David Heustess

I spent the bulk of my time from age 16 to 32 as a modern dancer. I performed with regional choreographers in North Carolina, staged my own work at times, performed lots of repertory work by Charles Weidman and Doris Humphrys as well as creating original roles in Dances by Mary Ann Mee and Katharyn Holt. In 1988 I moved to Nashville to dance with Donna Rizzo and Andrew Krichels of Tenessee Dance Theater. In 1992 i realized i might better go finish a degree and clay was my new found passion. I enrolled and made plans to move to the Appalachian Center for Crafts. Located along the river outside of Cookeville TN it is an idyllic setting of studio spaces, admin building, gallery/gift shop and housing on 40 acres of wooded property. When leaving your studio at 3:00 in the morning you’d see the deer grazing along the lawns. I had of course come there to study clay because I wanted to be a potter. I didn’t know i had to have a second studio concentration and after looking around i settled n the the work by the fiber instructor, Bethanne Knudson. The dream like imagery of her woven work were unlike anything I’d ever seen and the thought crossed my mind that I wanted to learn to do that as well. So i spent most of three years diving my time between the fiber studios and the clay studios. if i was waiting for a salt kiln to reach temperature I would be warping a loom. There was a lot of choices to be made in both mediums and I made the most of any opportunity. I had an idea that maybe fiber art fit my ideas better, and when it came time to plan my senior exhibit i settled on a fiber arts based exhibit over a clay exhibit. After finishing my degree in 1995, I returned to Nashville determined to teach and find a way to start my studio life. I’ll spare you the long form of the story. Opportunities to teach have become opportunities to learn, directing an art program has provided the opportunity to learn new mediums, continue experimenting and exploring and making a lot of mistakes along the way. The opportunity came along several years ago to learn off loom weaving, right angle weave, with artist David Chatt. I’ll be the first to admit that I can be a bit slow to learn things, but I never realized what a challenge this four month project would turn out to be for me. But I have stuck with it, learned more approaches and ideas from artist Wendy Elsworth and a huge amount of information from my friend Kate Payne. i find myself only wanting to create using beads. i find objects on my walks with Hadley, or forms that I would normally recycle, and even some objects that I create from clay or glass that I want to incorporate in with the bead work. Found objects find a new home, recyclable items find a new purpose. Each idea deserves time to come to fruition and bead weaving is about dedicating the time. And here i am, 19 years after the Craft Center, and maybe, just maybe, i have figured out what I want to commit my time and energy to creating something that reflects my thoughts, experiences and stories.