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Artisans International Inc. features artists from all over the world. A profile on each artist is below:
Cesar Aguinaga - Cesar Aguinaga was born in Chiclayo, Peru in 1938. At age 6, he begged a local talented jeweler-artist Aurelio Quispe to teach him how to make a bracelet for his teacher, with whom he was in love. Quispe saw talent, perfectionism and attention to detail in the young boy, so he adopted him as an apprentice. Because of his ability for Math and Sciences, as well as creativity, Cesar's father suggested he attend Engineering School. At age 18, Cesar was accepted into University La Molina, a prestigious school in Peru for careers related to Earth Sciences. He paid his tuition with his jewelry work. He worked as an Agronomic and Mining Engineer for the Peruvian Government for 30 years, an experience which made him an expert on the different and complex Peruvian soils and mines. This knowledge he now uses as he knows where and when to get the most exquisite stones for his jewels. He currently lives with his wife in Lima, Peru and runs a workshop and store in La Molina, close to his college. Cesar has always been known by extremes: his friends and family would say "obsessive" attention to perfect stones cuts, and settings. Most of his cuts are very intricate and difficult to achieve with perfection in a natural stone, but he is willing to spend endless hours or days to get what he wants and what makes the wearer feel special with his pieces.
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Ruth Apter - “I like to collect things from nature: bones and skulls, shells and rocks, fossils  and driftwood, tree fungus and giant barnacles, feathers and mosses. You can imagine what my house looks like. I also collect animals it seems, and I live with two cats and three dogs, and my wonderful husband who builds what I dream up. Living on the Olympic Peninsula is a daily adventure in itself. I am fortunate to live in a place where bald eagles, herons and ravens fly over my house and the water is always only moments away. I am happiest on the days that I am doing the final raku firing of the pieces I make. It is pure magic to watch the colors and designs come to life while being manipulated by heat, wind, smoke and water. On a recent windy day during a raku firing, the sawdust was blazing away as it stuck to the sides of each pottery animal as it was taken from the reduction barrel to be quenched in water. As the pieces cooled I could see the amazing colors and patterns the flames had created on the glazed surface of each animal. That is the magic of Raku!”
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Franz Arnold - Franz Arnold is a metal artist who makes his home in Switzerland. He apprenticed to a goldsmith for several years after University. He also apprenticed at a renowned  silver firm in Zurich and spent years training in blacksmithing with an emphasis in design. He founded his own metal atelier in 1993 and has been working with gold, silver, steel and other metals fabricating objects for the home and jewelry. He teaches metalworking and design at a high school outside of Linzberg, Switzerland. Franz’ special interests include fire welding, a technique developed in Japan and originally used to make knives and weapons.
For Franz, the metal is not only hard and solid but able to be brought into a fluid form. He likes to take the material to the limits of its _expression, bending, welding, hammering, soldering, forging and working between the realms of utmost precision and playful fantasy.
Franz has exhibited his work throughout Switzerland, most recently at the Effingen Gallery.
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K. Baka - "For my paintings, many a time I see them in dreams and visions before I actually paint them. So in the morning I organize my materials and start painting." K Baka lives in Ghana and attended art school there in 1993. He has an established art studio where he completes his paintings, craftwork, billboards, screen-printing and signboards. He has taught art students in painting, batik, and textile making. Art students still come to see him today to improve their techniques. His paintings are natural, and he uses several types of fabrics including calico, denim, military camp tents, and heavy curtain cloths. He uses acrylic paint for its durability. He also uses phone cards for the painting instead of brushes because it gives him the effect that he wants. His inspiration comes from dreams and visions.
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Begay Sisters - In the late 1970's, a group of five sisters from the Burnham area on the Navajo Nation began a new journey in the history of Navajo weaving. They began to
combine patterns and designs from all of the weaving areas, along with pictorial elements and patterns of their own. They use natural hand spun wool to set them apart. The sisters dye the wool, using both aniline and natural dyes - plants, minerals, tea, walnuts and
even potpourri! Today many people copy their work. But unlike traditional patterned weavings, their designs are constantly changing and evolving. The Burnham weavers
have carried Navajo weaving to a unique level of fine art.
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 Liz Berg - Liz has been quilting for 30 years having studied Fine Arts in Japan and Honolulu Academy of Art, as well as San Antonio, Texas and Berkeley, California. Her inspiration is color and shapes and objects in nature. She typically works with three colors and her pieces draw you in from far away to up close with unexpected details. Liz has received numerous awards and much recognition for her work in the US and International exhibits. Her work is in the permanent collection of Trinity University and Honolulu Academy of Art.
