Over the weekend I attended the Celebration of Craftswomen in San Francisco, the largest women’s fine crafts show in the United States (according to their promotional materials, anyway). The event featured more than 160 craftswomen in such specialties as ceramics, fiber, glass, jewelry, leather and metal goods, woodworking, fine art painting and photography, and more. Some of my personal favorites were:
Dona Bollard of The Spotted Pony Photography: Dona’s work stood out in quality and fine art approach, but also due to its Western themes, which made more sense when I learned that she resides in Santa Fe. When we spoke, she mentioned that, throughout her work, she has a desire to capture the spirit or essence of her subject. Dona prints everything by hand in a traditional darkroom, and generally frames her silver gelatin prints in reclaimed wood from doors, windows and other sources to complete the piece. Some of her work is below:
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Jeanette Monterio combines nature’s art with her own by creating fine art pieces using reclaimed objects. I had a wonderful chat with Jeanette and learned that she only recently returned to her art after a long hiatus. It’s clear she brings heart and soul to her work. She’s already making fascinating pieces and I definitely look forward to seeing more from her in the future.
(c) Jeanette Monterio
Linda Lundell produces exquisite cloisonné jewelry as well as oil paintings. I didn’t see her paintings but the jewelry is stunning:
Tree of Life, (c) Linda Lundell
Daria Salus also creates beautiful jewelry, but with an entirely different look and feel. Her latest collection, Urban Ecology, captures vignettes of nature in an urban landscape:
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The above are just a few of inspiring artists and craftswomen, who also include:
- Ceramicist Itsuko Zenitani
- Milliner Tess McGuire
- Rhonda Smith of Orihime Textiles, from whom I bought a lovely scarf
- Judy Stone, enamels
- Sarena Mann, who originated the concept for the papier-maché fairies I saw in Chiang Mai and trained the artist there
- Jeweler Lisette Thierry
- Lori O’Neill Design
- And, of course, jeweler Kelly Morgen, who we love here at Art Aligned
