, cooking, storytelling and writing.
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“Personal Places–Portraits in the Landscape” focused on working from photos to depict a story through an art quilt accomplished during the week. Our class was small, but that turned out to be a blessing. This class is very intense, there is a lot of information to process in five days.
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The glories of April fill every sense! The feel of the wind in my hair thrills me; and I’m not even outside – I’m in the house in a windows-open day! After the immediate barrenness of winter, spring seems like a dream. Everything wild and cultivated takes on a new life of color, texture, sound, and smell…truly more than the senses can contain in any one moment or hour! Anywhere you go, the new green color is heading up the slopes. By the River Cane Trails and the fields that edge the Folk School campus, the new grass is thickly growing.
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