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Alaya Cholprasertsuk - Alaya Cholprasertsuk was born in Bangkok in 1967. She was introduced to arts very early and had the chance to study drawing and painting under artists.
After graduation from University, she worked as a designer for an advertising company. After 8 years, she and her husband left their hometown in the country in order to work in a ceramic factory. This move changed her life direction. She studied the process of batik and has never looked back.
"I love to design my batik with earth tones. I think most of the batiks found on the market these days are made with too many bright colors. I admire dull colors, which tells about my simple, easy, and free character. I also enjoy mixing colors and creating my own tones. Sketching with a pencil releases my mood, my feelings, and my thoughts on the cloth."
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Karen Fincannon - Karen is originally from Hamburg, New York, but has also lived in North Carolina and Michigan. She received a BFA with a concentration in Photography from SUNY-Potsdam, and now works and lives in Tucker, Georgia, with her husband and two crazy cats.
"I have loved looking at and making art my whole life. Whether it be clay or paint or fabric or metals, there is always something new to discover. I am truly fortunate to be able to spend my days making discoveries through art!"
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Luke Gardiner - Luke is one of New Zealand’s top Pounamu carvers. He is a native “West Coaster” and his family before him has always lived on the rugged west coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Luke is a highly respected member of the Westland Arts community and is involved along with several other carvers in promoting the craft and encouraging youth of his community to continue the skills and ideals associated with carving. Luke works in many type of jade and his signature pieces are the sometimes very elaborate twists he has become famous for around the country. Like all of the top artists, he strives to show the beauty within the stone and to work with it rather than just carving shapes from it. Luke mixes traditional and modern styles in a way that is very unique and reflects his own mixed cultural background.
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Dean Hetherington - Dean is a master of traditional techniques in New Zealand Pounamu (Jade). He is a very reclusive artist and a true "Coaster", one of the tough breed of long time residents of the wild and mountainous South Island west coast where New Zealand Pounamu is found.
As a native of the area, he spends a great deal of time in the mountains and shuns the attention his amazing artistry has brought him. Dean has been carving from a very young age and has a passion for the sacred stone and the traditional carving methods. His style is a totally unique blending of his traditional heritage and his vision of the land and nature into stunning sculptural pieces. Dean has an extraordinary affinity with the Pounamu and a way of drawing out what is hidden inside unlike any other artist.
Dean is a passionate and somewhat eccentric artist so will only carve special pieces for which he feels a connection. His art is his life but living in the mountains, money means nothing to him so he will not do commissions and only carves a few pieces each year. Dean's work comes on the market very rarely and is highly sought after by collectors around the world
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 Debra J. Hosler - Debra's approach to designing art quilts starts with an inspiration, whether it is fabrics, colors, or patterns in her surroundings. She then develops a quilt design with one or more of these inspirations. Each step of the process may take her to a different place as her art is one of discovering the final piece as it is being completed. She incorporates more than fabric in her work- shells and beads, and even loose threads or lint from her dryer! Every piece is a unique statement and we have a range of her work for you to enjoy.
Debra has exhibited her work in Sacramento area galleries and won awards for her work in art quilt competitions and guild shows. She has taught classes for local guilds and quilt shops, and served as a guest curator for art centers, libraries, and guild shows in the Sacramento area and in her home state of Michigan over the past several years.
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Rose Hughes - While Rose had always loved textiles it wasn't until the early 1990's, while she was off exploring, that quilting found her. After that first encounter it was only a matter of months before her darkroom came down and she made room for her sewing machine. She then focused her artwork on quilting. Inspiration for her quilt art is drawn from her love of the ever-changing hills that make up the landscape, and from the ravens that mirror and mock their regions boisterous, and sometimes-crazy human residents.
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 Mileni Ilasaca - Born on December 23, 1971, Mileni Ilasaca is from Lima. She is wholly devoted to Peru's legendary arpillería work, a craft she learned from her own mother. Ilasaca's artistic talent led her to hone her technique and develop her individual style. She describes her work as a creative art through which she intends to transmit her country's customs, landscapes and people. She is driven by a goal of someday establishing her own workshop. "I hope you like and enjoy my work – it is made with detail and affection. I hope you keep it in your hearts."
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Adam Joblañksi - Adam Jabloñski was born in 1936 in Wilczkowice, Poland. He holds a glass technology diploma and has been working as a glass artist for over 50 years. He built his own glass furnace from his design and technical knowledge. He has started a school of artistic mastery in which he has trained many students.
