Tucked away on a wooded hillside just minutes from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Arrowmont offers a creative oasis amidst the bustle of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Arrowmont was founded in 1912 as the Pi Beta Phi Settlement School, which provided education to a once remote community and was also the site of the first medical clinic in the area. Settlement School children brought gifts of handmade wares made by their parents—weavings, baskets and woodcarvings—and in 1926, Arrowcraft Shop was opened to market the beautiful crafts of the Appalachian people. In 1945, the first summer craft workshops were taught. After more than 20 years of growth and national impact, the School’s name was changed to Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and provisions were made to build a new studio complex in 1967.
Today Arrowmont is an internationally recognized visual art education center, providing creative experiences year-round with weekend, one- and two-week workshops. The School also serves as a cultural center in the community offering adults and kids community classes; an active juried, themed and invitational exhibition schedule; and annual art conferences and symposia. The artists and craftspeople featured here have each contributed to the Arrowmont Experience through their participation as students, instructors, volunteers, board service, historians and residents. These artists have given a combined 47 years of volunteer service, 52 years of quality craft instruction, and over $135,000 in gifts and artwork to benefit the School. These artists embody Arrowmont’s mission to enrich lives through art. Arrowmont celebrates their creative accomplishments.
This Christmas, Arrowmont artists offer these 12 Christmas gifts worthy of any friend or family member.
Brandy Ward
brandywine37738@yahoo.com
Brandy Ward has been making pottery since 1992. In 2001 she opened Brandywine Pottery in the arts and craft community in Gatlinburg. In 2008 she took her first class at Arrowmont and several thereafter. Through these courses she was able to refine her skills. This has had a profound influence on Brandy’s work, career and creativity.
Brandy creates functional art in the beautiful Smoky Mountains. “I like to sculpt my handles to make them look like a branch off of a tree and the leaves or flowers have fallen on to either the pitcher or the vase or mug, whatever I’m making. Then I like to take my glazes and I spray and layer them. I will use up to 12 glazes on every single piece that I make spraying layer over layer,” she said. Brandy is a member of the Great Smoky arts and craft community, Foothills guild and the Southern Highland Guild.
Pitcher: $165
Kimberly Winkle
Winkle is a maker who creates furniture and objects using wood and paint; her work displays a balance of form, color and surface pattern. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including SOFA Chicago, Wanted Design NYC and the Architectural Digest Home Show. Her work has been included in a number of publications, including Fine Woodworking and Woodworker magazines.
Winkle is passionate about crafts and crafts education and leads an academic program which focusses heavily on craft education; she feels that teaching students how to make something with purpose, intention and integrity is very important. Winkle has taught several workshops at Arrowmont over the past 12 years, she has participated in Pentaculum and currently serves as the wood coordinator for the week-long Pentaculum residency at Arrowmont.
Prices vary
Stan Fronczek
Stan Fronczek is a contemporary-furniture designer who creates his works using both domestic and exotic types of wood, and with attention to fine craftsmanship. Through the years the scope of his unique works has included cabinets, rockers, tables, benches, mirrors and fun accessories. His primary inspiration is draw from mid-century and Asian styles that share his vision as well as those prized elements of clean, crisp line. The success of a completed work by Fronczek then rests with his adhering to an imperative of the principles of design: “It’s extremely important that balance and proportion of materials make the finished piece of furniture speak for itself,” he explains.
Stan volunteers at Arrowmont, and has assisted in a number of workshops over the past 18 years. He regularly contributes artwork to Arrowmont events such as Starry Nights and Meet the Artists.
Pi Table, 3.1416 mathematical (above): $1,600
Tina Curry
tina7570@gmail.com
Twenty-five years ago I fell in love with the challenge of creating three-dimensional sculptures that I would sketch out in my mind. Some inspired by dreams. What started out as a hobby is now my full-time passion after retiring from 34 years working in graphic design.
My fascination with expressing nonverbal emotion is prevalent in my clay portraits. Most of my animal sculptures display a whimsical spirit, while my equine and abstract nomadic forms have a calm/fluid presence. My pieces are hand-built, so each has its own unique personality. Many are one-of-a-kind creations. I utilize alternative firing techniques like horsehair, saggar, and pit firing for the finish. It’s truly a spiritual process because part of me will always live in that piece of art.
Curry served on show committee for Arrowmont’s Fine Arts Festival and featured artist for the “Meet the Artists” fundraiser.
“The Herd,” clay raku fired: $250-$450 and up
Andrea Wilson
“I’ve finally admitted to myself I’m a little obsessive. I love the details and that’s OK. For 30 years I worked as a secretary/bookkeeper. Now I’m a full-time painter and printmaker, but still obsessed with recording all the information. Whether it’s the subtle colors and individual parts of flowers or the colorful, bug-eaten decay of fall leaves—I want to capture all of it. By embracing the details and frequently the imperfections of nature, my work offers a unique, creative perspective. I primarily focus on the region where I live in Pittman Center, Tennessee—just on the edge of the Greenbrier entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. My studio is full of treasures collected from the forest and river near my home. Lichens, nutshells, rocks, seeds, mossy sticks, and flowers—these treasures go into the gestation of my paintings. The variety and intensity of color in a dying leaf or the graceful line of a stem, the personality of a dancing blossom—these are nature’s gifts that are all worthy of recording. I work primarily in watercolor and copperplate etching, but I also do mixed media work in mordant gilding of gold and/or silver leaf. My artwork continues to be an evolution of creative ideas.”
