[gentle orchestral fanfare]

[resonant strings
lead building orchestration]

♪

(male narrator)
Welcome to "Our State,"

a production of UNC-TV

in association
with "Our State" magazine--

for over 70 years,

bringing the wonders
of North Carolina

to readers across the state.

On this edition,

the world-renowned
Penland School of Crafts

in the North Carolina mountains,

the amazing and
colorful work

of artist
Ivey Hayes,

and D.G. Martin visits
twin sisters in Chapel Hill

known for the garden displays
they create each year.

♪

(male announcer)g]
BB&T serves the needs

of more than 180 communities,

from the Outer Banks
and the Blue Ridge Mountains

to everywhere in between.

Since 1872,

we have supported the people
and places of North Carolina,

and we've been proud
to live and work here too.

We love calling
North Carolina our home,

and we're pleased to provide
major funding for "Our State."

Additional funding has been
[piano leads gentle melody]

(narrator)
Not far from Spruce Pine,

nestled in a secluded
Blue Ridge setting,

there is a true
North Carolina treasure.

But you wouldn't know
from the outside

what's going on inside.

[airy flute joins]

♪

This extraordinary place
is

the Penland School of Crafts,

which,
for more than 75 years,

has been a Mecca of sorts
for artists of all kinds.

♪

They come,
from all over the world,

here to this peaceful setting
to further their craft...

to discover something
in themselves

or, perhaps, even begin
something completely new.

♪

Ceramic sculptor
Cristina Cordova

came to teach

and experience
the reality of a place

that she'd heard about
for a long time.

(Cordova)
The first time
I heard of Penland

was when I went
to take a workshop

with Paulus Berensohn
about six years ago,

and he talked about it almost
like in a mythological way--

uh, beautiful, rolling hills.

And he kept saying to me,
"Y

ou have to come to this place.

It's wonderful."

It's fresh--
it's like it's isolated,

but the most wonderful
collectors come through.

Like, all these people
are drawn to it

and get to feel
that energy.

Then you can still go back
to

your studio or take a walk,

and you feel you're
in the middle of nowhere.

♪

There's a very delicate balance
that an artist thrives in,

that, uh, I think Penland
continually touches on,

at least for me.

(Cadman)
I always thought of wood

as being a very linear thing--
something that was very rigid.

Once I saw how you
could make it look so fluid,

that was where
it was at for me from then on.

♪

Everyone here
is so willing to share

and everyone comes
fr

om such different perspectives

that you end up learning
not only from the instructor

but from every other student
that you come in contact with.

(man)
I just got so sick
of my ns havin' all the fun

that I decided it was time
for me to come down here

and find out what this
Penland thing is all about.

Just learned this
th

is afternoon.

♪

(narrator)
What has become a rich
and varied creative environment

actually had rather
humble beginnings.

♪

During the 1920s,

an educator named Lucy Morgan
was looking for a way

to help local families
supplement their income

by reviving
the craft of weaving,

which had just about died out
in the Appalachians

with growth of the commercial
textile industry.

Lucy provided them with looms

and then, uh, began to work
on a weekly basis,

where she would describe

the kind of things
she thought might sell.

She, uh, sold work

through a lot
of different craft shops

in a multistate area.

It wasn't just
in North Carolina.

(narrator)
Edward Wurst,

a well-respected weaver
from Chicago soon arrived,

at Lucy's invitation,

to teach the community's weavers
ho

w to improve their skills,

and soon, the fledgling
Penland School of Crafts

began to take flight.

(McLaughlin)
Well, Penland
was drawing students

from all over the country
its very first year.

And then it evolved,
so

that they were making pottery

and working with metal.

It didn't stay
with just weaving.

And over the years,
Pe

nland's become very well known

across the country
and internationally

[acoustic guitar
and piano play gently]

♪

(narrator)
The artist's touch

is apparent just about
everywhere at Penland...

created for and by artists...

♪

like this colorful wall
along one walkway,

which evolved from
a class project in tile making.

♪

(McLaughlin)
We have little art objects
all over campus

where people have left things
or a visiting artist has said,

I would really love
to clad this tree in mica.

And so we say, absolutely--
that's why we're here.

Go experiment--
put your work in that place.

♪

(narrator)
Penland also provides
temporary studio space,

in what are called the "barns,"
to selected resident artists.

That's where we found
metalsmith Angela Bubash.

(Bubash)
The residency program
here at Penland

is a three-year position,

and they look for people
that are going through, uh,

some sort of transition
in their career, basically.

