The Gift of a “Green” Arts & Crafts Learning Vacation: Year-round U.S. Pottery & Glass-Making Workshops Inspired by Nature’s Best!

Looking for a unique gift this holiday season? How about a pottery vacation at a farmhouse retreat in the Green Mountains of Vermont or at an exclusive art village tucked within the deep canyon recesses of southern Utah? Indeed, why not take your creative “do-it-yourself-at-home” arts and crafts talents this Christmas to a higher level? And spread the seasonal joy of your artistic angel wings by enrolling in the best glass-making school in America next summer? One set against the awe-inspiring Cascade Mountains of Washington state!

Yes, this year – brighten your holiday season with a “green” arts and crafts learning vacation. Below are descriptions of some of the best pottery and glass-making workshop settings in the USA. See if you can guess their unique locations.

1-Set in the Ohio River Valley next to world class golf courses, the “Oglebay Institute” features glassblowing shows, demonstrations, workshops and classes in its “Glass Museum” – one of six facilities that offers cultural tours and educational programs in the arts, nature, and history. Classes include making charms, paperweights, and hearts. Note: The “Sweeney Punch Bowl”, the largest piece of cut glass in the world is housed here. NAME THE LOCATION – CITY AND STATE.

2- Set on a majestic island and nestled within 40 acres of quiet forest on a cliff overlooking Jericho Bay in the Atlantic Ocean, this internationally renown school – the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts – offers studio-based arts and crafts workshops ranging from beginners to advanced professionals. In addition, to glass-making and ceramics classes, there are weaving, quilting, woodworking, blacksmithing, and drawing and painting classes. NAME THE LOCATION – CITY AND STATE.

3- Set amongst the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, the Penland School of Crafts offers a wide range of workshops in glass, clay, iron, wood, metals, drawing, photography, and textiles as well as a three-year resident artists program. Classes range from one week to two weeks to eight weeks in duration during the Spring, Summer, and Fall seasons. NAME THE LOCATION – CITY AND STATE.

4- Set within the countryside of the Mad River Valley and tucked away between two legendary mountain resorts – Sugarbush and Mad River Glen – the quaint Wilder Farm Inn Bed and Breakfast is also home to “The Naked Potter Studio and Gallery”, a full-service studio of pottery classes and workshops where guests at the inn can get lessons on the unglazed method of firing ‘raku’ pots. NAME THE LOCATION – CITY AND STATE.

5- Surrounded by beautiful red sandstone cliffs, the Coyote Gulch Art Village is an arts-oriented desert community of fine art shops, galleries, artist studios, and sustainable housing serving as both an art center for teaching pottery, photography, and painting classes and as a recreational retreat filled with spa services, hiking and biking trails, yoga and equestrian classes, and fine patio dining. NAME THE LOCATION – CITY AND STATE.

6- Set amidst the dome-shaped Adirondack Mountains, in the southern Adirondack Park of over 6 million acres of protected land, the Adirondack Folk School “is the only school of its kind in the country dedicated to teaching the arts, crafts and culture of this unique Adirondack region”. Its year-round classes of 200+ range from half-day sessions to full week-long courses. The variety of classes is simply dazzling and include fly tying, jewelry making, organic gardening, papermaking, birch bark basketry, marquetry, floral arts, fiber arts, needlecraft arts, beadwork, blacksmithing, tinsmithing, woodworking, rug hooking and braiding, chair building and caning, soap making, paddle making, and pottery. The school itself is housed in an historic building that has been recycled thru the decades from its beginnings in the 1930’s as a lodge, then an elementary school in the 40’s and 50’s and then a town hall. Behind the school between the woods and the Hudson River is an outdoor amphitheater and tables for outdoor classes. Gift certificates are available and make great presents. NAME THE LOCATION – CITY AND STATE.

7- Set just a few minutes away from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a 14-acre wooded hillside, the 100-year-old Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts offers students a wide range of weekend workshops and one to two week courses for the beginner to the advanced artist from March through November. Taught by nationally and internationally renown instructors in professionally equipped studios, classes are offered in glass-making, ceramics, metals, woodturning, woodworking, painting, drawing, books and paper as well as photography and mixed media. Scholarships are in place that cover 50% to 100% of workshop fees, housing, and meals. Along with the school’s five galleries, the Artist Outfitters Store supplies students on campus and artists in the community year-round with craft materials, tools, and art-related books as well as a selection of artwork from past Artists-in-Residence. In addition to acting as a cultural education center in the surrounding community, the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts is home to a host of annual art conferences and symposia. NAME THE LOCATION – CITY AND STATE.

