Clay landsacpes,natural woven forms and stitched pottery at Craft Boston

Sorry for delay in  posting..two shows in a row, then the

task of filing taxes on time caught up with me. Someday I'll make a
creature for tax time..would probably be one full of angst or maybe
REALLY sweet and calm would be more helpful.  With two less
than organized self-employed people in our home, it's always a tough
time of year.  

Back to more pleasant issues....Craft Boston was a beautiful as ever
with lots of exhibitors I'd never met and plenty of old friends. I was
directly across from Rick Epstein and his amazing clay landscapes.
Nunonna and Furb loved looking into his "Cathedral of Nature" that
you can see behind them in the photo above.

Here's Rick in his booth.  Check out his website: www.rickepstein.com
to see great images, learn more about him and  his process. He
definitely brings nature inside.

 

 And speaking of nature, as soon as I approached the booth
of Karen Gubitz, I knew we were kindred spirits.: www.wovenearth.com



   The woven sculptures  Karen creates out of natural materials
pull you right in inviting your touch and appreciation.








Karen also gives workshops. On her website she uses these enticing
words: "Experience an Illinois wild flower prairie and learn to weave
basketry as our grandmothers did." Not sure my grandmother had
such skill, but a few days with Karen on the prairie would be a delight.
A friend brought me an awesome Australian Banksia seed pod to
be incorporated into my work. I had her show it to Karen. Guess who
ended up with it?  (Fortunately my friend sent me two more later.
Stay tuned to see what emerges with them!)

You don't see too many young exhibitors at these shows, so I get
especially excited when I see new skilled younger artists 
with a distinctive style and approach.  Such an exhibitor is
Anna White: www.shadetreeceramics.com
The "stitched" pottery which Anna creates is a marvel.  She's taken
thrown work to a new dimension! Here are a couple of her pieces:



The stitching is done completely with clay slip.



I traded with her and besides getting a beautiful
sculptural bowl...received one of her canvas bags
which says "Mud is meant for throwing"..It's become
my favorite.

Speaking of trying to get a new group to Craft Boston,
the steampunk theme brought in a few costumed folk
on Sunday.  There was a whole area in the back devoted
to steampunk work..including this punked up bike:



Just goes to show it's always worth attending exhibits.
You never know what you'll find.

Next post...some intriguing work at Craft NewYork.

Adventure on!    Wendy