Arrowmont
Day 01
Black Ash weaving with JoAnn Kelly Catsos
An easy flight into Knoxville, Tennessee. I haven't been in Tennessee since 1998 (highly recommend touring Elvis' home). After a long wait at the Thrifty car rental counter (no cars), I'm upgraded to a tricked out Ford F150...I mean all the bells and whistles. I like riding high. I am in Tennessee.
After a wrong turn (my fault) Google recalculates and takes me on a beautiful back country road trip leading to my destination. The fall foliage still holds some great color, although many of the leaves are on the ground. I go buy a number of antique stores along the road, and consider stopping thinking there may be old baskets to be found but I feel I am late so I drive on.
Warm welcome at Arrowmont once I find it. It's buried behind a very commercial strip of t-shirts stores and moonshine retailers. I drop my stuff off in my room, and proceed to tour the campus. Wow. In each studio I find another wonder. There is a shoemaking studio, and the assistant is there setting out the leathers that will become the tongues of the shoes people will be making. He is open and friendly, and equally as excited as I am to begin the week of making. In the pottery studio there is a shelf circumnavigating the entire large pottery studio, a boneyard, pieces that never made it to glazing, but each and everyone of them is something any of us would take home. There is a metal studio, a lamp works studio, and on and on. There is an encaustic story making studio that will be happening, and I emailed Pete because I know he would be interested. Finally I find my own basketmaking studio and I am so excited to see examples of baskets to be made.
Dinner is at 5:30. I admit to being nervous heading there. I like cafeterias but I've never liked the cafeteria setting, having to choose who to sit with. But this turns out to be easy at Arrowmont. Each person is here to explore some sort of making, a crafter art, and that is an easy conversation to have. Everyone is excited to get to work learning and exploring new things, they come from as far away as California and Maine, and as close as the town we're in Gatlinburg.
After a presentation introducing us to the school and various instructors, our first class begins that evening. While purely introductory, we get to see some of Joanne Kelly Catsos amazing work; work I have only seen images of. The reality of what she makes is so perfect. There is a tightness and precision that I am in love with. I am so excited to even attempt something akin to what she has done. Here are people I can ask questions of and talk to and learn from. The teachers seem as excited as the students.
After class, I go and explore the library. I quickly learn there was no need to bring books of my own. I frequently find three books on basketmaking, each one more interesting than the last. Books on Japanese basket making, Appalachian white oak basketmaking, and others. Is actually the first time I am kicked out of the library as it closes in a long time.
My walk through downtown Gatlinburg is rather terrifying. It is so commercialized it is unbelievable; I had no idea when I drove in the extent. I buy a couple Budweiser pounders at a convenience store and bring them back to my room. And now for some study before the actual basketmaking starts tomorrow. I think it's going to be a great week.
Day 02
The first full day of studio. Did I mention the food here is pretty darn good? I mean really good. And every coffee cup is unique. It's fun to start the day picking what you're going to drink your morning coffee in. Anyway, today we started working on the traditional shaker cats head back classic basket with square handle. This is what I've been waiting for. And I was not disappointed.
Our teacher, Joann Kelly Catsos, is a master. She's been weaving baskets for 30 years, and teaching for almost as long. She's a true master of her craft, and one of those rare people who can also share her knowledge with a kind word and a smile. There were so many moments today when the class would gasp in amazement. Some of the actions so simple and therefore even more surprising you thought it a trick. It really begins to open my eyes to how these wonderful works of art are made.
I'l let the pictures speak for the process, but would share a few things I learned today of a more general quality. To begin, the materials you use and how you prepare them is key. You need to have a plan. And you need to prepare all your materials in order to properly execute that plan. You can't just sort of dive in and grab materials out of a box as you go. Or rather, you can do that, but you're going to get a very different result. We learned about sanding today, and finishing of materials so they overlap better, and gently wetting the material, and more importantly drying it thoroughly. We learned about weaving to a form or mold. That's really exciting for me is I can imagine making some forms and coming up with some pretty great baskets that way.
I'm at a loss for words; just awestruck. Both Joann and her assistant, Pam, were incredibly generous today. The students in the class are enthusiastic, helpful, and supportive. Weaving for an entire day is incredibly exhausting. Today I worked nine hours on a basket; never done that before. I'm tired. I'm also excited to see what tomorrow holds. We will learn some more patterns and more weaving alternatives.
