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Heck Yes Craft
Heck Yes Craft
Sometimes a shelf is just a shelf. Other times, it's a gloriously gritty celebration of the American Rust Belt. Such is the work of Doug Meyer, a metal artist who makes furniture out of cast-off wheelchairs, shopping carts, and other scrap. See more here.
Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck Yes Craft is a series of visual blog posts with a simple mission: to show off amazing work. Come back every Friday for more.
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Heck Yes Craft
I'm so excited about my Heck Yes Craft pick for this week. Recently, a couple lucky ACC staffers and I had the pleasure of heading to Nancy Golden's home studio. You may know Nancy from her work as an interior designer and as former host of decorating shows on the HGTV and DIY networks. She also happens to be the mother of the delightful designer, Nate Berkus.
For the past three years, Nancy has been creating her line of handmade leather jewelry and accessories called Goldenwear. Her use of recycled leathers and stones and other materiels truly defines the term eco ...
Heck Yes Craft
I was immediately drawn to the work of Eric Boos. It's fun, colorful, and looks like candy (and who doesn't love candy?). The aptly titled "Almost Edible Ceramics" are even functional if you want them to be. They seem like the dishes Willy Wonka might use if Peewee Herman was coming for dinner.
Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck Yes Craft is a series of visual blog posts with a simple mission: to show off amazing work. Come back every Friday for more. ...
Heck Yes Craft
Jackie Abrams and Josh Bernbaum's joint show, opening today at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, is called "Dialogue" - and how lucky for the rest of us, that we get to visually eavesdrop on their spectacular artistic conversation.
Bernbaum works in glass, Abrams in basketry. Their collaboration took root a couple of years ago, when, in return for a gift of handmade tumblers, Abrams made Bernbaum a basket, her interpretation of the traditional cathead form. The basket's pattern and coloration intrigued Bernbaum, who decided to make a glass interpretation of it. He gave his piece to ...
Heck Yes Craft
I first became aware of Massachusetts artist Gail Crosman Moore through her lovely felt jewelry. Then I dug deeper and found she works in a remarkable range of materials: Felt, yes, but also metals, precious metal clay, beads, and glass. You see the same delicate aesthetic across the mediums she works with. "I believe that I am saying the same thing," she says, "just using different materials." Scroll through the 13 images above, and you'll get a sense of Crosman Moore's striking versatility.
Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck Yes Craft is a series of visual blog ...
Heck Yes Craft
At Penland School of Crafts' annual auction, you can't walk a foot without bumping into fabulous works of craft. (But try not to bump into the five-figure pieces.)
Here is a tiny sampling of work, some by artists in their 20s, that caught my eye this past weekend.
The design of Jack Mauch's adorable Coffee Table started with the legs, which are part hoofed animal and part tree branch. Mauch - articulate, young, personable - is a furniture maker to watch.
Posey Bacopoulos' Gold Oval Teapot is a charming, springtime take on a traditional form. But look more closely, ...
Heck Yes Craft
Gustav Reyes makes jewelry I can get behind. I love the curved and clean lines of his bracelets, and the live-edge on the ring looks almost Nakashima-inspired. He'll be at the Craft2Wear show at the Smithsonian in October, but in the mean time you can take a look at more of his work on his website.
Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck Yes Craft is a series of visual blog posts with a simple mission: to show off amazing work. Come back every Friday for more. ...
Heck Yes Craft
Jenny Topolski works in a variety of mediums (clay, metal, paper, and textiles), but her aesthetic is uniquely her own. Not all of her work is nautically-inspired, but something about the octopus wall sconce spoke to me. You can see more of her work on Etsy, and she'll be at the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, NY this weekend.
Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck Yes Craft is a series of visual blog posts with a simple mission: to show ...
Heck Yes Craft
If a Shaker furniture maker were suddenly trapped in a salvage yard with only a Gee's Bend quilt for comfort, he might make pieces like this. Wisconsin artist Jim Rose's cleverly minimalist tables, cabinets, and cupboards are made of scrap metal, but they suggest wood and textiles. Rose is represented by the wonderful Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago.
Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck Yes Craft is a series of visual blog posts with a simple mission: to show off amazing work. Come back every Friday for more.
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Heck Yes Craft
Jimmy McBride's art quilts are really out of this world. Made from salvaged textiles (collected while working for a salt and vinegar shipping company called Intergalactic Transport), the quilts are hand-stitched and hand-quilted. As McBride puts it: "There's no log cabins or poinsettias around, so I just stare out the window until something catches my eye."
Back on Earth, McBride is based in Brooklyn, and also recently launched a line of Roycroft Quilts. If you'd like to see him talk more about his intergalactic travels, make sure to check out ...
