JCCFS: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background in your medium. How did you get started?

AC: I’m a former chemical engineer and also holds a BFA in printmaking and an MFA in graphic design. I taught art from elementary school to the university level, served on the faculty of many of the international calligraphy conferences, and teach workshops worldwide including the John C. Campbell Folk School. As a calligrapher, I’m fascinated with the forms that paper can take with just a few simple folds to make books, boxes and ornaments.

JCCFS: Tell us more about your class’s specific technique or process.

AC: Our first job is to ornament the paper itself, with which we will use in a number of ways, from origami to artist’s books, as well as boxes, wall hangings and more.

JCCFS: What can students expect to leave your class with?

AC: You will learn about paper properties as well decoration techniques. We’ll bind a book, make some ornaments and cards and do a bit of writing on them. You’ll transform some commercially available papers as well as some that you design yourself.

JCCFS: What is your favorite aspect or part of the Folk School?

AC: The beauty of the folk school setting takes my breath away as I arrive, and the welcoming staff makes the teaching part delightful. But the students are the best part, as each class becomes a small community of like-minded folks who struggle with a technique and help each other make it work. Lifelong friends are made here, as well as many beautiful objects.

JCCFS: Where do you draw inspiration from for your work?

AC: I take workshops myself, both at the Folk School and other places. These inspire me to go home and work and they also inoculate my imagination with new ways of thinking.

JCCFS: What’s one piece or craft object you’ve made recently that you are proud of, and why?

AC: I just finished a book in a workshop that I was taking. I loved the class but struggled a bit with the techniques. When I got back to the studio, I took it apart and made it better by far. I believe in homework, and do as much as I can in the studio.

JCCFS: What tips would you give a student or aspiring craftsperson? Anything you wish you had known earlier in your career?

AC: Find good teachers, lots of them, and then go practice what you have learned. Somehow I learned this early on, and have stuck with it. I travel to take classes with the best at conferences and workshops, and love taking a variety of classes at the folk school.