Original products signed by Adam Jabloñski enjoy great interest all over the world. Glass masterpieces of Adam Jabloñski have been purchased by kings, presidents and prime-ministers from Sweden, Spain, France, USA and Russia.
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Ananda Khalsa - Ananda was born in 1976 in Tillson, New York, and raised in western Massachusetts. Her parents are both talented artists, and she was always encouraged to be  creative. She has been passionate about art since she can remember, and grew up painting and drawing. She moved to Boulder, CO in 1995, and I took her first metal-smithing class in 2002. She was instantly obsessed with working in metal, and it came very naturally to her After taking a few more classes, she began acquiring tools to set up a studio. Although Ananda has taken some basic jewelry courses, the majority of her experience has been learning in her studio. She is largely self taught and believes this has helped her to develop a style and technique that is truly her own. “My work is inspired by Asian art and natural forms, and I strive to maintain a quiet grace in each of my paintings. It is my hope to create jewelry with clean lines and simple elegance, while maintaining evidence of the human hand.”
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Marjan Kluepfel - Marjan was born in the Netherlands and has lived in Australia, Hawaii, the East Coast, and Northern California. Most of her designs are organic and are influenced by her love of nature and all of its natural beauty. She likes to work with color and movement in her pieces. The bright colors are used to express her positive outlook on life. The texture of the fabrics is an important element and she uses many different design techniques including dying her own fabrics, painting, printing, pleating and finishing with machine quilting and embroidery. Her work has been
in many art shows and she is a member of numerous artisan guilds and commissions.
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Heather Kraty - Heather Kraty studied design at NYC's Fashion Institute of Technology where she began her love affair with jewelry. After graduating she fled the noise of the city and found her way to the Caribbean Island of St. Martin where she sold her jewelry on the beach. Restless for new challenges, she studied silver in Mexico, surfing in Hawaii and French in Paris before returning to the States. Miami was on the verge of being reborn and had everything she loved...the excitement of the city and the warmth of the beach. There she went on to own a nightclub with actor Sean Penn and Simply Red's singer Mick Hucknell. Settling down and moving west life took a quieter turn and has come full circle. Today she lives in Huntington Beach, California and sells her jewelry in galleries and boutiques across North America instead of on the beach. "My jewelry seeks to inspire those who wear it. I like to call it funky chic with a western twist. I try to give each piece a special meaning whether it is words of inspiration, poetic etchings or semi-precious stones." Each romantic creation is hand carved by the artist and then cast in sterling or 14k gold using the age-old technique of lost wax casting. Island Cowgirl strives to create not just jewelry but "wear forever" keepsakes.
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 Zosimo Laura - Zosimo Laura comes from a respected family of weavers and, like his grandparents and brothers, he has learned the marvels of this art. For Laura, his greatest inspiration is the pleasure his work produces in others. He intends to pass down the techniques used since ancient times by creating captivating products of superb quality. Like many other residents of the Ayacucho countryside, Zosimo and his family were forced to abandon their homeland due to turmoil and violence. Zosimo utilizes alpaca, sheep wool, and cotton in the fabrication of his pieces, while both natural and synthetic dyes create the enthralling blend of colors. The two-pedaled loom is his primary tool.
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Jean Ray Laury - Jean Ray Laury is a freelance artist and writer with one-woman and group  shows at museums, galleries, and universities across the country. Often credited with pioneering the art quilt movement in the 1950's and 1960's, Jean's style is simple and straight-forward, and offers a beautiful balanced mix of color and design.
Her quilts are in private and museum collections. She has received numerous awards and honors including one of 30 distinguished quilters at the Tokyo International Great Quilts Festival in 2002. Jean is also an accomplished writer of children's books and creates her own line of textiles for Dan River.
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Rosa Caccire Llamoka-Quispe - Rosa was born in Arequipa, Peru (a southern province of Peru) in 1959. Her parents, Carmelo & Jovita, were peasant farmers. She is the oldest of 9 siblings, all girls. At the age of 13, she took a trip to Lima which changed her life .In Lima she worked as a maid for several years where she met her husband, Pascual. They had 3 children: Daniel, Sonia and Carmen. Five years into their marriage in the early 1980’s, her husband was killed during a raid of the infamous terrorist group in Peru, the “Shining Path Guerrillas”. Alone with 3 kids, she was forced to look for work and came upon a group of women that dedicated themselves to sewing & embroidering arpilleras. She taught herself the skills which she has now passed on to her daughters and together they have formed a small cottage industry with their arpilleras, which are in high demand
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Banlue Luering - Banlue’s work in weaving came about while he was waiting for teaching positions to open at the University to apply his degree in Industrial Chemistry. After working in several art workshops, he decided to open his own shop and focus on weaving. His work has great attention to detail and adapts ancient patterns to the modern day.
