An aha moment

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Mary Towner is today’s guest blogger.

IntotheForest-creativeReuseIn between my shifts at The Spinning Plate working on Into the Forest, I’m reading a wonderful book, Ageless Soul, by Thomas Moore. Both activities—The Forest and The Book—are looming large for me right now. During a book chapter this morning, the two converged in an aha moment. The author speaks about “melancholy” being an important, and even positive, part of life. Rather than medicate it as “depression”, we can accept it as natural and work with it in several ways to achieve a positive result.

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Into the Forest — A Great Place to Go on a Lackluster Pittsburgh Day

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From Connie Donaldson, today’s guest blogger.

IMG_20171104_133411_648 copyYou can tell that winter is coming to Pittsburgh fast. The dark mornings, the dreary rain-filled days are harbingers of another cold, messy season. That’s the way the day was when I went to the Spinning Plate Gallery to help my friend Laura Tabakman and Emily Squires Levine and Julie Eakes, the creators of Into the Forest, begin to assemble one of the most unique installations of polymer clay art there has ever been!

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A visit to Into the Forest

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If you just are unable to join in the opening weekend celebrations of Into the Forest in Pittsburgh PA on November 10 – 11, 2017, you can still experience the installation through December 3, 2017.

Where:   Spinning Plate Gallery, 5821 Baum Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Dates:    November 10 – December 3, 2017

Hours:   Thursday through Saturday: 2 pm – 7 pm, Sunday 1 pm – 5 pm

or by appointment (contact us at intotheforest17@gmail.com to arrange visit)

Closed Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving weekend

Into the Forest – All you need to know about your visit to Pittsburgh

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We have put together a selection of hotels, restaurants and things to do while on your visit to Pittsburgh for the opening weekend of Into the Forest!  Check this out for all the information you will need: Pittsburgh Package.

And for more information about the weekend including the Friday night party at the gallery (open to everyone) and how to register for the Saturday Forum, click below.


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From The Forest Into The World!

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Opening weekend celebrations of Into The Forest will feature Brigitte Martin as our Saturday morning forum keynote speaker.  Her talk, titled “From The Forest Into The World”, will draw upon her experience as a creative innovator and passionate leader in the international craft community.

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Brigitte Martin is a traditionally trained goldsmith from Germany. Her jewelry has been
exhibited at the Museum of Art in Cleveland, and in galleries across the US.  Martin curates and juries exhibitions nationally and, in 2012, CBS media named her one of the best art curators in Pittsburgh, PA.  Martin was a featured panelist on NPR’s RADIO TIMES. Continue reading →

Words from our contributors

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As Julie eloquently described during our Into the Forest presentation at Synergy4, the International Polymer Clay Association conference held in King of Prussia, PA on August 13-16, 2017:

When the three of us [Laura, Emily and Julie] got together and decided to throw out this call for contributions, we had no idea where it would lead. You saw earlier some of the fantastic pieces that we have accumulated. But there was an effect
that went beyond the objects. The emotional impact this collaboration has
on us as individuals, as a community or even as a member of the world.
This project brought out fears among novices about being “good enough”,
pride for those who took it as a challenge and overcame. Then there was the
joy of being a part of something bigger.

From our contributors’ own words –  Continue reading →