Heck Yes Craft
John Grade's large-scale sculptural installations explore change through natural causes. Many of his works, after gallery installation, are left exposed to the elements to weather and decay. Mantle, which rises 30 feet in the air, is particularly awe-inspiring against the blue, cloudy sky.
Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck Yes Craft is a series of visual blog posts with a simple mission: to show off amazing work. Come back every Friday for more. ...
Heck Yes Craft
What originally drew me to Josie Jurczenia's ceramics was the birch-looking handle of the teapot in her Birch Tea Set. Looking through more of her work, I really took a liking to her playful but not too playful aesthetic. Jurczenia's decades of work in textiles (she's a founder of the Sweet Potatoes children's' clothing line) comes across in the variety of patterns and finishes on her ceramics. She makes work that is beautiful and functional, and to me, that's what craft is all about.
Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck ...
Heck Yes Craft
Kara Ginther started out carving leather Brooks saddles for bicycles, but she's recently branched out into "generally delightful leather miscellany," as she puts it. She takes custom commissions for leather carving, and more of her leather miscellany is available on Etsy.
Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck Yes Craft is a series of visual blog posts with a simple mission: to show off amazing work. Come back every Friday for more. ...
Heck Yes Craft
I spend a lot of time wishing I could snap my fingers and be in other cities, so that I could get to more of the fabulous exhibitions and events I hear about working for the ACC. Not this weekend. The 13th annual American Pottery Festival is about to kick off at the Northern Clay Center right here in Minneapolis.
Which is why - in all of my excitement - I want to take this opportunity to show some of the gorgeous majolica-glazed earthenware Linda Arbuckle has there. I love how the brightly painted fruit and floral motifs seem ...
Heck Yes Craft
When I came upon Linda Stout's booth at our ACC St. Paul show this past April, I simply stopped to marvel. Her ceramic plates and other home decor items looked so intricate and positively radiant in the lighting that I was sure they were made of glass. Ever since she had the idea to preserve one of her grandmother's handmade doilies in need of repair, Stout's been making clay impressions with vintage doilies. She'll even do custom work if you have a favorite.
Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck Yes Craft is a series of ...
Heck Yes Craft
"Always wanting you, but never having you, makes it hard to face tomorrow," crooned country legend Merle Haggard. I feel his pain as I drool over Lisa Sorrell's incredible handmade cowboy boots - wearable art that, for now, I can only afford to ogle. She builds each boot by hand, then collaborates with her customer to create a design inspired by vintage patterns but infused with the personality of the wearer. She describes her boots as "a snapshot of dreams, a glimpse into the soul, a statement of being." Bonus: Each pair is named after a country song.
Can't get ...
Heck Yes Craft
Can thread be sexy? Lorena Barriento's hand-embroidered jewelry shouts, "Heck yes!" Her unique pieces are so glamorous, I'm ready to take them out salsa dancing. Vivid color combinations play off geometric patterns to create a balance of uninhibited wildness and impeccable craftsmanship. Some pieces feature bright ceramic or metal beads, adding to their playfulness. I particularly love how they evoke folk art yet remain distinctly modern. See more of Barriento's jewelry line, Marañón, on Etsy or at www.maranonjewels.com.
Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck Yes Craft is a series of visual ...
Heck Yes Craft
Mallory Weston's teapots intrigue me. The hollow forms are stitched together from intricate, flat sheets of metal. It's the perfect hybrid of mediums and mystery. In 2009, Weston was asked to partake in the Mobilia Gallery's annual teapot exhibition and she created her first piece with this technique, which she developed in response to a challenge she faced: her workspace.
Weston explains: "My studio facilities were extremely limited at the time so it forced me to consider alternative ways to create forms outside of traditional metalsmithing approaches. I have always been interested in fibers techniques such as weaving, sewing, and ...
Heck Yes Craft
ACC artist Mark Doolittle holds a Ph.D. in biology, and it's clear that his background has inspired his sculptural woodcarvings. He's studied the aesthetics and organization of cells and tissues, and aims to translate that in his pieces. Or as he puts it, "I want the viewer to sense that my sculptural pieces ‘grew' that way rather than having been carved." He was gracious enough to elaborate on the pieces featured here:
"Ammonite Sculpture and Blooming Sculpture were carved from single blocks of Amboyna Burl (Pterocarpus Indicus), an Indonesian wood with a beautiful red heartwood and yellow-gold ...
Heck Yes Craft
I like the shades of Klimt and Miro in the abstract work of Pennsylvania quilt artist Mary Stoudt. Lightning Strikes goes a charming step beyond, giving us the unexpected representation of a village at the base of the piece.
Can't get enough craft? Neither can we. Heck Yes Craft is a series of visual blog posts with a simple mission: to show off amazing work. Come back every Friday for more. ...
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