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Grayson Malone- "I studied art and architectural design at Woodbury College in Hollywood, California and the University of Oregon in Eugene in preparation for a career in architecture. My art career began with oil painting, which transfigured into the design and application of super graphics and mural paintings on buildings. This mutated into my becoming a general contractor which then metamorphosed into fine art sculpture in metal infused concrete.
I have had solo exhibitions of fine art paintings in a number of galleries including Golden Legend Gallery in Oswego, Oregon and The Coast gallery in Big Sur, California.
Over three decades, I have developed many types of concrete mixes, each with its own special purpose. As each project will have different requirements, I have also experimented extensively with combinations of textures. I have used a variety of casting methods including hand sculpting, grinding and polishing techniques. Concrete has the potential of absorbing or hosting many other materials. I have taken advantage of this characteristic and found that what is in the cement can be as remarkable as any external feature of the piece. Functionality, too, is a large consideration in my work. I have often configured a purpose or two into the pieces I have created. However, it has been more important to me that the work stand alone with a strictly visual impact to a given space, whether its practical functions are taken advantage of or not.
For many years, I have been greatly influenced with the study of Wabi Sabi which is a Japanese philosophy of the beauty in the integration and disintegration of things and places. I have been impresses that nothing is static and that all things are in a state of transition from beginnings to endings. There is ceremony in this process and I am aware that my art can pay tribute to the images of change." View her artwork
 Al Mason - Al Mason is a retired engineer who spent 24 years in the Navy living throughout the world. After retiring from the Navy, he began pursuing his passion for woodworking. Al spent nearly ten years gaining knowledge of different woods, and building furniture for friends and family. He became interested in turning and began refining his craft to incorporate turning into his repertoire in 2000. Al looks for unusual woods with grains that speak to him and lead him to create the shape that will best showcase the wood and its natural beauty.
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Linda Miller - Linda studied art at Diablo Valley Junior College and California State University, Sacramento, as well as a taking an assortment of private classes. She states “that doing has been my most significant teacher”. In her art career, she has done oil painting, appliqué clothing, soft sculpture, hand painted tee shirts, watercolors, and beaded jewelry. She finally settled on her love of painting in acrylics. Throughout her art phases, she has been in countless galleries and shows. All of Linda’s work with kids and animals greatly influenced her art. Kids always remind her to see the world around her. Animals, especially the homeless ones, remind her of how fragile life is. She likes to think these concepts are the basics of what she puts into her work.
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Boriana Mocheva - Boriana Mocheva is from Bulgaria and lives in Gorna, Oriahovitsa. She graduated from the Arts Department of Veliko Tarnovo University in Bulgaria with an MA in Pedagogics of Art. She currently works full-time as a teacher of Art and Design at the local Textile and Dress Making College. She also has a BA in Graphics from the same university.
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MonkeyBiz - MonkeyBiz employs women who are using traditional beadwork to make animals in a wide variety of colors and sizes. MonkeyBiz was founded by two ceramic artists, Barbara Jackson and Shirley Fintz who facilitated the revival of an ancient tradition in South Africa. Through their efforts, they have given employment and empowerment to over 450 disadvantaged women in Cape Town. The beadworks are creating a sensation everywhere they appear, both locally and abroad. MonkeyBiz also runs the MonkeyBiz Wellness Clinic, located in Cape Town. The clinic provides skills and training and HIV/AIDS support for low-income HIV positive women. The center has been thriving since 2003, catering to 60 women a week and offering them beadwork training, HIV/AIDS. We hope you support this effort begun by MonkeyBiz in 1999 and begin your collection now. They also make wonderful gifts.
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Mae Morgan - Mae Morgan was born in 1924, near Crownpoint, New Mexico (north and east of Gallup). She doesn't know the exact date, as there were no records kept at the time. She attended "first grade" and then was told by her family that there was no more school. Instead of school, from that time on, she spent her days herding the family's flock of sheep. Even at this young age, she was left by herself in the pastures for several days at a time. Her mother taught her to weave when she was about 12 years old. After that, she spent her "free time" weaving. She raises her own sheep, shears, cards, spins and weaves her textiles. For colors, she still dyes her own wools, mostly with vegetal dyes, or utilizes the natural colors of the wool.
