2024 Demonstrating Artisan

Van Hart, Linda

Toll House Studio

Jewelry

Van Hart is a sculptor that focuses on undulating and textural surfaces. Asymmetry and kinetic features lend surprising grace to the larger scale of this narrative work: each piece develops as a tribute to a hero, a meditation on place, a plea for strength in times of adversity. The Heart Armor are based on an inverted milkweed pod. Botanical portraits are pierced, forged, reticulated, granulated, fabricated repousse body and architectural adornment. A constant voice in this work is the supple technique of diminished diameter forging. Sterling, 80/20 silver, 14-18 K yellow or rose gold, and copper are occasionally combined with rare gems and Akoya pearls. Historically significant botanical symbols, people and stories are conceptually interpreted with contemporary flair using classic techniques.

TollHouseStudio.com

Stribling, Candace

Candace Stribling Jewelry

Jewelry

I design and make contemporary sterling silver jewelry using traditional metalsmithing techniques and tools such as hammers, anvils, mandrels, and torches.

CandaceStriblingJewelry.com

Piazza, Anne

Anne StClair Collection

Clay

Each porcelain ornament or egg features colorful raised detail, providing both visual and textural elements. Piazza strive to convey an emotion with every piece, the response being unique to each individual. Memories of holidays, family, history, or whimsy may all come to mind, the ultimate goal being the creation of future heirlooms to be passed down through generations.

Piazza has chosen porcelain as her medium, as it is smooth and refined in texture but also extremely strong. This clay body is most appropriate for the intricate raised artwork, the signature of her work. The pieces are cast from original molds.

Technique: This is a modification of the historical slip trailing technique used by potters throughout the centuries. The contemporary adaptation to the use of syringes provides the method for capturing the tiniest of detail.

All pieces are signed and dated by Anne Piazza, and include a certificate of authenticity.

Steinhagen, Erich & Janice

Steinhagen Pottery

Clay

2021 Artisans of the Year
Steinhagen’s work draws heavily on the redware pottery produced in the 18^th century by potters in England and by the Pennsylvania German tradition. They create forms that mirror the everyday plain mugs, bowls, and plates used in homes across the American colonies, and take special delight in reproducing unusual and decorative forms – puzzle mugs, harvest jugs, pierced double-walled pieces, sculptural posset pots. They conduct ongoing research (both here and in England) to gain a deeper understanding of the breadth of work produced by early potters. Steinhagen often uses their findings as a springboard to create original works that speak to the traditions of the past and connect them to the present day.

Erich’s been a potter since he was in high school. We met in college in western Pennsylvania when we were both art majors, 45 years ago. He kept up with the pottery as a side gig through three kids and 30 years in a 9 to 5 job, but it wasn’t until about 20 years ago that Janice finally gave in to his encouragement to try sgraffito on his pottery. That’s when our work really took off. All the wheel and sculptural work is done by Erich; Janice does the sgraffito, and also makes slump-molded plates, brooches and ornaments.

We enjoy collaborating to create an interplay of the clay forms and the inscribed motifs, which freely borrow from both Pennsylvania German and British folk pottery traditions. And the use of text (again, a traditional design element for both German and British styles) speaks to Janice’s 40-year career as a journalist and wordsmith. One of our favorite current projects is creating mugs with quotes from our founding fathers and mothers, ranging from George Washington and Alexander Hamilton to Abigail Adams and poet Phillis Wheatley. Their words resonate even more deeply today, and we love engaging people in history through stirring words that speak to the present moment.

SteinhagenPottery.com

Mills, Maureen & Zoldak, Steven

Mills & Zoldak: Potters

Clay

Continuing in the slip trailing traditions, Steve has developed a line of stoneware work that bridges Old World traditions with a contemporary sensibility. His functional and decorative forms have an elegant calligraphic style that is uniquely his own. From stately urns to serving platters, his inspirations come from a melding of cultures and a personal design aesthetic to create work that is beautiful to use and to look at.

SlipTrail.com

Eugene, Winton and Rosa

Pottery By Eugene

Clay

Winton Eugene throws pottery on a wheel and decorates it, and Rosa Eugene glazes it. As two self-taught artists, pottery-making was a second career for both: Rosa Eugene was a nurse, and Winton Eugene had been a carpet installer and an army paratrooper during the Vietnam War—though he had always seen himself as an artist. In 1985 they retired to Cowpens, SC, where they continue to work and sell from their home studio today.

Working together as a single unit can be an artist’s nightmare, but for the Eugene’s it has proven to be the ultimate release of creativity. The collaborative effort of a husband and wife team has expanded their ability to see beyond their presence. To see the essence of shape, to capture its form at the moment of conception. To go beyond a simple idea and create a new and exciting possibility; to bend the rules and write new ones. Winton and Rosa can co-exist in a single idea and weave a web with varying potential—they refer to it as a meeting of minds in the same space, in the same place in time. They rely on their passions in the creative process. Winton loves design and function, Rosa is captured by shape and colors. These passions combine into a creative dance ending in a final product with balance and harmony. It starts with clay and ends with glaze, the design and shape are then tested by fire. The endless love of clay, the imagination and passions of creating will always make “Fire.”

Kid Friendly! Clay will be available to children to try making pinch bowls, frogs, mugs, turtles and worms, which will be demonstrated along with carving, etching and relief.

Wychock, Karen

Times Gone By

Fiber/Textiles

Working over wooden molds, in the method of the Shakers, Wychock’s baskets are traditional in shape and materials. She weaves both Shaker reproductions in ash and traditional, utilitarian baskets of reed. Native hardwoods such as ash and oak are used to make the rims and handles, and all of the baskets are lashed using ash. Each basket takes on its own character as it is woven in a quadrifoil, twill or fancy lace pattern to appeal to both eye and touch.

KarenWychock.com