8- Founded in 1971 and set on 54 acres in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains on a former tree farm with views of Puget Sound, the Pilchuck Glass School is the premier glass art education center in the world! Each year a series of courses in a variety of glass-working processes are offered to artists of all skill levels from May thru September. Workshops include glass blowing, hot-glass sculpting, sandcasting, kiln casting, fusing, coldworking, flameworking, glass painting, mixed-media sculpture, neon, painting with enamels and stained glass. Studio buildings, cabins, cottages, and school store, library, dormitory, and dining hall are all made of native materials in the Pacific Northwest architectural style. Scholarship residencies for both emerging and established artists are given during the Spring and Fall. NAME THE LOCATION – CITY AND STATE.

9- Set in a valley surrounded by the eastern Ozark Mountains, the Ozark Folk Center is a nationally renown showpiece of living Ozark heritage featuring American folk music and workshops in pioneer crafts and herb gardening. Classes include pottery, corn shuckery (creating artwork with corn shucks), gunsmithing, harness weaving, broom making, mandolin making, reed basket making, soapmaking, knifemaking, glass beadmaking, blacksmithing, and tinsmithing. Musical events and daily concerts offer the old-time sounds of mandolins, banjos, fiddles, dulcimers, and autoharps whilst the surrounding landscape provides special hiking and biking trails and cavern tours.  NAME THE LOCATION – CITY AND STATE.

Answers: (1) Wheeling, West Virginia (2) Deer Isle, Maine (3) Spruce Pine, North Carolina (4) Waitsfield, Vermont (5) Ivins, Utah (6) Lake Luzerne, New York (7) Gatlinburg, Tennessee (8) Stanwood, Washington  (9) Mountain View, Arkansas

Unleash Your ‘Inner Woodcarver’ with Skiing, Windsurfing, Golfing, and Hiking Adventures!

What better way to be inspired by nature than to immerse yourself in a wood-carving class surrounded by gorgeous scenery and fantastic activities for all seasons? Here are but a few outstanding woodcarving classes to consider in your next travel vacation to Europe:

COURSE DESCRIPTION: WOOD CARVING HOLIDAY COURSES IN GREECE WITH SCUBA DIVING, SAILING, WINDSURFING, YOGA, & MOUNTAIN BIKING OPTIONS
http://www.woodcarversgreece.com/goto/page/wood_carving_courses,1104
*LOCATION – THE FISHING VILLAGE OF VASSILIKI – ON THE ISLAND OF LEFKAS IN THE IONIAN SEA – JUST OFF MAINLAND GREECE
CLASS SIZE: OPEN
SKILL LEVEL: OPEN TO ALL LEVELS
DATE: ONE WEEK COURSE – BEGINNING SEPT. 9TH & SEPT. 16TH – OR – TWO WEEK COURSE – BEGINNING SEPT. 9TH
TUITION: 850 GBP – 1,370 GBP
INSTRUCTOR(S): TUTORS SIMON CLEMENTS & STEPHEN SCOTT
CONTACT: WOODCARVERS GREECE – Tel UK 020 8673 1555 OR INT’L +44 20 8673 1555
WEBSITE: http://www.woodcarversgreece.com/goto/page/home,1101

COURSE DESCRIPTION: WOOD CARVING HOLIDAY COURSE IN TRANSYLVANIA
http://www.visit-transylvania.us/learning/carving-wood-in-transylvania.html
*LOCATION – THE NORTHWESTERN REGION OF MARAMURES IN ROMANIA – (RECOGNIZED BY UNESCO FOR ITS FAMOUS WOODEN CHURCHES & CARVED WOODEN GATES) – IN THE VILLAGE OF SACEL
CLASS SIZE: MAXIMUM OF FIVE
SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER TO INTERMEDIATE
DATE: 3 DAY COURSE
TUITION: 499 EUROS
INSTRUCTOR: MASTER CRAFTSMAN GRIGORE TULEAN
CONTACT: TRANSYLVANIA LIVE – Tel 1-866-376-6183 OR reservations@visit-transylvania.us
WEBSITE: http://www.visit-transylvania.us/aboutus.html