The rugs she weaves are wonderful starter rugs for the first-time collector and enthusiast of Navajo rugs.
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Malgorzata Moszczynska - Malgorzata has been weaving gobelins and kilims in her native Poland for over 20 years. She attended Art School in Gdansk, Poland and always knew she wanted to weave as it offered her the ability to express her creativity. She paints an original design, dyes her own threads, and then weaves each piece to create unique and one-of-a-kind, exquisite pieces of art. She has become recognized in her native Poland where her work has been shown in many folk art exhibits.
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Ervin Nakai aka Kinlicheenie Yazhe - Ervin was born in 1949 in the Red House clan of the  Navajo Tribe in Red Valley, Arizona. His family had sheep, cows, and horses in an area of oak trees on the north side of the Lukachukai Mountains. He said that was where he learned about caring for things and animals, and, of course, he had to herd sheep. He loved to hide in a tree and watch the bears. Ervin learned metals from watching his father who was a welder. His father was an old time welder who used baling wire. He also learned accounting and book-keeping from his uncle. He has also done rodeo work riding bulls and broncos. He is also a singer who has recorded some of his work with fellow jewelers and still sings at Indian Rodeo Cowboy Churches. A true renaissance man, he began making jewelry after he met his future wife, Mary L King of Teesto, Arizona, in 1973 and she got him interested in silversmithing
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Carol Logan Newbill - Carol was born in Alabama and has been a lifelong resident. She is a  balanced artist who uses both sides of her brain: she has a BS degree and half an MS - geology major, psychology minor - and worked in civil engineering for 15 years. She is also a published writer and self-taught artist who has been making quilts since the mid-1970s and has had her own design studio since 1997. †Her art quilts are in collections from Maine to Florida to Nebraska to California. She has been in solo and group shows across the US for many years.
"Spirit: I paint and stitch images that come from within. I share them with the world and hope that others find a reflection of something good. And I teach in order to give back some of the gifts that I have been given."
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Lilach Paul - Lilach lives in a rural and bush area near the Kumeu River which is rich in life and nature and from which she takes much of her inspiration. She came to New Zealand about 12 years ago and found the cultural differences between the two countries extreme. The mix of pacific cultures in New Zealand and her own heritage have inspired many of her designs which often represent the coming together of people in peace and harmony. Lilach chose to work in bone because the word “bone” in her own language means essence. When Lilach carves in bone, it allows her to portray the real essence of her thoughts and feelings as well as being the ideal medium for the incredibly fine, detailed work which is her signature.
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Thanyarat Sananpanich - Thanyarat’s first contact with Thai silk came after she graduated from University in dentistry. While on a trip, she met a group of silk weavers. Their work made such a big impression on her, she decided to pursue the art. Her interest is in traditional patterns but she uses her imagination to create her work. She uses rayon and cotton in her work in addition to silk.
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Maria Ramos Sanchez - Maria Ramos Sanchez was born in the Southern Andes region of Peru. She uses the old technique of Arpilleria to make wall hangings of incredible colors and dimension. She is particularly inspired by Andean landscapes and loves to depict her native picturesque Peruvian highlands. Maria is a member of the Arpilleria-makers community featured in the book In Her Hands: Craftswomen Changing the World.
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 Louise Schiele - "For over 20 years, I have been working on my art quilt career. I've been in the learning stages for quite some time, learning the different techniques of quilt-making, learning about color theory, learning about placement and surface design, and learning what I like to create. Now I know to create what I feel like creating and not to worry about what others want me to do. As an artist grows in knowledge and technique, she should also grow within and create what her heart tells her to do. Only then can an artist create honest art. I hope to continue working from this stage and to create work that is worthy."
Louise's work has been in trade publications and she has exhibited her work in festivals and galleries.
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Frannie Schulman- Frannie’s Gourds began nine years ago after the purchase of Apple Creek Ranch in Santa Ynez Valley. As a canvas for artist Frannie Shulman, the gourds provide a unique and natural structure, while her vibrant color tones enhance the inveterate beauty. We believe that this combination of hand and earth is what makes her gourds so distinctive. Frannie's gourds began with the inspiration of artist Frannie Shulman. Gourds are an inedible variety of squash that dry and develop a durable, wood-like shell. Frannie hand paints each gourd–using natural color, which enhance the texture of the skin rather than hide it. The gourds are then finished with Frannie’s signature gloss.
