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”

Are you looking for something warm to do this weekend?  Check out “The Craftsman’s Journey-Enhancing Peoples Lives”, the newest exhibit at the Mechanicsburg Museum.  This exhibition features the work of craftsman in the Yellow Breeches chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, including woodworker Doug Starry and enamelist  Averill Shepps.

Opening this Saturday (Feb. 13th), the show goes through May 1st.  There will be a public reception on Sunday (Feb. 14) between 2-4pm.

Judy Hesselberth, of West Chester, is a jack of many trades.  On her website, she talks about her quilts but also of her interest in weaving, sewing, knitting, basketry and felting.  In browsing through her online portfolio, I was suprised to see her take on quilting.  Her pieces are so contemporary and interesting.  She has taken a very traditional art form and modernized it in a very unique way.

This quilt is from a series of three called “St. Lucia Sunprints” where she cyanotyped the fabric herself. 

You can see some of her lovely work in person at our Guild Store, 252 N. Prince St.  Lancaster PA

Ken Mueller, the instructor of our upcoming Social Media class on March 10, had a post yesterday called ‘6 Social Media Lessons from a Snowy Day‘ and it got me in the winter spirit. 

I know, I know, many of you everyone is ready for spring but I think we should all take the forced opportunity to relax, reflect and plan for the future.  Here we go:

1. Catch up with customers - First of all, Valentine’s day is coming up next weekend.  What a great time to send out an email discussing what’s new and what’s to come in 2010. The snow has given you the time to send it and your customers the time to read it. If you have your show schedule or a new list of projects, share them.  What you still don’t have an email list organized yet? Then that’s your snow day project. Mail Chimp is an awesome way (and free up to 500 addresses) to organize and connect with your customers (plus its fun to say you use Mail Chimp).
2. Get Organized – Its a dreaded word in the studio: organize! You’d rather be creating than cleaning. Trust me so would I. But its necessary. Putting everything in its place, lets you find it faster when you need it. Plus you know the need to clean up hangs over you every day you work in there. Crank some tunes and tidy things up. You’ll be glad you did afterwards.  Here’s some tips for Getting Organized from ArtBizCoach.com (Alyson teaches with the Guild on May 11-12.
3. Find classes – We all should take a workshop now and then. Sure, you’ve mastered what you do. But have you thought about learning a new craft to inspire your existing craft? Or have you been interested in expanding your business skills or knowledge of social media for promoting yourself?  Take a beginner class can just open your eyes to a new process. It can be a welcome break from always quilting or always throwing pots. Teachstreet is a great site for finding classes in your area. Or look over the online catalogs of some of the many art centers in the state: Goggleworks, Wayne Art Center or Main Line Art Center to name a few.
4. Develop new ideas - Where do you want to go with your craft?  Is there a new direction you’d like to take?  This is an ideal time to do it. Its the first part of a new year. Artists who stay static in what they make eventually diminish on their returns. Plus it’ll do two things: 1) you’ll get inspired by the new line of work and 2) your collectors will have a new object to collect. Want inspiration? Take the Super ‘Bowl’ challenge this weekend with Hammermarks.  It’ll be a fun diversion that might lead to new inspiration.

What are you waiting for?  Get ready for the snow!

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”.

Here’s a few of the major online tools the Guild uses regularly.

Constant Contact – for anyone sending email newsletters to more than 100 people, you really need a third party email solution and the one the Guild uses is Constant Contact. You can upload your patrons’ emails easily and select from hundreds of templates to design your emails. It also makes it easy to schedule all of your month’s email blasts at once. And if you’re interested, just ask me for a $30 referral email. Once you have that email you get a 60 day free trial AND if you sign-up you’ll get $30 off your first year (and the Guild gets a $30 credit).

Google Docs – over the last couple years we’ve used Google docs for spreadsheets that can be shared among many people. I’ve mentioned this a couple times as a great way to build a mailing list amongst a group or Guild chapter. One person sets up the file and then shares it to many people. Each person can then access the file at anytime and enter names and addresses. Its a great way of splitting up a massive data entry job such as keying addresses of people who attend a craft show.

Flickr – I’m a huge fan of the ease of using Flickr. Uploading images is extremely simple and sorting and tagging images into sets is just as easy. There’s a giveaway going on right now at HandmadeinPa.net for a Flickr Pro account. The Pro account gives you unlimited uploads. Without the Pro account you can still upload 100 Mb of images in one month – not shabby for most people’s needs. A chapter or a group may need more than that, but Pro is only $25/year.

Hotcards – this is the company we get nearly all of our postcards printed with. The quality is excellent and for anything you need in bulk (2000 or more postcards) they also have the best price. Other printers you can choose from online: 48 Hour Print and VistaPrint.

I’ll try to make this is frequent post. This is really just the start of many more.

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.

Linda Billet is teaching a Beginner Glass Fusing workshop (only $80) on March 13 in Hummelstown.  You won’t be making the below project, but it’s a really cool video of her process.  Enjoy.

Brian Cunfer, of Kirkwood, is the current President of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen.  He is also the instructor for our popular ‘Women-Only! Stool-making’ workshop.

We’ve officially scheduled our 2010 session for May 15 & 16.  It’s a very enjoyable two-day class for women to explore and discover the processes behind wood-working and furniture-making.  For details visit www.pacrafts.org/workshops.

That's my mom on the left.