American Craft December/January 2021

ON MY DESK IS AN OFF-KILTER and lightly collapsed elmwood pedestal bowl. My uncle Jerry, who started turning wood after he retired from farming, allowed me to take it after I found it in his discard box years ago. While I treasure the exquisite live-edge Russian olive bowl he gave me, it’s the imperfect one that’s captured my heart. I can see the vision my uncle had for this piece and the work he put into it. For me, it’s a daily reminder of the importance of trying new things and learning new skills – and, like my uncle, finding joy in the process. Right now, at the end of this devastating year, that connection to joy is a true gift. This issue explores the gifts of craft – among them, the…

Told and Untold Legacies This quote from Joyce Scott now resides on my inspiration wall: “I don’t have the ability to end violence, racism, and sexism, but my art can help people look and think.” Thank you, American Craft Council, for giving such a deserving artist the Gold Medal for Consummate Craftsmanship. ~Beth Blankenship, via email I was impressed by the breadth and depth of the Oct./Nov. issue. Your dedication to supporting and publicizing the work of BIPOC makers has been admirable throughout the years, and this issue is no exception. The articles about Joyce Scott and Michael Puryear emphasize the history of American studio craft and its ongoing vitality. ~Rob Millard-Mendez, via email In Praise of Beauty I love The Beauty Issue! Everything about it appeals to my aesthetic. “The Craft of Scent” particularly appealed…

Dynamic Online Marketplaces The American Craft Council piloted its first-ever online marketplace event in early September. San Francisco Bay Area Craft Week featured an array of interactive programming and a 112-artist marketplace that drew more than 30,000 visitors and generated more than $111,000 in artist sales. Our second online marketplace, running November 16 – December 6, is designed to connect people to more meaningful ways of giving this year. Take Home Craft | Atlanta ACC was proud to team up with Purpose Built Schools Atlanta this year to provide children in Southeast Atlanta with everything they would need to stay engaged in craft-based activities while homebound over the summer due to the pandemic. This collaboration led to the creation of more than 300 craft boxes containing supplies and instructions for 16 different projects,…

“I see the stitches as kind of a bird’s-eye view of people protesting in the streets for movements such as Black Lives Matter.” THE AMERICAN FLAG DEPICTED on the cover of the August 31 / September 7, 2020, issue of Time magazine hangs vertically, as if it’s tired. Rough embroidery stitches form incomplete, asymmetrical stripes transitioning from black to red, with frayed ends. The threaded needle remains in the final bar – its job is unfinished. The hand-embroidered flag was created by Nneka Jones, a 23-year-old Trinidadian artist and recent University of Tampa graduate. It graces an special issue of Time titled “The New American Revolution: Visions of a Black Future that Fulfill a Nation’s Promise,” a collection of essays and conversations about America’s racist past and future potential, curated by musician…

IAN PETRIE LOOKS FOR mystery in the mundane. He turns everyday ceramics into story worlds by embedding images into his mugs and plates. His original images are reminiscent of single panels torn from comic books. The 29-year-old artist started reading comics in high school. Rather than superheroes, he was drawn toward more realistic stories like in graphic novels such as Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Shortcomings, and Ghost World. “I was really getting into comics about the time that my interest transitioned away from writing and toward art,” says Petrie, who lives in Philadelphia. Like the comics he read as a teenager, the everyday scenes Petrie draws into his works are experiences that the people who buy and use his wares can intimately relate to. “But,” he says, “I like…