HYCC community wakes the watery world

 
The first Saturday in May, Boston celebrates with a "Wake up the
Earth"  parade and festival in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood.
The festival  began in 1979 as a celebration of community success
in halting the  extension of I95 which would have divided Boston
neighborhoods.  Many  houses had been torn down by the time the
eight-lane highway was finally stopped.  Activists who
worked on this issue in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury subsequently
started community gardens and worked for the creation of new
parks on the vacant lots left by the destruction of the houses.The
result is a series of parks, depressed subway line, and a bike path
greenway into downtown Boston. 

 
Since '79 with the leadership of community organizations like
Spontaneous Celebrations: www.spontaneouscelebrations.org
the festival has grown as a event affirming community, diversity
and the importance of green space in an urban environment.
For years there were two streams of the parade, one beginning in
Roxbury and another at the  monument on Center Street in JP.
But for the last 10 years, there has been just one parade. With
active development growing on both sides of  Columbus Ave.,
it was time to reinvigorate both streams.  With the encouragement
of Discover Roxbury : www.discoverroxbury.org  a lot of
Roxbury groups joined in.   I helped facilitate Hawthorne
Youth and Community Center's part.


We opted to "Wake up" the watery world.

Stuffed paper water creatures were designed and made by

the afterschool program kids as well as by families in Saturday

community workshops.

Starfish:

Catfish:

Grinning sharks:

Jelly Fish:



Turtles, dolphins, seahorses and more... We attached dowels
with two tone blue streamers (from plastic table cloths)so
the creatures could swim down the streets.

Some families added items made from home - like  waves with blue
paper streamers

And so we marched down the streets waking the water and seas
accompanied by other groups playing music, dancing, carrying
puppets, holding signs (no more bullying), walking within a dragon
and more...

Once at the festival on the greenway, HYCC set up a table to keep
the water theme going.  Children and adults decorated paper
fish,  seahorses, turtles and sharks:

They were put into our HYCC "pond"

or carried around the festival swimming in their blue ribbon
water:

The weather was cooperative.  A fun day of music, dance,
play, and communities gathering.  Can't ask for more.

Next blog - more work with HYCC - transforming
discarded chairs into thrones for Community Creations
exhibit at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Adventure on.  Wendy

Figures, humor and fun at Craft New York - Lisa Naples, Cathy Rose and Syma

Craft New York: www.craftnewyork.com  took place the

last weekend of March on the 11th floor of 7W 5th Ave, 

across the street from the Empire State  Building. (Not 

exactly an easy location to load in and out of.)  Eager to

try something different from my usual all black, 

I had the show provide hard white walls for my booth. 

The response was great and I enjoyed the clean look. 

Only problem now is to figure out if I want to create this 

look on my own.   For years I hauled around hollow core 

doors for my booth, but I really  don't want to start doing 

that  again. So I've been brainstorming possibilities.

As last year it was a beautiful show and helped support the 

good work of CERF, the Craftsmen Emergency Relief Fund:

www.craftemergency.org The show had an especially good 

selection of narrative driven figurative work, including that

of  Cathy Rose:  www.cathyrose.com  Cathy is located in 

New  Orleans and doesn't  come to the Northeast  too often. 

I've been aware of her work for a long time,  so was really

pleased to finally meet Cathy and she her art in person.  

 

Her work made from porcelain, copper, glass, altered wood
and found objects calls out for the viewer to find a story within it
or within themselves. Cathy's website is as intriguing as her work.
I definitely recommend checking it out.

Lisa Naples: www.lisanaples.com  was also there. This was
the first time I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa and seeing
her humor filled work bursting with exuberance and color. 
I've been  enjoying one of her mugs I acquired. The texture
and shape feels great in my hand. She shares my affinity
with birds.

I was drawn to her "Bird Mama Queen" - a mother whose
arms have transformed into branches to nestle and protect
her young. She has a sturdy foot on a stack of story books.

 

And how  could you resist this piece entitled "Beg Pardon" 

(the rabbit's belly if filled with feathers.)

