Learn From a Roycroft Master – The Return of the Pre-Conference Workshops in February
by Kate Nixon
In keeping with the Arts & Crafts philosophy of “Head, Heart and Hand”, each year we offer individuals who are planning to arrive early to the National Arts & Crafts Conference the opportunity to take a pre-conference workshop. These workshops are hands-on and are designed to give you the chance to make something for you or your home.
A major element of what makes Arts and Crafts shows such a valuable experience is the ability to view or participate in the maker’s process, either through watching demonstrations or being able to make or design your own Arts and Crafts style work. Both experiences are being offered at the 35th National Arts and Crafts Conference at the Grove Park Inn, coming up in February. For more than twenty years, the National Arts and Crafts Conference has made the workshops an enjoyable experience to have before the conference starts at the historic hotel, giving those interested a chance to create and design in the genres of coppersmithing, wood block printmaking, embroidery, art metal, and new for this year, pottery decorating.
Those interested in the workshops can call the Office of the National Arts and Crafts Conference and pay a registration fee to enroll in the workshops. The registration fee will vary this year, so please check the website for information on the prices for each workshop and when they are offered.
Coppersmithing: Arts & Crafts Style with Frank Glapa
Thursday, February 16th – 2:00 pm -5:00 pm
Friday, February 17th- 8:00 am – 11:00 am
Price per registrant: $225.00
This two-part workshop led by Roycroft Renaissance Master Artisan Frank Glapa will get you started on the basics of copper repousse techniques. Your materials will be waiting for you as Frank guides you through the process of hammering and shaping your copper “tile” into an incredible piece of Arts & Crafts metalwork. Classic designs will be provided to fit the 4×4 copper tile.
At the end of the workshop, take home your finished copper tile and continue to master your metalworking skills wherever you are! Professional coppersmithing tools are available for purchase at an additional cost. Register today for what promises to be an Arts & Crafts experience of a lifetime!
Call (828) 628-1915 to register. Have a credit card ready to purchase the registration fee.
Students learn from Arts and Crafts Embroidery teacher Natalie Richards of Paint-By-Threads
Arts & Crafts Embroidery with Natalie Richards
Thursday, February 16th – 2:00 pm -5:00 pm
Friday, February 17th – 8:00 am – 11:00 am
Price per registrant: $225.00 (includes take home kit)
Roycroft Master Artisan and instructor, Natalie Richards will lead a two-part workshop on Arts & Crafts embroidery at this year’s National Arts & Crafts Conference. The class will be geared toward not only individuals new to embroidery but attendees that have taken previous embroidery workshops. The class will focus on perfecting prominent stitches present in historic Arts & Crafts textiles. Each participant will receive a kit that includes linen with marked design, amble embroidery thread, photographs, written instructions and illustrated instructions. The different stitches will be demonstrated in class followed by hands-on application with assistance from Natalie. Attendees will leave with the confidence to complete any embroidery project they select.
Call (828) 628-1915 to register. Have a credit card ready to purchase the registration fee.
Arts and Crafts Block Printmaking with Laura Wilder
Thursday, February 16th 2:00 pm -5:00 pm
Friday, February 17th 8:00 am – 11:00 am
Price per registrant: $225.00
You love block prints, and would love to try block printing. But you hesitate to take this class, because you’ve never done any printmaking. Or even any drawing. Or anything artistic, in your whole dang life.
Or you’re a professional artist who worries it will be too easy, and you’ll finish way ahead of everyone else.
Fear not! Block printing is The Great Equalizer: artists and amateurs and everyone in between are bound together by the challenges and rewards of this process. During this two-part class, you will amaze yourself by carving and printing two linoleum blocks, one for each color, and printing your own two-color note cards. They will not be perfect (that is the charm of the hand made print). But they will be fairly stunning.
Designs will be provided, or you can bring your own sketches.
Laura will demonstrate the steps, and as you work, she will tell stories of triumph and tragedy, using some of her own prints to illustrate. And she will provide you with your own block printing kit to take home so you can continue on your own printmaking journey long after the conference weekend has ended.
Call (828) 628-1915 to register. Have a credit card ready to purchase the registration fee.
Small Art Metal Project with Ron VanOstrand
Friday, February 17th 8:00 am – 11:00 am
Price per registrant: $100.00
This is a light workshop to introduce students to some of the tools and techniques used in the production of art metal objects and jewelry. Chasing, repousse, stamping, sawing and hammering techniques will be used by studebts to craft keychains, pendant drops, or other small objects or jewelry. The workshop is a “hands on” experience with demonstrations. Students are encouraged to take projects in their own direction or to follow the instructor’s example.
Ron VanOstrand is a Roycroft Renaissance Master Artisan in metal, and an art teacher with two decades of teaching experience. He has been a seminar presenter on Art Metal techniques twice in recent years at the conference.
All materials are provided and students will leave with at least one completed project. Tools provided remain the property of the instructor.
Call (828) 628-1915 to register. Have a credit card ready to purchase the registration fee.
Please note: the Conference Events Pass and Grove Park Inn weekend packages do not include registration for any Pre-Conference workshops.
Due to the high cost incurred by our workshop instructors in providing their time and supplies, cancellation of workshop participation must be done by February 1st to receive a full refund.
In the event that the minimum number of students is not reached for any workshop, refunds will be given in full.
If you have any questions about any aspect of these workshops, please call the office of the National Arts and Crafts Conference at 828-628-1915. Detailed descriptions of our workshops are below.