The tools. The table. The island. (Final post in our series on the roots of design)

Today, in our final post in the roots of design series, tannerglass shares her inspiring story about glassblowing.  Thank you!!  The photo above, and all photos that follow, are from tannerglass.

"Eight years ago, I spent a week in Venice......Tanner Glass was just over a year old, and I was trying to find my place in the Glass world. I knew Venice would provide so much inspiration, but I had no idea how much. There were two places on the island of Murano that I could not miss visiting on this trip.

This is the story of the first place.....the home of Dino Tedeschi.

Dino made glass tools......the best glass tools (in my opinion). To buy them, you had to know someone who knew someone who knew Dino. Or you had to knock on his door. I chose the latter option.

Armed with only a sketchbook, and a map (similar to the one pictured) I set out to find him. A daunting task.....as I don't speak Italian, and using a Murano map is about as effective as directions on finding a needle in a haystack.

Based on an address scribbled in my sketchbook, I managed to arrive at the doorstep of a toolmaker, named Dino. Wrong Dino. Through broken English and Italian, he directed me elsewhere.

Those directions landed me on the doorstep of a toolmaker, named Carlo Donna. Not Dino. But, I was getting closer. Carlo Donna was a leading toolmaker, spoke decent English, and knew Dino personally. I explained that I wanted to purchase some Dino jacks (his signature tool), and asked if he could help me.

He called Dino, told him what I was looking for, and gave me explicit directions to his doorstep.

I thanked him profusely, purchased a super sweet set of tweezers, and headed out to find Dino.

(as an aside, Dino speaks about 4 words of English, and I speak about 8 words of Italian. "Andiamo a sciare".......let's go skiing. Not terribly helpful in this situation).

I arrived at another doorstep, rang the bell, and the door was answered by a woman (Dino's wife). She is about 65 years old, little, and speaks no English. She invites me into their kitchen, sits me down at their table, and offers me some tea (I only know this because I said "si", and tea is what I was given).

Dino appears in the doorway, "ciao" is said all around, and he sits next to me and places 3 sets of Jacks on the table.

I picked out the ones I wanted. There was not a lot of talk, but there was a lot of smiling and nodding going on. It is amazing how well you can communicate without speaking. I managed to understand how much they cost......paid him, and was ready to say thank you, and good-bye, fully content with my purchase, and my experience thus far.

Not so fast.

 He sits me back down, and places a small, red journal in front of me....and a pen.

*my heart is racing as I tell this part*

I open it, and quickly notice that this is a list of all the people that have sat right where I was sitting. Heavy hitters in the Glass world, from all over the world......had all sat at the same kitchen table, and purchased their Dino jacks. Some shared stories, some shared photos. It was amazing. Artists like Dante Marioni, Sonja Blumdahl, Lino Tagliopietra, and countless others. I was speechless.

And he wanted ME to sign that book? Um, okay.

I wish I could remember what I wrote (aside from my name and state). Regardless, the fact that I became part of that history is something that will stay with me forever.

I left the Tedeschi home, walked around the block, found a bench, sat down, and cried a little, as I was overwhelmed by what had just happenned.

I signed "the book."

It was at that moment, that I knew I was a glassblower.

(My Dino Jacks).

Sadly, Dino passed away a few years later. And his tools have become highly sought after.....

a creative journey (part 10 in our series)

In our series on creative inspiration, the members of the Artisans Gallery team have explored their own roots of design - and shared their stories here on the blog.

The influences that sow our seeds are creativity seem to be everywhere - certain books have been pivotal, art teachers, parents, explorations of different media... and challenges and failures along the way too.

Today, in part 10 of our series, Eve from EvesLittleEarthlings tells us a little bit about what led her to her life of creating and crafting (and making the sweetest pieces out of repurposed wool!) Thank you, Eve.

(photo, above, and all that follow are from EvesLittleEarthlings)

"When I was little we had an encyclopedia set that included a craft book called Things to Make and Do.  I was always trying to make things out of this book, but we never had pipe cleaners (I had no idea what these were) and the projects were a little simple, as I remember, but this book was one of my first inspirations. My mom sewed a lot of our clothes when I was growing up and I learned to sew and not be afraid of the sewing machine from her."

"In high school I became interested in pottery and devoted the next 15 or so years to that craft, working full time. I was often intimidated by the work of others and tried NOT to look or be influenced by what they did."

"Finally I landed back in the world of fabric. I am comfortable here, not intimidated anymore, realizing I have my niche and can expand it or keep doing more of the same - my decision. People will (hopefully) buy enough to keep me enthused."

handmade: a family tradition to pass down (part 9 in our series on inspiration)

The seeds of creativity seem to be planted often, and early, in people who go on to spend large chunks of their life working with their hands and engaged in artisanal work.  Perhaps part of the reason is that what we see as children - what we witness (especially in our parents and primary caregivers) - carries so much weight.


