SCAD Alumni Talent Part 2

To continue in my promise of highlighting some exceptional SCAD alumni work, below are some images of the beautiful mixed media sculptures of good friend and SCAD Alumnus Kara D'Angelo . After receiving her BFA in Fibers at SCAD she went on to receive her MFA in Textile Arts and Costume Design from University of California , Davis. Please look at her site for a full bio and more of her stunning work.

SCAD Alumni Talent

I am very proud to be an Alumnus of SCAD and along the way have met many other talented artists and designers who I would like to begin featuring here from time to time. I had the peasure of meeting Claire Sancheza few years ago in Savannah at Working Class Studio, durring an alumni presentation that we both participated in. Her bags are so charming and MADE in the USA!

Chandler Handbag

Lorin Carpet Bag

Kennedy Tote Bag

Madeline Shoulder Bag

Letter to Cast On's Brenda Dayne

Below is the letter I left for Brenda on the Cast On website after listening to her latest podcast. It brought up some serious issues for me and I thought it was a great episode. Check it out if you haven't already, knitter or not!

Brenda,

I admire you for shedding light on the behind the scene sometimes "Dirt" of the textile industry. I am a designer of textiles working in the carpet industry at the moment and I fully agree whith what both you and Anne M. said. Too often the majority of creative people ARE taken advantage of because they love what they do and are passionate about it. I have found it to be mainly a man's industry but the creative driving force is usually women. I believe these issues must be brought to the forefront with the up and coming generation of crafters to be aware of. I also found your reference to "Norma Rae" brilliant, the textile industry in the US may be historically known for not paying a living wage but what does it say about us that we have gone from that to shutting down our own mills just to outsource textile goods (and others) from other countries who pay even less!

So, I support your decision to follow your morals and not go with the sponsors that you just don't feel right about! Of course we can all make up our minds what to buy or not buy from advertisers but that's really not your point is it? And one last thank you for bringing up the issue of marketing "Green and Sustainable" as "Luxury" just to charge more and just because it's the buzz word of the moment. It's so much more than a buzz word and I'm glad you shed some light on it. Best to you in your future endavors towards making, hopefully, more than a living wage! I'll be listening to whatever you post, whenever...

Cheers~

Mosaic Monday

This weeks favs with a theme of golden light


1. Sky - Beauté Sombre, 2. Electric starburst, Wills Memorial Building, Bristol, 3. subtly altered curtains., 4. Fairy Frost 2, 5. Bees, 6. P2180050.JPG, 7. in/out, 8. P2200076.JPG, 9. mastic

ACC Baltimore Show Roundup 1 of 2

I've been attending the ACC show in Baltimore since moving back to DC metro and have always regarded it as THE show for the best in CRAFT. As a college student I began attending the shows when I could for inspiration and continued to attend the ACC show in ATL when living in GA. I even one a Student NICHE award while attending SCAD. I admire the creative exhibitors at this show and know that some of the most origional ideas and best quality work can be found because of the high standards of the jury procees. Below are photo's and links to some of my favorites from this years show. I find that the trends at this show are cyclical like all trends but this year there was some spectacular new work. Mixed media seems to be the latest trend, fibers with metal, glass with furniture, plastic jewlry, found objects incorporated or translated into pieces etc. There was also new signage indicating "Green Craft" which is a new category featuring artists using recycled, found, and/or other eco-friendly materials and tecniques. I hope you find their work as inspirational as I did.

"Searchlight Artists"

Jungyeon Choi, MFA, Fibers, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI


Andy Shaw Pottery, Philadelphia, PA




Someware Glass by Elizabeth Ware Perkins

These are CAST Glass Doilies, spectacular!





Chase Deforest Hosewares, Denver, CO ~GREENCRAFT~






Metalwork by Haley Reneé Bates MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI



Sugar Jewlery by Ana Claudia Crisan Calabria of the UK


YES~Spun SUGAR!

Part 2 still to come, sculpture, jewelry and the hilights of what came home with me~

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova win best Song for their movie, Once

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova's Oscar acceptance speeches were in my opinion the best part of the Oscars last PM (& their their performance of "Falling Slowly"). I was pretty disappointed with Jon Stewart and the whole show, perhaps the writers were scrambling to get it together and they sure did fill in with a lot of nonsense and musical numbers so we eventually switched it over to the season finale of Nip/Tuck...

Coming Soon ACC Baltimore & Moderating Comments

I had a wonderful day on Saturday in Baltimore at the ACC show. I will be posting photo's of some wonderful designers, artists, crafters, jewlry makers and much more. I love to attend this show every year, it really is the cream of the crop when it comes to craft. Check back this weekf or more!

Just a quick note to say I have had to enable comment moderation because of some "spam" scam comments...hope it's not too annoying.

