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when fine wood artist louise hibbert and jeweler sarah parker-eaton realized that their individual inspiration had a common theme, they combined their respective talents and a shared fascination for microscopic plankton to create an original series of vessels that is both technically excellent and visually exciting.the plankton series showcases an impressive attention to detail. the pair worked together to discuss, sketch, and fully realize each design in its three dimensional form, guided by a month-long study of the minuscule plankton under a microscope.
you can read more about hibbert and parker-eaton's collaborative efforts on polymer clay notes.many thanks to catherine verdiere for passing along the link.
fletcher and myburgh draw on inspiration from the rolling hills and curving lanes of their childhood terrains in south africa and surrey to create the ultimate personal vessel: cocoon-like swings. the copper swings boast names like moon (because it is shaped like one), bubble (because you appear to be sitting inside a stream of bubbles), and my favorite, mypod, pictured above.the artists describe the swings as 'useable art installations' that offer an escape from the norm and challenge people's perceptions of what a swing should be. functional sculpture. i like it.
"The construction of each piece begins by looking at the materials I have gathered & taking into mind the color, texture & shape. Then preferring to work without putting too many limits on myself I let the alchemy of art evolve in its own way. By using traditional metalsmithing & sculpture techniques such as forming, carving, soldering & sanding I create unique sculptural jewelry" Rone Prinzin italian, tasca dei sogni means 'a pocket for your dreams.' jewelry artist rone prinz found the inspiration for these dream-pocket wearable vessels from cultures around the world that use pouches and other containers to hold their prayers. she combines semi precious stones, fused and soldered copper, brass, 18 karat gold and sterling silver to create these little gems.toby goldsmith, aka 'supersleuth' uncovered these earthy delights!
"Childhood rituals have grown with adult veneers and have turned into a manifestation of obsessive compulsive order. Art has been added as a legitimizing manifestation that allows a semblance of sanity. The collections themselves have become a source of raw material for manipulation. Materials are assembled in vast numbers so that they take on form and substance beyond the single unit appeal." Clare Grahamafter writing a post about jeanne rhea for polymer clay notes, i poked around a bit on her blog and came across a tiny blurb about clare graham's artwork. the link led me directly to an extraordinary imagination. graham embraced a diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder by spinning it upside down and making it work for him. he clearly understands the significant value of mass collections of a single item and discarded materials as not-fully-explored art mediums. the vessel above was made with pop tops from cans. in addition to pop tops, his vessels, sculpture and furniture are crafted from buttons, soda cans, tin can lids, yard sticks, scrabble tiles and dominos. see for yourself.
ok, i admit it. one look at this cup and my inner-activist popped out. it was too easy. maureen and michael banner's hand wrought sterling silver holloware is contemporary and sleek. their sculptural yet functional teapots have long, sinewy handles with graceful curving lines. their work is stunning.
they also made this kiddish cup. while every bit as attractive as the others, it bears a title that could have more meaning than they anticipated, given the current state of affairs in washington. the name of this work? 'burning bush'. remind you of another expensive 'piece of work'? stunning too, for sure, but he stuns in a boggle-the-mind way. burning bush. enough said.
"We are the true revolutionaries in this society because we value the work of our hands; we value tradition and history. We understand very deeply that the handmade object is what connects us to the people who buy from us. The object is imbued with our souls." Judy Stone
drawing inspiration from the garden that surrounds her studio, california artist judy stone fabricates fractured vessels by cutting and rejoining metal with woven copper wire, rivets and tubing. she taught herself enameling, the process of fusing glass to metal, in the late sixties while working on a fulbright scholarship in germany. more than three decades later, stone continues to teach enameling worldwide and remains a fierce advocate for the revival of her beloved craft. now that's a revolution worth joining this year!
can you tell that this chair is only four inches high? four inches! and it is chock full of surprises. to see what i mean, click here and scroll down the page. although best known for her anodized titanium still-life and landscape pins, noel yovovich jumped outside of her comfort zone to create this box. it took her more than a year to complete. ingenious.
