DaVINE JEWELRY
Danielle Vaillancourt
[2002, Jewelry + Metalsmithing]
Based in Somerset, MA
DaVine Jewelry’s RISD Craft Gallery
Utilizing forms and textures from leaves grown in my herb garden, shells I’ve gathered, and other natural objects from my collection, I work mainly in sterling silver and bronze with semi-precious stones and pearl accents to create jewelry to bring people closer to nature. My work incorporates traditional metalsmithing techniques combined with fine metal clay work, and consists of small production lines, one of a kind pieces, and custom commissions. When the use of casting is needed for my small production lines, I carefully create each original model myself before bringing it to the caster to be molded and cast, and then use those castings to create finished and refined pieces of work.
With my jewelry, I hope to show people the details and beauty I see in the natural world, allowing them to carry these objects with them as wearable sculptures, reminding them of things often overlooked and taken for granted in everyday life. My goal is to bring people closer to nature, helping them feel more connected when they glance down at the ring on their hand or reach up to touch the pendant around their neck.
What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?
Finding time to be outside in nature, even when I feel like there are other “more important” things I should be doing is the key to fueling my creativity. I’ve been slowly building up my backyard garden area to be a creative and relaxing haven, and during the warmer months I spend a lot of time out there, finding inspiration and peace as I tend to my plants. Some of my most recent best ideas for new work have come to me while I’ve been out there gardening!
How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?
During my time at RISD, I began working with nature objects for inspiration in my jewelry. My senior thesis project focused on using acacia seedpods and seashells recreated in metal for their intriguing and unique shapes and textures. I enjoyed creating work focused on showing them in a way that really made people look at the details of these beautiful natural objects. Nature remains the primary focus of my work, and I still include a few pieces in my lines that I started developing while I was in school. Our professors always drove home that small details mattered and could make even the simplest pieces more extraordinary, and that is something that I carry with me to this day.
Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.
My main source of inspiration is the natural world, and I spend a lot of time paying attention to all the details around me. I have an ever-growing collection of nature objects, and I’ve learned to always take containers or bags along with me to collect things in whenever I go on an outdoor adventure.
I love to go to the beach during the times when there’s fewer people around and it’s quieter so I can explore and find new treasures to inspire my jewelry. My backyard is full of plants whose leaves, flowers, and seedpods I draw tons of ideas from, including the sage plant that has inspired an entire line of work.
Is there a work/body of work that you are particularly excited about sharing with us at RISD Craft this year?
One of the new lines of jewelry I’m working on this summer is based on the leaves of a lupine plant (Miss Rumphius, anyone?!). I’m especially excited about it because, recreated in metal, they have an almost floral, bloom-like quality to them. Like the acacia pods I’ve worked with, which many people think look like waves, I love that they look a little bit like something more than simply a leaf.
Anything else you’d like to share?
With my jewelry, I hope to show people the details and beauty I see in the natural world, allowing them to carry these objects with them as “wearable nature”, reminding them of things often overlooked and taken for granted in everyday life. My goal is to bring people closer to nature, helping them feel more connected to it when they glance down at the ring on their hand or reach up to touch the pendant around their neck.
To see more of Danielle’s work, visit davinejewelry.com
ANNA BOOTHE
Anna Boothe
[1981, Sculpture]
Based in Pennsylvania
Anna Boothe’s RISD Craft Gallery
The work I will show at RISD Craft is comprised of individually crafted, one-of-a-kind sculptural vessels, flacons, “talismans,” beads and other decorative objects. With technical inspiration taken from the late 19th C. – early 20th C. French glass-casting technique known as pate de verre, all are constructed of brilliantly colored glass elements, kiln-cast from lead crystal via the lost-wax casting process, then ground, hand-polished and assembled.
Conceptually and visually, the objects elicit a sense of history and ritual. Formally, their prompts derive from antiquity and nature. The resultant composite forms interpret symbols from a variety of sources. Prominently featured in many pieces, the hand motif represents a ubiquitous cross-cultural human tool of communication through its emblematic gestures of friendship, generosity, holding, letting go, etc.
How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?
