French Knitting and Wearable Geometry Workshop with...

Meghan Patrice Riley

2011 Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize for small metals winner

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

Dates & Times: Saturday & Sunday, June 23 & 24, 10 am to 4 pm 

Mixing metals with textile techniques, Riley fashions uniquely elegant jewelry. Using thin, lightweight silver and nylon coated steel wire as "fiber," she forms small line segments to make geometric shapes and then builds the shapes into three-dimensional forms that are lightweight, flexible and adapt to the wearer. Geometric shapes were chosen as the foundation because they are simple, basic and elementary, but can be expounded on to produce multidimensional forms. Each form acts like a link to interconnect with other forms; creating an even larger volumetric structure. Riley will teach her wearable geometry and also a form of knitting, known as spool knitting, corking, French knitting or tomboy knitting, that is done on a spool and nails to create a spiral knit woven cord. On Saturday, students will be introduced to both methods, and on Sunday, they will transform one of Saturday’s exercises into a finished piece of jewelry. This workshop combines geometry with fiber and metalsmithing techniques, and welcomes mathematicians along with fiber and metal artists. 

Tuition: $200, Materials Fee: $75 

Meet a Maker at SCC

When you think of Pittsburgh and Steel a couple things immediately come to mind, not necessarily in this order:

Andrew Carnegie

Dirty Steel Plants

The Wrath of Andrew Carnegie by Alternate Histories

FlashDance....what a feeling indeed. 

But Pittsburgh steel isn't what it used to be and that is where we come in. 

SCC's MEET A MAKER SERIES PRESENTS...

Blacksmithing: An Iron-troduction on June 13, 5:30-7 pm

With Chris Holt & John Steel, of Steel Welding & the Pittsburgh Area Artist-Blacksmiths Association

Join us for an educational evening about the age-old craft of blacksmithing, beginning with a presentation on creative trends in decorative ironwork. Learn to identify good ironwork, how to care for rusted iron, and about choices for railings and gates. See and feel the difference between mass-produced and finely crafted work. Tuition is $60 and includes a hand-forged dinner bell to sweeten the experience.

For more information or to register, e-mail Sherrard Bostwick or call 412.261.7003, x25. 

Mr. Imagination

By Janet McCall, Executive Director of Contemporary Craft (SCC)

The art community has lost a gentle giant, and SCC has lost a dear friend. Gregory Warmack, the self-taught artist known as Mr. Imagination, was called “one of the supreme practitioners of visionary art” in the world by American Visionary Art Museum founder/director Rebecca Huffberger. “Mr. I” died at age 64 this week, apparently from a spider bite that resulted in pneumonia.

Mr. Imagination in SCC's Studio's

Mr. Imagination’s life epitomized the way in which the human spirit can triumph over adversity to become a powerful positive force in the world. Born into poverty in Chicago, he was shot during a street robbery in the late 1970s, resulting in a near-death vision in which he was told he should dedicate his life to art. When he recovered from the shooting, he set about becoming an artist who could bring healing to the world. When his brother died in 2001, he felt the need for a fresh start and moved to Bethlehem, PA, where thrived there for several years. He travelled to many communities during this period, doing residencies to create public sculpture gardens with hundreds of young people, whose lives he touched. Three years ago when his Bethlehem studio burned to the ground, destroying his art, his belongings and beloved dog, he moved to Atlanta to be with friends and to heal. Soon he had put down roots, and started again. “Even though I lost lots of things,” he said, “I still have my gift.”

In November 2002 SCC featured Mr. Imagination in a one-person, mind-blowing exhibitionthat remains one of my all-time favorite shows. His art was very accessible, yet substantive. The gallery walls were painted a deep red, his favorite color, and the gallery was stuffed to the brim with his vibrant and expressive art —furniture, installations, and sculpture — all of it obsessively covered in bottle-caps and found objects. The centerpiece of the exhibition was a giant throne on which visitors were encouraged to sit. He explained that felt that everyone deserved to feel important and that sitting on a throne made it possible to savor that experience.

A guest sitting in the Mr. I Throne during his exhibition here at SCC

I was fortunate to host Mr. I as a guest at my home for several days. Hanging out with Mr. Imagination took me back to my childhood, and that state of innocence, spontaneity, and possibility, where the entire world was an art studio and the most mundane object could be transformed into something magical. The morning after his exhibition opening, as he headed out for a walk in my neighborhood, he noticed a few scraps of wood in the garbage waiting to be picked up at the curb. Delighted, he gathered them up, disappeared into our basement shop, and within an hour, came upstairs to present us with a small sculpture he had made as a gift.

For Mr. I, creating art was all about expressing love and making people feel special. Rest in peace, dear friend. You will be missed beyond measure but you deeply touched us all.

Summer in the 'Burgh

Summer classes have been published! Click here to check out the Contemporary Craft Summer Catalog.

Zazzy Must-Haves for Spring!

