Art :: Craft :: Tour :: Part One

Oh how I love the start of a new year. It's always so hopeful and filled with energy. Change. The first Saturday of this year I went with a group of artists to Berkeley and Oakland for a field trip of artists studios and galleries. It was an inspiring day, let me tell you.

It was a raw day in the bay area. Our first stop was the Sawtooth Building, "also known as the Kawneer Building, is a West Berkeley industrial building that is home to a variety of small businesses - including artisans, craftspeople, tradespeople, engineers, consultants, designers, fine artists, small industries, performance groups, theathers and a variety of schools." There is even a tool lending library - such a great idea! Many artists in this building participate in the First Saturday Open Studio tour. So if you're in the mood for a field trip and live somewhere drivable, you should visit. Each studio and artists work was unique, and it's always inspiring to see how folks find their way to creating and how they can find a way to make a living at it. Sustained psychic energy. They focus.

Susan Brooks earrings, image from her website.

We visited three jewelers in this building. All of whom were welcoming and shared freely their crafting wisdom. We began in Susan Brooks studio. Susan was so delightful. Her work is so playful and craftsmanship so fine. Her website states that she began as a painter and later became a jeweler as she gained the skills. I also heard her speaking about her father being in the union of chassers, which means she had a lot of exposure to crafts from an early age. Susan had on display her fine metal jewelry, which is pretty high end and also had earrings and necklaces made with beads at more affordable prices for the masses. She had a sign up that said "Cheap Thrills" to illustrate what a great sense of humor she possesses. I think it's a sign of strength and character in an artist to have a range of work, focused mainly on what she wants to make, not on what she should make. Also making her work accessible to as many people as possible, she's spreading the love of art. I loved her studio and chatting with her.

Curtis himself sharing his workshop/studio splendor.

Second stop in the sawtooth building was Curtis H. Arima, a metal smith and jeweler - I LOVED Curtis' studio. It was filled with an amazing array of tools and jewels. His work is so refined and sophisticated. The gems he used were pretty spectacular. His work was priced well out of my range, but I delighted in being able to hold it and hear about his process and a little bit of his journey to get where he is now. He's a Cranbrook Academy of Art graduate. For those of you outside the craft world, this is a craft person's equivalent to getting an advanced degree from Harvard or MIT. It's an arduous task to accomplish. Be impressed. He spoke about his continued quest to perfect his craft and pursuit of learning more from those in his field. I love that. He's still happily learning and very open about it. I love learning too. The images below are scenes in Curtis' studio:

Next up, just down the hall was Alison B. Antelman's studio. Alison's work is exquisite. Stones, hollow forms, amazingly beautiful and amazingly engineered clasps. Her studio is tidy and tip-top. Her work space reflects her jewelry. Alison is going to have a clasp workshop at Cabrillo this spring. I am hoping on making that one! She's a master at clasps.

lovely graphics in Alison Antelman's studio.

A newly made bracelet in sterling, gold, diamond, ruby and I can't remember the other stone, by Alison Antelman.

sample clasps for her workshops.

Tomorrows post will be on the next leg of our field trip, Shibumi Gallery and April Higashi & Eric Powell...might have been my favorite part of the trip...