Another ceramic artist I connected with at the show was Syma:

www.symastudios.com As with Lisa, Syma's  work  reflects 

her free spirit  and  sense of humor.  Syma's illustrated pots 

beg the viewer to discover and continue the stories she has 

started. She also displayed some small works including

"cash cows" -  little ceramic bells in  the shape of  cows 

(we had to bring one  home to ring):

and  small "pots of gold" for  all of us hoping for something at the 

end of our  personal rainbows.

Quite a few of my pieces found new homes including Luccini, the 

music loving dragon (below) and Leapfore - both  the dragons

were created with stones from our Tuscan wandering through hill 

towns.  I'm wondering  what new dragons and other creatures

will  show up in the studio this Spring and Summer.  

 

 

For now, I'm filling orders from Spring shows and

envisioning the work I will present at Haley House Cafe,

a local Roxbury cafe/gallery. My show there opens in late

June. I will encourage the after school kids and their families

to come  to the opening. A couple of the kids already define 

themselves  as artists.

Adventure on!   Wendy

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

Craft Boston...dragons, stories and eyes oh my!

 A quick post as I get ready to set up for CraftBoston this weekend: www.craftboston.org

I've been busy since ACC Baltimore.  The storyteller above is
honoring the year of the Dragon , sporting a cape which came
from the land of dragons. The bright hand woven fabric was
gifted me by friends who enjoy traveling in the Far East. 
I'm still working on a name for the new figure. It comes with
three masks and lots of story shards in the leather trunk. Here
is tale teller donning the dragon mask. with a mini dragon
book looking on.  Name suggestions anyone?


I've also been refining my "eye" designs for e-readers,I-pads,
and smart phones.

I still have envelope type pouches, but have additionally
designed covers for I-pads and e-readers which are more
book-like than pouches.  E-reader covers come in two sizes
 to be able to accommodate the range of readers out there.


Re phones: To help solve the problem when you want
to bring along your phone, but your pants don't have
pockets,  I've made some small leather pouches with straps,\
the perfect size to slip any smart phone in or out.
(Of course they also would be good for other "eye-catching"
uses.)


For those who prefer a little color, I've incorporated
the bright colored eyes from Kelly Kotulak and added
a bit of paint!
 

If you're in the Boston area, please drop by over at the
Seaport World Trade center this weekend. I'll be in
 booth #347 - Hours:
Friday 10-6, Sat. 10-6 and Sunday 11-5

Attending Craft Boston is always  inspiring. I'll
see whom I can find there to share in a future blog.
In an effort to try something new, Sunday has been
designated steampunk day.   Anyone who shows up
wearing a steampunk outfit will get $5.00 off admission!

Adventure on...and over!  Wendy

Fun, form, and inspiration at ACC Baltimore - Evan Chambers, Bernard Katz and David Bacharach

 
The ACC show in Baltimore was as spectacular as usual.  Sales and
attendance seemed to reflect a bit more optimism and improvement
in the economy...nice for all of us.  Some of my major pieces found
their new homes - Wudaineon the dragon is off to Houston Texas
along with Spike the Pupbeast and my avian couple,  Beadle and
Esatair are on their way to Florida...good homes for all.

But, as I have said before, it isn't just sales that inspire me to do
these shows.  It's being surrounded by amazing artistic energy
and discovering new (to me at least) artists. The desk lamp
pictured above is by Evan Chambers http://evanchambersobjects.com/
one of the "new" glass artists  at Baltimore this year.   I sure
would LOVE to have one his lamps on my desk!!! Little aliens
with hawk feet...what more could I ask!  Here are a
few more that were in his booth..but check out his website
to see all his awesome creatures as well as his beautiful more
classic vessels.
 

What amazes at a show like ACC Baltimore is the incredible
variety of excellent work even in the same media.The booth
mine faced this year was  also glass, but with a very different
focus. I had the treat of savoring the gorgeous sculptural forms
of Bernard Katz: http://bernardkatz.com/ and the pleasure of
getting to know him and his family better and to brainstorm on
electronics his side passion:

Bernards forms flow and interact  beautifully. It is easy to picture
them in an elegant settings - both in homes and in more public spaces.