Unframed etching, $65-plus; Original framed watercolor, $225-plus
Janet McCampbell Harper
I have been a potter since completing a two year apprenticeship with a master potter in the mid 1970s. In the past forty years I have never tired of creating something beautiful out of a humble material like clay. I love color, texture and nature; all these elements find their way into my work. I make functional work for every-day use as well as whimsical sculptural pieces.
I have taken classes at Arrowmont for the past 20 years. I have learned techniques, gotten inspiration and made lifelong friends at Arrowmont. I am privileged to serve on the Board of Governors at the School.
$700-plus
Randy Ogle
“I don’t think I ever decided to be a chairmaker,” Randy Ogle said.
Nonetheless, the owner of The Chair Shop has made chairs and other furniture for nearly 40 years. He learned from his father, Wade, who learned from his father, Isaac. Isaac Ogle learned from an aunt, Mary L. McCarter Ownby.
“You grow up with it, helping in the family trade. By the time you’re 17, 18, you’re a pretty good hand in the shop,” Randy said.
After ‘ooking around as a young man I returned home to work in the family business.
I use some of his father’s and grandfather’s tools, he said.
Like them, he builds custom furniture and chairs, to smaller items like bowls, rolling pins and cutting boards.
“We will build about anything. I’m doing what my grandfather, and my father did, and I am satisfied.”
The Ogle family has been in woodworking since 1915 in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, near Gatlinburg.
Prices vary by design.
Kevin Leiva
After graduating High School, Kevin Ilan Leiva began his ceramics career at Pigeon River Pottery. Being a production potter for several years helped him perfect his skills on the potter’s wheel. While working as a production potter, he has taken many classes at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. In the fall of 2015, Kevin performed a six-week work study at Arrowmont as well as working as a volunteer for the school. In 2016 Kevin and some other fellow potters decided to branch out on their own and began working it a new studio located in Gatlinburg, but the studio burned down in the devastating wildfires.
After taking a bit of time to recover, Kevin began renovating a barn in Pigeon Forge to use as his new studio. He currently lives in Pigeon Forge, where he continues to work on his craft.
Charred mug (right): $42
Green cups (left): $40
Shadow May
“Everything up ‘til now has influenced my growth, my views and my life as an artist. I’ve just let my work evolve with myself. The interactions, conversations, confrontations—whatever it is—come out in my pots. Learning to listen and reflect has shaped the work I make today. I am always evolving.”
Shadow May is a self-taught, award winning ceramic artist. He was born and raised in Homer, Alaska, but now calls Chattanooga, Tennessee, home. The fundamentals he gained from apprenticeships and production work early in his career equipped him with a fearless method of creating work.
May’s ceramic forms marry a studio artist’s discipline with an experimental performer’s mentality. His commitment and knowledge of the medium only encourages him to take greater risks. He welcomes mistakes and struggles, which bring a greater sense of resolve and presence to each form.
$45-$2,000
Ashton Ludden
“I am a printmaker, educator and sign artist. I hand-engrave copper and Resingrave plates to create delicate intaglio and relief prints that initiate a conversation about our relationship with and impact on animals. I choose the medium of printmaking not only for its unique aesthetic qualities, such as the engraved line or a soft, inviting color blend, but also for its ability to create multiples and its history as the first mass communicator of ideas. I received my MFA in Printmaking from the University of Tennessee in 2013 and my BFA in Engraving Arts and Printmaking from Emporia State University in 2009. Since 2013, I’ve loved teaching printmaking and bookmaking workshops at Arrowmont, ranging from national workshops to community classes. Currently, I teach printmaking and drawing at Knoxville’s Community School of the Arts, am an artist member of the Vacuum Shop Studios Collaborative, and am the lead sign artist for Trader Joe’s in Knoxville.”
“Heavy Influence.” Copper engraving and aquatint, 9 x 7”, 2015.
Pat K. Thomas
Pat K. Thomas has been a maker since the fourth grade. For almost 30 years marbling has occupied center stage—on paper, fabric and books. Pat’s studio is upstairs at the historic 1930’s Cliff Dwellers Gallery in Gatlinburg. She is partnered with three women in the Gallery featuring artwork from fifty Tennessee artists. Pat also teaches workshops in paper and fabric marbling and surface design.
Marbling is a one-time print process from a liquid surface. Color is floated, then manipulated with simple handmade tools into patterns and captured as an original print onto paper, fabric, leather.
“Marbling is an archaic art form dating back centuries. I find it fascinating to reinterpret ancient designs into contemporary presentations for today’s audiences. Marbling is constantly new, continually challenging and ultimately satisfying to me as an artist.”
Hand-marbled card cases on strong, tear-resistant paper.
For credit cards, business cards or a great Gift Card presentation. 2 3⁄4 x 3 3⁄4”.
Frances Fox
visitmysmokies.com/attractions/frances-fox-gallery/
“I grew up attending Arrowmont when it was a Settlement school. At age 13, I worked my first job in the Arrowmont kitchen for the summer workshops. From 1983-85 I apprenticed to the master weaver at Arrowmont for their cottage weaving industry, and for the last few years have taught weaving workshops as an instructor. My educational background is in history and religious studies, and every week of the national workshops I offer a talk on the history of Arrowmont. Both my grandmothers were weavers, but the skill was deferred until I came back to take a weaving class at Arrowmont and fell in love with the loom, the process, the tools and fibers.
“I am currently a Studio Artist in Gatlinburg. My work is a continuous exploration of color and texture with a focus on the mountains and nature in my wall hangings and wearables. I continue my love and excitement with color; I can hear it sing, smell and taste it. I feel I can even crawl inside it. Weaving is a craft to explore with so many techniques and possibilities.”
Red Cocoon Jacket: $695