Folk School life in North Carolina

We've spent the week at the John C. Campbell Folk School in the Appalachian Mountains, teaching a book arts workshop. 

 

We did a pretty good job of not overworking (ie: staying up past 10 pm in the studio every night) and still taught a lot of different structures, had lofty book arts conversations and watched our students create intricate and quirky books. 

I love this ultra-creative working table.

 

Lots of cool books

One student, Betty, used pictures of the folk school in her creation, which included a possum. I haven't seen any possums here, but this town, Brasstown, is known for its New Year's eve "possum drop", which they tell me "does not abuse the possum in any way, in fact, it keeps him from being run over for another night."

This is Peter playing music with the locals at the "Possum Pit" in downtown Brasstown.

People here are so lucky to have a resource like the folk school nearby. They invite artists and craftspeople to teach week-long classes in beautiful studios in this peaceful rural setting year-round. A major focus of the campus is "non-competitive education", which makes for a joyful camaraderie to develop in the classes and in the dining hall. They also believe in the unifying power of music. We sang folk songs in the morning, heard a free concert last night by a fantastic New England fiddler, Lissa Schneckenburger and contra-danced on Wed. night.

Look at the other crafts people did during the week:

Sweetgrass baskets

Banjars

wood turning: hollow vessels

We'll be here another week, where we will hopefully have more sunshine. It rained most days last week. Peter will teach a ukulele class and I (Donna) will learn some jewelry making!