Making Metallic Memories

 

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 36^th 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 with a number of materials, including copper! Metal and Coppersmithing has always had a presence in the National Arts and Crafts Conference and starting next month, both workshops will return to the GPI.

Coppersmithing: Arts & Crafts Style with Frank Glapa and Small Art Metal Workshop with Ron VanOstrand will return next month to give people the opportunity to learn from the instructors, who also happen to be Roycroft Renaissance Master Artisans. 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 (A Two-Part Workshop)

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.

 

About Frank: After a brief time serving in the military and a permanent relocation to Chicago, Frank spent 20 years in the advertising industry utilizing his knowledge of photography and honing his design skills. He and Anastasia eventually began looking for a well-built house with good design, and when a super size 1924 Chicago brick bungalow was available (now registered with the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association) it became home. Living in an Arts & Crafts Prairie house became part of Frank’s everyday life, so copper metalworking was the next natural progression. And thus began his career in metalwork in 1996.

As it happens, a new neighbor needed a spacious Arts & Crafts style mailbox to accommodate his magazines. So Frank went to work designing and producing a copper mailbox gathering inspiration from the works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his famous Glasgow Rose as well as the Roycrofters Guild of East Aurora, New York. Following the commission, an ad in American Bungalow Magazine for the “Bungalow Mailbox” brought in more orders and Frank was on his way.

 

 

 

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.

 

About Ron: The skill of metalsmithing will be taught by Ron Van Ostrand, 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. It’s safe to say that Van Ostrand is one to know if you intend on learning how to work with metal or if you’re looking for a new skill to acquire to utilize and make a masterpiece of your own.

Van Ostrand co-founded the “VanOstrand Metal Studio” with Dawn Raczka after graduating from the Metals Program at the State University of New York at Brockport in 1997. He moved the studio to Holland, New York – where he could teach in the neighboring community of East Aurora, New York. His designs are influenced by early 20th century Roycroft metalwork and also considers Japanese culture and nature an inspiration in his work.