"Like recurring conversations with friends over cups of tea or coffee, this works reflects the consuming conversation of our consumer society. The recycled tin containers used to construct this work are diverted from a destiny as trash, revitalizing the mundane into the extraordinary." Harriete Estel Bermanharriete estel berman crafts teacup stacks from recycled tins, adding sterling silver or brass handles and tucking a magnet inside each cup so that the stacks can be rearranged. her body of work is a powerful statement about consumer consumption's toll on our culture. one of the conversations sparked by berman's beautifully crafted recycled teapots, cups and jewelry is that creativity might very well be at risk of getting caught in the far-reaching net cast by disposable commodities. well said.
david coddaire's oversized 'tall iron vases' have people personality. offering a shapely solution for artfully displaying flowers, some stand almost five feet tall with curvaceous human silhouettes, dusty-pigment patinas, sizzling energy and generous, smiling mouths. i wonder how this rambunctious bunch of ranunculus would look in one of coddaire's iron vases? very sexy.
"Each Great Bowl O' Fire is hand cut from scrapped propane tanks. There's a poetry to this that just makes me giggle… using a torch to cut flame designs into a flammable gas tank in order to hold bonfires. That's kind of layered metaphor I enjoy most about working with reused or recycled materials." John T. Ungercommitted to sustainable design, john unger works mostly with recycled materials. he handcuts every bowl, never repeating the same pattern. the bowls weigh in at 175 pounds each and are built to last for generations. but unger doesn't stop there. from scrap oxygen tanks he cuts tiki torches; from propane tanks, he fabricates patio grills and portable grills and from tin cans he makes lanterns. the names of his fire line product and the tone of his blog make me think he's quite a character: canterns, blaze o' glory, pot-de-feu grill and great bowls o' fire. his stuff sizzles!
"My work to date is all hand made. It is important that this is seen, so the raising marks, uneven rims and unfiled solder seams are left. The majority of my work is about portraying different feelings and emotions by combining various materials and manipulating their many qualities to express the intentions." E J Mahonyej mahony uses materials that are contradictory. silver, an enduring metal and steel which is decidedly not precious as it rusts and literally eats itself away. contradictory? maybe, but it works. he creates the form and leaves the function up to you. these are roughly hewn, bold, strong and take me back to medieval times. for those with a more delicate taste, the tea sets also make a beautiful statement.
"While my work falls in the category of jewelry, I prefer to think of these pieces as wearable collages. My influences and inspirations stem from an appreciation for nature and family. Monochromatic colors, diverse surface textures, and repetition are commonly used to create a harmonious and soothing unity among varying objects." Jaime Jo Fisherjaime jo fisher mixes traditional silver work and collage. bits of plastic, glass - even dryer lint makes its way into her wearable beaded vessels. contemporary yet timeless. perhaps due to fisher's willingness to combine the possibilities of found objects with more traditional jewelry techniques? yes, i think so.
finnish designer maria jauhiainen's graceful lehti (leaf in finnish) tray looks so delicate...like it might float to the ground if a strong gust of wind blew through the window. but we know what they say about looks. this etched brass tray is quite durable and flexible too - it bends! the organic inspiration for the almost weightless trays? the skeletal remains of a leaf she found while putting the trash out. i'm going to have to put the trash out more often - maybe my absentee muse will make an appearance...
"I draw from a belief that modernism does not mean minimalism, that contemporary does not forsake tradition, and that technology does not abandon people and senses." Tord Boontjedutch designer tord boontje is a player. no, not THAT kind of player - he's a family man. a daddy even. but the man combines a highly developed sense of play with impeccable design skills to create wondrous, playful, colorful, artful items for house and home. the laser cut, metal floral fancies above are actually jar covers - place over any old jar and you have an instant fabulous vase. i think i'm in love!
boontje doesn't stop there - his die-cut, tyvek (yes, the stuff they use to make envelopes) floral lamps and garlands are enchanting and he recently wowed the design world by transforming empty wine bottles into stylish glassware- don't miss it.
"The idea is to make objects that look as though they might be the kind of things that faeries would own and use" Fiona Gallfiona gall specializes in sculptural wirework: hanging goblets, wall sconces, candelabras and chandeliers like the one pictured above. her work has a cobwebby, ethereal quality to it. seems just.out.of.reach. - like the faerie world she loves so much. she often incorporates reclaimed glass in her wireforms and though it might take a few moments to figure out how to navigate her website, it has much to offer. delicate, gossamer vessels of light...
