The month of June is gearing up to be one of the finest schedules of classes this year. We are anticipating a larger turnout as students break for the summer, so get your reservations in early to experience one of these great classes. To register, go to our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com, print the registration form, complete and mail it to our folk school office with your deposit. Or simply call Gloria at the office and she will gladly help you with your registration. She may be reached at 319-592-3700, Tuesday through Friday from noon to 4 p.m. If she is busy when you call, please leave a message and she will promptly return your call. We look forward to having you join with one of our talented artist instructors to discover the creative arts.
The class schedule is provided for you on our website with more detailed information about the classes and the instructors, but for your convenience here is a list of the June classes:
June 5th
7 Step Chair Caning—Repair the seat in that old rocking chair!
Barn Quilt Painting—Learn how to layout and paint your own barn quilt.
Basic Native American Craftwork—Leather and bead craft will be taught.
Beginning Hammered Dulcimer—Learn to play the dulcimer!
Clothing First Aide-Mending Patching—Learn simple steps for mending your clothing.
Painting the Landscape—Learn how to capture a sense of natural light from one of the Midwest’s premier landscape artists.
Story Telling for All Occasions—Learn the art of storytelling.
June 5th & 6th
Bonaparte Pottery Experience—Make pottery from 150 year old molds and join in an Archaeological dig that may uncover more molds from the 1860’s.
June 6th
Greeting Card Variations—Learn upscale card making and complete five new card patterns.
June 12th & 13th
Beginning Blacksmithing—Learn the fine art of turning a piece of iron into something usable for your home.
June 19th & 20th
Creative Writing-Intro to Publishing—Learn the basics of writing short stories and poetry with an emphasis on preparing the work for publishing.
June 26th & 27th
Sculpture Portrait in Three Dimension—Learn the basics of clay sculpture from a gifted classical sculptor.
Living the arts at the Villages Folk School prepares you for a life of creativity in whatever you choose to do. We invite you to come experience this for yourself.
Call 319-592-3700 today and register for a thrill of a lifetime!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
"You Got To Know When To Fold 'em"
No, it wasn’t the “Big Card Game” in Bonaparte this last weekend; instead it was Debra Herrick’s class on making greeting cards and a stationary folder. The Beginning Card Making class was held at the Opera House on Saturday. I arrived to find all of the students intently cutting, pasting and folding to create their projects. This class would provide each of them with the knowledge to make their own specialized cards. They would each complete five multi-purpose cards and learn how to make a stationary folder using decorative papers. Debra was busy going from student to student assisting each of them in the process of making their card. I spent some time watching as they each worked through all of the needed steps to complete their cards. Of course I couldn’t let the moment pass without taking some pictures. Going to our Blog will give you a closer look at the classes by clicking on the slideshow. You will find the Blog by going to www.villagesfolkschool.com and clicking on the link. By keeping our class sizes small, we can assure each student will receive adequate one on one time with the instructor. This quality time allows you to complete your project while at the same time develop the proper skill sets needed to continue your newfound craft with proficiency.
Every class is unique in its own way as our artist instructors share their individual talents and passions with their students. I think that is what I enjoy the most; seeing those gifts shared, watching each student grasp it in a different way and then push the boundaries with their individual talents to achieve their own artistic results. The Villages Folk School is all about sharing the folk and traditional arts and allowing others to experience the creative arts. This opportunity is not one you can take lightly. Come enjoy a day, or a weekend with one of our artists and begin to understand what we mean when we say, “Living the Arts in Van Buren County, Iowa”. Just give yourself a week-end to get away and you will experience what could be one of the best times of your life!
