11/22/10
“The Craft Show”
Yesterday, as part of our recruitment drive to find Presenters who will teach in our live, face-to-face programming in Princeton this coming spring, as well as in our on-line programming, I went to a very fine, high quality juried craft show, right here in Princeton. The show was sponsored by the local “Y, and has been a pre-Thanksgiving feature of our community for many years.” “Juried,” by the way, means that those who are allowed to present their work in the show have to meet certain exacting criteria pertaining to the quality of their work---it was not just a “sign up and bring in your stuff and sell it” kind of a show. Going further, “juried” also means that each craftsperson had to show originality of design and accomplished technical skills in addition to meeting the highest quality standards of craft expertise.
There were 136 greatly talented craftspeople in attendance, with the show being spread out all over the first floor of the local city block square middle school. It took about 5 hours for me to meander around the show to determine what fine crafts I saw there that would meet our needs at this time; by this I mean that basically, in addition to all the fine qualities ensured by the jurying process, I was seeking those fine crafts that could be taught in a typical school classroom and also be transplanted o a non-specialized (non-technical) setting in private home. Our idea here is to have our Participants be able to explore the craft and decide if they want to continue working in it before going further. In other words, those crafts that could not be worked on at home, such as fine jewelry, woodwork and ceramics are not considered here because of the equipment needed and degree of expertise developed over a period of time required to produce them.
So, with this in mind, let’s take a tour of the show together!
The show was well laid out so that every booth was different from the ones near it. This made every booth a pleasant surprise because every booth one would visit was different from the one before and after it. Every booth held something worthwhile to see.
For every one of the “stops” mentioned here, the craftsperson was invited to teach in Princeton this spring, and speaking with them was a most delightful experience. Now,….. It appears that I probably have a bit of persuading to do but that’s enjoyable in its own way!
The first stop was at a booth that not only contained well executed Fine Craft, it also made a statement concerning Holistic Living. This craftswoman was taking sweatshirts, cutting them down the front and adding beautifully embroidered edgings and collars to them, all of her own design. The collars and edgings were made of Japanese silk with all kinds of beautiful and intricate designs displayed.
The next stop was at the booth of a quilter who has done this show for many years. The work was of traditional designs, but the colors were contemporary. While some of the quilts were made from brand new material of both solid and variously patterned fabrics, some of them were made from clothing that had been worn out through use. Some quilts made from material formerly used as clothing were meant to be heirlooms and passed down through generations as memorial quilts. Many different sizes were displayed, from a lap quilt to one that could be used as a wall hanging or fitted to a queen-sized bed.
It is most interesting that design motifs from one Fine Craft can be carried over into another medium. The next booth visited was that of master woodworkers who were making exceptionally fine quality and finely detailed wooden boxes (to be used on one’s desk) with “quilt designs” created from different species of wood to create the different colors. This was not a veneer (a thin covering over a base wood), because the design was continuous through the entire piece of wood. These folks were also holistic in the fact that they were also using recycled wood as much as possible in their products. Unfortunately, this craft cannot be practiced without specialized tools, but was included here to demonstrate that designs can be transferred.
Still another quilt maker was making very colorful artistically patterned quilted clothing---vests and jackets that were beautifully designed for casual ware, but could also be worn to informal social occasions.
At the next booth I stopped at, I was looking at an artisan making exceptionally finely detailed small bowls and boxes of polymer clay---a material that is relatively new on the Fine Craft scene, and has the advantage of being able to be worked on at home, without a lot of expensive equipment. The material needs to be “baked” in a “kiln,” but the “kiln” is in reality a toaster oven that one can use on their kitchen table (but don’t use it for food preparation after you use it for polymer clay). A widely used design by this artisan was the arabesque, a complicated finely detailed swirling pattern, in this case made of different colors of polymer clay painstakingly cut and pieced together---along with some other processes. For her larger bowls---and even vases---glass bowls were used as a foundation and the polymer clay “fired” over the glass.
Still another stop was at a booth where two very experienced craftswomen were making all kinds of baskets, but specializing in the Nantucket Lightship Baskets now made in sizes to be used as ladies’ handbags. An interesting factor at this booth was that the craftspeople were demonstrating their work and taking questions concerning how it is done. They made this craft look easy---and it is, once you know how to do it! And the items you ca make are beautiful as well as functional! This craft can easily be enjoyed at home with a minimum of tools.
At still another booth, a craftswoman was displaying beaded jewelry, with beads being used to create large round beads and other shapes. The large beads have designs worked into them, again being made from beads. The time and patience needed to create these pieces are both demanding, but the work produced is not to be found anywhere else. It appears that one does not need an elaborate workshop to create these pieces, but certainly patience and a good sense of design are required. The good news is that patience can be acquired and “a good sense of design“ can be learned.
The last booth I will report on here was that of a photographer. Most beautifully framed (in knotted and burled woods---not readily available in framing stores, since they were especially made) photographs were quite large prints, (some 16 x 20) taken on film, not with a digital camera. There was quite a sizable gallery of prints displayed, most taken of various extremely photogenic sections of Italy and Spain. There were also prints of outstandingly picturesque doorways, gardens and other architectural details, again predominantly in Italy and Spain. While the photographer spoke about the extensive array of equipment he used in his work, his most pressing problem is that the paper and chemicals he uses are literally drying up---they are no longer being manufactured, certainly not in the United States, and in very limited quantities overseas. The work shown here (as expressed by its inclusion in many prominent venues of public display) was exquisite in its color, composition and detail, but the sad part is that the future of work of this quality is limited, simply because the materials needed to produce it are being phased out. Unfortunately, while there are alternative processes for black and while photography, there are none for color---and the increasingly popular digital pho tography has a ways to go to “catch up,” when compared with the quality of work shown here.
OK! I hope you enjoyed this quick tour of a very fine craft show. Your comments and suggestions for programming, both on line and face-to-face in Princeton, are strongly encouraged. Our contact information is included below, and we look forward to having you use it---and soon!
In Peace,
Mik
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