2022 Nature Week – August 1-5
2022 Workshop Season Update:
Touchstone is again offering a modified workshop season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Please review our COVID-19 policy* and our cancellation policy* prior to registering for any workshop.
*Subject to change, check back for up-to-date information. Registered participants will be notified of any changes.
This week of programming focuses on the beauty of the Touchstone landscape with workshops in Blacksmithing, Ceramics, Drawing/Painting, Glass, or Metals/Jewelry.
Environmental Educators from Powdermill Nature Reserve will be on-hand to deepen your understanding and exploration of the environment surrounding Touchstone. Be inspired by nature and use natural materials in these immersive workshops. This is a special opportunity to get tuned in to the nature that surrounds you!
Register soon, most sessions have limited space available.
If space is not available in your desired workshop, please sign up for the waitlist and you will be notified if openings become available.
BLACKSMITHING
AUG 1-5 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI) | NATURE WEEK
Organic Designs in Metal
Instructor: Glenn Horr
All Levels
$620 Member | $650 Non-Member
$45-$95 Materials and Studio Fees
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
Find inspiration in the natural surroundings of Touchstone by forging leaves, flowers, vines, and even some small critters. You will learn techniques such as drawing out, twisting, scrolling, and working with chisels. Additionally, tool making will be demonstrated and discussed to develop your designs further. Have fun transforming bars of steel into lifelike organic forms.
Known for his attention to detail and fine craftsmanship, Glenn creates a wide range of functional and decorative hardware for homes and enjoys working with other designers on special commissions. He has been sharing his knowledge and making custom forged work since 1978. Glenn demonstrates for various blacksmithing groups and has shown his work in numerous craft shows and exhibits, most recently in Re-Joined: A Collection of Forged Works, in Johnstown, PA.
Website: Glennsforge.com
Instagram: @Highlandforge_wv
CERAMICS
AUG 1-5 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI) | NATURE WEEK
Taking Risks
Instructor: Kevin Crowe
Intermediate
$620 Member | $650 Non-Member
$120-$170 Materials and Studio Fees
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
This workshop will encourage participants to work outside their comfort level, to explore what was once their limits. We will work at the edges where the bones of creativity live. The forms that we have held at arm's length will be our teachers.
Kevin Crowe has been a studio potter for 40 years. He operates Tye River Pottery in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Nelson County, Virginia. His work ranges from 4" tea bowls to 48" jars which are fired in an anagama wood fired kiln for seven days. He has taught workshops throughout the United States and in England and Wales, focused on large forms and wood firing.
Website: kevincrowepottery.com
Instagram: @tye_river_tea
DRAWING & PAINTING
AUG 1-5 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI) | NATURE WEEK
A Closer Look at Nature: Botanical Illustration
Instructor: Robin Menard
All Levels
$620 Member | $650 Non-Member
$15-$45 Materials and Studio Fees
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
Surround yourself in art and nature as we take a closer look at the common things all around us –leaves, branches, tree bark – whatever inspires you! Botanical illustration differs from all other forms of illustration in that it involves very close observation to capture the habits, details, and color of a plant. We will work in graphite and colored pencil on paper in a step-by-step, guided approach beginning with the basics of form and tone, and moving onto color. Beginners are welcome - no experience needed! This workshop will provide ample one-on-one instruction, enabling both the beginner and experienced student to develop their own unique style and skills at their own pace. Join us and ignite your creativity and refresh your spirit!
Robin Menard shares her love of nature through her art and teaching. A lifelong artist, Robin is a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She has a Certificate in Botanical Illustration from Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, where she is a core drawing instructor in their Botanical Illustration Certificate program. Robin offers workshops throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. She is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Allegheny Highlands Botanical Art Society, and the Colored Pencil Society of America.
Instagram: @robinmenardart
GLASS
AUG 1-5 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI) | NATURE WEEK
Flameworking Glass Flora
Instructor: Erin Garmezy
All Levels
$620 Member | $650 Non-Member
$135-$185 Materials and Studio Fees
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
Learn how to create botanical works on the torch using borosilicate glass. We will cover basic techniques for sculpting leaves, flowers, vines, and other flora. Throughout the week, you will assemble multiple floral components using glass support techniques, with a focus on strong welds and connections. Open to all levels.
Erin Garmezy became enamored with glass as an artistic medium at age 17, when she made a deal to trade shop work for glass studio lessons. Garmezy studied glassblowing at VCUarts, earning both a BFA in Craft/Material Studies and a BFA in Art Education in 2007. She now works both on the torch and in the hotshop, creating realistic and delicate lifeforms made of glass, and frequently collaborates with her husband Grant Garmezy. She has taught glass workshops at the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Glass Furnace in Turkey, Aya Glass Studio in Japan, and Pilchuck Glass School, among others. Her work was featured on the cover of Glass Art Magazine.
Website: eringarmezy.com
Instagram: @neffel
METALS & JEWELRY
AUG 1-5 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI) | NATURE WEEK
Repetition in Nature: An Enamel Workshop
Instructor: Tanya Crane
All Levels
$620 Member | $650 Non-Member
$70-$130 Materials and Studio Fees
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
Learn various approaches to repetitive mark making in vitreous enamel using nature’s natural patterns as a guide. This course will introduce you to various techniques for replicating these patterns for enamel surfaces including stencils (both handmade and purchased), sgraffito, and pen work. Overglaze enamels and oils will allow for free mark making and painting abstract backgrounds and details. To finish your pieces, watch Tanya demonstrate various textured surface techniques that will transform your pieces into true abstract artforms.
Tanya Crane is a Professor of the Practice in Metals at the School Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts. Crane was the 2018 SNAG Emerging Artist selected to present at SOFA Chicago, the 2017 recipient of the Society of Arts and Crafts Artist Award, a Haystack Mountain School Artist Residency 2017 recipient, and a participant in the Smitten Forum Metalsmithing Residency at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, 2018. She exhibited her work in a solo exhibition at the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. Crane's work is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Stewart Program for Modern Design in Montreal, Canada, the Enamel Foundation Collection and the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.
Website: tanyamoniquejewelry.com
Instagram: @tmcrane613
Touchstone Center for Crafts prohibits discrimination in employment, educational programs, and activities on the basis of race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or association preference. Touchstone Center for Crafts also affirms its commitment to providing equal opportunities and equal access to its facilities and programming.
(724) 329-1370
All workshop participants must be 18 years or older except where indicated.
Workshops are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Many fill quickly and have wait lists months in advance – don’t wait to register! Registrations for onsite workshops should be made no later than 15 days ahead of the workshop start date so that we can count you when making workshop determinations, ordering materials, etc. Touchstone’s onsite workshop determinations are made 14 days in advance of their scheduled start dates, primarily based on the number of participants registered at that time. Virtual workshop registrations should be made at least 8 days ahead of the session as determinations are made 7 days in advance of the scheduled start time, primarily based on the number of participants registered at that time.
A processing fee of $15 will be added to 1-5 day onsite workshops and community wood firings.
Nonrefundable COVID-19 fees are charged to each participant per onsite workshop: $20/5-day workshop, $15/3-day workshop, and $10/1- & 2-day workshops. These fees help to offset the additional and increased expenses to Touchstone for cleaning, sanitizing, PPE, disposables, and other costs directly related to ensuring health and safety for all. This fee is nonrefundable.
To view a full listing of the Terms and Conditions as part of your enrollment, download the 2022 Participant Guide.