Penland School of Arts & Crafts

A year ago, I picked up pottery as a hobby and side hustle. I wanted an activity I could materialize and apply my design knowledge to. The first 3 months of trial and error, I found it comforting for my mental health. It resonated and I enjoyed the complexity of throwing. James Harring, who's been doing it for over 30 years, taught me. After 6 months, he encouraged the idea of attending Penland School of Arts & Crafts. After all, he had done a residency in 1989. I applied in February for a week workshop in glaze formulation and received a grant to attend in the first week of September.  I had the pleasure of learning from Ben Evans and Jeff Zamek. Penland is a culture I've never been exposed to and meeting like-minded artists welcomed possibilities of an alternative lifestyle other than one lived in Miami. The break from a city and into the wild was promising. I too, could live in a mountain and pick wildflowers at dusk.The demographics of our class were three seniors to a Millenial. Everyone else was experienced and offering new techniques.  On my trip I met lovely comrades, all taking workshops in different disciplines; from blacksmith to printmaking to jewelry design.