COURSE DESCRIPTION: CRAFTING WOODEN CHAIRS AND STOOLS IN SWEDEN
http://www.saterglantan.se/kortakurser_en.php?kurs=19
*LOCATION – Sätergläntan COLLEGE OF HANDICRAFTS IN THE SILJAN DISTRICT OF SWEDEN (KNOWN FOR ITS SPECTACULAR HIKING, CYCLING, & GOLFING ACTIVITIES AND OUTDOOR CONCERT & MUSEUM ATTRACTIONS)
CLASS SIZE: OPEN
SKILL LEVEL: OPEN TO ALL LEVELS
DATE: 7 DAY COURSE – SEPT. 24-30, 2012
TUITION: ABOUT 7,850 – 8,850 SEK
INSTRUCTOR: FRITIOF RUNHALL-ONE OF THE BEST SPOONCARVERS IN THE WORLD
CONTACT: Tel +46 (0)247-645 70 OR info@saterglantan.
WEBSITE: http://www.saterglantan.se/om_en.php

COURSE DESCRIPTION: FIGURE CARVING COURSE FOR BEGINNERS & ADVANCED WITH SKIING, HIKING, AND OPEN-AIR CONCERT OPTIONS
http://www.schnitzschule.com/cms/website.php?id=/en/index/woodcarving.htm
*LOCATION – TYROLEAN REGION OF AUSTRIA – IN THE VILLAGE OF ELBIGENALP – SITUATED IN THE VALLEY BETWEEN THE LECHTALER AND ALLGAUER MOUNTAINS
CLASS SIZE: MAXIMUM OF EIGHT TO TEN
SKILL LEVEL: OPEN TO ALL LEVELS
DATE: 2 &1/2 DAYS TO ONE WEEK COURSE – (IN ENGLISH)
Oct 7- 14
Oct 14 – 21
Dec 23 – 30
Dec 30, 2012 – Jan 6, 2013
TUITION: MAX. OF 762 EUROS
INSTRUCTOR: CALL FOR DETAILS
CONTACT: GEISLER-MORODER AUSTRIAN WOODCARVING SCHOOL – Tel +43 (0)5634 6215 OR geisler-moroder@aon.at OR CARL G. WIGGINS IN THE USA AT Tel 1-205-979-1111 or wiggs7@aol.com
WEBSITE: http://www.schnitzschule.com/cms/website.php?id=/en/index/school.htm

Unleash Your ‘Inner Chef’ With Snorkeling, Sailing, and Horseback Riding Culinary Adventures!

What better way to be inspired by nature than to immerse yourself in an outdoor setting – cooking sensational cuisine with internationally renown chefs? Here are but a few outstanding cookery classes to sharpen your food and beverage tasting adventures.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: SNORKELING, SAILING, TOURING, RUM TASTING, & CARIBBEAN COOKING CLASSES IN BARBADOS WITH CHEF STEPHEN BELGRAVE!
http://www.limetreelane.com/hotel/barbados-little-good-harbour-and-young-island
*LOCATION – LITTLE GOOD HARBOUR, BARBADOS & YOUNG ISLAND, ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES
CLASS SIZE: OPEN
SKILL LEVEL: OPEN TO ALL LEVELS
DATE: 7 DAY COURSE
TUITION: CALL FOR DETAILS
INSTRUCTOR: CHEF STEPHEN BELGRAVE
CONTACT: LIME TREE LANE – Tel +44 (0) 843 289 2278 OR Enquiries@LimeTreeLane.com
WEBSITE: http://www.limetreelane.com/home

COURSE DESCRIPTION: KNIFE SKILLS CLASS – CHOPPING YOUR WAY TO PERFECTION WITH CHEF CAROLIANNA – – THE GRAND FINALE BEING A CLASSIC BOUILLABAISSE!
http://thefloatingchefschool.com/classes-on-the-boat/
*LOCATION – ON A 53’ HATTERAS YACHT LOCATED AT SLIP E-19 OVERLOOKING MISSION BAY IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, USA
CLASS SIZE: MAXIMUM OF 6
SKILL LEVEL: OPEN TO ALL LEVELS
DATE: SEPT. 5, 6PM – 9PM
TUITION: $125.00 USD
INSTRUCTOR: CHEF CAROLIANNA
CONTACT: THE FLOATING CHEF COOKING SCHOOL – Tel 1-858-829-9021 OR Carole.Jensen@gmail.com
WEBSITE: http://thefloatingchefschool.com/