And I'm coming
from graduate school,

so this is a way
for me to, uh, figure out

how I'm gonna use my degree
and use my skills

and my art and to be exposed
to other media

and other minds and other ways
of thinking about art.

And it's a great place to--

to explore
and to spread your wings

and to learn how to use
your skills in different ways.

♪

(narrator)
Angela's work is on display

and for sale in Penland's
ever-changing gallery.

(McLaughlin)
Our gallery is considered

one of the most important venues
fo

r contemporary craft.

[flute and piano
lead serene composition]

♪

Everyone whose work
is exhibited here

has either been
a teacher at Penland...

♪

or a student...

♪

or a visiting artist...

or one of our
artists-in-residence

in our program
down in the barns.

(Bubash)
We get a lot of people coming
through just to see the work.

It's quite a nice thing
to talk to people

from all over the world

and to promote
the crafts and promote art.

♪

The whole idea
of the residency--

it was a way to bring artists
from all over the country,

do the residency,
and end up settling here.

And when you'll drive around,
you'll see so many studios.

And it is a lovely
community of people,

and you become
a really tight-knit group.

[indistinct talking]

My professor
that I went to--

where I went to graduate school
said it was kind of hard

to leave this place
because it is so protected.

[birds faintly chirping]
whi, whi...whi

[hammer banging metal]
tnk, tnk...tnk

(narrator)
One of the attractions
for students

is that Penland offers
facilities and equipment

that most likely won't be found

in the average
backyard workshop.

[electric bass leads mellow jam]

While any blacksmith

would be at home
with the traditional anvil...

♪

these powerful
hydraulic hammers

can take work
to a whole new dimension.

♪

[piano transitions
to serene arrangement]

♪

The fire of creativity

takes other forms
in the glass-blowing studio.

♪

Age-old techniques
are refined and expanded

to turn out almost anything
that can be imagined.

ssshhh

♪

♪

♪

Okay, Mike.

Blow...hard.

♪

♪

(narrator)
And what is pottery
without fire?

Here, a gas kiln is being
salted to produce glazes

that eventually will adorn
products of hand and wheel,

further reflecting each
artist's creative take on lif.

♪

♪

(McLaughlin)
Of

ten, we will hear people
ta

lk about their hands itching--

that they hadn't
realized that, um--

that there was something
else they wanted to say.

It's almost like
you watch people's hands

while they're here,

and their hands become
this mode of expression--

a way to--
to communicate who they are.

♪

(narrator)
Change is always
in the wind at Penland,

as techniques
and even mediums evolve,

building on
the timeless art and craft

that has created this place
over the past 75-plus years.

And yet, the essence
of Penland does not change

and is not likely to
in coming decades.

And that would have suited
fo

under Lucy Morgan rather well.

[piano and flute
play idyllic arrangement]

♪

(Martin)
Beginning
in the early springtime,

people from all over
Chapel Hill find an excuse

to come down Gimghoul Road.

Hundreds of walkers and
joggers from the nearby campus,

many of them at this house,

will stop at least
for a short while

to savor the scents and colors
of the changing displays

of flowers and plants
in this garden

where the sign says simply--

The garden is open!

♪

(Martin)
This welcoming sign
and this garden belong

to twin sisters Bernice Wade
and Barbara Stiles.

They actually look forward

to the springtime
onslaught of visitors.

Hi! Thanks
for having us.

(Stiles)
We have so many people

coming all the time
to see the garden,

and they'd
come knock on the door

and ask
if they could come.

So we decided
it would be

much nicer
to have a sign out--

that they'd feel more welcome
and anybody could come.

So we put it out about
three weeks every April.

If you wanna touch the tulips,

that's okay,
because they're getting old.

(Martin)
Barbara and Bernice

recently celebrated
their 90th birthday.

They are being visited this day
by a group of future gardeners

and by members
of the Cary Garden Club.

Oh,
okay.

(boy)
You can touch 'em?

(girl)
'Cause they're
getting very old.

(Martin)
There seems to be just
a wonderful blending

of different colors.

Is that a--
is that an accident?

No, I think most of it
is pretty well planned.

I can tell you
it's not an accident

because every year
she comes around and says,

now, we wanna move
this bush here.

We would move that bush there
because the color's not right.

And so the poor nephews
that are around here

have to lift these
giant bushes into a new hole.

Luckily, they--
most of them have survived.

So sometimes,

we wish you weren't
quite so color conscious.

But we don't ask 'em
to move the huge ones.

No.

♪

(Wade)
We try not to have
conflicting colors,

so the colors flow.

We don't have a bright red

right where you have
this beautiful row of pinks.

