Crafts Archives – Daily Art Fixx

In the Studio with Flameworker Brad Jesson

May 19, 2016 By Wendy Campbell

DAF recently had the opportunity to visit flameworker Brad Jesson at his studio in Stratford, Ontario. Watch the video below to see Brad’s work in glass marble and pendant making.

Brad began working with flameworked glass in January of 2008, and has practiced his art on a full-time basis since February of 2010. A self-taught artist, Brad learned flameworking techiques through books, videos, internet glass forums, and at the Art Glass Invitational (an annual week-long conference held in Pennsylvania, with daily seminars for flameworkers).

Brad creates a wide variety of both functional and non-functional glass art objects, including marbles, vases, pendants, and sculptures. He is especially passionate about marbles; of interest is the juxtaposition of organic forms and patterns with the perfect geometry of a sphere, and the overall challenge, both physical and mental, of mastering the wide array of known techniques that can be used to create them in conjunction with the development of new techniques and designs. A large part of Brad’s attraction to borosilicate flameworking is the fact that this type of glass, and therefore the medium in general, is still very much in its’ infancy, leaving considerable room for growth and exploration.

To see more of Brad Jesson’s work, visit bradjessonglassart.com. His beautiful pendants can be purchased online at the DAF Shop and at select festivals, markets, and shows in Ontario.

DAF Group Feature: Vol. 143

February 9, 2016 By Wendy Campbell

Your Weekly Mixx – Enjoy!

DAF Group Feature: Vol. 88

December 26, 2011 By Wendy Campbell

Your Boxing Day Monday Mixx – Enjoy!

Yarn Bombing: Graffiti Knitting

August 28, 2011 By Wendy Campbell

Yarn bombing, aka yarnstorming, guerrilla knitting, or graffiti, is a form of street art that has been spreading across the globe over the last few years. Knitters and crocheters take their “matronly craft” to the streets covering urban objects with brightly coloured fuzzy goodness. Few objects are off limits and tree trunks, hydrants, mailboxes, park benches, public telephones, bicycles, public sculptures, and even cars and buses have been yarnstormed.

The movement appears to have begun in 2005 with a single door knob cozy knitted by Magda Sayeg of Houston, Texas. That first cozy led to the formation of the knit graffiti collective called Knitta Please. Other collectives followed including YarnCore collective in Seattle, Knit the City in London, and Ladies Fancywork Society in Denver. There is even a book Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti, a guidebook to covert textile street art, that will help you get started.

While yarn bombing seems harmless enough, it is still technically illegal under vandalism and/or littering laws, though DAF could not find any cases of “bombers” receiving citations from police. “Yarn bombers say they rarely have run-ins with the law. And in the few instances when they are stopped … the police are more likely to laugh at them than issue a summons.”

Much like the traditional graffiti and street art movements, yard bombers are making money from their art through commissions from companies like Toyota who hired Magda Sayeg to knit a Prius Christmas sweater for a promotional video. The makers of the Smart Car and Mini Cooper have also commissioned similar ads.

For more information about yarn bombing and a big list of other yarn bombers, check out YarnBombing.com.

Sources: New York Times, Telegraph (UK), Wikipedia, Street Art Utopia (images)

Daniel Kornrumpf: Embroidery

June 29, 2011 By Wendy Campbell

Massachusetts based fiber artist and painter Daniel Kornrumpf has a BFA from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, and an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. He is currently Adjunct Proffessor at Newbury College in Brookline, MA as well as at Mount Ida College in Newton, MA.

Kornrumpf’s embroidery pieces are actually quite small, positioned in the middle of large pieces of canvas or linen. His work has been exhibited across the northeastern US states including shows at the Cambridge Art Association and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum.

To see more, visit DanielKornrumpf.com.

Beth Robinson: Strange Dolls

January 26, 2011 By Wendy Campbell

Beth Robinson is a self-taught artist based in Vermont, New England who has been sculpting her very unique dolls since 2003. Previously a painter and illustrator, Beth changed course when a friend introduced her to Japanese ball-joint dolls.

