May 19, 2008 Summer and Teaching Glass at Alabama Folk School

Today is Monday. I feel as though I am out of a cave, as I have been working on a very big project. More on that later in the year.

I'm doing some brainstorming for the class that I will teach at Alabama Folk School.
I will teach two classes. Each class is one week, and June 22 - 27, I will teach "Let's Kick Some Glass!!" and it will entail all of the basics of how to work in kilnformed glass. The class does not require prerequisites and will include basic design theory and basic studio practices. Glass selection, glass cutting and grinding, and firing schedules will be covered. I hope that we will have a good reception to the class and I think it will be fun.The second class, August 24-29, will be Mosaics: Telling a Story or Painting a Picture with Stones, Twigs, glass and ceramic tiles, broken china, yarn and anything else we can find.

One of the things that I love about the South this time of year is the rhododendrons in bloom. I took some picture of the ones in my yard and posted on the blog. They finished blooming this weekend and I'm glad I can share this beautiful picture with you.

Cast Glass: More about the Process

Earlier in my blog I had posted about studio work in casting glass. In case you did not visit, it is in my earlier post on March 13, 2008. The next step in the casting is to "dam" the inside and outside walls of the mould box wherever there is a "join". In the earlier posts I had rolled "sausages" of plasticene clay and then took the clay and lined this portion of the box so that the investment (plaster) material would not leak out. It leaks out sometimes because, the wood does not perfectly join. This step is kind of like re-caulking your bathtub. I lay the roll of clay on the crevice and thentake my index finger and run it along the line to make sure that the clay is embedded in the cracks. You can review earlier blogs to find out about the Serenbe Community or go to I will post a couple more process pictures for the casting process on the blog with captions.

I am going to meet the Bessemer Development Board and a contractor at a historic building in Bessemer, Alabama tomorrow afternoon to discuss the rennovation of the building for artist studios. The next step in this process will be to recruit artists who need affordable space. The space will cost approximately $50.00 for 200-250 sf at this point. That is very reasonable and the project is exciting. I hope to do most of the mold pouring and pattern making in this building. So far, I do not have that many interns. Hopefully, I will get more responses to my ad. If everything works out, I plan to move my studio to this building later in the summer.


I had the pleasure of visiting with my friend Debra Riffe today. I enjoy our "Salon" sessions and encouragement as well as constructive criticisms of different things that are happening with our careers. It is great to have her as a friend . Her web site can be found in my "Salon" section on the right hand side of the blog. Because studio work is so often done alone, it is great to get feedback from others and hear what they are doing. Debra is teaching a session this Saturday on linoleum block printing and I plan to attend the session (because I missed the one last fall) with my friend Julian Hazlett, who is another very talented artist.


Other than The Serenbe Project, I talked with the Alabama Folk School director, Megan Huston today about the classes I will teach this summer. These classes are listed on the right side of the blog and I hope I will have enough students to register. The classes will be fun and Megan and I discussed blogging from the class and posting some pictures of the classes. I look forward to teaching and enjoy it very much.

Workshops I will Teach at the Alabama Folk School

If you will look to the right of this post, I have listed the workshops that I will be teaching this summer, as of this date. I'm really looking forward to teaching and love doing it. I'm also working on the news release for Serenbe http://www.serenbe.com/ and will post as soon as it is completed. I've been looking for someone to work with me on my web site and I have found a couple of people that I believe will do a good job. My friend Debra also has been looking for someone and we shared the name of the guy that will help me. We often share resources. It is great to have a good friend with whom you can talk. Sometimes just by talking with someone else the solution becomes crystal clear. The link to the Alabama Folk School is: http://www.campmcdowell.com/FolkSchool/ Check it out!!

Teaching at the Alabama Folk School

As I wrote the other night, I will be teaching at the Alabama Folk School at Camp McDowell in Nauvoo, Alabama. Camp McDowell has been a camp and conference center for the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Alabama. Since 1948, people of all faiths and walks of life have used it as a place to rest, learn, grow, worship and play.

In 2007 The Alabama Folk School was added to the Camp McDowell offering and I am truly honored and excited to have the opportunity to go there to teach during Summer of 2008. It is an 1100 acre playground of forests, canyons, and waterfalls. Located in the northeastern quadrant of Alabama http://www.campmcdowell.com/FolkSchool/Directions.htm the Alabama Folk School promises some wonderful scenary. Megan Huston, Director of the School, is great to work with and if that is any indication, we will have a great class. It has been a longtime puzzlement to me how Alabama can have so many talented natives and yet, for a long time had no folk school. I am very glad about this. I will write about Alabama natives on another post. sometime.

I will teach two classes. Each class is one week, and June 22 - 27, I will teach "Let's Kick Some Glass!!" and it will entail all of the basics of how to work in kilnformed glass. The class does not require prerequisites and will include basic design theory and basic studio practices. Glass selection, glass cutting and grinding, and firing schedules will be covered. I hope that we will have a good reception to the class and I think it will be fun.

The second class, August 24-29, will be Mosaics: Telling a Story or Painting a Picture with Stones, Twigs, glass and ceramic tiles, broken china, yarn and anything else we can find.

That is a long title, but I want anyone who reads this to be inspired and motivated to come and spend a week with us. This class is going to be a blast! At this point, I plan to lead the class on some walks around the campus to find unusual materials that they can use. I have not completely decided on each and every project and I may give a choice of projects. Hopefully, we will have time to conquer a class project that we can leave at the school as contribution. Each person will leave with at least one (large) project or a couple of smaller projects.

The last class that I taught was at the Birmingham Museum of Art. http://www.artsbma.org/ and, yes, when you go to the main page, that is a glass gallery. More on that at another time.

Where I will be Teaching this Summer

Just a quick post today. I am posting a photo of a piece of my work. The title of the piece is Relic of a Memory No. l and it is cast, kilnformed, carved with battuto, sandblasted and acid-etched.

Just got word that I will be teaching at the Alabama Folk School this summer. Please join me in a later post for announcement of the dates and titles of the classes. You can visit the Alabama Folk School here:http://www.campmcdowell.com/FolkSchool/ You can visit my web site at http://www.donnabranch.com/