We might have blues
and whites and a soft yellow,

but if we had a red,
then we have to move it.

We try to get a good blend
of colors that will blend well

with whatever's blooming
in that area.

So we do have a place
in our garden

where I can use
the gaudy colors like I want,

with the reds
and the red and yellows

and a flow of yellows
and the reds,

and they match
with the white azaleas and all.

So we like to plan our colors.

(Martin)
You can see,
as you walk around the garden,

that one of the icons of spring
is on prominent display.

(Stiles)
We just have to have tulips.

We just love tulips
in the spring,

and they're
a great extravagance of ours

because you have to dig them up

and throw them away
when they finish blooming.

They won't come back here.

The bulbs will divide
in

to three or four little bulbs.

None of those are gonna
be strong enough to support--

A pretty tulip--

Next year.

A weak tulip,
but not a pretty tulip.

(Wade)
We order them
from a wholesale company,

and you have to buy 'em
by the hundred.

It could be $24 or $34,
depending on the variety.

And uh, we always say
that's our extravagance.

We'd rather do that
than go out to dinner.

You could buy
a hundred tulips

or go out
and have a meal.

(Martin)
Azaleas are another

spectacular component
of their garden.

Success with them has come
from years of experimentation.

(Wade)
We do find that you have
to have 'em in good soil--

not in the clay--

so the roots can go out
and they're easy to lift.

And you have to water
them frequently.

Don't let 'em dry out.

Fertilize them after they bloom.

If you're gonna prune 'em,

prune 'em immediately
after they bloom.

What else have I forgotten?

Well, the most
im

portant, I think,

is they have to be
on raised beds

because their roots
do go out.

And they have to have nice,
soft soil there.

To go down into that red clay
is not very good for them.

(Martin)
Over the years,

with many hundreds of visitors,

Barbara and Bernice
have been asked

for lots of gardening tips.

And they have some
good advice to give.

And one of the pieces
might be a little big.

(Wade)
Get good beds; get good soil.

Don't try to plant until
you get the soil right.

And it takes
a lot of money

to get a lot
of compost

and a lot of peat moss
and everything else

to get your bed
just right.

Then start spending
your money on plants.

We learned
the hard way.

Go small--
start with one small bed

and get it perfect
and then move on.

Don't try to do
the whole yard at once.

(Martin)
You can tell
by looking at the garden

that these energetic sisters
are not afraid of hard work

because a lot of that
went into what you see.

(Stiles)
Well, it's a great joy
to be out in the garden.

It really is--
it's just fun to be out here.

(Wade)
An

d we just like being outdoors.

We've always liked that.

We were
outdoor campers,

and when we went
to college,

we wanted
to be forest rangers.

And they said,
"But you can't be
forest rangers--

that's a man's job."

So I guess it's the next
best thing as to being--

having our beautiful garden--
to be outdoors.

(Martin)
Th

e house that is now surrounded
by

their spectacular garden

was an early
20th-century phenomenon.

You could order it
from Sears Roebuck.

(Stiles)
The house was built in 1920.

It's, uh, one of those
Craftsman houses that--

the Sears catalog house.

It's
a charming house.

Yesterday, we had some people
here from California.

The lady said,

"I saw, in the state
magazine, my house."

And she actually
came to find it.

She said that
she lives in the same house,

but in California.

Oh, wow--
that's incredible.

(Martin)
But it's the garden
that attracts most visitors,

and it's fortunate for us
that Barbara and Bernice

are so generous with sharing it.

Hey, look at
those spiked ones.

(Stiles)
To have friends,
you gotta be a friend.

and this is what we feel, too,

with the people
coming through the yard.

We have made
so many wonderful friends

from all walks of life
and all areas around here.

And it makes our life richer.

(Wade)
When we put a lot
of work in it, it's pretty.

We like someone else
to come and say it's pretty.

And to enjoy it too.

And sit down
and enjoy it with them.

That great big tulip
was that size--

(Wade)
But Barbara and I always say,

as long as we're
good gardeners,

we'll never be lonely.

They're just lots of people

who are gonna come by
and enjoy the garden with us.

♪

(narrator)
It would be fascinating

to know what Ivey Hayes
dreams about at night.

[ethereal score]

♪

Whatever it is,

there's a pretty good
likelihood that he wakes up

with a smile on his face

and can't wait to get to work,

putting paintbrush to canvas.

(Hayes)
I'm just bubbling over inside

and saying,
"Man, isn't this great?"

And so I have fun.

I mean, I have fun
24/7 when I'm painting.

♪

(narrator)
And Ivey Hayes
is one of those painters

whose work
you don't soon forget.