The thing I'm always looking out for is craftspeople I know well
who are  pushing the limits, experimenting  and surprising me. David
Bacharach did that for me this year: bacharachmetals.com/studio
I've known David for many, many years, but always love to check out
his booth. How could I resist a booth with such an avian focus:

David said he'd had the birds before, but they never have taken over
the booth as they did this year.

I enjoy the interstitial dance David's woven metal wall tapestries
and sculptural basketry provide.  He is one of those long time
exhibitors unafraid to surprise and change inspiring me  to venture
on boldly!

My eye items were very well received. Thanks to feedback
I've come up with additional designs which I will offer at
shows at Craft Boston http://www.societyofcrafts.org/cbspring/springinfo.asp
and CraftNewYork:http://www.artrider.com/CNY12.html
in March.  Stay tuned!

Adventure on!   Wendy

All eyes on ACC Baltimore - collaborations and more

 
ACC Baltimore is this coming week: www.craftcouncil.org/baltimore.
I'll be there for both Wholesale on Wed/Thurs Feb. 22-23 and
retail Friday-Sun. Feb. 24-26 in booth #1200........with LOTS of
new items - sculptures and functional leather items - some the
results of collaborations.

The photo above is one example - A collaborative project with
Regina and Dan St. John of Chena River Marblers: www.chenarivermarblers.com   
At the Paradise City Arts Festival last fall, Dan showed me
some papers they were creating which looked like eyes...and
the wheels began to churn.  The end result: custom journals of
graph paper which they cover and include their eye endpapers.
I, in turn, have created leather covers for the journals.  Here's
a second view of the end product:




Most of my journals will still be blank pages, but for those
graphic designers who prefer graphing paper, we are ready
for them!

 In addition, I'll have new custom eyes for  items thanks
to collaborating with Kelly Kotulak:www.kmkotulak.com  
whom I met last year at Arisia.   This year at Arisia we
firmed up ideas.  Kelly agreed to make some custom
colored eyes for my work.  (Check out her jewelry
and other work on her website!)  The eyes (much
more magical in person than in these photos) arrived
just in time to incorporate into some items for the
ACC show. Newly  designed  cases  for  smart phones
and cases for e-readers and some journals will have them.
Creatures will get them for the next show. 
Here are a couple examples of the new items:  

I've discovered e-readers come in lots of sizes. The
one pictured above fits a kindle touch. 

This is an image of the phone cases with more traditional
eyes. I like both, but  it's fun to have choices.

And...finally, as you might have expected,  I've created cases for
I-pads... I was convinced at Arisia, it was really just too logical
not to  make some custom ones.  Here is the sample I have come
up with to show at Baltimore: 

 
Time to pack up....Please if you can...drop by booth #1200 in Baltimore!!!

Adventure on!    Wendy

New creatures for ACC Baltimore

 A new season of shows - a new group of creatures.  Once again I'll
be heading to The American Craft Council Show in Baltimore www.craftcouncil.org/baltimore
Wholesale dates 22/23, retail 24-26.  I'll be in booth #1200.
The new web footed avian above has shown up  for the event.
He's been waiting patiently to be finished. Here are a couple
"before" photos which show armature and the one stone in the belly: 



 

I was pleased the way the rawhide wings and webbed feet
turned out.  I'll get a professional photo at the show to share.
Still looking for a name.  Any ideas anyone?  He/she is about
29" tall, 48"+ foot wingspread.

And speaking of stones.  I returned from our Italian adventure

with stones picked up as we wandered the medieval hill towns

and looked at all the dragon images.  So...no surprise that a

couple new dragons emerged incorporating some of the stone

story shards:

The stones on his back remind me of the stony streets we climbed.
Name here -Lucciano? perhaps? Rawhide wings are moveable.
Size: 12" tall, 24" long, 24" wingspread.

 And finally a smaller one more with stone snout and stone
inside his back. Also moveable wings - about 18' wingspread.
Name?  Leapfore?

I've  been working on new designs incorporating eyes....some
work is collaborative....look for that in my next post!
Back to my studio....

Hope to see some of you in Baltimore!!

Adventure on!  Wendy