Bev Zimmerman, of Lancaster, is an incredibly talented potter.  Her work is inspired by nature, often involving impressions from leaves, seeds or twigs and sometimes incorporating words or phrases.  I like her work for many reasons, one of which is that it reminds me to notice my world.  To look a little closer, to take a breath, to try to notice the beauty that Beverly does. 

On her website, Bev says:

“I hope to convey an honest simplicity in my work”

From her choice of inspiration to her organic forms and soft color palette, her work evokes a peaceful simplicity the is both comforting and beautiful. 

If you like her work as much as I do, come see it in person at our Guild Store!  252 N. Prince St.  Lancaster, PA 17603

Jupi Das, of Camp Hill is a juried paper cutting (or scherenschnitte) artist.  Her beautiful pieces are hand cut out of a single piece of paper and then mounted 3-dimensionally.  Often, she will even hand paint sections to highlight particularly important areas.  The art of paper cutting can be traced back many years through many different cultures.  On her website, Jupi talks about how her work is influenced by the folk cutting traditions of the Chinese, Japanese, German and Swiss.

Jupi creates as much for others as she does herself.  On her website, she says:

“I create, so that the energy and enthusiasm that I put into each piece will bring as much joy to people as the process of creating them brings joy into my life”

We have decided to start a new weekly blog post about frequently asked questions.  I will start with a few I get a lot but if any of you readers have questions, please post comments with them or email me, at jenny.pacrafts.org, I would love to address them.

One thing I have gotten asked quite often: Are the crafts shows the Guild puts on for juried members only?

No.  While our shows are juried, we do not require that members go through the state jurying process to apply for our craft fairs.   Any applicant does have to go through a show selection process and is required to be a member of the Guild.  But juried status is not required to apply.  However, juried members do receive a bonus point during selection that can improve their score, but the bonus point is hardly enough to guarantee entry.

Eric Weit, of Akron, is an award-winning rag rug weaver.  He’s recently set up a shop online on Etsy and its worth checking out.  Plus he just passed along a few rugs to show in our gallery shop until April.

Eric’s approach to weaving is “it is like a puzzle using recycled materials and trying to put them together using the colors of the material that I find and coming up with a new pattern for the warp.”

His Grandmother said something to him a long time ago which he uses as his inspiration and motto, “The secret to a happy life is to keep your hands busy”.

Paul Grecian, of Quakertown, is a photographer and happens to have a great blog. I enjoy reading it often. He opens his process to everyone which makes his photography all the more accessible.

Obviously he’s not a blogger first, he’s a photographer. But I got to know Paul as an artist more through his blog than simply through his photography. Yes, his photography is expressive, but his thoughts on creativity, or why he chooses certain subject matter, tells his story. It removes the barrier between his photography and his photography’s viewer. Its no longer just a picture on a wall.

I think many craft-makers could learn a bit from reading through some of his blog posts and thinking about how they could blog about their own work. The key to selling artwork is not always in the end product but in the story in which it was created.

Rona Fisher, of Philadelphia, works in a wide variety of premium jewelry including rings, bracelets, necklaces, pendants, and earrings.  Her work is crafted in sterling silver and 14 karat gold combinations, and in all gold. Many pieces feature precious or semi-precious gemstones.  Her pieces are made to be worn for a lifetime.

Wanna see her work in person?  She does a variety of craft shows including many of the Guild’s and also many other fine promoters.  On December 19 she’s having an open studio at her shop at 104 S. 8th Street, 3rd Floor in Philadelphia.

And if you join her birthday club, you get 10% off any order placed during your birthday month (plus there’s no obligation).

Our gallery in Lancaster is open until 9 pm today for First Friday.  Stop by and check out the great selection of handmade crafts in our popular Handmade Holiday store.  I’d like to give you some suggestions of what you can do tonight while you’re in town.

• Catch the James Ransome exhibition at PCAD (Pennsylvania College of Art & Design)
• Open Studio at Kevin Lehman Pottery
• A must stop is Veleska Jewelry on Orange St.
• Warm up at  Square ONE Coffee on Duke St
• Gingerbread houses at Lancaster Convention Center by Hempfield High School students
• Catch Annie at the Fulton Theatre at 8
• Or dinner at the Belvedere Inn or Annie Bailey’s

Hope to see you this evening in Lancaster.  Come out and support the arts by giving handmade this holiday season.

Our Holiday Fine Craft Fair opens today at 10 am and runs til 6 pm.  Sunday hours are 11 am to 5 pm.  Full details are at www.pacrafts.org/holiday.  Have a question or need directions?  Call 717-431-8706.

The act of giving handmade is inspiring because you know where the item came from and you can tell your friend or family about your exchange with the craft-maker.

There’s millions upon millions of options out there for holiday gift-giving.  But giving locally-made handmade crafts supports your neighbor-artist and your community’s economy.

Independent craft-makers are small business owners, which means their expenses are tied closely to their physical location.  If you know about the 3/50 Project then you know that $68 of every $100 spent with a locally owned independent business returns to their community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures.

31 out of the 126 participating members physically reside in Lancaster county.

If you’re an aspiring locavore, you may know about the concept of the 100 mile diet.  If we put that idea to our show, 86 of the total show participants live within that 100 mile radius.  So your craft diet will be full of options.  The bulk of the remaining members live in Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware (not exactly the other side of the world).

So come on out and browse thousands of unique, one-of-a-kind, handmade crafts at this weekend’s Fine Craft Fair at Manheim Township High School, and know that your money not only supports the artists you buy from but also supports Pennsylvania’s economy and the community services it offers.

With 140 craft-makers under one roof, it’s sometimes hard to choose among all of the wonderful crafts.  Here’s a glimpse at some of the work that will be shown this weekend at our final craft show of the year.

1. Clay horse head sculpture – Paula Brown-Steedly [booth #302]
2. Glass beads – Karen Hill [booth #318]
3. Leather and cloth purses – Seymour Mondshein [booth #300]
4. Framed quilts – Karen Bilak [booth #325]

See more in our Flickr image set.