♪

Sinuous shapes swirl
across his creations.

Brilliant colors present
themselves in riotous array.

There are no shades
of gray here.

Colors are so richly applied
that the sounds

and smells of the beach
come close at hand.

You can practically reach out
and touch the fish,

choose a bucket
of oysters for dinner,

begin to know what it's like
to work tobacco...

or even pick cotton.

And you can almost
hear the music...

♪

and have a pretty good idea

what Ivey Hayes
dreams about at night.

♪

How did this man come
to paint this way,

as if the very rainbow has
been summoned to his service?

(Hayes)
Actually, it started
in first grade, really.

Uh, I had a love
for the pencil to draw things,

and so it was something
that was in me I had to do.

I didn't have a choice--
I lived it;

I walked it; I talked it;
I dreamed it.

Everything was like art.

It was like life for me.

I didn't have to push myself.

It was in me--
it took hold of me.

And all I had to do
was just do.

(narrator)
So the boy who could
outdraw his teachers

was off and running
toward a future

that eventually would
allow him to make a living

doing something he loved,

although not before trying
a variety of other occupations

in different Carolina towns

and then being thrown
one critical curve ball

that would change
his life and his art.

If Ivey Hayes'
first gift was his talent,

his second gift
was born from adversity.

(Hayes)
When I, uh, moved back home
in the early '80s,

I started work
at Federal Paper in Wilmington.

A few years later,

I came down with an illness--

rheumatoid arthritis.

♪

[sighing]

The doctors suggested to me,
as a form of therapy,

to start drawing and painting.

And so as a result of--
of a illness, uh,

so many positive things
came out of this.

(narrator)
Ivey continued
painting right along,

despite his damaged hands...

gentle but arresting
watercolors in natural hues,

for the most part.

And then he was presented

with a fresh vision
for his art...

one bursting with brightness
and distorted human images

without discernible
facial features.

And there were design elements
reminiscent of Africa.

(Hayes)
When the Lord began
to show me things,

a whole new world
opened up to me--

using bright colors--
and sometimes,

He would show me,
like, four paintings--

one right behind the other--

and usually were images
of silhouette women.

These people would have on--

or the ladies would have on--

these long, flowing gowns,
full of light--

moving, sweeping--
full of geometric patterns--

you name it.

And it blew me away...
literally.

♪

I didn't ask
for this gift.

It was given to me.

Before I really began
to use it in my paintings,

I didn't want to accept that

because it looked
so strange and odd.

I said, "Wow, where'd
that come from?"

But...
I enjoy it today.

Why?
Because it's me.

♪

(narrator)
It's not hard to imagine how,

given Ivey Hayes'
level of inspiration,

he has produced so much work,
available in varied formats

in the store adjacent
to his Wilmington studio

and in galleries elsewhere

at surprisingly
affordable prices.

(Hayes)
It's okay to be
commissioned to do a work,

providing it's done
the Ivey Hayes way.

If they say, "Well, Ivey,
I need this; I want this;

I want that, and I want you
to show me this or that,"

immediately, I have to say,
I'm sorry; I cannot do that

because of how I do things...

because, in me,

there's a student,
then there's a master teacher.

And when
that master teacher shows up,

Ivey becomes the paint pusher.

And you could say
the supernatural takes over.

No longer is it about Ivey.

It's about Ivey just doing that
which is being shown to him.

♪

I don't have a clue

as to what's gonna be
in this scene or whatever,

but I can tell you,

it will be grand and fantastic--
that I do know.

♪

(narrator)
When this artist's
gnarled fingers

apply paint to canvas--
mostly primary colors--

it's as if he enters
another world.

I'm shown many colors.

When I use color,

it may not relate directly
to what I'm painting,

so it's not about the fish,
but it's more about color.

(narrator)
And color is what makes
everything come alive

in Ivey Hayes' painting.

♪

(Hayes)
When I paint,
I become what I'm painting,

though I have
to get around right now

with the use of crutches.

Physically,
you look at me saying,

now, how can he do that?

But mentally, I'm--
I feel what I'm painting.

I literally become
what I'm painting.

The painting takes hold of me,

and we become one.

♪

[birds chirping]
twi, twi...twi

[strings lead
resonant orchestration]

♪

[thunder rumbling]
bmm, bmm...bmm

[piano joins]

♪

[acoustic guitar plays softly]

♪

♪

♪

[piano leads]

♪

♪

♪

[birds chirping]
wha, wha...wha

[piano suggests chamber music]

♪

[violins join]

♪

♪

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www.CaptionPerfect.com

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