Friday, January 20, 2012

Kickstarter Fundraiser "Fly Me to Penland"


Some of you already know that I will be going to Penland School of Crafts in March for eight weeks to work and study with ceramic artist, Kathy King. The class is titled "Looking Over Your Shoulder" and will include lessons in ceramic history, various surface decoration techniques and firing at cone 6 in oxidation and soda firings.  I can't wait for the soda firings!  I feel very blessed to be able to go to this class.  I had no way to afford the class, even with a work-study scholarship so I applied for the studio assistantship position.  And lo and behold, I GOT it!  My end of the bargain is working for 24-40 hours a week in exchange for my tuition, room and board.

The only thing my award does not cover is my travel expenses, materials costs and firing fees.  I also expect I will want to ship home some of the work I make while I am there.  In order to get the funds together I am starting a Kickstarter fundraising campaign.  Kickstarter is the most amazing program to raise funds for all manner of creative projects for artists, designers, dancers, musicians, and more.  The way kickstarter works is that participants offer rewards in exchange for the funds being donated.  These could be copies of work, limited editions, fun experiences, etc.  Tonight, a couple of minutes ago actually, I submitted my initial proposal for my project.  As soon as it is approved I will launch it and let everyone know.  I've got some wonderful rewards that I am thinking about offering so keep on the look out and start thinking about whether you and your friends would be interested in supporting my project.  Have a great weekend and stay warm and dry where here in Northern California we are finally getting rain but we are getting it all at once!

The road leading up to the main campus.

Almost there!

Yes, it really is this gorgeous here!  This is a view of the clay studio and kiln yard (middle buildings) and printmaking( in the back on the left.)  The great thing about being here is the inspiration from the surrounding landscape and the other studios where we are encouraged to do some cross disciplinary investigations and collaborate with other artists.  There are studios for glass, blacksmithing, metals and jewelry, textiles, clay, sculpture, woodworking, letterpress, and photography.  Let's see, did I forget anything?  It is just amazing and like no where else on earth!
Hope you can help out:)
-Love




3 comments:

goej said...

Hello Kelly..

Hope you get a lot of funds to pay your travelcosts.

Great that you got the assistant job!

I´m hoping to take a class i week 16 on our version of Penland. One week of glasing, firing and learning a lot about mixing your own glases.

I cross my fingers and hope the best for you...

Greetings from Denmark

goej said...

Hello again.

Thanks for your comment on my blog.

As you can se, I´m just a happy amateur, self taught, so I hope to attend classes one week at http://engelsholm.dk/ but it all depends on funds.

I live 1½ hours drive from Guldagergaard, but as an amateur with no education, I´d never get a shot at attending there unless i buy me in at a workshop. But it would be a dream!

smartcat said...

Looking forward to your Kickstarter Fundraiser. Kathy King gives terrific workshops. It's wonderful that you are getting eight weeks with her.