Third week at Penland

It's been an amazing week.  Here's what we did (the schedule just shows the group meeting things... it in no way accounts for the many hours the individuals spent at their looms until the wee hours of the morning!)

After the first two weeks, Bhakti and I scheduled, separately, private meeting with every student during the first days of week three to hear their goals for moving forward.  We wanted talk to them about what they want/hope to accomplish during the eight weeks, knowing they'd maybe have a more realistic view of that since they've now had a couple of weeks here.

Penland Concentration times are intense experiences in many way.  First, the location is rural.  The closest town is about a fifteen minute drive away -- and it's the small town of Spruce Pine, North Carolina.  Asheville is over an hour's drive from here.  So there's no quick and easy after-hours distractions of movies, restaurants, bars, etc.  Secondly, the community is of all like-minded individuals: all creative makers who want to share about what and how they do it with each other.  That's invigorating and yet can be intimidating, too.  Add to all of this, the fact that there is so much time to spend in the studio, or visiting other studios, or going to Tues. and Thurs. night slide shows--and then there are the special events that pop up... that's just the quick version of the Penland experience.

We hear over and over that spending time at Penland can be a life-changing experience.  Yes, it can be.  In the exceptional and extraordinary instance, it is that for an individual.  Yet, it is always an experience, that's for sure.

Photos of this exceptional experience so far from the week three (and no words) follow: