Embrace Quality. Be Inspired.

Thank-you so much to everyone who participated in our ticket giveaways!!  Congratulations to our winners, Amanda Bowman, Maureen Sopko and Paula Lewis!  For those of you who didn’t win tickets to the July 31st and August 1st fine craft fair, be sure to buy your tickets on our website where we are offering great discounts up until the show.   Buying your ticket online or leaving a comment on our giveaway posts  enters you to win a $50 gift certificate towards a craft purchase at the show.  Double your chances to win and do both!

Michie Taylor, of Berwyn PA is a jewelry and fine artist. 

She creates 3 dimensional wall art and jewelry out of synthetic colored clays.    I love how she captures the vitality of each plant.  You can almost feel them breathing or growing or blowing in the wind. 

If you would like to see more of her work,  come to our upcoming craft show–July 31 and August 1!  Details and ticket discounts here!  Or leave a comment on our EMERGING artists post for a chance to win 2 tickets!

This weeks studio tour is of Juried Guild member and amazing basket maker Sylvia Lehman. 

(gorgeous) Photo by Bill Simone. 

When I asked her to for more information on her intriguing studio, she sent the following:

I prize the solitude of my studio.  To be alone with materials, to let my mind wander, to savor the experience of work, or to lightly engage in books on tape feeds me.  The rhythm of the day and the rhythm of work find each other in this quiet space. I also like the panoramic view of the woods.  It both inspires and distracts me.  Today I watched a wren’s busy trips into and out of the bird house that faces my windows.  I guess it’s no surprise that what I finished has qualities of a nest.  The space has changed over the years in that there is a greater array of potential materials at my fingertips.  I’ve stepped away from the “ought” of tidy organization and made peace with the fact that what suits my needs best is to have it all out and around me, including underfoot.  It’s often the random juxtaposition of material that sparks the next idea. 

Thanks so much for sharing,  Sylvia! 

I am so grateful to you all for such a positive response to Studio Tours!  Many of you submitted images and descriptions of your amazing studios! If you haven’t but would like to, you can  submit via email to – jenny@pacrafts.org.

It’s that time again!   Win two tickets to our craft on July 31 to August 1 in Wilmington by leaving a comment!

Who is you favorite EMERGE artist? (View our full exhibitor list here)  By leaving a comment, you are also entered into a drawing for a $50 gift certificate to be used at the show! 

^   #1  Aryal Ames

^   #2  Rachel Derstine

^   #3  Layne Freedline

^   #4  Jeremy Hollinger

^   #5  Esta Jo Schifter

^   #6  Elisa Shere

^   #7  Danielle Velentzas

^   #8  Jennifer Wilfong

We will announce the winner in the comment section of this post as well as on Facebook and Twitter!  We will hold your tickets at the will-call desk at the Chase Center.

If you win the $50 gift certificate, we will hold that at the will-call desk as well. Want to stack the odds? Buy advance tickets to the show and enter to win that way as well. Good luck!

If you are reading this in your email, go here to leave a comment!

Averill Shepps, of Mechanicsburg is a juried member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen in Enameling as well as Jewelry! 

It is amazing that she creates work that is so free and lively in a medium that requires such precision!

On her website, Averill says

I want my work to look as free and spontaneous as possible. I hope that the viewer will respond to the simplicity of the design or the lushness of a brush stroke frozen in enamel as he or she would to a Sumi-e painting. Yet enameling is such an exacting craft that a true sense of freedom in design is almost impossible using traditional techniques. Very early in my development as an enamelist I found I had to develop my own ways of working in order to obtain the results I desired. I now work backwards. I fire the design onto a piece first, building it in a series of firings or layers of enamel. Only after the design is completed do I apply a coat of enamel over the entire surface.”

If you like her work as much as I do, thikn about taking Averill’s 2 day enamelling workshop on August 7 & 8.  You can sign up on our website! 

I am so excited to start this new series of posts about artist’s spaces!  Guild Studio Tours is (hopefully) a means for Pennsylvania Guild of Craftmen members to share a very important part of yourself…your studio.

I am talking to you!  If you have a studio, I would love to see it!  Why do you feel comfortable creating there?  What makes it the right space for you… the atmosphere, the solitude, the things you surround yourself with?  What are your favorite tools? What feeds your creative soul?

If you are interested in participating, send your photos to jenny@pacrafts.org.

For this first post, I thought it only appropriate to start with my own studio.   I am a painter.

This is my studio:

I love this space.  It is open and tall.  And my favorite shade of blue.  It is in our home, so I can be surrounded…by family…by inspiration…I have all of my ‘things’.  I need a lot of stuff…of course, I admire those who don’t.  I need my books, my inks, oils and acrylics, my brushes, my torches and different species of woods.  I especially need my wood-burner.  I don’t know what I would do without that.

The thing I need most in my studio, however is my family.  I don’t like to work alone.  My puppy runs around as if she owns the place.  My husband is in and out all the time.  My brothers are a constant.

To me, my studio is more than a room–it is an atmosphere–that I construct to induce my own creativity.  As I am fueled by experiences,  I need a place that vibrates with activity.

This week’s ticket giveaway to our July 31 & August 1 fine craft fair asks a simple question – What is it?

We’re supplying three works and three terms. You need to match the right term to it’s corresponding work.

#1 - work by Buffy Albright

#2 - work by Chong & Judy Lim

#3 - work by Sandra Gilpin

Match the term with the work. The three works shown above are the following mediums (not necessarily in this order):

• embossing
• quilling
• scherenschnitte

In the comments section below type the # with the term you think it is (for example: #1 is embossing).

Shown are three juried paper artists exhibiting at our show (view our full exhibitor list). Your correct comment also enters you into a drawing for some spending money at the show – a $50 gift certificate. Extra points for those who share this giveaway with friends and family.

So what if you win the tickets? We’ll announce on Facebook and Twitter each week who won from the previous week’s giveaway. And we’ll hold it for you at our will call desk.

What if you win the $50 gift certificate? We’ll hold it for you at the will call desk. Want to stack the odds? Buy advance tickets to the show and enter to win that way as well. Good luck.

Sharon Teamon, of State College is a master goldsmith.  She has been working as a jewelry artist for over 24 years. 

Her website states:

Her love of precious metals, stones, and the pursuit of perfection has been her driving force.

It is so apparent in her work that a pursuit of perfection is important.  Each piece is so precise and meticulous.  I love it! 

If you like her work as much as I do, check out her booth at the July 31 and August 1 Craft for in Wilmington.  Sharon is in booth # 338.  For more information, visit her website!

We are getting really excited for First Friday!  Juried members Brian Cunfer, Ted Rasmussem and Sanda Coldren of the Lancaster Designer Craftsmen will be featured tonight! 

Brian Cunfer creates beautiful Windsor Chairs from start to finish. 

To see more of his work, stop by tomorrow!  Or check out his website!

Ted Rasmussen, an excellent wood-turner and cabinetmaker, will have plenty of pieces for you to admire at First Friday! 

Sandra Coldren creates her lovely work using theorem painting- an early american decorative painting technique. Check out her paintings tonight as well!

The Guilded Tulip will be open until 9pm.  Questions?  Call 717-431-8706.

Do you want to win two tickets to our craft on July 31 to August 1 in Wilmington?

Of course you do, so tell us your favorite Guild potter (view our full list of potters). Your comment also enters you into a drawing for some spending money at the show – a $50 gift certificate. Extra points for those who share this giveaway with friends and family.

Here are some of the 30 clay artists you’ll find…

^Jennifer Bernhard Hatfield, Frederick Maryland – Booth #341

^Mary Coover, Ashfield PA – Booth #112

^Ryan Greenheck, Philadelphia PA – Booth #511

^Tom Laudenslager, Coopersburg PA – Booth #101

^Royce Yoder/Potter, Lederach PA – Booth #352

^Saenger Porcelain, Newark DE – Booth #346

^Angela Shope, Lancaster PA – Booth #312

What if you win the $50 gift certificate? We’ll hold it for you at the will call desk. Want to stack the odds? Buy advance tickets to the show and enter to win that way as well. Good luck.