"The starting point for each piece of work is a single piece of metal. I either add or remove any elements. I simply have to work with what is there. I find my inspiration in the restrictive work process itself and the challenge to stretch its limitations." Ane Christensenane christensen's metal bowls are ming boggling. constructed from a single sheet of copper or steel, she creates them by following the strict set of self-imposed rules that have become her trademark. the two shredded bowls pictured here are fruit bowls - part of a negative space series that explores optical illusions...seems to be a theme this week.
"I want my work to look old. I love the colour palette I can achieve in copper and brass and gilding metal" Jenifer Walljenifer wall creates striking works of art in metal. i had a difficult time deciding which of her pieces to highlight. the unusual bowls and platters? or the evening bags that look like they were formed over a rock? i finally settled on the eyeglass cases because i've never seen eyeglass cases that were so lovely and inviting. reminescent of stones. some as smooth and comforting as worry stones.the coastline is her inspiration and her description of this craggy muse made me wish i was there: "pebbles and stones from different beaches; rows of battered and worn-down breakwaters, encrusted with tiny stones; crumbling cliffs with slipping layers of strata; a line of quartz running through dark stone." i can see it, can you?
"I believe that everyone is capable of changing or touching someone’s life. I feel that everyone deserves a chance, respect and the opportunity to be included in a society. The women of Cia do Lacre and 100 Dimensão might think that they have gotten something from us at ESCAMA, but I think the contrary. I have witnessed, first hand, what makes someone strong, hopeful and resilient. All of that is in their faces, in their everyday lives. I am the one that have gotten something from them!" Socorro Leal Schwiderskiandy krumholz, socorro leal schwiderski and eric pedersen are three friends who had an idea, and they ran with it. as owners of escama, they partner with brazilian women's cooperatives to manufacture handbags from recycled materials. fashionable and functional, the bags are hand crocheted using recycled aluminum pop-tops. the handbag pictured above was made with over 700 pop tops. we hope that this novel concept becomes mainstream very soon. incredible.
"The landscape and my response to it have strongly influenced my holloware for the last 15 years. In each piece I try to create the feeling of sensuousness, strangeness, and vitality that I find in the natural world. I enjoy the challenge of physically manipulating metal, of constructing the three dimensional object and then manipulating its mood with color to suit my intention." Helen Shirkshirk: to avoid work or duty. a definition that doesn't even remotely fit renowned san diego university art professor helen shirk. shirk hammers copper into intriguing holloware vessels. inspired by plant forms and life cycles, she uses prismacolor pencils to color the pod like vessels, adding patina as a finishing touch. now retired, she taught at sdu for more than thirty years, most recently as the head of the jewelry/metals program. shirk created a body of work that has garnered her numerous awards including a fulbright grant and two national endowment for the arts grants.time for a new definition. shirk: the ability to create spectacular vessels that celebrate nature. yes, this.
"I am inspired by earthy imagery. Vegetative growth such as tendril, flower, fruit, seed connects my work with the traditional uses for baskets as they have been used daily in agricultural and domestic life over many millennia. Traditional bronze baskets are a very ancient mingei form and to me have always simultaneously evoked the primitive bronze age and the refinement of apprentice-based craftsmanship in the Far East. I see my baskets as a contemporary manifestation of these age-old crafts." Ema Tanigakiema tanigaki's rebirthing basket seems to be symbolic of the rebirth she experienced when she finally healed from an illness that limited her mobility for an extended period. originally a jewelry artist, her newfound health has allowed her to experiment with larger pieces like the basket pictured above. she combines her skill in traditional techniques such as crochet with modern materials to create graceful, lovely baskets.
when fine wood artist louise hibbert and jeweler sarah parker-eaton realized that their individual inspiration had a common theme, they combined their respective talents and a shared fascination for microscopic plankton to create an original series of vessels that is both technically excellent and visually exciting.
you can read more about hibbert and parker-eaton's collaborative efforts on polymer clay notes.
