In the spirit of gratitude that permeates this time of year, I’ve been looking back at all the wonderful learning opportunities I’ve enjoyed at the John C Campbell Folk School. I recently returned from a six-week Work Study Program so the experience is fresh in my mind.
Shown below, in front of the beautiful Southern Smoky Mountains, are the campus gardens where I spent a considerable amount of time on the “work” component of the program.
The “study” component of the program was spent in the various studios around campus such as the jewelry and metals studio shown below.
It was my third visit to the Folk School and I can’t help but marvel that I’ve spent 21 weeks, over the last six years, on this much-loved campus. During that time, I’ve participated in 15 different classes. Every class was a maker’s dream—whether I was discovering a new craft, experimenting with different materials, learning new techniques or honing my skills.
I recently came across an article by Michael David Sturlin, an award-winning goldsmith and jewelry artist who also teaches, in which he discusses learning and teaching. “Most learning happens through discovery” writes Sturlin. “That discovery can be either intentional or inadvertent; often, the learning process is some of each. Remember that learning is basically the activity of investigation and discovery.” It’s a great point and it’s one of the things that sets the Folk School apart. Classes are hands-on and experiential so there are countless opportunities to investigate and discover and, thus, learn.
Shown below is my classmate Laura sifting powdered enamel onto a copper piece.
The leathermaking class I attended a few years ago, for instance, was a nice mix of planned activities and creative play. See my blog post, My First Leathercrafting Project, to learn more about the Create Your Perfect Leather Bag class with Tom Slavicek.
We started by learning the basics of leathercrafting—how to select, cut, sew, embellish, accessorize and finish leather—on a class project. Then, Tom encouraged us to customize a leather bag to our own style. But we weren’t limited to just bags and purses, students also made belts, key fobs, wallets, tool holders, bag charms, tassels, buttons and earrings.
Shown below is my backpack camera bag customized with a whimsical confetti design and bright pink stitching and tassel! I assure you; I’ve never seen another one like it!
I remember the clay class I took a few years ago was similar. See my blog post, Center, Open, Pull, to learn more about the Round and Round We Throw class with Steve Fielding. After we learned the basics including how to prepare clay, how to throw on the potter’s wheel, the stages of drying and firing, and how to glaze and finish, we were able to experiment freely. My early thrown bowls weren’t any great shakes but the spoon rest decorated with swallows still sits at the ready on our kitchen stove.
Creative play was also a big component of the woodturning class I took a few weeks ago. See my blog post, Making Wood Shavings Fly, to learn more about the Ornaments, Ornaments, Ornaments! class with Steve Pritchard. Understandably, we had to learn how to use the wood lathe and the woodturning tools safely first. But by mid-week, everyone was able to choose their own ornament projects and execute them in their own way. I was thrilled to experiment with the idea of turning simple teardrop shapes on the lathe and making them into little birds. Before I knew it, I had All My Ducks in a Row!
Perhaps the best example of learning through experimentation was a recent enameling class. See my blog post, Endless Texture and Color with Copper Enameling, to learn more about the Cooking with Enamel class with Steve Artz. After getting grounded in the basics, we had free rein to investigate and discover. We were enameling on copper and experimented with various textures, colors, shapes, techniques and formats.
Understandably, some Folk School classes tend to be more structured than others. A class dedicated to reproducing a traditional object would naturally be more focused on specific materials, techniques and results. This was the case when I learned how to make a traditional Cannon County Tennessee egg basket from white oak with rib-and-split basic construction. See my blog post, You CAN Put All Your Eggs in this Basket, to learn more about the Cannon County Style, White Oak Egg Basket class with Sue Williams.
Shorter classes at the Folk School, such as weekend classes and one-day workshops, also tend to be a little more structured. Instructors typically present the class with a specific project and plan activities to complete the project. There are, however, usually opportunities to experiment within that framework.
In a weekend basketry class I attended a few years ago, we made generously-sized market baskets from basket reed. See my blog post, Weave a Market Basket, to learn more about the Weave a Market Basket class with Susan B Taylor.
More recently, I attended a basketry workshop at Olive’s Porch which is the Folk School location in downtown Murphy. The class project was a small oval-shaped basket woven from pine needles. See my blog post, Pine Needles at Olive’s Porch, to learn more about the Make a Pine Needle Basket workshop with Pam Hermann.
The needle felting class I attended recently was only two days but offered lots of time for creative play. See my blog post, Needle Felting: Makers Stabbing Wool, to learn more about the Needle Felted Owls and Pumpkins class with Jodie Graham. One of the great things about needle felting is its simplicity—beginners can quickly create impressive results.
Another weekend class I attended recently was all about kaleidoscopes. See my blog post, Kaleidoscopes Designed to Please the Eye, to learn more about the A Journey into the Universe class with Scott Cole. It was great fun, offered lots of opportunity for creative play AND produced the most amazing results!
Several years ago, I participated in an Inkle Weaving class with Dianne Totten. It was my first exposure to strap weaving and involved more investigation and discovery than you might expect.
In his article The Dynamic of Transmission and Reception, Sturlin goes on to describe what it takes to learn a craft. “In order to learn, a person must be able and willing to do several things:
. Pay attention, Focus, Practice
. Review, Correct, Continue to practice
. Analyze, Make adjustments, Practice more.
