Whether on campus or off, we are connected as members of the Arrowmont family. Over the next few weeks, we are going to share stories from our community of instructors, residents, and students in a new series, Arrowmont Connections.
Vernon Bowen is a longtime Arrowmont friend, teaching assistant and supporter. He and his wife, Anita, established the VERNON AND ANITA BOWEN SCHOLARSHIP IN HONOR OF EDRA MCHARRY, awarding a full scholarship to Work-Study participants who worked in Arrowmont’s kitchen. Recently, a number of people in the Arrowmont community received a handmade postcard from Vernon. He shares his story here:
The “101 Postcards” was my final project for ARTS 519 at the University of South Carolina, “Focus on Fibers”.
We made Coptic-stitched books, paper from cotton, abaca and recycled material, created eco-prints from plant materials, and dyed fabric and yard using natural dyes. My project came about from trying to use all these techniques in one place. I had very little experience with natural dyes, other than indigo, except as an assistant to Amy Putansu. I’ve made and mailed many postcards over the years, often fashioned from material I dyed, printed or marbled.
Professor Mary Robinson taught us all the necessary steps in using natural dyes and why all the steps are important. In class we dyed with alkanet, madder, marigold, avocado and indigo. At home I dyed with avocado, indigo, fustic, pomegranate and madder.
Due to the corononavirus we never returned to class after the mid-March Spring break.
I used my new fabrics and eco-prints, fused to watercolor postcards to complete my project, and machine stitched around the border of each card. I then asked, via Facebook and Instagram, who of my acquaintances would like a card. The clerk at the post office “allowed” me to hand-cancel the 101 postcards and they were on their way across the country.
About 75% of the cards were sent to people I know through Arrowmont.
I have also received small pieces of mailed art in the past week, lovely things that brighten up the long uncertain days.
Vernon Bowen began dyeing and printing fabric for his wife, a quilter. His involvement in the work study program at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts enabled him to participate in many fiber-related workshops and led to several stints as an instructor’s assistant. He has assisted in over a dozen workshops at Arrowmont.