Amy Lin's Art

One of my new favorite artists, Amy Lin, in the DC Metro area. Below is a sampling of a few of her pieces but go check out her site for more of her colorful, playful work~

Etsy~Friends Love

I wanted to share some of the great items a couple of friend of mine (who are also participating in the Block Layer swap!)have over at Etsy~
Long time friend Marley of Cobalt Sky Studios
creates prints and one of a kind handpainted windows from salvaged windows in rural Maine. Check out her Etsy shop
here
Birch Handpainted on Salvage Window

2 Tone print of her photography: "Butcher Hooks"


The other work I'd like to show is from Magnolia Moonlight . She has great graphic cards, calendars, magnets, buttons and such. Very FRESH!

Jardin Black White Gift Set - ON SALE!

Red Fill in the Blank Cards - She sent me one of these, what a SPENDID idea, available in two colorways.

Winter Tendency~Daily OM

I just loved the following exerpt from a recent Daily OM. If you don't know about them, check out their site, or sign up for their daily emails or horoscopes.

"We humans have a tendency to yearn for the light, for the coming of spring, and for the more visible phase of growth that all things express in coming to be. In our love for what we can see with our eyes we sometimes lose patience for, and interest in, the world of darkness that nurtures and protects the seeds, bulbs, and babies of the world for such an important part of their life cycles. It is a perilous and mysterious phase of growth, and one that we have little control over, and perhaps that is why we don’t celebrate it with quite the same passion as we do the lighter and brighter phases of life."

Lunar Eclipse

I hope you caught a glimpse of the lunar eclipse last PM. Here is my attempt at photographing it at around 10PM EST. It was beautiful but the photo doesn't do it justice, the moon is always beautiful to gaze upon in my opinion though.

Morsbags Made

8 Morsbags made so far for the Morsbag swap @ Swap Bot. If you missed this round there will be another or you can just make them on your own! The pattern is so simple and quick and could be used to make any size bag you want with leftover or scrap fabrics (old sheets, clothing, curtins, towels etc). The idea behind these is to gift them to random people to encourage them to stop using plastic and paper shopping bags! So make some bags to save some bags~

Mosaic Monday

Mosaic Monday
Originally uploaded by WeBees

I was feeling very neutral today. Here are a group of my latest FAV's on Flickr.

Library Books

Library Books
Originally uploaded by WeBees

Home from the library right now from the top down:
Humble Masterpieces: Everyday Marvels of Design by Paola Antonelli
Effortless Style by June Ambrose, Richard Buskin, and Aimee Levy
Hip to Stitch: 20 Contemporary Projects Embellished with Thread by Melinda A. Barta
Handmade Style: Japan by Dorothy Wood
The Look: A Guide to Dressing from the Inside Out by Randolph Duke
The Salvage Sisters' Guide to Finding Style in the Street and Inspiration in the Attic by Kathleen Hackett and Mary Ann Young
Knits from a Painter's Palette: Modular Masterpieces in Handpainted Yarns by Maie Landra
Artful Cards: 60 Fresh & Fabulous Designs by Katherine Duncan Aimone
Passionate Patchwork: Over 20 Original Quilt Designs by Kaffe Fassett
Knitting with Ribbon Yarn by Tracy Chapman
The Crafter's Pattern Sourcebook by Mary MacCarthy

I've browsed if not read through all of them and they are all good books. I LOVE the LIBRARY!

ABC Home Bedding

I just loved all the layered bedding creations at ABC Carpet & Home. Here are a few of my Favorites from my recent visit.

Cracked...

Cracked...3
Originally uploaded by WeBees

I think I may have finally cracked! I took a series of photo's of egg shells that I had been colecting for a friend's art installation in PA.
Sorry for so few posts but I've been super busy as of late. I'm heading up to NYC for a big Chinese New Year party tomorrow but will return just in time for Valentines Din with my love.

Happy Hearts: Valentine LOVE Mosaic

Happy Hearts: Valentine love Mosaic
Originally uploaded by WeBees

Love is in the air, some images that reflect the sentiment for this weeks Mosaic Monday.

Mosaic Monday-Happy Chinese New Year

Mosaic Monday-Happy Chinese New Year
Originally uploaded by WeBees

This week's mosaic celebrates the New Year, year of the Rat.
Lantern Day or the official beginning of the Spring Festival begins this year on February 7th (Feb 4th Chinese Time Zone) and goes through to February 15th. The Rat (Yang Energy) is the 1st of the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals and is said to bring properity (perhaps not immeadiate though), aggression, wealth, charm, and order (organization).
~Kung Hei Fat Choi (Congratulations and be Prosperous)

MSH Mosaic-Jan 08

MSH Mosaic-Jan 08
Originally uploaded by WeBees

January's Completed Photo Scavenger Hunt Mosaic. Clockwise from top left:

1. English Muffin
2. Footprints
3. Fish
4. Humorous sign
5. Look what I’ve got
6. Low fat
7. You only live once
8. Vacant
9. Notice
10. Restaurant menu
11. Inside my refrigerator
11. Inside my refrigerator
12. In case of emergency
13. Exercise
14. Negative
15. U-turn
16. Useless
17. Yard art
18. Amen
19. One number
20. Askew