Applications for the 2008 NICHE Awards are now available online at http://www.AmericanCraft.com. Artists can download an application at the newly revamped NICHE Awards web page. Other useful information includes updated rules and guidelines, as well as information about the 2008 NICHE Awards ceremony, special display and finalist notifications.
The New Cartography of Craft: Charting a Course from Regional to Global
As part of Craft Year 2007, the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University will be hosting the NeoCraft Conference, 23-25 November 2007. This conference has been designed “with the objective of further developing critical thinking, theory and history in relation to the crafts. It is the intention of NeoCraft to not only acknowledge the vital role the crafts play in our culture and economy and to challenge the position of craft by creating a forum for lively exchange and debate. Modern art has always been defined by the way it deals with material modernization. The next modern art will likewise address global modernization. As part of this process, the crafts need to continually rethink their position. NeoCraft, the conference, will explore the possibility of craft practice that engages with the modernizing world.” (Source: www.neocraft.ca)
This exhibition, The New Cartography of Craft: Charting a Course from Regional to Global, has been designed with the NeoCraft Conference in mind; the exhibition will be on public display concurrent with the Conference. The NSDCC seeks submissions of works that look beyond our geographic and/or cultural boundaries; works that consider global cultural influences and reflect those influences through the work, utilizing innovations in techniques, materials, designs and/or subject matter while still retaining the unique identity of the maker. Submitting artists are also asked to submit a brief explanation of each work and the cultural references that inspired its creation.
For more information, please contact the NSDCC office at 902.423.3837.
Being a new home owner I’ve caught the reno and decorating bug pretty bad, and although we’re working on a very limited budget (which has still allowed us to do amazing things) it’s always nice to dream bigger than life. But i suddenly find myself pouring over the house and renovation mags in the grocery line, scanning for ideas. Most mags have let me down in that they all seem too polished with houses looking a bit unlived in. But my husband and I finally found a mag that seemed to fit our aesthetic. Dwell is not only a great mag, but has a nice website too. Check out this piece by Agape Design. I’d have a hard time washing my dirty clay filled hands in this one.
And this bookshelf by BlankBlank is so wickedly clever. The piece is called Religion and the books on the shelf are copies of the main texts of the major world religions.
This wallpaper though is the kicker! I would so have some of this in my house if I could afford it. Maybe not a whole room though, just a bit for an accent.
You can find it here and it’s by designers Sofie Eliasson and Matt Duckett.
I’m so happy to know that now my awesome, super, fantastic artstar bud Mel Robson has set up a etsy site to sell her beautiful wares. You must go check it out! Click here for the website for her shop.
She also has a blog ~ feffakookan ~ definitely worth reading, with tons more pics of her work and great links to the work of other ceramic and craft artists.
Well after too many rants I figured that maybe it was time to post some more images of great and inspiring work. Just this morning I was flipping through my copy of Lark Books’ 500 teapots. You see i’m trying to mentally prepare for a week long teapot making workshop I’ve signed up to teach at the end of July. You’ve gotta love those lark books, they’re like porn for ceramic artists, full color glossy shots with close ups of glaze drips, hmmmm… I never seem to get tired of flipping through them to be inspired. And it’s always nice to look at the work of artists you know and to see them getting their work out there. One of my fellow grad students, one of the loveliest guys you’ll ever meet from Hawaii, Daven Hee, has a few images of his gorgeous teapots in the book. I’m lucky enough to have one of my own sitting in my living room, collecting dust due to it’s non-functional nature, but loved and appreciated none the less on a daily basis.
And while taking that shot right beside it was a piece of Avi Amesbury’s so I had to snap that as well. Avi is one of the lovely women that I got to hang out with in Australia and recently showed with at NCECA in Lousiville. Here are 2 of her beautiful nesting bowls, they have a celadon interior and the outside is stamped with delicate little markings highlighted by her use of the oxides she collects. She has a great website with tons of gorgeous art and information at avicam.com, definetly worth checking out. I think there is also a link to her personal site from there.
The teacup beside it is a sweet little piece that I picked up at the artisans market at the Gulgong conference in 2004(?) For the life of me I can’t remember the name of the artist, but I will promise to search it out and update. The same unfortunately goes for the last name of the artist who made the little white cup, her first name was Natalie and she was an undergrad student at the Canberra School of Art when I was there. I must get better at this memory thing!
and on a sad note i accidently broke the lid to a beautiful covered jar I picked up while in oz. It’s a Janet Mansfeild piece, and it’s a bit heartbreaking, but such is life in ceramics and it will live on in a glued-together-so-well-that-only-i-will-ever-know sorta way.