The month of June offers you many choices in our class schedule:
June 5th: 7 Step Chair Caning
Barn Quilt Painting
Basic Native American Craftwork
Beginning Hammered Dulcimer
Clothing First Aide-Mending, Patching
Painting the Landscape
Story Telling for All Occasions
June 5th & 6th: Bonaparte Pottery Experience
June 6th: Greeting Card Variations
June 12th & 13th: Beginning Blacksmithing
June 26th & 27th: Sculpture Portrait in Three Dimension
Call our office at 319-592-3700 Tuesday through Friday from noon to 4 p.m. and register for one of our classes. You may also print the registration form on our website and mail it with your payment to the Villages Folk School, PO Box 51, Bonaparte, Iowa 52620. We look forward to sharing a great weekend with you!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
"This Week at the Villages Folk School"
Raymond and Connie Morris are looking forward to sharing with you an exciting day of Bird Watching. Many varieties of birds can be seen in Van Buren County because of our rich habitats. You will learn to spot different birds by silhouette, plumage, flight pattern, or even some by their distinctive calls or songs. Maybe you are an avid bird watcher or perhaps would like to become more adept at sighting and recognizing the different species. Don’t miss this opportunity! The group will meet on Saturday, May 22nd at the Mt. Sterling community building. Call our office at 319-592-3700, Tuesday through Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to register.
Did you ever wish you could be more personalized with the cards you send to friends and family. Well, now you can by taking part in the Beginning Card Making class being taught by Debra Herrick. Learn to use different techniques that will have you creating cards that become unique and personal. This class will be held on Saturday, May 22nd at the Opera House in Bonaparte. You must register by calling the Villages Folk School office or by printing and mailing your completed registration. The registration form can be printed from our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com. This is also a great place to find out about the many exciting classes being offered at the Villages Folk School.
Following is a list of classes coming up in June: 7 Step Chair Caning, Barn Quilt Painting, Basic Native American Craft Work, Beginning Hammered Dulcimer, Bonaparte Pottery Experience, Clothing First Aide-Mending Patching, Painting the Landscape, Story Telling For All Occasions, Greeting Card Variations, Beginning Blacksmithing, and Sculpture Portrait in Three Dimensions. These classes are all an opportunity for you to experience the joy of living the arts with one of our highly skilled artists. Their gifted abilities and passion for the arts are now being offered to you in a classroom environment that will teach you the basic skills needed to begin the process of developing your own love for the arts. The Villages Folk School offers this incredible chance for you to get away from the day to day schedule and experience for a moment the thrill of living the arts here in Van Buren County.
Call now to register at 319-592-3700 or visit our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com.
Don’t miss this opportunity! Join us for an exciting class as you begin to live the arts in the Villages of Van Buren County.
Did you ever wish you could be more personalized with the cards you send to friends and family. Well, now you can by taking part in the Beginning Card Making class being taught by Debra Herrick. Learn to use different techniques that will have you creating cards that become unique and personal. This class will be held on Saturday, May 22nd at the Opera House in Bonaparte. You must register by calling the Villages Folk School office or by printing and mailing your completed registration. The registration form can be printed from our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com. This is also a great place to find out about the many exciting classes being offered at the Villages Folk School.
Following is a list of classes coming up in June: 7 Step Chair Caning, Barn Quilt Painting, Basic Native American Craft Work, Beginning Hammered Dulcimer, Bonaparte Pottery Experience, Clothing First Aide-Mending Patching, Painting the Landscape, Story Telling For All Occasions, Greeting Card Variations, Beginning Blacksmithing, and Sculpture Portrait in Three Dimensions. These classes are all an opportunity for you to experience the joy of living the arts with one of our highly skilled artists. Their gifted abilities and passion for the arts are now being offered to you in a classroom environment that will teach you the basic skills needed to begin the process of developing your own love for the arts. The Villages Folk School offers this incredible chance for you to get away from the day to day schedule and experience for a moment the thrill of living the arts here in Van Buren County.
Call now to register at 319-592-3700 or visit our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com.
Don’t miss this opportunity! Join us for an exciting class as you begin to live the arts in the Villages of Van Buren County.