Spring has sprung and at the Contemporary Craft Store, we're seeing a great deal of geometric shapes and bright fresh colors. Here is our list of the top 10 must-haves for spring 2012:

1.   Earrings by Raissa Bump

2.   Origami box by Karen Ernst

3.   Work by Raphael Prize Winner Meghan Patrice Riley

4.   Cards by Suzanne Costa Weinberg

5.   Clocks by Toby Atticus Fraley

6.   Fiber Pin by LaVerne Kemp

7.   Necklaces by Amy Weiks

8.   Wine Stoppers by Engler Glass

9.   Steel ball earrings by Jennifer Wells

10. Abstract wall sculptures by Meagan Chaney 

Get Out of Hand with Us!

A limited number of tickets remain—order yours online or call 412.261.7003 today!  

Kat Cole, Tin Brooch/Steel Converter Necklace. In this year's silent auction!

SCC’s annual fundraiser celebrates all things handmade with hands-on art-making, a top-quality silent auction filled with artist-made objects as well as art-related packages handpicked for this event, time to watch amazing artists demonstrate their craft, delicious specialty fare provided courtesy of Pittsburgh restaurants and food purveyors, live music and other entertainment.

Guests getting hands-on! Photo: Nerds Behind the Lens

The night is going to heat up fast with LIVE blacksmithing, raku pottery, and open-flame glass bead-making demonstrations with artists Robert Burns, Dan Kuhn and Darlene Durrwachter-Rushing. As the sun drops below the riverbank, grab a drink and sample the tastes of the Strip District while taking stock of more than 100 silent auction items, such as Jason Forck’s piece On the Surface—a stunning textured glass sculpture that mimics the intricate pattern of tree bark—or jeweler Kat Cole’s stunning and convertible Tin Brooch/Steel Converter Necklace. Before the evening is over, try your own hand at making with SCC artists at one of our 7 hands-on stations. 

Roger Barbour Jazz Trio. Photo: Nerds Behind the Lens

All proceeds support free arts programming for the community. Click here to preview select items appearing in the auction.If you see something you can’t live without, BUY-IT-NOW.

OUT OF HAND

Saturday, April 14, 6:30—10 pm

SCC, 21^st & Smallman streets

$185 per person/$325 for VIP Patrons

Please R.S.V.P. by March 30

A guest trying her hand at wood turning. Photo: Nerds Behind the Lens

Bo Bedilion, Covered Jar - In this years silent auction!

UK artist Alex Raphael comes to SCC!

Exhibition of Enamel Jewelry: March 30-June 30, 2012

Free Artist Talk: Friday, March 30, 6 pm (Reception: 5:30-7:30 pm)

Join us for this special opportunity to meet and hear from Alexandra (Alex) Raphael, a gifted artist who has perfected the ancient craft of enameling over many years. Largely self-taught, she specializes in plique-à-jour (backless enamel) and cloisonné jewelry. 

Alex's talk will reflect on the experience of growing up with SCC Founder Elizabeth R. Raphael as her mother and how this influenced her artwork. She will also speak about her new "Celestial Dream Series," which showcases the delicate ethereal images in rich colors reflected within gold and silver that can be achieved with the challenging plique-à-jour technique.

Necklace for my Mother, Gold and silver cloisonné enamel with tourmaline on lapis and silver beads

 

Necklace for my Mother, Gold and silver cloisonné enamel with tourmaline on lapis and silver beads

The depth and meaning of images in Alex's jewelry are often personalized for the wearer. This necklace, created in memory of the artist's mother, depicts: "eclipse of the sun with date of my birth, windows (from our first house), zodiac signs, acorn (representing our community of Oakmont), bee representing Mother - always busy as a bee and her initial, the letter "B", water, the word "STAY", phases of the moon, stars, and my hand holding a drop of blood."

Alexandra's latest collection of gold and silver cloisonné jewelry reflects the individual style for which she is well known. From ancient times, the mystical properties of stones are held as precious talismans. In her new three-dimensional "Within the Stone" series, she entices you into the magic and powers of the jewel. Looking through the stones there are delicate pictures drawn in gold and silver cloisonné, with the stones’ facets changing the reflective image.

Silver and gold cloisonné earrings with foils and natural pearl drop. 1"x 3" long. Photo by Richard Valence.

In her new "Study in Grey" series, her imaginative use of reflective gold and silver foils change her colors as they flow across the surface with warmth of the gold and the cold of the silver.

Alexandra's amazing enamels have won her numerous prizes worldwide, and are in the permanent collections of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths as well as the Musée Municipal de l'Évêché (Limoges, France), Musee de l’Horlogerie (Geneva), and the All- Russian Decorative-Applied and Folk Art Museum (Moscow).

The exhibition of Alexandra Raphael's work and her March 30 talk are signature events of SCC's 40th anniversary year. The talk is free of charge, but we ask that you R.S.V.P. in advance to 412.261.7003, x12, or development@contemporarycraft.org.