Haystack, Penland & Arrowmont

Haystack, View From My Bench

A Meal & A Jig

Saying Good-By

Marcia Macdonald

Today I am driving from Dover NH to Haystack Mountain School of Crafts on Deer Isle Me. It is a bitter sweet journey, this trip was originally planned so that I could be in top form for assisting Marcia in a few weeks at Arrowmont. As I drive up the beautiful Maine coast my heart is heavy but full of wonderful memories of Marcia. Although Marcia and I were never here at Haystack together it was Marcia who told me about it and told me that I must come here. 24 hours after Marcia telling me about Haystack I had turned in my application. She was right it is one of those very special places. I know during this visit Haystack that her spirit will be here, it was one of her favorite places.

The photographs above are of my last encounter with Marcia, I was her assistant at Arrowmont. It was just a few months later that she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The 2st photo is of our last dinner together at Arrowmont. It was a night to remember ,full of Irish jigs sung to us by the wood artist in residence. The last photo is the place where I hugged Marcia good-by. Sadly she is in neither of the photos but her spirit is there. I love you Marcia, thanks for introducing me to Haystack, Penland and Arrowmont. May your spirit rest in these places you loved so much.

In Memory of Marcia Macdonald

I have just lost a dear friend Marcia Macdonald to ovarian cancer. And today as I grieve for her I think of the wonderful gift she gave me, to find my creative self.

In memory of her I am posting a photo of the little mesh & enamel dresses I made last year while attending Penland’s spring concentration. These are not amazing pieces; they were created for the purpose of experimentation. The idea here was to compare the effects of layered enamels on steel mesh. There was, of course, a nod to the connection between me & my Great Grandmother, Emmy G., a master dress maker and I with my textile design degree. However, today these dresses have taken on a different significance for me. They reminded of a story I told Marcia several years ago about my 1st creative success as a child. In one of her very last postings on her Care bridge site she asked her friends to write about our earliest childhood successes. I wrote her this story that I will post here as well.

Candy’s Little Red Dress

My mother is a wonderful seamstress and as a very young child I’d sit at the foot of her sewing machine watching her every move. I dreamed of sewing like her and would create little hand stitched outfits for my dolls with the scraps from her creations. No matter how much I begged, Mom would always say that I was too young to use the sewing machine. One weekend, in my 7th year, Mom went on a women’s church retreat leaving my sister and me in the care of our father. Dad was content to let us do whatever we wanted and I wanted to sew….. I dove into the sewing chest and pulled out a lovely red calico fabric, a bit of lace, and a pattern for a doll dress. Just like I saw Mom do it, I laid out the fabric, pinned the pattern and cut it out. Then with all the confidence in the world I approach the sewing machine and away I went. When Mom came home the next evening she found the doll, wearing her fabulous new dress, sitting in the center of our dining room table. For Christmas that year Santa left me a fully operating “toy” sewing machine”, I was a happy girl.


These little dresses also represent the emptiness that I feel without a world with Marcia in it. I have only just started on this path that Marcia helped guide me toward and in all that I create there will always be a part of Marcia in it. Marcia, you were my teacher, a mentor and a wonderful friend. Sleep well….

New Adventure

Life is funny, you know? Just as I was getting use to living on the east coast...now it is time to move on. We're headed for Dubai and I'm sure that living there will be a big adventure. I can't take many of my tools so I am hoping that being stripped of all my tricks will just make me better, I do love a challenge.

Steel Houses

Steel Houses

During Penland's spring concentration I continued to explore various enameling techniques using similar shapes in order to compare the results. I wanted to figure out how to form 3 dimensional objects which would hold up during the firing process. I enamel between the temperatures of 1500-1550 degrees. Most solders flow before reaching these temperatures making things a bit more difficult to make larger 3D objects. Over the last few years I have become very fascinated with the book arts and felt that there are many possibilities that would combine both of these mediums & solve my 3D dilemma.

This is one of three steel houses that I created while at Penland. They are part of a body of work in which I am exploring the ghosts in my life. You will recognize this silhouette of my Great grandmother Emmy G. I wanted these houses to convay the feeling of cold hard loneliness that a pinoeer would experience while living on the high northern plains of Montana.

I am thrilled with the results of this experiment and am very excited to see what comes next.

My Ghosts

Continuing Thoughts....

This is an image to remind me of the new direction I wish to be taking my work. I really shouldn't call it a "new" because I have been thinking about it for a while. This is a continued exploration of the ghost/shadow presence of my Grand Grandmother in my life. What is an actual breakthrough for me is to consider working with mediums other than enamel.

Mica Factory

I took this photo while on a field trip to the mica factory near Spruce Pine NC. I think it is very inspiring, enjoy.

Found the llamas....Penland NC, April 2009