My experience at RISD set the foundation for my ongoing practice – through challenging and helping to develop my resolve to keep at it and pursue a life grounded in the arts. Friendships made at the time keep circling back to support and strengthen what I do now. At RISD I studied Sculpture, and combined with what I learned in the great studio and art history electives I took, I don’t think I could’ve started my career with a better critical and practical overview of what lay ahead. Several of those electives were in the Glass Department; those classes sparked a connection to the material that is now central to my work.
What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?
By practices, I’m assuming the question refers to techniques I use in fabricating my work. I cast glass using the lost wax process. All of the work is made from crushed lead crystal that gets melted in one-use molds – that which is hand or machine finished/polished and assembled. Some of the work is created using a more refined version of this process: pate de verre ( late 19th C. French casting technique that traditionally relied on the casting of colored glass powders). Other than actual art-making practices, my regular and longterm yoga practice greatly informs my hands-on and conceptual approach to how I work – mostly around patience (it’s glass! it breaks all the time!) and the intensely long and tedious process I use.
Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.
The work that I plan to show at RISD for the October market is inspired by iconography from a variety of cultures. Many of the objects I create are extrapolations or interpretations of Buddhist symbols and forms, as well as those from ancient Mediterranean civilizations…..and from object-memories from my travels and research. A lot of the objects are an outgrowth of a large collaborative project I’ve been involved in since 2012, initiated through a Collaborative Residency at the Corning Museum of Glass. The result of that project, “Between Seeing and Knowing” – an approx. 50′ long x 11′ high installation comprised of 300+ glass elements – has been shown at Accola Griefen Gallery in Chelsea (2013), Philadelphia Art Alliance (2017), and the Philadelphia International Airport (2018).
Any recent press, exhibitions, achievements or awards you’d like to share with us?
In addition to the current exhibit I have with my collaborative partner Nancy Cohen at the Philadelphia International Airport (through July, 2018), she and I have a collaborative exhibit opening in October at the Arts Council of Princeton (NJ). In addition I’ll be participating in 2018 Fall exhibits at the Albuequerque Museum of Art, Wayne Art Center (PA) and will be showing at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show.
To see more of Anna’s work, visit annaboothe.com
INDIVIDUAL ICONS
LeeAnn Herreid
[1991, Jewelry & Metalsmithing]
Based in Warren, RI
Individual Icon’s RISD Craft Gallery
LeeAnn Herreid‘s jewelry is something the 21st century traveler should never be without. Compass rings and pendants set in sterling silver ensure you never lose your way, spirit level earrings keep you in balance, stainless steel ruler bracelets give you the measure of things, and thermometer earrings keep you cool. These are just some of the pieces in Herreid‘s line of functional and innovative jewelry; more than just decorative, they are pieces with purpose.
For several decades, LeeAnn has been making custom work and one-of-a-kind pieces out of sterling silver, stainless steel, 18 karat gold, and platinum. This technically complex work inspired her to achieve a Graduate degree in gemology at the highly esteemed Gemological Institute of America.
LeeAnn‘s work is available in galleries and museum shops throughout the United States and abroad. Her pieces have been praised internationally and featured in numerous magazines & multimedia. She is an Accredited Jewelry Professional with 30 years at the bench.
What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?
A well thought out and streamlined design is very important to me. To distill the idea into the most important elements and to strip away everything that is superflous to the idea is very important in the finished product. To make clean, wearable and well constructed work is my primary mission.
How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?
Every single day I use what I learned at RISD: challenging myself to make a cleaner, stronger design, paying attention to the minutiae of detail which differentiates good jewelry from the great. The connections and constructions are all clean and well thought out.
Is there a work/body of work that you are particularly excited about sharing with us at RISD Craft this year?
The pieces I have recently been making for the Metropolitan Opera are exciting to me. I have been using the fabric from their costume department and making all sorts of jewelry with it, embossing (rollerprinting) the original fabrics into sterling silver. One of the fabrics I have been working with often is the original golden silk curtain from the Metrolpolitan Opera’s first opening night at the Lincoln Center in NYC.
Any recent press, exhibitions, achievements or awards you’d like to share with us?
