©Bruce Metcalf 2014

After the recent ruckus about my “abstract crapola” remark on my Facebook feed, a number of interesting issues emerged out of the blizzard of outrage. I want to consider two of the more controversial of them. The first is that production craftspeople should be exempt from judgment. The second is that the advancing age of many makers has no relevance to anything whatsoever, and is politically incorrect to talk about. Well, I absolutely disagree with both…

Another two weeks has passed since my last entry. I envy those people who manage to make time to blog regularly and always feel slightly guilty when I realise that I've not posted for a week,…

After a jet lagged deep sleep, we were up and ready to take on whatever Yuma had in store for us! Our group piled into the rental car we affectionately nick named the “Pri Pri” (Short for Prius) and headed down town. One of the interesting things Yuma is its location, West of the Colorado River and a hop skip and a jump from the Mexican and California border, if you have a…

I recently curated an exhibition of contemporary Irish craft in response to my home town of Derry Northern Ireland being awarded the inaugural title of UK City of Culture 2013.  

You can have a look at excerpts from the catalogue at my website http://www.selienacoyle.co.uk/#!projects/c1n56

Harriete Estel Berman & Betty Talbott spoke  about the "grassroots" collection on Jay Whaley Metalsmith Bench Talk.

Betty Talbott is the Director of the …

Artist Fellowship Opportunites for Summer 2014

Peters Valley School of Craft is now accepting applications for one artist…

Adam Buick artist currently showing @ Jerwood Makers Open reveals the making of Veneration Bell in this beautiful video …

"The GOOD, The BAD, and The UGLY in the AGE of the Internet"

is a Keynote Address I originally gave for the International Polymer Clay Association annual conference.



It addresses some of the…

Just back to a cloudy, damp, icy cold day in Glasgow, having boarded the plane from San Francisco at 18 degrees C and brilliant sun. The air there was clear, here it is fugged with tobacco smoke. Everyone looks miserable. I look miserable. I have to get to work before 4pm for a meeting with the college Prinicpal at which he told us about financial cuts to the education sector. Not a great return from what was an amazing four days on the East Coast of the USA...

I am not really sure…

One of the publicity images for Ferrous, the joint Crafthaus/VdV show at Velvet da Vinci, San Francisco...…

 ASK Harriete & Whaley Studios offer a podcast on Crafting Better SEO…

The wonderful aspect of the internet is that it creates so many opportunities to share your art and craft.



It is THRILLING  that there are forums like here on Crafthaus to create a dialog or generate visibility. There is no need to wait for the rare…

The series of posts on Crafthaus are an abridged version of ASK Harriete for the convenience of the Crafthaus audience. You are welcome to comment here or on ASK Harriete.

AT this point the series about the craft market place has been evolving for over a month. The issues are complex, I am trying to untangle the economic dynamics methodically.…

This post on Crafthaus is a condensed version of ASK Harriete.



The primary purpose is to examine the craft marketplace using the tenants of economics, the principles of supply and demand.

The interaction of supply and demand is the most fundamental concept of economics and it is the backbone of a market economy. It is described as the…

The previous post The White Tent or the White Wall raises an interesting question. Is the value of art or craft defined by the context? Here on Crafthaus, I am providing an abridged version of the posts. Read the full posts on ASK Harriete if you are feeling strong…

"You're Running Wild" by Lisa Sorrell

Last year's SNAG Professional Development…

One of the questions that frequently comes up is:  "What makes a good photo?" There are many possibilities of good photos  ....too numerous to mention, so I would like to focus on earrings.



Below are the most common mistakes
in photographing earrings
 AND earrings solutions for good photos. 




MISTAKE #1


Generally, earrings should NOT be photographed lying down at an…

Considering the time of year,
 this question from Eva, a student at the Academy of Art, San Francisco, CA, seems very timely. She asks:


"Do you suggest that we find a job after graduation or set up our own studio…

Last week, Andy Cooperman and I gave a presentation with Q & A for an audience of students and emerging artists. Co-sponsored by the Academy of Art San Francisco and the…