Exciting things happening!

Over the past few days I've been invited to be part of a couple of exhibits. One will be in Atlanta at the Swan Coach House Gallery, August 7-September 20. This exhibit will be called "Mining Surface" and is described to "...showcase dynamic, new sensibility of art textile works by artists in the South." The other exhibit will be at Hambidge Center, "Back to Nature: An Exhibition of Contemporary Botanical Pottery and Art." That one will be April 11-June 7.

I'm quite excited about both exhibits and being able to show new work.

Another opportunity has been developing for the past month. This is a wonderful chance to work with good friends, Peggy McBride and Pat Williams, as we team teach a course during the Fall 2008 concentation at Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC. The concentration program is for eight weeks--a long time to spend, intense and rewarding. I was able to take a concentration in 2001 with Archie Brennan and Susan Maffei at Penland and the experience was life-changing for me. Now, to be able to plan for and be part of the instruction of such a course is just fantastic!

Here's basic information; more will be available through Penland once the fall 2008 concentration classes are on their website.

Tapestry and Creative Potential

Instructors: Peggy McBride, Tommye Scanlin and Pat Williams
September 21-November 14, 2008
For more information: http://penland.org

Tapestry weaving techniques are easy to learn yet often take a long time to master. Along the way to mastery, there are many roads to consider in methods and in design ideas. This class will be about both: the known paths to basics of tapestry technique and the creative meanderings where ideas develop.

Collaborations among teachers and students will encourage all to delve into sequence and resolution, tradition and innovation. We will explore ways to find and develop personal concepts and images through which to celebrate the nature of tapestry.

Instructors McBride, Scanlin and Williams are long-time friends in fiber; over the past twenty-five years they've worked together in fiber art guilds, workshops, and critique sessions. They are eager to share ideas with others during this eight-week session at Penland, one of the most exciting craft school in the U.S.

Brief bios:
Peggy McBride, mixed media artist (commissions: Atlanta's Alliance Theatre Company, Children's Hospital, Federal Reserve Bank), owner, Globe Gallery in Clayton, GA, grants administrator for state's Grassroots Arts Program, creative consultant for non-profit art organizations.

Tommye Scanlin, studio artist, juried member Southern Highland Craft Guild and Piedmont Craftsmen; professor emerita of art, North GA College & State Univ (GA), other teaching at John Campbell Folk School, Penland (NC), Arrowmont (TN); American Tapestry Alliance award (2007); work included in several public and private collections.

Pat Williams, studio artist, juried member Southern Highland Craft Guild, Masters in Art Education, art teacher of fifteen years (public school), American Tapestry Alliance award (2006), exhibited nationally and internationally with tapestry works in private collections.