Clearly not meant for children, each of Robinson’s “little people” is hand made using polymer clays, vintage fabrics, acrylic paint, and sometimes real human hair or teeth. Each oddly proportioned, strangely dressed character is one of a kind, having its own individual story. Robinson’s dolls are a mix of not quite creepy and darkly cute, and are a unique merger of design, sculpting, painting, and sewing.

Robinson’s work has been shown in galleries throughout the USA, England, the Netherlands and Germany. As well, her dolls have been featured in magazines such as Art Doll Quarterly, SPIN, Stuff, Maxim (UK and Hong Kong), Rue Morgue (Canada), Nokia CP (Turkey), RIP (Russia), and Nordic Vision (Norway).

For more information about Beth Robinson, visit StrangeDolls.net.

DAF Group Feature: Vol. 18

August 16, 2010 By Wendy Campbell

Your Monday Mixx! Enjoy!

Sherry Bellamy: Lampwork Beads

August 7, 2010 By Wendy Campbell

These incredible lampwork beads are by Canadian artist Sherry Bellamy. Lampworking is a type of glasswork that uses a gas fueled torch to melt rods and tubes of clear and colored glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with a variety of tools and hand movements.

Bellamy is mostly self-taught and has developed several innovative techniques, pushing the boundaries of beadmaking and glass sculpture. She spends a lot of time designing the interior architecture of her beads – building them from the inside out. As well as creating beads, which she primarily sells to designers and collectors, Bellamy teaches her techniques in classes and workshops.

Bellamy currently lives in British Columbia, Canada with her husband David and their dog Buddy. To see more of these incredible glass sculptures, visit OrcaBeads.com.

See another Canadian flameworker’s glass marbles and pendants

Nicole Johnson: Art Dolls

January 17, 2010 By Wendy Campbell

Harry and Rufus by Nicole Johnson

These creepy-cute dolls were created by New York artist and doll maker Nicole Johnson. Johnson began making art dolls in 2008 and is one of the originators of “Art Dolls Only – Traveling Doll Project“. Working in polymer clay, she adds acrylics, fabric, wool, and anything else that works to complete her dolls.

Johnson lives near Buffalo, NY with her husband, three kids, dog and cat. To see more of her work, visit MealyMonsterLand.com or see her profile on Deviant Art.

Art-e-Facts: 5 Random Art Facts VIII

November 19, 2009 By Wendy Campbell

1. Fore Edge Painting is a scene painted on the edges of the pages of a book such that the painting is not visible when the book is closed. In order to view the painting, the leaves of the book must be fanned, exposing the edges of the pages and thereby the painting. The earliest signed and dated fore-edge painting dates to 1653: a family coat of arms painted on a 1651 Bible.

2. “The Bronze Age”, Rodin’s first recognized masterpiece sculpture was was exhibited in Brussels and Paris in 1877. The life-sized male nude was such a departure from academic sculpture that Rodin was accused of casting from a live model – a charge that was disproved by photographs the artist kept on which the sculpture was based.

3. Francis Bacon preferred painting on the reverse (unprimed) side of his canvas which he found more absorbent and suited his technique and the matt effect of paint sinking into the weave of the canvas. He discovered this method by chance after he had run out of materials and was compelled to use the back of an already painted canvas.

4. E.E. Cummings was very popular throughout the 20th century and received tremendous critical acclaim for his poetry and writing. Less well-known is his accomplishments as a visual artist. Cummings considered himself as much a painter as a poet and he devoted a tremendous amount of time to his art. He also produced thousands of pages of notes concerning his own opinions about painting, colour theory, the human form, the “intelligence” of painting, and his thoughts about the Masters.

5. Lampworking is a type of glasswork that uses a gas fueled torch to melt rods and tubes of clear and colored glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand movements. It is also known as flameworking or torchworking, as the modern practice no longer uses oil-fueled lamps. Although the art form has been practiced since ancient Syrian (1 Century B.C., B. Dunham) times, it became widely practiced in Murano, Italy in the 14th century.

Sources: Wikipedia-Fore Edge, DAF-Rodin, DAF-Bacon, DAF-Cummings, Wikipedia-Lampworking