crafthaus
PARTICIPATORY SPORT FOR CRAFT ARTISTS
What's New? [newsletter July 3, 2012]
Please welcome our newest crafthaus members:
Yolande Clark, Queenstown, NB, Canada
Jill Foote-Hutton, Red Lodge, MT
Jennifer Cross Ganz, San Francisco, CA
Barbara Hanselman, Cherry Hill, NJ
Valerii Latyshev, Tula, Russian Federation
Melicia Phillips, Providence, RI
Petra Podnarcuk, Zagreb, Croatia
Meredith S. Tibjash, Euclid, OH
Two crafthaus members have current kickstarter projects, they are looking for support. Thank you!
Support Michelle: Headline Designer @ NY Fashion Week!
Support Catherine: Attending the New York International Gift Fair!
Current Job Listings:
General Management Internship @ Attack Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
Marketing and Special Events Associate, Attack Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
Curatorial Fellowship Position at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
Teaching Position at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
Other job opportunities listed....
One aspect of my “day job” with Michael Schmidt includes metalsmithing for the entertainment industry. The projects usually precipitate stress under the pressure of short deadlines but always yield new knowledge and a spiffy new piece that I usually add to my portfolio.
Last week, I was asked to fabricate a cobra snake hat embellishment for Rihanna to sport during her performance at the Hackney Festival. The snake was cast in bronze, gold plated and has a little red tongue and Swarovski Crystal eyes.
Continue reading: The Aficionado’s Day Job: Metalsmithing for Rihanna
Crafthaus Grant Winner, Australian Furniture maker Ross Annels about his collaborative experience at ECHO, Canada:
Things have begun in earnest now - well at least as earnest as they get at a collaboration event. Harvey wore a carefully selected non-matching socks every day. Humour plays a big role in collaboration, building relationships and generating playful projects. Getting Earnest at Echo
One of the great joys of attending a collaboration event is the generous, talented and creative people you meet. This post is a personal thank you to Miriam Carpenter, one of the go-to people of the collaboration, who successfully worked on many too many projects, including our lamp project!. Nakashima Studios
There is a tipping point in every collaboration event - when the mood changes from the playful “maybe” and “how about” to the realisation that there isn’t much time left. The Pointy End of Echo Lake
And then, it’s over.
The pieces are gathered up for photography, tools are packed, and workshops cleaned. All that remains is the auction and the goodbyes. Members of the public are invited to share a meal and attend the auction - a few notable collectors are in the audience, as well as friends and relatives of the artists. The auction is a great success - a fabulous pair of auctioneers who are associated with the Center for Art in Wood drive the processes with humour and skill.
NCECA/crafthaus scholar Kala Stein continues to blog about her experience:
I'm back and all settled on New York soil after a compelling and education trip to the far East. China! The route was Beijing > Jingdezhen > Yichang (3 Gorges Damn) > Chengdu > Xian (terracotta warriors) > Beijing.
The trip was prompted by critiques of the graduating student work at the Central Academy of Fine Arts- City Design School, then continued on to be a total of 21 days. I loved the food. I was so glad to have met, through clay connections and ramdom meetings, so many helpful people along the way.
Chandra DeBuse originally comes from the Midwest: land of practicality. She shared her hometown with the very practical and famous Vice Grip tool. Most recently, Chandra was a resident artist at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Tennessee. Now in Kansas City, Chandra has in independant studio and is set up work as a fulltime studio artist.
Chandra's business model is anchored in a well-crafted a story that describes characters and scenarios, play and imagination. It is this story, a combination of make believe and everyday, that engages the viewer/customer.
Chandra describes the animals as important images that allow people to insert their personal stories or memories into the narrative. This balance of novelty and familiarity helps to keep her work on the table serving as functional pottery while encouraging smiles and humor.
From my experience, Chinese mothers love to compare their children to each other to determine who the better mother is. There is the classic conversation where one mother is always trying to ‘one-up’ the other. Trying to be a dutiful daughter by taking pre-med classes my first semester of college, I soon realized it wasn’t for me when I failed miserably at chemistry. Naturally, my next choice was pre-law classes and for 3 years of school I loved it. Especially more so when my cousins were finishing up school and becoming pharmacists, physician’s assistants and psychologists, and according to my Chinese family and mother, not “real” doctors. For once I was number one daughter.
Continue reading: Interview #2-Jennifer Ling Datchuk
Blog: Artist Interviews by Michelle Walters
Elizabeth Steiner blogs: While there was much to enjoy about this conference, I found that there was much that caused me to seriously (and uncomfortably) think about my future in the field and the choices I know I should be making.
The first of this uncomfortable thinking moments came during Garth Clark's lecture. Of course I had the same knee jerk reaction to his comparison of studio craft as a sinking ship, but his argument made sense. We are marginalized, and there's no sense pretending that we're not. Sure, it stems from lack of understanding, and it is our duty to educate people as to what we do, but we're marginalized by people who should know better. You can see it in the simple fact that the Humor in Metal and Hot Under the Collar exhibitions weren't given space in the SMoCA galleries. After much back and forth, we were given the atrium we were in. They almost stuck us in the gift shop. Don't get me wrong, I thought the atrium was fantastic and in the end both shows looked phenomenal, but I just wonder, did it have to be so difficult to secure space to show art from people who know about art?
Continue reading: Lots to think about...
Crafthaus Project Grant! Deadline: August 15, 2012!
News from abroad:
Dauvit Alexander: End of another academic year, I've cleared my bench of everything to allow the summer-school lecturer to use it. As some of you already know, I am off to PITTSBURGH next week and will be at the SCC for a short while. I'm always keen to meet other metalsmiths: feel free to get in touch if you are able to meet up!
Well, it is all over for another year. The work is done, the results are out and my students are off into the big bad world. Last night (Friday) was the first night of their degree show - which they shared with the BA Visual Arts students - and I have to say that I am very proud of their efforts.
North Glasgow College BA (Hons) Degree Show 2012 - Jewellery and Visual Arts
As some of you may know Gallery Loupe is a happy member of the Art Jewelry Forum (AJF), a wonderful organization that supports contemporary jewelry. Recently the AJF asked us to complete a questionnaire as a way to introduce Gallery Loupe to the larger contemporary jewelry community. We decided to re-print it here so that you can get to know us better too.
THE AJF Questionnaire: Gallery Loupe
The SNAG Professional Development Seminar 2012 was all about "shipping". Harriete Estel Berman is currently putting the information from the PDS online for everyone to read up on:
Shipping starts when you make your work! If you want your art or craft to travel up state, across the United States or around the world then planning for safe shipping during construction is your first step in planning for shipping. This is especially important if there are large or heavy elements combined with delicate components.
Shipping Connects Our Studios to the World.
Harriete Estel Berman: I recently found out that Merry Renk passed away and feel an obligation to say something in fitting tribute. In a time when yesterday is so often considered "old hat", it is wonderful to know that Merry lived long enough to see her jewelry from mid-20th century recognized in major museum exhibitions.
An update to the original "The Tag Project | Poston" video created last year. This video includes images from JARDA, Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives, video footage of the tag-making process, and video footage of an exhibition at The California Center For The Arts Escondido.
New Video: "The Tag Project" by Wendy Maruyama
Under the stewardship of the Society of Arts and Crafts Boston, and the support of Beth Ann Gerstein and Fabio Fernandez, The Tag Project/Executive Order 9066 received a significant grant from an anonymous fund to cover travel for the exhibition to five museum venues.
© 2013 Created by Brigitte Martin.
