Please welcome our newest crafthaus members:

Judy Askins            Susan Barth           Sarah Doremus

  Debra Gavant        Jennifer Hermann   Tineke Jansen

Darien Johnson      Maureen Kemp       Kelly Malec-Kosak

Adrienne Krieger  Erika Uzmann

A message from Nancy Shapiro:

Looking for work that has grapes, acorn, olives, plants, flowers.  I am putting a gift shop together for UCDavis in Ca. It is the largest agriculture school in the country and the Arboretum is word famous.  If you have nature inspired work and would be willing to consign to begin, please send some images, thanks, Nancy Shapiro/Metalsmith

Contact Nancy

Member Commentary:

Helga van Leipsig:

Marjan Unger is a Dutch expert for applied art, specifically for jewelry art. On Schmuck 2012 she was invited to give a lecture in The International Design Museum Munich. Freedom has its limitations. Jewelry now, seen from a Dutch perspective was an excellent lecture and I was glad I was able to attend. I wrote a small blog post to give you a bit of an impression about the event. Included is a link to the actual lecture which I highly recommend to read for any contemporary jeweler!   Continue reading...

Julie Sanford:

I have been a long subscriber to The Crafts Report Magazine. When I first started out as an "Art Fair" artist it was a great place to find good shows and learn how to apply, get a grip on what it means to wholesale or consign and source everything from display tents to beads. As I moved from novice to professional I used it as a reference point for business, always finding nuggets of information or inspiration that could directly relate to my work.

I am honored and excited that this Spring I am featured in the pages of The Crafts Report magazine. It is a regional segment that also features product photographer Larry Sanders.

Continue reading...

Have acomment about a lecture, a book, or a workshop? Have news to share? Add it as a blog and let us all know !

Business Blog for Creative People posted:

 Appropriating Images for Art: When is it okay?

Last year the artist Richard Prince was sued by Patrick Cariou, a photographer, for copyright infringement. Prince had used dozens of Cariou’s pictures — arty portraits of Rastafarians in Jamaica — in his paintings. This practice of appropriation, incorporating other people's work into new artworks, is well established in the art world, and Prince has based a successful career on it. But a federal judge ruled for Cariou last year, and if Prince loses his appeal, a swath of contemporary art making will become illegal.

Kurt Andersen spoke with attorney Michael Rips and artist Penelope Umbrico about the implications for the case. 

Continue reading....

 PayPal’s new card reader - better than the Square?

A few weeks ago was PayPal’s chance to share with the world that it could provide some serious competition to the startup payment processor Square, with its own mobile-centric dongle for accepting credit card payments on the go.

We already knew the rough details of what it was announcing: that PayPal would come to market with a portable card reader for accepting credit card payments on the go. Today’s press conference was all about showing how PayPal, late to the game in some respects, would beat Square, the smaller but more nimble startup in the mobile payments space.

Did it succeed?  Continue reading ....

Kinetic Revelations blog:

Contemporary Kinetic Craftspeople: Gary Schott

I am extremely proud to introduce our second of many Contemporary Kinetic Craftspeople; Gary Schott of San Antonio, Texas.

With a rare ability to ceremoniously combine humor, precision mechanics, and fine art concepts, Schott’s creative work has raised the bar for a new generation of makers. As the following interview will attest, Gary makes art with a conviction to produce objects that comment on functionality (real or faux) while maintaining top drawer formal qualities fit for a textbook on contemporary sculpture. His intimate jewelry pieces are fun and engaging with a dash of improvisational narrative thrown in for the whimsical wearer to ad-lib if the mood should strike.

Continue reading ...

Callie Shevlin's Adventures in Switzerland blog:

Europeans get the greatest holidays! I had Good Friday off AND Easter Monday.  It made going back to work a bit harder, but I got a lot done this weekend.

I finished 2 brooches completely, have 4 more started in various stages and need to photograph them so you can believe! 

Continue reading "A long needed Easter Weekend" ...

Wanaree Tanner: Make Your Own Metal Clay Punches

Ever find yourself with in the middle of a metal clay project and couldn't locate a punch or clay cutter in the right size or shape? I've been experimenting with  "granulation" or "pebbling" in metal clay lately, and the one thing that became apparent was the need to come up with some punches/cutters in unique shapes and sizes.

Continue reading ....

New Videos:

Anna M. Lopez: Attic Turbine Vent Shoulder Broach

An attic turbine vent rendered in sterling silver to be worn as a shoulder broach.

Jeffrey Robert McGee: The Black Bird: Act 1

New performance metalwork from Jeff McGee Choreography and performance by Bryan Peck Inspired by and featuring "Le Merle Noir"

The last word....

It is probably an open secret that I am a huge fan of Lawrence Northey's metal figures. I just can't get enough of the humorous characters he creates. When I found out that Lawrence had embarked on a new project, a comic book in which he features some of his sculptures (a marketing "stroke of genius" in my mind! ) I had to ask him some questions about that right away.

Enjoy the interview!