Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Shoshana Coodin



primary medium
Beads!- beading embroidery

location
Brandon/Winnipeg
.
find me on the web at
http://www.shoshbeads.com/
.
mcc member since
2008 ish

where/how I learned my craft
I taught myself when I was 14 or so. I had a fancy hair clip that I bought in the Rocky Mountains, with aboriginal inspired beadwork on it. I was inspired to mimic that technique.

what I love most about my craft
I love beads!

Call for Submissions

MCC’s 2009 Juried Exhibition – Craft: Culture/Counterculture

Application deadline: July 31, 2009

The Manitoba Crafts Council is continuing our tradition of hosting an annual juried exhibition to highlight the best of contemporary fine craft in Manitoba. Craft: Culture/Counterculture is the theme for our 2009 Juried Exhibition, reflecting the dual role that craft objects, materials and techniques can play: creating and affirming the everyday, and expressing something of our collective identity; and/or challenging cultural assumptions, expressing more personal, idiosyncratic visions of the world, and manifesting the creative shadow side of mainstream society.

Craft: Culture/Counterculture will represent approximately 20 artists from across Manitoba who push the boundaries of their media and reflect new approaches to diverse cultural and material traditions. Works will be chosen based upon artistic merit (technical skill, formal effect, and conceptual success), with a particular interest in pieces that reflect our exhibition’s theme by challenging pre-conceived notions of functionality, tradition and beauty, encompassing new technologies and/or reflecting a d-i-y craft ethic.

Exhibition dates:
Sept 17-29, 2009 at Outworks Gallery, Wpg
Oct 1-30, 2009 at Viscount Cultural Centre, Neepawa
Select works will tour rural and northern Manitoba,
November 2009-March 2010

Jurors:
Doug Melnyk, multimedia artist, Winnipeg
Marilyn Stewart Stothers, fibre artist, Winnipeg
Lin Xu, ceramic artist/assistant professor of visual arts, Brandon

Eligible works:
Works will be selected based on artistic merit, skill, design and innovation. Original work (functional, decorative, conceptual) in any craft-based media are welcome (e.g.ceramic, fibre, metal, paper, recycled material, stone, glass and wood). In addition, mixed media and interdisciplinary works that are primarily craft-based in material and/or technique are welcome. Works must be completed after January 2008. Three entries per person, maximum. Entrants must be current MB Crafts Council members.

Images:
The jurors will select work based on digital images with the final selection subject to viewing actual work. MCC urges applicants to consider using a professional photographer to document your work. Please submit images on a CD marked with your name. Use jpeg files with a resolution of 72 dpi, with images’ height or width (whichever is larger) close to 12 in., but not larger. For each work, submit one image with a full view of the work and one or two detail views. Please title each image file as follows: artist’s last name_title_full/detail (eg. Poirier_Moonscape_detail2) The maximum number of images allowed is nine (9). Discs will not be returned. If work is selected, artists will be contacted for high resolution (300 dpi) images to be used in print publications.

Application:
Please include the following information along with your CD of images:
· Your name, mailing address, phone number and email address
· Title of work, date, media, dimensions and price/value of each work submitted (3 works max.)
· An artist statement (100 words max.)

Applicants will be notified of results by August 21, 2009. Work selected will need to be available for photo documentation between August 14-24. Artist fees will be paid for works selected for the exhibition.

Applications, including images on CD, may be mailed (in protective mailer) or hand delivered during business hours (M-F, 9-5) to the Manitoba Crafts Council, c/o ACI (Arts & Cultural Industries Assoc of MB), 501–62 Albert Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 1E9.

Questions about the exhibition or MCC membership?
Contact us at 927-2787.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Matt Jenkins



primary medium
forged steel

location
St. Andrews/Selkirk

mcc member since
2000, but lapsed a couple times...

what i love most about my craft
The art of blacksmithing is an intriguing craft. It is a craft that requires carefully planning and great patience; that is punctuated with flashes of loud and fiery actions to achieve the goal of the finished product. It is this dichotomy of blacksmithing that I love the most.

something my craft practice has taught me
Patience, and to view steel as something to be formed into an approachable, touchable and usable shape, rather than a cold and foreboding material.

favourite online resource related to my craft
http://www.abana.org/ Artist Blacksmith Association website
http://www.baba.org.uk/ British Artist Blacksmith Association

favourite crafty quote
"The craftsman of the future must be an artist..." C.R. Mackintosh

a book that made me think differently about my craft
Art Forms in the Plant World: 120 Full-Page Photographs (Dover Photography Collections). This book is a collection of plant forms that forged iron work has based a lot of its forms on in the last 3 centuries. It inspires one to look around themselves and appreciate the small inspirations that we can easily pass by everyday.

Friday, April 17, 2009

LeeAnne Penner



primary medium
papier mache
.
location
Winnipeg
.
see my work at
http://cliftonstudios.ca/pictures.php

mcc member since
March 2009! (Our newest member!)

what I love most about my craft
I love the patience and time it takes to build up so many layers of paper strips that create an interesting surface to decorate.

my favourite crafty quote
You can waste your life having dreams, but you can never waste your life having projects. (Gregory Charles)

an art/craft mentor
Artist and art teacher Doug Melnyk, who is my constant source of support and inspiration.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Janet Carroll



medium
paper marbling/bookbinding
.
location
Winnipeg
.
MCC member (most years) since
1991

What do I love most about my craft
In marbling the play of colour on water is simply magical. In bookbinding I love the quiet orderliness of sewing, the feel of a bone folder as an extension of my hand.

Where/how I learned my craft
I studied bookbinding in the U.K. in 1994-95, learning the basics of the craft while being introduced to the extraordinary world of designer bindings. It was a heady experience.

Favourite on-line resource related to my craft
http://www.colophonbookarts.com/