Meet Maria

One of the best parts of our trip was meeting all the wonderful artists alongside us. Maria White was one of my favorites. She was one of four artists who were given the Award of Excellence at the SF show, so we decided we had to meet her. She was fabulous. Her ceramic pieces have a look all their own and as much as I really wanted to come home with this beautiful bowl, my wallet said otherwise and I had to comply.

Maria was born in Nevada, raised in South Caroline now lives and creates in Hollywood. She has earned much well deserved praise and recognition internationally and her work is regularly featured in television and film productions. She was such a treat to talk to and was so absolutely pleasant to work with. She even made me a custom pendant from an earring set right there on the spot ... just because I mentioned that I liked the smaller set better. Go check out her website to see more of her pieces. They're stunning.

SF: Click Happy

SF: Post Two

We met all kinds of fabulous people at the show and several who told us we should really try to go to SCRAP while we were there. (I'm thinking scrap yard, scrap metal, not really fun for me) But noooo.

"SCRAP is a creative reuse center, store and workshop space founded in 1976 in San Francisco, California. Donations of high quality, low cost, re-usable materials such as textiles, paper, jewelry findings, wood, buttons and plastics are collected from businesses, institutions and individuals then sorted, displayed and distributed by SCRAP for artists, educational and community groups. Free materials and art activities are provided through our community outreach service. "

That was it. I had to go. We mapped it out and figured if we hit it right when it opened on Saturday, we would have about 30 minutes to zip through it and grab some goodies before we had to get back to the show. Now ... we didn't budget in time for any wrong turns, so we really only had about 10 minutes to enjoy it, but I'm so glad that we did. It was truly fantastic! It was inspiring to see all the materials that had been donated and to bump into other artists and teachers shopping for supplies. I snapped a bunch of photos just to be able to relish it more later, then bought a couple scoops of buttons before we had to run out the door. If you get a chance, take a look at their website and see all the fun things they are involved with. They even give you tips on starting your own scrapping business.

Looking Ahead

Look what came for me in the mail yesterday! It’s my press kit for the American Craft Council Show in San Francisco, complete with 5 Exhibitor Guest Passes. I have been accepted to the AltCraft section of the show August 14-16. The Council describes it like this:

“This section features rising indie craft artists whose work illustrates the innovative techniques and materials of the burgeoning new handmade movement. The work of 16 artists, selected through a special jury process, will be presented in a unique loft space in the Fort Mason pier.”
Yay me! They’ve also opened up this show to wholesale buyers, so hopefully I’ll be able to pick up a few new accounts there as well. Now, I just need to nail down my display options and try to really ‘wow’ them. Huge thanks going out to the Etsy Storque who plugged their 'Call for Artists'!! I owe you guys.