COURSE DESCRIPTION: SWIMMING, TOURING, WORLD COFFEE TASTING, AND PACIFIC ISLAND COOKING CLASSES ON THE BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII WITH CHEF JASON VERDUN!
http://rainforestchefs.com/Culinary-Vacations–and–Instruction.php
*LOCATION – BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII, USA
CLASS SIZE: OPEN
SKILL LEVEL: OPEN TO ALL LEVELS
DATE: 5 DAY COURSE
TUITION: CALL FOR DETAILS
INSTRUCTOR: CHEF JASON VERDUN
CONTACT: RAINFOREST CHEFS – Tel 1-808-990-7525 OR Info@RainforestsChefs.com
WEBSITE: http://rainforestchefs.com/index.php

COURSE DESCRIPTION: HORSEBACK RIDING & SPA TREATMENTS, WINE TASTING, & TUSCAN COOKING CLASSES IN ITALY WITH CHEF CLAUDIO!
http://cooking-vacations.com/tour/cooking-classes-horseback-riding-spa-tuscany-rome/
*LOCATION – THE REGION OF MAREMMA, TUSCANY, ITALY
CLASS SIZE: OPEN
SKILL LEVEL: OPEN TO ALL LEVELS
DATE: 6 DAY COURSE – AVAILABILITY – AUG. 29TH TO DEC. 25TH
TUITION: $2,195.00 USD
INSTRUCTOR: CHEF CLAUDIO
CONTACT: COOKING VACATIONS – Tel 1-800-916-1152 OR 1-617-247-4112 OR info@cooking-vacations.com
WEBSITE: http://cooking-vacations.com/

Unleash Your ‘Inner Artist’ with Landscape Painting Courses or “Plein Air” Painting Workshops!

What better way to be inspired by nature than to immerse yourself in an outdoor setting – painting sensational scenery with internationally renown instructors! Here are but a few tempting workshops to whet your artistic appetite.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: PLIEN AIR WORKSHOP – “FOLLOWING AND PAINTING THE LIGHT”
*LOCATION – CHAMPAGNE & BOURGOGNE REGIONS OF FRANCE
CLASS SIZE: MAXIMUM OF 7
SKILL LEVEL: OPEN TO ALL LEVELS
DATE: AUGUST 4-18, 2012 (TWO WEEKS)
TUITION: 3400 EUROS
INSTRUCTOR: JAMES RICHARDS
CONTACT: Kristina@labonneetoile.com
WEBSITE: http://www.labonneetoile.com/index.html

COURSE DESCRIPTION: TUSCANY LANDSCAPE PAINTING, DRAWING, SCULPTING, & EATING
*LOCATION – MONTORNO & SERAVEZZA, ITALY
CLASS SIZE: MAXIMUM OF 12
SKILL LEVEL: OPEN TO ALL LEVELS
DATE: August 17-28, 2012
TUITION: $3,300 USD
INSTRUCTOR: KURT SCHWARZ
CONTACT: 1-703-521-0595 or info@montorno.com
WEBSITE: http://www.montorno.com

COURSE DESCRIPTION: PLEIN AIR PAINTING
*LOCATION: TAOS, NEW MEXICO, USA – 7000 FOOT ALTITUDE
CLASS SIZE: MAXIMUM OF 12
SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER TO INTERMEDIATE
DATE: Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2012 TWO DAY BEGINNER CLASS-TUITION: $275.00 USD
DATE: Oct. 2-7, 2012 FIVE DAY INTERMEDIATE CLASS-TUITION: $585.00 USD
HOUSING: KACHINA LODGE IN TAOS
INSTRUCTOR: RICHARD GALLEGO
CONTACT: TAOS ART SCHOOL – tas@taosartschool.org
WEBSITE: http://taosartschool.org/begin_pleinair/beg_pleinair.htm

COURSE DESCRIPTION: FLEXIBLE SUNDAY MORNING OUTDOOR PAINTING LANDSCAPE
*LOCATION: VARIOUS SPOTS IN WESTERN CONNECTICUT, USA
CLASS SIZE: MAXIMUM OF 10
SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER TO INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED
FLEXIBLE DATES: August 4, 11, 18, 25, Sept 9 and any Sunday in September.
TIME: 8:30AM -11:30AM
TUITION: $140.00 USD FOR THREE CLASSES
INSTRUCTOR: SAM D’AMBRUOSO
CONTACT: TRAVELING PALETTE ART WORKSHOP at 203-758-9660
WEBSITE: http://www.dambruosostudios.com/artclassesinct.html

Spring Is In The Air! – As Well As Handcrafted Soap, Artisanal Tourism, & A New Breed of Eco-Cultural Entrepreneurs!

