Handcraft is a personal expression of its maker. Color choice, texture, symbolism, and simple embellishment of folk art aesthetics all reflect the landscape, values, tastes, and whims of the person behind the object. In this class, through conversations, presentations, and hands-on exercises, students will explore surface embellishments used in folk arts and develop their own palette of personal expression. With step-by-step instruction, we will create sample boards, learning how to carve different patterns and textures that will be a foundation to help you explore more ideas in the future. We will also learn how to use different types of traditional paint, including milk paint, egg tempera, and other natural pigment-based finishes and see how the colors interact with the carving on the sample boards.

Required Tools

There are three carving tools required for this course, all other materials will be provided.

• Pheil - Swiss Made, Two Cherries, or Dastra. Sweep/size: 9/3, 8/13, 5/20