… Regular, sustained practice is essential to learning anything and retaining that knowledge over the long term.”
I’m reminded of two processes I attempted to learn, but readily admit, I did not practice enough to fully grasp. The first was spinning and the second was flameworking.
One of the first weeklong classes I attended at the Folk School was all about wool. See my blog post, From Sheep to Shawl, to learn more about the From Sheep to Shawl class with Martha Owen. We started by learning about sheep then moved on to preparing a fleece and carding the wool. The next step, dyeing with natural dyestuffs, was my favorite step. Some of our results are shown below. We wrapped up by learning to spin the wool. Spinning, I discovered, takes practice—lots of practice! Shown below is an example of the “yarn” I created while attempting to spin.
During the weeklong class, Introduction to Glass Blowing with Alex Greenwood, we learned about flameworking in which you heat glass tubing or glass rods with a torch to then blow and sculpt beads, ornaments and other small figurines. Getting comfortable working with the flame and learning to manipulate the glass requires some serious practice.
Sturlin reminds us that “Humans are not born with pre-existing knowledge. Every single thing we do, from childhood to maturity, is something we are able to do because we have learned to do it. All of our technical skills are practiced behavior.”
One skill I can honestly say I practice regularly is photography. In fact, nearly all the photos I share here on the blog were taken with my trusty Lumix camera. Shown below is a photo (obviously not taken by me!) from a Portrait Photography weekend class I took with Frank Zayas a few years ago. You can see Frank setting up the lighting while I stand in as the model.
Sturlin goes on to describe styles of learning. He points out that “We receive information through our whole range of sensory perceptions: sight, touch, sound, smell, etc. [which] makes us receptive to different methods of processing, adapting, and incorporating information into useful applications.”
Anyone who has participated in classes at the Folk School will recognize how these sensory perceptions play into a typical learning experience.
With auditory perception “we receive information by hearing it spoken” and by paying “attention to the sounds of [our] tools and … material”.
Observational perception, where we learn by watching others use the tools and manipulate the materials, is a key component of learning. Demonstrations are a key part of every class I’ve attended at the Folk School. The woodturning demonstration, shown below, by instructor Steve Pritchard helps to illustrate the point.
In applied arts, as Sturlin points out, tactile perception is “generally the most important sensory relationship in perception and practice; the eyes guide and oversee the activity, but the hands and fingers do the actual work.… actually getting your hands on the tools and feeling the manipulation of the material is a vital part of learning.”
You can see me carving wooden swallows in the photo below.
Students at the Folk School love to exchange stories about the classes they’ve taken. They compare notes on the things they’ve learned and the projects they completed. I’m often asked which class was my favorite. I can’t say I have a single favorite but woodcarving is the traditional craft that seems to draw me back again and again.
My first exposure to carving a block of wood into a 3-dimensional figure was a class on flat plane carving. See my blog post, Flat-Plane Carving with Harley, to learn more about the Woodcarving Scandinavian-style Figure Carving class with Harley Refsal.
Flat-plane carving is a minimalist style, with strong, simple cuts that leave the tool marks exposed. It’s all about bold, flat facets designed to catch the light and cast shadows. The first thing we learned to carve was a carrot—driving home the claim that “if you can peel potatoes, you can carve”. As the week progressed, we moved on to more difficult subjects such as the horse shown below.
Woodcarving surfaced again in a special class combining hand-carved wooden handles with traditional hand-crafted brooms. See my blog post, Swept Away by Broom Making, to learn more about the Wizard Brooms class with Mark Hendry and Marvin Daniels. Marvin guided us through the process of carving wizard faces into our broom handles while Mark taught us to make a broom from broomcorn.
Learning doesn’t only occur in classes, of course, but the Folk School model which enables us to spend dedicated time with an experienced instructor in a well-equipped studio surrounded by enthusiastic classmates is ideal. It is, however, only the beginning of the story. “Learning to do something and practicing it diligently leads to a person being talented at that particular activity” explains Sturlin as he urges us to take it to the next level. “Talent is the development of refined knowledge; it is the result of an intentional investment of time and effort.”
More Info
The mission of the John C Campbell Folk School is to “transform lives, bringing people together in a nurturing environment for experiences in learning and community life that spark self-discovery.” See the John C Campbell Folk School website for more info.
The following FanningSparks blog posts are mentioned in this blog post:
. My First Leathercrafting Project
. Center, Open, Pull
. Making Wood Shavings Fly
. Endless Texture and Color with Copper Enameling
. You CAN Put All Your Eggs in this Basket
. Weave a Market Basket
. Pine Needles at Olive’s Porch
. Needle Felting: Makers Stabbing Wool
. Kaleidoscopes Designed to Please the Eye
. From Sheep to Shawl
. Flat-Plane Carving with Harley
. Swept Away by Broom Making
The Dynamic of Transmission and Reception by Michael David Sturlin is an Art Jewelry magazine article published in March 2016. It is available here on Internet Archive.
Today’s Takeaways
1. “Learning is basically the activity of investigation and discovery” …
2. “All of our technical skills are practiced behavior”….
3. “Actually getting your hands on the tools and feeling the manipulation of the material is a vital part of learning. In applied arts, this is generally the most important sensory relationship in perception and practice” Michael David Sturlin
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