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Suneeporn Tanjaipetch - Suneeporn Tanjaipetch is from northern Thailand, the youngest child raised in a merchant family, and holds a degree in Accounting.
While working with her sister, Suneeporn fell in love with hill tribe cloths and decided to trade with them. Her favorite pattern has always been the one adapted from ancient hill tribes. She works with the hill tribe women to learn the motifs and stylize them to add a little more creativity.
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Linda Thiltgen - “Art has been part of my professional like for the past 30 years. After obtaining my degree in Commercial Art, I went on to work for graphic design firms, mail order companies, printers, floral suppliers, clothing manufacturers, screen printers, and marketing firms. The older I got, the more I longed to do the work of my heart. I create framed wall pieces, pillows, fabric accessories, and add my collages to the glass of paperweights. I find my inspiration from nature- especially fallen leaves that I gather on walks and trips. Using rollered ink, I create backgrounds for my leaves and then add letterforms, cancelled postage stamps, bits of metal, teabags, found items, a variety of layered, textured papers and dyed fabric. Growing up in Silver Bay, MN, close to the shores of Lake Superior, I was naturally attracted to leaves and art created in nature. My hope is to create something that is beautiful to look at and that will evoke a peaceful serene emotion and connection and appreciation for the everyday beauty that surrounds us.”
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Jackie Tump - Jackie and her life partner Rolfe Bax are a reclusive couple from the deep south of the South Island. They live in a remote high alpine mountain area above Lake Wanaka and come down to Wanaka and Queenstown townships in summer to sell the work they have done over the winter months. Jackie has a very unique style about her work which reflects both Maori mythology and her great love of the land with an interesting Celtic twist from her gold rush ancestry. Her art work is rare and highly sought after with a style and design flair that is instantly recognizable world wide. Jackie’s work features stunning detail and often natural stains made from local wild plants to her own secret recipe. Jackie and Rolfe have now been carving together for 15 years and have earned an enviable reputation as true masters of their craft and unequalled artists in miniature.
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Cerapio Vallejo - "I draw inspiration from our ancient Peruvian cultures, Andean village life, and from our snow-capped mountains." His art form was passed on to him by his parents and grandparents. The economy forced him to move from his home-town of Ayacucho to Lima in order to make a living. As for his future, his number one goal is to continue to educate and guide his children toward fulfillment. For him, they represent the continuation of life - and possibly his art.
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Holly Wallace - Ruby Glass Works - For Holly Wallace, art is life. Her love of nature is the inspiration for all her glasswork. Her color palettes are inspired by the lush colors and patterns of natural beauty. Before discovering glass, Holly worked in metal and stone, trying to create the fluid forms inherent in glass. With design in mind, Holly invites and encourages the glass to be an expressive participant in her creative process. Holly received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Indiana State University in 1969 where her focus was design and sculpture. In 1973, she studied glass at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, CA, and also at Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State. In 2000, Holly opened Ruby Glass Works in Berkeley, CA. In a field that is artistically and physically demanding, Holly is one of a few women who run their own studio. The choice of the name for her studio is a subtle cue for those who enter to be ready for the unexpected influence of the feminine touch in the hot world of glassblowing. Her work is in SF Museum of Modern Art, Oakland Museum of Collector’s Gallery, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Karl Yost - "One day, a friend looked around at all the rocks and bones cluttering up my house, and said, 'You shouldn't be collecting these things — you should be working within the metaphor they create.'" Karl Yost's pottery reflects his travels and experiences in the Rocky Mountains area of the United States. With colors and textures inspired by driftwood, wasp's nests and eroded shells, Yost's art draws ecological, meteorological and geological parallels, coaxing viewers to more deeply observe and appreciate nature.
Yost pots aren't simply thrown; they are sculpted, scored, stretched, angled, flattened, fractured, bisque-fired and glazed in a controlled yet comfortable process of careful removal and deliberate inclusion. His pots emerge after each of the four elements, guided by the hands of Yost himself, have left its mark in some breathtaking way.
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Zulu Telephone Wire Art - A Zulu Tradition Becomes Art for Today. The origin of the telephone wire weaving comes from the world renowned traditional basket-weaving created by the Zulu weavers in South Africa. The baskets were originally woven with grass; however, the addition of beads and the use of copper wire was a sign of wealth among the Zulu community and signaled the evolution of basket-weaving into more art than craft. It is only in the last several years that this craft has become recognized as a true art form as collectors from around the world search for baskets for their collections.
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