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Gualala Arts
Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961.
Archive of past events: 2004 through 2014
Sculpturer and basket maker, Norman Sherfield is teaching this class for those interested in learning to create sculptural objects using a basketry technique known as knotting.
Students will also learn to add embellishments such as additional threads, beads, charms, buttons, shells and how to use found objects - as you can see from the artist's work, anything goes! The object of the class is to learn the techniques and finish the small Styrofoam object, thereby learning how to create a sculpture from beginning to end.
Artists Statement
The simplicity of the basic knot, combined with the repetitive nature of knotting, is meditative and allows me to immerse myself in the work. As each knot is tied, it is as though a pulse is added to the form, as though I am breathing life into the weave. The sculptures grow as I work on them, forming baskets or containers of potential life in symbolic form. Two major influences running through my work are that of biological science and the automatism of surrealism. Natural biological form is alluring and fascinating to me, and defines the basis for my exploration of form. Building on the forms of the natural world, I combine instinctual and imaginative impulses with dream imagery to explore the boundaries where mind and nature meet. I feel my work is most successful when the viewer finds understanding of the piece in being intrigued with the unknowable. The content of the work is for the viewer to contemplate and complete, only becoming whole with the intellectual and spiritual contribution of the viewer.
See also: Gualala Arts Workshop Registration, Payment & Cancellation Policy. 
The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA, Join us in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Gualala Arts, 1961 - 2011
Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.
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Beginning with a small Styrofoam object, students will first learn the knotting process. Once students are comfortable with the process, they will learn more advanced techniques. Information covered will include preparing forms for knotting, thread preparation, starting the knotting, increasing and decreasing the core, adding colors, finishing, edges, and creating textures.
Norman Sherfield learned to knot in a basket making class in 1989 and has been making knotted sculptures since then. He taught a workshop at the Midwest Basketry Focus for Judy Dominic in 2006 and studied with Jane Sauer and Patti Lechman. He has exhibited his work in France, England, Japan and the U.S and has also had his work published in numerous basketry books. His work is in museum collections in the US. and France. He was recently awarded the 2007 North Coast Cultural Trust Victor Jacoby Award for his work.
I create small sculptures using a basketry technique known as knotting. It is a simple overhand knot which is knotted around a core of waxed linen threads. With variations of this simple knot, which is repeated over and over, I am able to create a variety of shapes, textures and color patterning.