There is an unmistakable scent in the air – from Maine’s wildflowers to Floridian orange blossoms – from California’s freesia’s to British Columbia’s lilies. It is part of a quiet revolution – a ‘soap revolution’ – taking place on bathroom and pantry shelves all across North America – not just of finely made teacup candles and freshly perfumed linens – but of organically made, eco-friendly artisanal soaps – tokens of exotic places and pristine places we recently visited or wished we had.

It used to be that Italy, France, and Spain were the arbiters of soap fashion and luxury (i.e. Savon de Marseille and Castile Soap) – going back centuries to the Middle Ages and beyond. But in the last twenty years, America has come into its own – not only in handcrafting soaps as works of art – but in promoting ‘natural’ soap-making as a small- scale, naturally-sustainable economic livelihood for individual entrepreneurs and as a cultural heritage destination for tourists attracted by the natural resources and artisanal heritage of uniquely distinctive communities and regions.

In other words, much like the mid-19th century Hudson River School of landscape painters, today’s 21st century American artisanal soapmakers now take their inspiration from the natural environment around them and in turn are creating new organic soaps that expand upon the historic and cultural treasures of their locale. Rejecting commercial soap products and many of its synthetic additives and chemicals, this new breed of eco-conscious soapmakers is leading the way to a healthier lifestyle of skin care. Indeed it was Sigmund Freud who once said “Soap is the yardstick of civilization.”

One outstanding example of this can be found right in my home state of New Jersey in a collection of handcrafted soaps based on the legendary creature of the New Jersey Pinelands – an 18th century mythical beast called the ‘Jersey Devil’. Christine Mecca’s online store introduction says it all: (We at the ‘Jersey Devil Soapworks’) “have taken the spirit of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, its pitch pines, cedar streams and sugar sand roads and combined it with all natural ingredients and fragrances to produce fine, hand-made artisan soaps. We have taken our inspiration from one of the Pine Barrens most popular legends and have tried to infuse that into every bar of soap we make.”

But eco-conscious soapmaking is more than just a means to improving our own natural beauty – natural handcrafted soap is now being used to save the very ecosystems from whence the soap was made. Uniquely marketed in 100% recycled paper boxes, BirdProject Soap, created by Christine ‘Tippy’ Tippens of New Orleans is an exemplary example of how an artisanal soapmaker can make a difference in the recovery and restoration of a region’s coastline – in this case the Louisiana coastline. Spurred on by the BP Oil Spill disaster and the disastrous effects on brown pelicans and sea turtles, this eco-conscious entrepreneur is using her handcrafted soap as a means to raising money to fund both the environmental cleanup and animal rescue efforts along the Gulf Coast shoreline. Within each of her black, bird-shaped handmade glycerin soaps is a white ceramic bird made of Louisiana clay as a ‘reminder’ of the region’s precious natural and cultural resources.

Yet there is something more to this ‘reminder’ that is intrinsic to both the popularity of this ‘soap revolution’ and today’s ‘Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild’, organized originally in Ohio in 1998. Just as artisanal soapmaker, Frank Asquith, founder of Yosemite Soap Works, is bringing the spirited waterfalls and the high spring air of the giant sequoias of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California into his handmade olive oil soaps – and – Susan Houlihan, founder of Alpenglow Skin Care in Alaska, is now bringing the wild softness of Alaskan snow and berries of the Kenai Mountains into her handmade goat milk soaps – today’s North American eco-conscious soapmakers everywhere are distilling a bit of luxuriant sensory utopia right into their naturally made soap creations. They are inventing and re-inventing organically made soaps dedicated to an American Shangri-La – – an eco-American Shangri-La- – that gives people not only a greater sense of self, a brighter outlook on life, and a more youthful appearance – but a heightened awareness of environmental harmony. Yes, indeed, Sigmund Freud – today’s handcrafted eco-friendly soap is now the new yardstick of civilization!