The CCCC Ceramic and Metal Arts Guild is sponsoring two special workshops this semester.
On October 28, Jason Dowdle, much-published photographer for Mark Hewitt's The Potter's Eye, and well known for working with the top crafts fairs on the east coast, will be visiting the Professional Craft Design: Marketing class at the clay studio at 138 N. Chatham Avenue in Siler City, NC 27344. He will be demonstrating photo techniques that juries are looking for in image submissions to competitions, shows, and in grant applications. He'll explain what sets apart good versus bad images as well as the relationship between the artist and images used to communicate with the world. This class is from 1:00 to 4:50pm. The fee for non-Guild members is $15.00. Call 919-742-4156 for a reservation. Space is very limited.

Curriculum Sculpture Spring 2010 Classes


Professional Arts and Crafts: Clay
PCC 111 S01 Functional Pottery Monday and Friday 8:00--2:50, Wednesday 12:30--4:20

PCC 111B S0A Functional Pottery Tuesday and Thursday evenings 5:00--9:20

PCC 132 S01 Glaze Formulation Thursday 10:00--1:50

PCC 116 S01 Pottery Tool Making Monday 9:00--12:50
PCC 241 S01 Kiln Design/Construction Wednesday 1:00--4:50

Professional Arts and Crafts: Design
PCC 119 S01 Clay Design Special Study (Exhibit Design) Tuesday 10:00--1:50
PCD 111 S01 Advanced Craft Design Wenesday 8:00--11:50

Professional Arts and Crafts: Metal
PCS 110A Q01 Intro to Metal Sculpture Tuesday 11:00--2:50
PCS 114 Q01 Advanced Metal Sculpture Tuesday and Thursday 11:00--4:20

Central Carolina Community College Sculptor wins award

Emerging sculptor Ruth Brown is award winner in debut exhibit

The theme of the 21st annual Sculpture in the Garden Show at the North Carolina Botanical Garden ( http://ncbg.unc.edu/pages/29/ ) is Celebrating Life Forces – Earth, Air, Fire Water, Spirit. Central Carolina Community College Pottery and Sculpture Student Ruth Ella Brown won a Merit Award in her debut in a major show for her large ceramic sculpture Circle of Life: Susan. Kathy Buck, co-founder of the annual art exhibition said at the October 4th award ceremony exclaimed, “the winners’ works especially express this year’s theme.

“I am fascinated with the life patterns around me, people, animals, plants, everything, explains Ruth Brown. “In my sculpture, a Black-Eyed Susan reveals her entire life journey in the garden.” The sculptures that Brown creates are inspired from her everyday observations, along with an active imagination. “I feel a connection with the clay as I work, whether it’s sculpting a totem pole, or sculpting an animal, she adds. “Sculpting faces that have worn features showing their life journeys are my favorite. These creations have become a way to stay connected with folks whose lives have crossed mine. Clay is a medium that has unimaginable opportunities. Each time the clay comes alive in my hands with a new expression it is memorialized as art.”

Phillip Ashe, Director of the CCCC Sculpture Program, announced “We’re happy to see one of our students begin to achieve some recognition among the local arts community. Ruth has worked hard to develop her own individual style as a sculptor and this award will encourage her to continue refining and exhibiting her work.”

Of the 24 artists exhibiting in the North Carolina Botanical Garden Show, five have participated in either the Curriculum or Continuing Education Pottery and Sculpture Programs at CCCC. In addition to Ruth Brown, Margo Bennett, Forrest Greenslade, Zen Palkoski and Beverly Rouse showed sculpture in this year's event. The sculpture exhibit runs through November 15th.

The Professional Arts and Crafts Program (http://www.cccc.edu/curriculum/majors/sculpture/) in clay and metal sculpture has a unique design and location. The program, the only one of its kind in North Carolina, was developed to teach artistic skills in pottery, clay sculpture, and metal sculpture. The course work in the Sculpture Program concentrates on the development of skills in clay and metal. Emphasis is placed on hands-on training. Courses in design, pottery, metal and clay sculpture, and basic welding give students needed fundamentals in this creative art form. Additional classes provide students with training in metal casting, glaze formulation, kiln design and construction, and advanced artistic design. Students can become a part of an arts community when enrolled in the CCCC program. Located in an historic building in downtown Siler City, NC, the facilities are newly renovated and feature gas and electric kilns.

For more information contact Phillip Ashe or Sandra Martin (phone: (919) 742-4156, email: pgashe29@cccc.edu).

Sculpting With Concrete Class

From our Continuing Education Department Sign up today! Call 919-542-6495 X 241

Sculpting with Concrete, 4, Instructor, Dr. Forrest Greenslade

Students will gain a hands-on experience in using a rock-like composite to create sculpture. Students can range from having no experience with sculpture to advanced students

in clay or metal sculpture. Each class will have discussion, work time and class feedback on sculpted objects. Metals Studio.

Saturdays 10am—2pm, October 3 through October 24 (4 weeks).

Cost for course $70. Materials cost to students $15.00 to be paid at registration.

CCCC Sculpture student takes top honors

Chatham emerging artist takes top honors at NC Gourd Festival

The theme of the 68th Gourd Festival exhibit at the NC Fairgrounds was "By the Seashore". Carol Kroll entered a large carved and painted gourd depicting the energy of the ocean. The exterior was done in deeply carved ripples, representative of the ocean's rhythmic waves or patterns one would see left behind in the sand. “I painted the interior in swirling shades of aqua, inviting the viewer to look inside, she explains. Kroll’s first entry in the Gourd Festival, in the novice division, won 1st place and the President's Award.

Carol Kroll started painting at a young age with a private teacher and continued taking art classes through her teens. She later attended Newark School of Fine And Industrial Art in New Jersey and graduated with a diploma in textile design. For most of her adult life, she held a successful career as a textile designer in the home furnishings industry. Then she needed to redirect her life.

“I worked as a designer close to 30 years,” recalls Kroll. “I loved my work and felt fortunate that I had a career I enjoyed and at which I was good. My company relocated me to Burlington NC, and then had a major restructuring, moving most of their operation to China. I soon discovered that textile companies all over the country were doing the same. Manufacturing and even design were outsourced. That is when I discovered Central Carolina Community College and the Sustainable Agriculture program.”

Kroll soon conceived the idea of combining gardening and design, creating beautiful sculpture using her home-grown gourds. ”I love growing things, but my first love, art, kept tugging at me. I wondered how I could combine them. "The carving and painting techniques I use evolve with each piece, and are as varied as the gourds themselves." Kroll is continuing her studies at CCCC, in the sculpture program; she is learning how to market her work through the marketing class.
"Creating fine art on gourds seems to come naturally, but marketing them is a whole different ballgame."