Stories

15 Dec

Posted at 11:00h in Community, Stories: Dance, Stories: Music
[caption id="attachment_12103" align="aligncenter" width="602"]The Brasstown Morris Teams in England. Carl and trombone are on the far left. The Brasstown Morris Teams in England. (Carl and his red trombone are on the far right.)[/caption] There are all sorts of traditions that are alive and well at the Folk School. The Brasstown Fire Department always brings the firetruck to spray down all the children during Little/Middle Folk School, we always dance the Salty Dog Rag during the evening break at Saturday night dances, and the Brasstown Brigade always helps us bring in the New Year with their black powder muskets. One of my favorite Folk School traditions is the Brasstown Follies, the talent show that happens each Winter Dance Week the night before New Years Eve. For as long as I've been coming to Winter Dance Week, the Follies have been organized and MC'ed by Carl Dreher - dancer, musician, magician, and all around Brasstown enthusiast. So enthusiastic, in fact, that he and his wife Charlotte Bristow recently retired and decided to move here from Texas. Let's meet Carl... [caption id="attachment_12107" align="alignright" width="253"]Carl & Charlotte at Kenilworth Castle. Photo by Julie B. Hearne. Carl & Charlotte at Kenilworth Castle.
Photo by Julie B. Hearne.[/caption] CC: When did you first start coming to the Folk School? Was it for Winter Dance Week, or to take another class? CD: I believe it was 1993. I saw an ad for Winter Dance Week in the Country Dance & Song Society (CDSS) newsletter, and saw that Bob Dalsemer (the Music and Dance Coordinator at the Folk School at the time) was in charge. I knew Bob from serving on the Board of CDSS, and that was all the recommendation I needed to know that it would be a fun week. So I loaded up my truck and drove out. Except for one year when my wife Charlotte and I decided to stay home for Christmas (a big mistake, I SO missed everyone!) and one year when I was sick, we've been coming continuously since then. CC: Tell us about your interest in music and dance? What musical instruments do you play and what kinds of dance have you done? CD: I've always had music in my life, with my parent's encouragement. Neither of them played any instruments that I can remember, although I still have my dad's harmonica. My parents loved German music and bought my brother an accordion...is that child abuse?...but he didn't take to it, so I picked it up. (Not easy...it was a full 120-bass "Billy Baldwin" Har-har.) I started the trombone in 7th grade. (My parent's reaction was "What? The trombone?! But you have an accordion!") I continued playing it all the way through college and then grad school at the University of Virginia. There was a very fine concertina player at U.Va., which inspired me later to buy an instrument and some books and learn it. The melodeon came next out of necessity, since I wanted to start a Cotswold Morris side and I was the only musician (that's being self-flattering) in the group. Next on the list are the banjo and the ukelele, which are hiding in a closet, waiting to be unleashed on the unsuspecting world. I intend to make use of Folk School classes to get started on those. Wow, accordion, trombone and banjo. The Big Three of social-pariah instruments.

25 Nov

Posted at 18:23h in Instructor Voices, Stories: Quilting
I had the pleasure of having my first ever Folk School Quilting class taught by one firecracker of a quilter, Audrey Hiers of Blairsville, GA. This lovely lady has been picked to be featured in McCall's "Quilting” Magazine 6 times and her "Crazy Dazies” designs is a McCall's pick of their top 16 scrap quilts. She is teaching “Appalachian Holiday Quilts" during Holiday in the Mountains Week, December 7-13. I caught up with Audrey about quilting and more. Enjoy our chat! [caption id="attachment_12026" align="aligncenter" width="600"]Detail of "It's Fall, Y'all: Fun Scrappy Autumn Quilt" by Audrey Hiers Detail of "It's Fall, Y'all: Fun Scrappy Autumn Quilt" by Audrey Hiers[/caption] [caption id="attachment_12018" align="alignright" width="227"]Audrey teaches Sara about quilt design in the Folk School Quilting Studio. Audrey teaches Sara about quilt design in the Folk School Quilting Studio.[/caption] CP: How did you get so involved in the quilting world? AH: Probably because of the quilting genes in the family. Both of my grandmothers quilted and although I never saw either of them at the frame, I do believe in heredity! You could say I fell into it, and once I tried it, I got hooked big time. I seriously started quilting in the early 80s and taught my first class in 1987. CP: Has quilting changed since then? Comparing quilting 1980s to now is like the difference between night and day. For the most part we still use fabric and that's about it. CP: What’s your favorite holiday motif? AH: My favorite holiday motif is a sprig of freshly cut pine with holly sprigs mixed in. Alone, it would be a holly leaf. CP: How is Appalachian style quilting different from quilting in other regions? Does it have any distinctive characteristics?

