before i let another day (er, month???) go by, i must tell you about my week at Peters Valley Craft Center, which turns out to be just about an hour-and-a-half’s scenic drive down the road from me. before the trip, i kept reminding myself that i must not compare it to Squam, which up until now was really my only frame of reference for a craft-retreat-in-the-woods adventure. well, no need to worry, as the two couldn’t be more different (despite both being craft retreats in the woods)!
Peters Valley was started in 1970 and is situated in Delaware Water Gap National Park. they host over 150 workshops each season, ranging from 2-5 days each (some even longer; there was an 8-day ceramics workshop taking place while i was there), in the fields of blacksmithing, ceramics, fine metals, photography, wood, fibers, printmaking, glass and more. the campus is very spread out, almost like a village, and since the fibers studio was at the top of a mountain, we drove back and forth several times a day from our class to meals and other activities.
speaking of meals, most of them took place al fresco, under a large canopy tent. the chef was very accommodating of vegetarians, and i looked forward to every mealtime to chat with the other teachers and students and find out what they were doing. it’s a wonderful privilege to be able to spend days focused on your craft, breaking only for meals which are prepared for you, and no dishes to wash!
it was fun to visit the other studios and see what was going on. i rarely get to see potters and blacksmiths in action so it was a treat to be around all types of artisans. since it was a holiday weekend (or at least that’s my theory) there were only 3 other workshops taking place while i was there, but still a lot of activity.
one morning i heard one of my fellow housemates shooing something out of the house; turned out a fox had camped out on the easy chair in our living room for the night! apparently that’s considered *unusual behavior*, though Gertie might feel otherwise… my one major regret is that i missed that photo opportunity!
tomorrow i’ll tell you about my class, my lovely students, and the clothes they made!
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