Have a piece on tour with the “Innovative Merger of Art and Guns”, a show curated by Boris Bally. The show was first opened at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston, and is currently on exhibit in St. Louis. 100 metal Artists were each sent an inoperable handgun that was confiscated or bought back by the police Department in Pittsburgh. We were asked to make a piece of art out of some part of the gun. I made a squash blossom necklace (A traditional Native American/ Navajo jewelry Design). The squash blossom necklace has spun off into several different ideas and pieces. I will be submitting some of these for a competition for the RI Coalition against Gun Violence. Hopefully, it will make a difference!
To see more of LeeAnn’s work, visit individualicons.com
AIRLIE ANDERSON
Airlie Anderson
[2000, Illustration]
Based in New Jersey
Airlie Anderson’s RISD Craft Gallery
Airlie Anderson is an award winning author-illustrator of over a dozen books for children. Her publishers include Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Child’s Play International, and Dover. She uses gouache on watercolor paper to create bright, painterly illustrations. Her gold medal winning picture book MOMO AND SNAP ARE NOT FRIENDS was selected by Hearthsong toys for a plush toy line. Her new picture book, NEITHER, was released this February to excellent reviews.
From NEITHER’s Publishers Weekly review: “Anderson’s candy-colored palette and adorable cast of creatures reflect a spectrum of states of being, creating a book that works as a resource for conversations about race, blended identities, gender norms, and more.”
What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?
I keep a sketchbook with me at all times, and draw just to exercise that muscle and to have fun. It doesn’t have to be a long drawing session, just anything that keeps my hand and eye connected. Book ideas come out this way, too. In the studio, I always start with a wash of color. Working off a glaringly white sheet of paper has never worked well for me. A wash of color is a very important ingredient. I also meditate when I can. It seems to wipe the slate clean and to allow me to think about what’s really important. Or not think about it.
How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?
Each year at RISD had a profound and distinct effect on my current creative practice. Foundation year gave me my drawing chops: hours upon hours of figure drawing, failing and failing until something clicked. I use those fundamentals every day — use ‘em or lose ‘em. During sophomore year we honed in on our major, and I chose the illustration department. To be a children’s book illustrator was always on my radar, so my lessons during this year directly influence what I do now. I still hear my teachers’ words in my ear, almost twenty years later. “Hear that voice saying ‘ehh, that’s good enough,’ ? said illustration teacher Oren Sherman. “That is the devil speaking.”
I was lucky to be part of EHP, and spent my Junior year in Rome. That’s when I learned how to live life. I can’t make good art if I’m locked in the studio, hiding from the world. Loosen up! Eat! Experience some culture and history! Then get back to work.
Senior year was all about refining my ideas for the future, experimenting with what would become my favorite processes, for crystalizing my vision. It still had a long way to go, of course. And Harry Potter was just coming onto the scene. It was a beautiful time for me, spent gazing out the studio window at Providence going about its business, at Waterfire with its wistful music. I miss that time in my life.
Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.
Books! Reading is essential. Walking into a book store and smelling the books usually gets me out of a creative rut. I read every type of book from children’s literature to adult non fiction. Books are a kind of magic for me.
I’m inspired by the colors and textures of nature. Drawing outside has a tonic effect, especially if I’m feeling cooped up.
Is there a work/body of work that you are particularly excited about sharing with us at RISD Craft this year?
My new book published by Little, Brown. It’s called NEITHER and I’m very excited to share it with the RISD community and beyond!
Any recent press, exhibitions, achievements or awards you’d like to share with us?
I was recently featured as a guest blogger on LGBTQ reads, talking about my book NEITHER and its gender-fluidity:
I was also a guest on podcast One Bad Mother, discussing NEITHER:
And NEITHER was featured as a Springtime Read as well as a Pride Month selection at Barnes & Noble.
To see more of Airlie’s work, visit airlieanderson.com
JUDI GOUDREAU
Judi Goudreau
[1991, Illustration]
Based in Pawtucket, RI
Judi Goudreau’s RISD Craft Gallery
This year will be my twelfth making my small expressive sculptures of animals. I try my best to capture each dog or cat’s most endearing quality or characteristic in clay. Each figure is formed from a fist size piece of clay. Using breed specific images and my own memories of my friends, families, and my own pets as a guide. All my sculptures are custom glazed and fired in my studio in Pawtucket, RI.
