Let me begin by saying that it is very late (or early, depending on how you look at it…I opt for “late” since I haven’t been to sleep yet). 4:51 a.m. to be exact. I had a big plan for how I wanted my first project to work, but once the type finally made itself onto the press and I ran my first test print, the finished product wasn’t as great as I had anticipated. So I reworked some things and many hours later came up with this fairly half-assed solution:
It’s not any kind of commentary, though right now I don’t understand why I won’t quit being in the studio and just go to bed already! Probably because I’m dreading facing the fact that I need to get up in two hours. Ugh. Anyway, Penland has remained great, fun, busy, inspiring, delicious, and as of now, VERY exhausting!
I’ll post something more lively later on. First things first: NAP.
It has been a great couple of days at Penland (despite the non-stop rain)! We had our first official class last night following a school-wide orientation meeting. Our class is small—8 or 9 students, maybe?—but everyone is very excited about work and eager to get the ball rolling. We got to know each other a bit, looked at samples of Bryan’s work, asked questions, and talked about our first two mini-assignments. Today we started out with a typesetting exercise that is actually more fun that it sounds, mostly because we will be making a mix cd for the class of songs that we enjoy working to (aptly titled “Crank This!”).
We are also writing six-word “microfiction,” (originated by Ernest Hemingway), which we are typesetting with the potential to mix typefaces, sizes, and break the grid a bit. We’ve also had safety demos and press operation demos throughout the day.
The past couple of days have been busy, but good overall. Yesterday I had my first Studio Assistant meeting, followed by a work day in the studio. I met Lisa, the studio coordinator and she gave me a quick tour of the studio and answered any questions that I had. I cleaned all of the tabletops and surfaces, vacuumed the studio, and greeted Bryan (the instructor) when he arrived.
Observations about yesterday:
a) I have forgotten more about operating a letterpress than I had thought 
b) The food at Penland is some of the best I’ve ever had
c) I love my bedroom
d) I’m nervous—but excited—about the work that I’ll be making!
We all had a good dinner, and then played a game of ping pong and met some more folks. Bryan is staying in a nice little cabin with a screened in porch, so I grabbed my box of wine and a few of us got acquainted over at his place.
It’s been raining ALOT. At least I brought the right amount of rain gear. I’m nervous about getting the class started (and about my lack of knowledge), but hopefully it will all come back to me once the classes start moving along. That’s what I’ll tell myself, anyway!
Well, after a very, very long day (and an even longer week), I have finally arrived at Penland. Jesse and I decided to take one car, thinking it would be nicer to have some time to talk and keep each other company instead of taking two separate cars. Besides, I don’t expect I’ll need a car this first week anyway…probably too much going on here, and it will give Jesse an excuse to come back and visit next weekend!
We got here around 8:15. I had high hopes all day of arriving in the afternoon, leisurely checking out the campus in the daylight and getting to know people, but the workday got the better of us (I hadn’t even begun packing until 2 p.m. today!). Anyway, it was later than I had hoped, but still enough time to get my stuff hauled up to my room without being completely exhausted. I am in a “female-only” building. I was a little disappointed, mostly because I had hoped that it would be the sort of situation where Jesse could stay with me when he visited, but we concluded that we can instead meet in Asheville or someplace else on the weekends that he is here. I was also hoping he help me get settled into my room, but being a “female-only” building, he helped as much as he could by bringing my stuff into the ground level and I dragged my things upstairs to my room. Since everyone has not yet arrived, I took the liberty of sneaking him up to my room for a minute so he could see what it looked like before he left.
The room is very simple, quaint, and surprisingly quiet. The walls, ceiling, and floor are all wooden (cedar, maybe?), which makes it very cozy. I have a small closet, a twin bed, a bedside table, a three-drawer dresser, and a window that opens to what I am predicting will be a lovely daytime view of the field and mountains. For now, I am grateful to this huge, old window because it has cooled the room down considerably and has a screen so I can hear the nighttime bugs for a few weeks longer.
After Jesse and I had a tearful goodbye (sweet on his part, tearful on mine), I headed back up to my room to assess my new living environment. First observations upon sorting through my things:
a) I am happy I brought a box of decent red wine (sipping now)
b) I realize that when I am out of sorts or in unfamiliar surroundings, organizing my things makes me feel so much better
c) I forgot my sewing machine (Jesse, add it to the list for next weekend)
d) I am a nut about decent lighting, and this room is sorely lacking (although they have furnished me with the same Ikea bedside lamp that I have at home, which is nice in that familiar sort of way). Maybe add that to the list, too.
e) I am so pleased to have a fairly decent wifi connection, but a little frustrated by not having cell phone service (at least not in my room).
f) Even though I am not housed in one of the little cabins, I am so happy to NOT have to share a room! Plus, I think it will probably be pretty good for me to live in somewhat close quarters with new people for a bit.
I paced around my room for a bit, a little overwhelmed by the amount of space that my things were taking up. I also realized that I hadn’t yet figured out where the showers and bathroom on my floor were, so I looked at my floor plan that is attached to the inside of my door and went to the end of the hall to investigate. I discovered here two shower stalls and two toilets, and a double sink, shared with a large open dorm room with what may have been about 8 or 10 beds (for some of the actual students, I’m assuming). The other end of my hall has two toilets and two sinks. I sort of dread having to figure out the shower schedules, but think by this time next week a routine will be in place. I then walked outside again, to the Main Office building where we found my housing assignment. They had maps and mealtimes posted, but not much else, so I returned to my room and decided to get organized, pour myself a glass of wine and make up my bed. Feeling very accomplished by my neat and tidy bedding, I unpacked my computer and started up some music, answered a couple of emails, and organized my suitcase contents (we can’t unpack our things officially until the work study students officially clean our rooms tomorrow, which seems silly because I would just as soon clean my room myself).
I have said hello to a few people, but have only introduced myself to one person so far (Megan, who is a work-study student in metals—I think). I definitely need to make a point of remembering faces, names, and areas of study!
I think that is it for now, even though that was longer and more boring than I had anticipated. Hopefully I will be able to condense my future posts. More tomorrow!
Hi all. Friday will be here before I know it, so I wanted to take some time to get the Penland blog rolling. Check back for more updates