Friday, May 14, 2010
"Tong Making at Iron and Lace Blacksmithing Class"
With the previous beginning blacksmithing class out of the way, this weekend was all about making “Tongs”. At Bill Printy’s blacksmith shop the forge was loaded with coal and heated up for a day of forging tongs. Each set of tongs have their own identity, but they are each an invaluable tool for the blacksmith. The amount of times the iron is placed and removed from the forge would be a very cumbersome task if not for the use of tongs. This class would provide the student with three to four new sets of tongs that will be a great start for his personal use in the home shop. Bill and Mark Heisdorffer were on hand to see that the process included adequate input from the instructor. They work with each student to assure not only the quality of the finished product, but the technical value of the classroom experience.
I remember the blacksmith shop in Bonaparte back in 1950. I would walk by the front of the shop and can still remember the silhouette in the darkness that pulled the handle on the large bellows pushing the air into the forge. This large figure would emerge from the smoke and flames and begin pounding the glowing metal against the anvil. Those days it was all about practical day to day repairs in the shop, as well as horse shoes. Now blacksmithing has evolved at the hand of Bill Printy and he willingly shares his love for the craft with others. I have been impressed with his love for the iron and what he has learned to craft from it. His work is truly spectacular! This weekend, as I took photos at the tong making class, I just had to admire the project he was working on. It was clamped in the air so as to provide an eye-level view. I know it is just iron, but looking at his finished work is like looking at Rembrandt or Picasso. This is the same theme over and over at the folk school classes. Gifted artists who want to share their passion and talent with others.
The Villages of Van Buren County are a unique place to live and we are so blessed to have the quality of artists that call this splendid river valley their home. The Villages Folk School is all about becoming a part of our life of living the arts. Come take a class and experience it for yourself. I have the privilege of being a part of this wonderful group of artists and telling others of the work that they do here. This is only the beginning of what can truly become a premier folk school that offers both the artistic excellence and the splendor of the constantly changing valley that surrounds our everyday campus.
The next day of classes this month is May 22nd. Two classes are scheduled that will offer something for both those who want to work inside and those who want to experience the great outdoors. A Beginning Card Making class is planned as well as a day of Bird Watching. This will be a day spent enjoying the migratory birds in our local wetlands. I hear the pelicans are coming, could it be? Just ask Raymond and Connie Morris and they will be happy to share their love of bird watching with you. Better yet! Register for their day of bird watching and see first hand the exciting array of migratory birds that make their flight path through Van Buren County, Iowa.
Registration is easily done by calling our Villages Folk School office at 319-592-3700 anytime Tuesday through Friday, 12 noon to 4 p.m. You can also print a registration form from our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com, fill it out and send it with your payment to the folk school office at Box 51, Bonaparte, Iowa.
Join us for a great weekend! We look forward to sharing this experience with you.
I remember the blacksmith shop in Bonaparte back in 1950. I would walk by the front of the shop and can still remember the silhouette in the darkness that pulled the handle on the large bellows pushing the air into the forge. This large figure would emerge from the smoke and flames and begin pounding the glowing metal against the anvil. Those days it was all about practical day to day repairs in the shop, as well as horse shoes. Now blacksmithing has evolved at the hand of Bill Printy and he willingly shares his love for the craft with others. I have been impressed with his love for the iron and what he has learned to craft from it. His work is truly spectacular! This weekend, as I took photos at the tong making class, I just had to admire the project he was working on. It was clamped in the air so as to provide an eye-level view. I know it is just iron, but looking at his finished work is like looking at Rembrandt or Picasso. This is the same theme over and over at the folk school classes. Gifted artists who want to share their passion and talent with others.
The Villages of Van Buren County are a unique place to live and we are so blessed to have the quality of artists that call this splendid river valley their home. The Villages Folk School is all about becoming a part of our life of living the arts. Come take a class and experience it for yourself. I have the privilege of being a part of this wonderful group of artists and telling others of the work that they do here. This is only the beginning of what can truly become a premier folk school that offers both the artistic excellence and the splendor of the constantly changing valley that surrounds our everyday campus.
