I went there last Friday as a chaperone with a group of students from Hillwood High School. The weather was iffy i.e heavy rain and fog which did not lend well to decent outside photography. The group I was with changed from pinhole photography to Itajime resist dying. Three other groups spent the day focusing on blacksmithing, glass bead making or glass etching. I have to tell you I was impressed with the facility, the teachers, the tour AND the fact that the students obviously had a good time.
http://www.krolltravel.com/stories/tennessee-appalachian-craft-center.html
visiting the wood shop
Itajime how to and some samples
During the summer there are workshops that count toward college credit.
On April 10 there will be a Craft Celebration. They are looking for volunteers for the day to teach classes or assist in the Kid's Craft area. If you are interested please contact Noreen Grisolano (the lady showing the wood bowl above) at 931-858-2833 or grisolano@twlakes.net
One of the interesting parts of the tour was watching some of the students at the glass blowing furnaces. One vase was about done and looking lovely when all of a sudden it fell off it's mounting and smashed to smithereens on the floor. Too bad.
Noreen gave us a very enthusiastic history of the kilns on the grounds and explained the working processes for each one.
Tomorrow I'll tell you a bit about Itajime and show you some of the pieces made by the students :)
