The American Craft Council Show is set for March 15 -16 at the Cobb Galleria Centre with more than 225 of the nation’s most respected craft artists on hand and thousands of visitors expected to take in the 25th anniversary event.
Crafters will exhibit and sell their latest one-of-a-kind handmade jewelry, furniture, clothing, home decor and more.
As the Southeast’s largest indoor craft show, artists are selected through a rigorous jury process to ensure admission of the highest quality work. Founded in 1943, the Council is a national, nonprofit educational organization.
We asked three Intown artists selected to participate in this year’s show to talk about their work in their own words.
Kathleen Plate, Furniture & Lighting
Creating works of art from empty wine bottles is the ultimate alchemy and way to combine my love of ecology with my love of art and architecture. I always love finding the beauty in the unexpected, and breaking what others call “rules.” This led me to combine processes from different mediums (glass, ceramics, stone work) and develop a new material derived from recycled glass bottles that I was able to patent and use as the building blocks of my chandeliers. The entire process, from dumpster diving for empties, to dimming the lights for the perfect effect, are part of my art. My lighting stops people in their tracks because it is simple and beautiful, and when I tell them I made it from empty beer bottles, or sake bottles, they can’t believe it. That’s what a love, keeping a bottle in its original shape, color, and size, yet transforming it so radically people are stunned by its beauty. This work is 100 percent custom.
Lynn Pollard, Paper
Breathing deeply, to experience the serenity of simplicity, to experience these subtle indigo markings on paper, life relinquishes the harsh realities of contemporary life with its brutal murders, humans lashing out at one another without forgiveness, terrorism, war, and the clutter and stress of our daily existence and hears the silence of solitude. My work addresses pure beauty and ideal nature and escape. It exists solely for beauty, for visual experience, for tactile luxury. And why blue? The complex nature of this particular dye, the ancient practices of dyeing blue, the traditional experience and symbolism, and the superstitions that developed around it for many ancient cultures all add to the significance for me. The connection to these other dyers working before me and superstitiously dying the color of royalty or traditional beliefs or war practices and to those working now to serve their beliefs and traditions and family moves me to work under the sway of the indigo vat.
Lucinda Carlstrom, Paper
I sew Japanese papers, new and recycled silk from antique kimonos and thrift store dresses, paste papers and bronze and 23k pure gold leaf (thin metal which is first adhered to paper before being cut up). This work, which has its foundation in traditional quiltmaking, is done on a much smaller scale than most quiltmakers. I often sew 1/2″ strips of paper with 1/10″ seams. My larger pieces often contain several thousand pieces. My work is blocked and sewn to museum board for permanent installation and framed under glass.
For more about the show, visit craftcouncil.org.