The next day of classes this month is May 22nd. Two classes are scheduled that will offer something for both those who want to work inside and those who want to experience the great outdoors. A Beginning Card Making class is planned as well as a day of Bird Watching. This will be a day spent enjoying the migratory birds in our local wetlands. I hear the pelicans are coming, could it be? Just ask Raymond and Connie Morris and they will be happy to share their love of bird watching with you. Better yet! Register for their day of bird watching and see first hand the exciting array of migratory birds that make their flight path through Van Buren County, Iowa.
Registration is easily done by calling our Villages Folk School office at 319-592-3700 anytime Tuesday through Friday, 12 noon to 4 p.m. You can also print a registration form from our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com, fill it out and send it with your payment to the folk school office at Box 51, Bonaparte, Iowa.
Join us for a great weekend! We look forward to sharing this experience with you.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
"Shape Note Singing, Print Making, Raku Pottery, & Story Telling" Just a Week in April at the Villages Folk School!
I started toward Bentonsport with much anticipation on Tuesday, April 27. It was to be a night of singing anthems, fugues, and American Hymns from the Eighteenth Century. The night was to be led by Prairie Harmony of Southeast Iowa. I knew from past performances that they would provide a stellar night of singing, but that was not all. To sing the four part harmonies acapella is something I love to do, but this was to be my first time in the historic Bentonsport Presbyterian Church. I am always excited when I can visit historic sites, but this church is like stepping back in time. It is immaculately restored and you just can’t experience any finer setting acoustically for singing. It was truly a night to remember and I look forward to having that opportunity again.
Thursday morning it was off again and this time it was Pat Crawford’s Print Making class in the Cantril town hall. I am never bored by the drive and today I would watch a wild turkey fly across the highway and land in a nearby field. This is a great time of year! Ever changing scenery makes for a delightful trip across Van Buren County. I arrived in Cantril and Pat was already underway with her class in Print Making. I never realized the number of ways to make prints. Her class covers many mediums for making prints and includes an old style press. Pat was busy explaining the different techniques for stamping which included everything from handmade rubber stamps to etched plates made from such things as plexiglass and aluminum. I spent some time listening in on the class and taking pictures for our weekly blog and then headed for home.
Friday was to be the second day of Print Making only this day would provide a slightly different weather pattern for the drive. Thunder storms, lightning, hail and the works were on the agenda for today. Never a dull moment in Van Buren County! I proceeded to my destination in Cantril and enjoyed some more of Pat’s class instruction. It is really quite interesting to see the process that produces such incredible graphics from hand presses of yesteryear. Our student had come from Davenport and was enjoying her class as well as her stay at the Hotel Manning in Keosauqua. The beauty of our campus being spread throughout the villages is that it offers people from outside our area a chance to experience all that the Villages of Van Buren County has to offer.
Saturday morning and this day I would set my course for Bentonsport and a Raku Pottery class at Bill and Betty Printy’s Iron and Lace. This class has become a favorite for many as I spoke with one of the student’s who shared with me that this was her fifth class. Betty was busily going from student to student and making sure that all was going smoothly with the Raku process. I had never witnessed this process before so it was a learning experience for me as well. Upon arriving, Bill gave me the tour from start to finished product. The beauty of it is that no two items will be the same. I think the best part of this process is that it allows the students to take home their finished product the same day. They are offered a choice of many items that have been fired once in the kiln. The next step is to apply a glaze of their choice. Now the fun part! Special kilns that reach 1800 degrees are used to bake the glaze. Once the project has spent sufficient time in the kiln, it is removed with metal tongs and placed in garbage cans filled with wood chips and grasses that allow for a proper timeframe of cooling. Once the item is removed from the wood chips it is cleaned to reveal an incredible finish. I can see why this pottery process can become so addicting. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Even Bill who’s responsibility was to keep the kilns fired to the proper temperature. You might say he is the official “Keeper of the Fire”.
My next stop was in Keosauqua at the Congregational Church where Amah Lou Schreiber was busy spinning tales at her Story Telling for all Occasions class. I sat down in the beautiful historic church and enjoyed my time as Amah Lou told story after story. She claims to have literally thousands of stories to tell and some are even true! My day was almost done as I finished taking some pictures of the story telling session. Now it was back to Bonaparte to put together the blog for next week.