Today, in part 9 of our series on the roots of design, Arnelle from the organic clothing shop PurePixie shares part of her inspiration story. (Photo above, and all those that follow, are from PurePixie).


"As far as I remember I always loved to make things with my hands. At school my favorite classes were drawing and crafts. 
 

Both my parents and grand-parents were very crafty and making things was part of their every day life. When my grandma (a former seamstress) became blind, she was still able to do a lot of sewing just by "looking" with her fingers."

 
In Arnelle's words: "After she retired, my other grandma was knitting and crocheting all kinds of sweaters for us and my mom was sewing all our clothing. They both taught me as a child how to sew, knit and crochet and as a teen I started sewing my own clothing. I remember how my Mom could alter a basic pattern and sew almost anything trendy out of it. My dad was working mostly with (ferrous) metals - for the most part repurposed. I remember that once for my birthday he made a small wardrobe with handmade hangers to store my doll's clothing. The basement of my parent's house is still packed with perfectly sorted pieces of metal that he may need some day. I also remember spending hours reading my dad's children magazines from the late 40's early 50's. Their graphics are still a great source of inspiration."

  "Then I went to college and I was so busy studying and working as a tutor to pay my rent that I forgot all about creativity. It is only when I got the opportunity to do some graphic design as part of one of my jobs that I realized how much I was missing it."

"When my husband and I moved to the US in September 2001, I was without a work visa so could not look for a job and I started to create for good. First I made jewelry and even graduated as a jeweler. My favorite domain was forging. It is so amazing to see how a flat sheet of metal can move and become almost alive and take all kinds of organic shapes when forged. When I had my first child I started to make clothing for him and I still do it now that I have two kids. Their favorite pieces of clothing are all home- and hand - made (and organic or upcycled). My youngest one loves to say proudly: "c'est maman qui a fait!"(Mom made it!)

I learned from my family all the basics and when I was ready to start I was able to immediately jump in. I learned also from them that sometimes you have to try over and over again until you get it right. It can be very frustrating but once you figured it out this is all that matters. Hopefully I'll be able to pass this onto my kids."

Developing a taste for craft work (part 8 in our series)

As children, we are exposed to so many styles, hobbies and creative pursuits. I remember well feeling rather uncomfortable in ballet class but loving baseball, enjoying cooking but having zero interest (at the time) in my mother's sewing... and falling in love with pottery. What sticks? How does it stick? For Isabel, the French fashion designer behind isabelamyo, her own creative inspiration is something she will never forget. For her, she says, it developed over time.

Thank you, Isabel, for sharing your story with us in this, the 8th part of our series on the roots of design.

"Of course my mother sewed me clothing that I thought was "more or less successful" I confess, but I learned I wanted to make myself my clothes following my own desires. It was at that moment that I realized that I loved doing things with my hands."

Isabel's story continues. "It isn't very original, but I soon dressed all of my friends who came to see me. And in my bedroom with my sew machine and my my fabrics, my threads and my needles we worked together on the realization of some idea of clothing. It was great... there was always excitement that led us up to the culmination of a creation."

(photo above, and all that follow, from isabelamyo)

 "There was also my sister's dolls that I dressed as well. I loved turning a shapeless cloth into something built by practice. And one day I learned I had a neighbor who taught a lot of handwork to children. I went to see her she gives me some tips to improve, and I thank her again because I really improved my technique with this kind neighbor."

"I think that's what gave me the taste of craft work, work done with care, generosity and quality, thanks to the techniques I learned in my youth. They still serve me today."

art & patience (part 4 in a series on the roots of design)

A few weeks ago, we began this series by asking artisans about the seeds of their inspiration and the roots of their design.

(photo above, of Monica's rustic silver heart necklace - all photos that follow are from moonovermaize as well)

In part 4 of the series, Monica from moonovermaize shares beautiful insight into her own creative path. And the patience required to find her way. I love this quote about patience by Edward Bulwer-Lytton: "Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active; it is concentrated strength." Indeed.

"For me, it was not a specific moment, but a conglomeration of artistic attempts gone wrong. I was always trying out different forms of art growing up from drawing to painting to sculpting to making mosaics and sewing. Seeing as my Mom is an incredible seamstress I thought it would come naturally....I was so wrong on that one!"

Monica is pretty sure she "tried nearly every art/craft under the sun and I was always left a bit disappointed as the final product never came out as I had envisioned it. It has never stopped me from searching though and then I tried out some metalsmith techniques about a year ago and I had finally found what I'd been searching for!"

"It felt right. My hands could manipulate the tools and supplies to form exactly what was in my mind. Now that I've found what I love it is a matter a perfecting techniques and allowing myself to grow in this line of work. Seeing as it took some patience to get to this point I believe it has also taught me patience in my art of metal work."