Day 03
The next project is based upon a design from JoAnn that she calls 'Elegance.' Its fairly complicated weaving pattern is unlike anything I have done before. Using a 9" mushroom mold (that's the wooden form upon which I will weave) the basket will be a circular widemouth basket with the cats head feet. I've chosen to use different parts of the black ash tree to create some contrast in the basket: heart wood (darker) for the uprights, and sap wood (lighter) for the weavers. I wanted to stay away from stain or other color and I think this will work well. The basket will certainly be the most challenging thing I've done to date.
Early on some struggles in the base weaving, but a lot of help from the teacher including directions. The weaving is something of a challenge but I got the hang of it by the end of the day. And almost reached the top of the mold. This means I can remove the basket from the mold tomorrow and continue upward, weaving freehand. This will give me to bring the top edge of the basket inward and create a whole unique shape, and let me do some free form weaving, both of which I'm very happy about.
Overall a really good day of weaving and learning. No rush, just steady progress, having the mental and physical space to do good work is an amazing gift.
Day 04
Today I finished the most challenging but my best weaving project to date. A quatrefoil pattern on a contemporary wide-mouth cats head basket. Uprights made from black ash heartwood; weavers with black ash sapwood. The rim is is oiled hardwood maple.
I think the most incredible thing about the project is the process...having two uninterrupted days to focus on a single project...wow. This basket is easily the best thing I've made in decades, and it fills me with such joy. The process, the learning, the challenge, the focus, and the result. There was no rush, no anxiety, just steady quality work until the end. The project was not without its problems. There was a moment when I thought the uprights might not be tall enough. Once off the mold, the shaping of the basket to get the upper curve was a challenge. The pattern was tricky, and hard to keep track of; and the lashing (the thin weaver that holds the rims on) was 6 inches short, which meant some careful inserting of another piece.
But even in the challenges making of the basket held real joy. The twill pattern was really exciting. Definitely a challenge especially early on where I had to redo some of the weaving due to missteps. But in the end the basket's proportions came out really well, and the contrast of the hardwood to the sapwood plays up the pattern and the form. The scarfing of the rim came off without any trouble (that is the tapering of both ends so that when overlapped it reads as a single piece. The braided off-white linen thread which I use as the rim filler works really well. It's that sort of attention to detail that really excites me, and sets the project above and beyond. In retrospect, it seems I haven't been able to do, or giving myself the time to do, that sort of work in a long time. Again, the time and space (mentally and physically) to work on a project is the best gift. (Know what I want for Christmas? More basket classes!)
The people in my class and the teachers continue to be incredibly supportive. It is a great gift to spend days in the studio with a bunch of people who are so excited and committed to making. You learn from each other, share tools and ideas, offer support when things aren't going well, and celebrate when things are going well. This kind of focused work allows for quality work. I don't think this is transferable to the "real" world, at least not my current world. I would need to very consciously change how my "real" world is set up and working...hmm.
Day 05
My last full day here at Arrownmont. Late last night I realized why this place resonates with me. I had the pleasure of going to Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. You take one class at a time at that liberal arts college. Each class last for 3 1/2 weeks, and you're allowed to focus solely on that one subject which in turn allows for some incredible investigation, and therefore learning. My time at Arrowmont has allowed for a similar investigation and opportunity to learn. Being able to focus on one thing, at this time in my life basket weaving, with great teachers and the support of wonderful fellow students is so much like Cornell College. I feel truly blessed to have spent the last 5 1/2 days here.
Today I finished the rim off the first basket that I would say is truly my own design here at Arrowmont, although it does use the quatrefoil pattern developed by our teacher JoAnn Catsos. The form was started on a 4" cats head mold, but I removed it fairly quickly and tried to create a pill-shaped form. What I really brought to the design was it's rim. The type of rim is after a Japanese basket that I bought on a trip to California. I bought that basket to try and figure out, explore, and re-create that rim. Something I've done on two previous baskets. This last project at Arrowmont allowed me to bring what I have learned here, primarily Shaker inspired basketry, and combine it with this Japanese influence that I find so subtle and so sublime.
The work I've done here, especially the last two baskets which had more of my influence in the design, have opened up a wealth of possibilities for me. The patience and precision that JoAnn brings to the work has shown me what can be achieved with the right tools, knowledge, and space. It's been a long time since I've made work that I am truly proud of.
This last basket is made out of heartwood from the black ash tree. There is no rim in the traditional sense as the uprights are left long and folded over to produce the rim.
This has been a great week. An inspiring week. An enlightening week. I believe I am forever changed. I am tired but incredibly fulfilled. Thank you JoAnn. Thank you Arrowmont.