Our classes are always entertaining and offer you a chance to experience first hand some of the folk and traditional arts from some very passionate artists who’s desires lead them to share their gifts and talents with those around them. Come join us for a chance to experience for yourself the joy of living the arts here at the Villages Folk School. Registration is easy. Just call our office anytime Tuesday through Friday from 12 noon to 4 p.m. at 319-592-3700 or go to our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com and print the registration form.
Here is a list of what is coming up in May:
May 8: Blacksmithing: Tong Making
Container Candles
May 22: Beginning Card Making
Spring Bird Watching (a day spent in the wetlands
enjoying some incredible bird watching with an
experienced guide) Don’t miss this one!
Whatever you decide to do with your weekends, make one of your priorities a class at the Villages Folk School. It will prove to be one of life’s great moments as you “Live the Arts” with all of us at the Villages Folk School. Set your sites on a great weekend!!
Thursday morning it was off again and this time it was Pat Crawford’s Print Making class in the Cantril town hall. I am never bored by the drive and today I would watch a wild turkey fly across the highway and land in a nearby field. This is a great time of year! Ever changing scenery makes for a delightful trip across Van Buren County. I arrived in Cantril and Pat was already underway with her class in Print Making. I never realized the number of ways to make prints. Her class covers many mediums for making prints and includes an old style press. Pat was busy explaining the different techniques for stamping which included everything from handmade rubber stamps to etched plates made from such things as plexiglass and aluminum. I spent some time listening in on the class and taking pictures for our weekly blog and then headed for home.
Saturday morning and this day I would set my course for Bentonsport and a Raku Pottery class at Bill and Betty Printy’s Iron and Lace. This class has become a favorite for many as I spoke with one of the student’s who shared with me that this was her fifth class. Betty was busily going from student to student and making sure that all was going smoothly with the Raku process. I had never witnessed this process before so it was a learning experience for me as well. Upon arriving, Bill gave me the tour from start to finished product. The beauty of it is that no two items will be the same. I think the best part of this process is that it allows the students to take home their finished product the same day. They are offered a choice of many items that have been fired once in the kiln. The next step is to apply a glaze of their choice. Now the fun part! Special kilns that reach 1800 degrees are used to bake the glaze. Once the project has spent sufficient time in the kiln, it is removed with metal tongs and placed in garbage cans filled with wood chips and grasses that allow for a proper timeframe of cooling. Once the item is removed from the wood chips it is cleaned to reveal an incredible finish. I can see why this pottery process can become so addicting. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Even Bill who’s responsibility was to keep the kilns fired to the proper temperature. You might say he is the official “Keeper of the Fire”.
My next stop was in Keosauqua at the Congregational Church where Amah Lou Schreiber was busy spinning tales at her Story Telling for all Occasions class. I sat down in the beautiful historic church and enjoyed my time as Amah Lou told story after story. She claims to have literally thousands of stories to tell and some are even true! My day was almost done as I finished taking some pictures of the story telling session. Now it was back to Bonaparte to put together the blog for next week.
Our classes are always entertaining and offer you a chance to experience first hand some of the folk and traditional arts from some very passionate artists who’s desires lead them to share their gifts and talents with those around them. Come join us for a chance to experience for yourself the joy of living the arts here at the Villages Folk School. Registration is easy. Just call our office anytime Tuesday through Friday from 12 noon to 4 p.m. at 319-592-3700 or go to our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com and print the registration form.
Here is a list of what is coming up in May:
May 8: Blacksmithing: Tong Making
Container Candles
May 22: Beginning Card Making
Spring Bird Watching (a day spent in the wetlands
enjoying some incredible bird watching with an
experienced guide) Don’t miss this one!
Whatever you decide to do with your weekends, make one of your priorities a class at the Villages Folk School. It will prove to be one of life’s great moments as you “Live the Arts” with all of us at the Villages Folk School. Set your sites on a great weekend!!
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