17 Nov

Posted at 12:24h in Instructor Voices, Stories: Book Arts, Stories: Paper Art, Stories: Printmaking
[caption id="attachment_11908" align="aligncenter" width="600"]Wood Engraved print and block project by Nancy Darrell created in Jim Horton's Folk School class Student print and block project created in Jim Horton's Wood Engraving class at the Folk School[/caption] I recently talked with instructor Jim Horton about printmaking, wood engraving, his upcoming classes and the new Book and Paper Arts Studio. Jim has been a printmaking/graphic design instructor for 43 years, with special interest in historic graphic tools and processes. His work ranges from job printing and book arts to limited-edition prints. Enjoy our interview! [caption id="attachment_11904" align="alignright" width="285"]Poster by Jim Horton Poster by Jim Horton[/caption] CP: Where are you from? JH: I was born in Oklahoma, but lived most of my life in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Midwesterner to the bone, but I sure like to visit the South. CP: Tell me about your history with printmaking? JH: My father was a sign painter, the old fashioned kind using a brush and gold leaf. It was an incredible skill. He also did silk screen printing back when the fabric was real silk. He cut stencils by hand. So graphic arts was always highly respected on our family culture. Making woodblock prints was way cool. As a college student in art school, naturally, I gravitated to the printmaking studio. I was at home there. I loved the industriousness of proofing an edition of prints on fine paper. CP: What do you do when you are not in Brasstown? JH: I was an art teacher, and at every level, teaching graphic design, studio art.. all mediums. That and always printing. A few years back I deeply got into letterpress and engraving. I live in a rural area, and love working outdoors, walking and doing yoga. I still love to draw too. I go over to the local universities and draw from life (models). [caption id="attachment_11906" align="aligncenter" width="480"]Class photo and projects from Jim's class: "The Art of the Great American Poster" Class photo and projects from Jim's class: "The Art of the Great American Poster"[/caption] CP: How long have you been coming to/teaching at the Folk School? JH: I want to say about seven years. Dea Sasso got me here, and she was right. People like the Pattersons, we can only get down here in these hills. [caption id="attachment_11910" align="alignright" width="480"]Wood Engraving and Letterpress Printing with Jim Horton5 Folkehøjskole print by Jim Horton and illustrations by Nancy Darrell[/caption] CP: What are projects are you working on currently? Where do you draw inspirations from? JH: I am illustrating and printing a book of traditional folk songs. I love cowboy songs...why? I don't know. I also love old gospel, though I am not the least bit religious in a doctrinal sense.

17 Oct

Posted at 13:17h in Events, Instructor Voices, Stories: Blacksmithing
I stopped by the Oscar Cantrell Blacksmith Shop, the current shop of Resident Blacksmith, Paul Garrett. Paul and I talked about the upcoming Blacksmith & Fine Craft Auction on November 1, a special event planned for October 31st, and about Folk School life in general. Enjoy! [caption id="attachment_11679" align="aligncenter" width="600" class=" "]Come see blacksmiths in action forging items in the Clay Spencer Blacksmith Shop on October 31 at 7 p.m. Items created will be auctioned off the following day. See blacksmiths in action forging items in the Clay Spencer Blacksmith Shop on October 31 at 7 p.m. Items created will be auctioned off the following day at the Blacksmith & Fine Craft Auction.[/caption] CP: So, the Blacksmith & Fine Craft Auction is coming up on November 1. I hear there’s going to be a new special event on Friday night. Can you talk about that? PG: I can. Traditionally, there has been a joint meeting of the Appalachian Area Chapter of Blacksmiths (AACB) and NC ABANA at the Folk School during the auction weekend. The meeting is on Saturday morning, bright and early. [caption id="attachment_11683" align="alignright" width="320"]Fire place set forged at the "Hammer In" 2013 Fire place set forged at the "Hammer In" 2013[/caption] I had been trying to think of a way to expand the meeting and make it more appealing for smiths to stay over on Friday night. Last year, we tried a small invitational Friday night “Hammer In” (A "Hammer In" is where blacksmiths get together and make things collaboratively). It went really well. We made a few things for the auction, including a fireplace set, and it was encouraging enough to try it again this year. I put the word out to members of the blacksmith chapters and we are expecting quite a few smiths on the evening of October 31st. We are opening the shop up to auction goers to come and see what’s involved in the work and to observe how the items are handcrafted. I believe it will add value and interest to the pieces if folks can see the forging process. Tim Ryan is going to have a kettle of cooked goodness to offer up for a small cost per bowl. It’s gonna be fun! We are going to have a few set projects: a fire tools set and maybe a sculptural piece. Blacksmiths can forge smaller items too. It’ll be a good crowd.

