New laser at SUNY New Paltz

I thought I would pause fro a moment and share some images. We are setting up a new Digital Media center in Fine Arts with the help of Jenn Woodin our new Ceramics faculty. Part of the lab is a new laser cutter!!! I documented the whole unpacking. Here it is for your viewing pleasure. -Arthur

SOFA

The cat is officially out of the bag.

hello there!

Well Things just got crazy. As soon as I set foot in the door from Penland things started piling up. I am pulling my hair trying to keep up with it all. I think I might take a break for a little while with the blog. We just moved and I am desperately trying to finish setting up the studio so I can get to work. I have pieces to finish and pieces to start, syllabi to finish up, calls to make, mail to be sent, coffee to drink and dinner to make. Arghhhh make it stop. I did however get this wonderful photo from Fabio Fernández the exhibitions director at The Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston. The Pop Craft show will be opening Friday Sept 11th. I think it turned out pretty well. Click on it to see a larger view

flipping out!

Upcycling!!

Well I am back. Of course things couldn't be busier. I have started setting up the new studio. I am trying to get it done as soon as possible. Its not hard when you need a drill and its in a box somewhere among a million other boxes. Did I mention that I hate moving? On another note the Penland class was a HUGE success. I had a blast! I heard rumors that it was the "BEST SESSION EVER!!" It might have been the beer talking. Also I had a great opportunity to prank my pal Adam Whitney by sewing the pockets to his shop apron shut with a whole bunch of his stuff in it.

That was after I super glued a bunch of change to the floor in his storage room. oh man. Anyhoo. The students were great! Here are a couple images I took before I left. Great job you guys! It was a design challenge. I brought kits of materials that included rubber gaskets, heat shrink tubing, stuffed animals, glass bottles, cork, zippers, washers, felt, static cling vinyl, hot glue etc etc etc. All they had to do was make jewelry from it. Here are the results!

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

dang~!

So I had the pleasure of visiting Hoss Haley's studio! Man o Man! It is a metal workers dream! If you don't know Hoss or his work it is AH MAY ZING! Adam Whitney (Penland's metals coordinator) and I took a quick day trip to Asheville to visit his new fountain that is being installed downtown.

While in Hoss's studio I couldn't help notice that there was a large part of an ironworkers arsenal missing! the forge. Hoss explained that he does almost 90% of his steel fabrication with no heat! In the middle of his shop is a 100 ton press that he built himself (see the panorama below, dont forget to click to make it bigger!). Pretty amazing stuff. His building reminded me of Liz's building in Richmond and all I could do was think of all the things we could have done. His shop had so many amazing odds and ends that made my head spin. Anticlastic and sinclastic forms pressed out of 1/2 plate, stainless steel rod welded and polished to perfection, large paintings made with steel and an angle grinder, anvils, hammers and bending jigs galore! it was very hard not to be a tourist and take photos of every little thing. What an amazing setup. I wanted to say thanks to Hoss and Leslie for having us over to their house which is equally amaizng. It was a pleasure seeing their latest creation James Haley. Even the outside of his house is clad in metal (note the alphabet magnets). We were also really lucky to see Susie Ganch while she was on her way to Arrowmont








click on the panos to view them large scale!