15 Oct

Posted at 19:41h in Community, Events, Stories: Dance, Work/Study & Host Program
I stopped by the Yarn Circle to speak with Charlotte Crittenden to talk about calling and dancing. Charlotte, a Brasstown local, is a regular caller at the Folk School on Tuesday and Saturday night dances. She is a popular regional caller who has recently called at Old Farmer's Ball, River Falls, Grey Eagle, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Charleston, Charlotte, Sautee and more! Enjoy our interview... [caption id="attachment_11663" align="aligncenter" width="600"]contradance_5114 Charlotte calls a contra dance in the Community Room.[/caption] CP: How long have you been calling at the Folk School? CC: I came to the Folk School as a Work/Study in the winter of 2006 and I took Bob Dalsemer’s Dance Callers' Workshop that summer. So technically I’ve been calling since 2006, but I wasn’t calling regularly 'till a little time after that. CP: Why did you get into dance calling?  CC: I’d been a contra dancer for a long time. When I was in elementary, high school and college I was involved in other kinds of dance, so I’ve always had a history of being interested in dancing. I wanted to be a provider of the activity as opposed to just a consumer. Recognizing that my skills as a musician might be a little lacking (laughs), I embraced calling as the next fun way I could be able to do that. [caption id="attachment_11666" align="alignright" width="340"]Charlotte & Charlie Charlotte & Charlie[/caption] CP: What’s the best thing about calling a dance at the Folk School? CC: What a good question! I’d say the dance community at the Folk School is one of the best for integrating all kinds of different folks. People who have been dancing for years and years and years are dancing on the same floor as those who have never ever done it before. Little kids all the way up to folks in their 70s and 80s - all on the same dance floor and everyone’s having a great time, enjoying each other's company. That’s the best part! CP: Do you have a favorite tune? CC: I really like the old time tune called Growling & Grumbling, which I love as a dance tune. It got this great low, mumbly beginning and then it busts into this fun, upbeat tune. CP: Is that the same tune as Growling Old Man and Grumbling Old Woman? CC: Yep! That’s the one! It a great tune. CP: Where do you get your dances from? CC: Oh goodness! Lots of sources. Primarily (and I’d say traditionally) from other callers, but also from going to other dances. I’ll go to a dance and enjoy something that I just danced, run over to the side and write it down real quick. So I collect dances from dancing. I collect dances from other callers. And in our modern day & age, the internet is a wonderful place, not only to collect dances right off the web, but also to find literature from different places. I use the Country Dance & Song Society which is an organization up in Massachusetts that promotes folk dance and music. I peruse their bookstore pretty frequently. They are a great resource for all things dance.

30 Jul

Posted at 16:58h in Community, Giving, Stories: Book Arts, Stories: Paper Art
Book_KS2A5694"What do you like best about the Folk School?" I asked an eight-year-old friend. "All the new old-timey stuff." The Folk School is cutting edge, ever pushing the handmade envelope. We were growing our food in Brasstown before any of us knew we were locavores. When bigger was surely better, we were small and rural and believed it to be the fountainhead of creativity. (Yer welcome, cityfolks). We wanted art to be a part of everyday life, and every person an artist, not just for art's sake (but, hey, art, yer welcome) but for our own sake. We said there was art in all of us, especially as children, and that we just wanted to give it back to those who may have missed it or laid it aside. BA-GianWe were helping people to find common ground at times when others tried to divide us about race, class, gender, orientation, origin, personal appearance, attitude, religion, and footwear. We are not really about crafts or music or books, though we teach and learn them at the very highest levels; to us, they are a legacy and a way to get beyond our bad selves and try to love one another. We teach good ways. Some of them are very old. Cool. Words under glass are handy, like when you're waiting in the drive-through at the Krystal and you can't remember who it was that shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914. BA-Holly-XOBut books are more than the words or images they contain. They are a physical object, the best-ever communication device and an inspiration. The fact that we've had paper and books around a long time does not mean we are through with exploring them, it means that we have a lot going for us in the forward journey. We still paint mountain landscapes in oil, though there are quicker ways to grab an image. We still carve wood, though plastics may be a quicker route to "bear." We still play the banjo, heaven help us, though it is easier to plug in the earbuds and listen to somebody else making music. That would be too easy for the likes of us. We are willing to go to some extra trouble to have beauty in our lives.