What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?
Observation, observation, observation! Knowing how my subjects move and interact with each other is the best tool to bring to the table.
How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?
Studying in the illustration department at RISD I was encouraged to try to keep the gestural quality in my drawings and paintings. In my current work this gestural skill is invaluable, it brings life to my sculptures. I strive to bring out the character traits and personalities of the different breeds of dogs and cats that I create. I know I have succeeded when I make you smile.
Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.
It all began when I was sharing a space with a ceramist, I picked up some clay and had fun. I created dogs for my friends and family after my first dog, Conner, died. Making these dogs I used memories of him and found sharing the little sculptures made me smile. I still enjoy making others smile with them.
Is there a work/body of work that you are particularly excited about sharing with us at RISD Craft this year?
I am working on creating a line of pet urns that can be customized to suit the client. They are a beautiful way to honor your furry family member.
Any recent press, exhibitions, achievements or awards you’d like to share with us?
My first solo show this August: the opening was August 2nd, with viewing hours August 3-5 at One Buzzards Bay Avenue, Woods Hole, MA.
To see more of Judi’s work, visit judigoudreau.com
ColorQuarry
Amanda McCorkle
[1998, Graphic Design]
Based in Providence, RI
ColorQuarry’s RISD Craft Gallery
From enchanted forests to underwater seascapes, ColorQuarry, an award-winning design studio hailing from Providence, RI, creates customized one-of-a-kind paper goods fit for the avant-garde. Inspired by the birth of her daughter, Amanda set out to create something that captured the essence of each client’s unique & individual joy. Pairing the centuries-old craft of letterpress printing with her classical training as a graphic designer, Amanda works with her customers to ensure each hand-printed piece is its own mystical nugget of art.
What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?
Some of my most important practices aren’t practices at all… I find I sometimes get my best ideas/inspiration while I’m just out doing other things! I’ll see a random piece of typography that creates a spark of an idea, or a couple of colors I’ve never seen together, and pull out my sketchbook to write it down!
How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?
I spent my time at RISD doing a lot of hand drawn sketches before taking my ideas to the computer. I still do a lot of hand drawing before I get to the computer to create my custom stationery pieces!
Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.
I love children’s books from the sixties & seventies! I also LOVE all of the old WPA posters from the thirties & forties– they are design perfection.
Is there a work/body of work that you are particularly excited about sharing with us at RISD Craft this year?
I’m excited to have new silk screened posters. Usually i just carry letterpress stationery & small woodblock prints, but this fall I will also have posters!
Any recent press, exhibitions, achievements or awards you’d like to share with us?
I recently designed & illustrated the book cover for Tenemental, a funny novel about a single woman owning a triple decker house in Providence’s Federal Hill neighborhood. It was chosen as one of Oprah Magazine’s Summer’s Best Books!
To see more of Amanda’s work, visit colorquarry.etsy.com
M. BENJAMIN HERNDON STUDIO
M. Benjamin Herndon
[2016, MFA Printmaking]
Based in Providence, RI
M. Benjamin Herndon’s RISD Craft Gallery
My prints and drawings feature abstract imagery in the vein of Minimalism, but with a tendency toward organic, natural forms. The drawings are handmade graphite paint and silverpoint on watercolor paper, and appear like solid masses of black until they’re illuminated, at which point they reveal rippling textures caused by hundreds of individual silverpoint lines and/or polished graphite fields. The prints carry these concerns into their medium-specific qualities, such as lithographic tusche or the vibrating line of characteristic of drypoint.
What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?
Experimentation within my self-assigned-parameters of materials and processes is always a guiding feature in my work. For me, the question “what will happen if…” is often what sustains my creative pursuits, and has lead to exciting discoveries as well as inevitable dead-ends.
How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?
Many of my drawings and prints that will be available during Craft come directly from processes I first discovered through research as a graduate student at RISD and have since been refining. As a faculty member in the RISD printmaking department, I find some time when not helping students to make a few prints of my own in Benson Hall.
Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.
I’m always inspired by the interaction of nature with the built environment, such as the geometries created by sunlight moving across architecture, and mossy stonewalls in forests. These visual indications of time are calming and meditative, as well as being formally interesting and often beautiful. I also find great inspiration in the history of art, particularly 20th century Minimalism and many centuries worth of Japanese design and architecture.
Any recent press, exhibitions, achievements or awards you’d like to share with us?
I’m looking forward to my first solo exhibition of paintings this fall at A R E A Gallery in Boston.
To see more of Benjamin’s work, visit mbenjaminherndon.com
LINDA MAGI
Linda Magi
[1977, Jewelry & Metalsmithing]
Based in Rochester, NY
Linda Magi’s RISD Craft Gallery
Interesting design, expert craftsmanship and attention to detail can transform ordinary materials into special objects. I follow this concept as I craft cotton yarn, maple twigs, semi precious stones, silver and other materials into jewelry that redefines the meaning of preciousness.
What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?
Observation and the analysis of what I have observed is an important part of my creative process. Sometimes it is the observation of the world around me and at other times it is the observation of the parts that I have made for my jewelry. I always have parts laid out on my workbench and I am constantly playing with them and thinking about how to put them together.
How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?
My time at RISD laid a good foundation for what I do now. Especially significant are the long hours spent working in the studio experimenting, trying out new Ideas and developing my jewelry making skills. Being surrounded by others working in the studio was also an important part of the experience. I learned a lot by observing their processes, successes and mistakes.
Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.
Inspiration can come from anywhere. While cleaning up brush and cutting down maple saplings at my cottage in Canada I was fascinated by the organic twists and turns of the branches. Taking inspiration from a bench my grandfather had made and my knowledge and admiration of Adirondack style furniture I decided to try incorporating twigs into my jewelry.
Is there a work/body of work that you are particularly excited about sharing with us at RISD Craft this year?
Elements I have crocheted using cotton thread have been part of my jewelry for a long time. Only recently have I started experimenting with crocheting, knitting and other fiber techniques using fine silver wire. I will be showing earrings and necklaces using these techniques at RISD Craft.
Any recent press, exhibitions, achievements or awards you’d like to share with us?
I was recently a guest on the Graphic Ear program on WAYO 104.3 fm radio talking about making, my jewelry and influences, including my time at RISD. Listen to the podcast here.
To see more of Linda’s work, visit lindamagi.com
MARTIN MCDERMOTT
Martin McDermott
[2016, MFA Ceramics]
Based in Jamaica Plain, MA
Martin McDermott’s RISD Craft Gallery
My artistic practice is rooted in the creation of abstract sculptural forms inspired by objects found in nature. I investigate the borders where contrasting formal languages converge: geometric and sensual, raw and refined, emotional and analytical. I look to the canyons, caves, and cliffs in the rocky landscape of the American West, where I grew up, as source material for much of my work. My current interests include the history of land use, development, and preservation.
I choose to work with clay because of its deep literal and metaphorical connection to land. The dynamic processes of shaping, building, drying, and firing mimic geological mechanisms, while the accumulation and subtraction of material encourages the emergence of unexpected sculptural forms. The natural, intuitive gestures of the hand in soft clay meet the geometric, analytical cuts in the surface. Additional layers of meaning are added through the use of slips and glazes.
What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?
The two most important practices in my creative process are experimental mark-making for idea generation and glaze testing. Many of my ideas for new works grow out of the process of making a current piece. It might be a mark that is make or a form I see in a developing work that sparks the idea for a new sculpture. Being present in the process and open to new discoveries is essential for me to continue my creative momentum. Glaze testing is the other area that is fundamental to my process. I create hundreds of glaze tests each year, searching for and refining my recipes for particular surface effects.
How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?
Many of the ideas and themes I’ve explored in my work over the past two years were developed in my time at RISD or grew out of seeds planted during my time in the graduate Ceramics program. The conversations I had with other students, faculty, and visiting artists were so rich and fertile that they are still bearing fruit in my creative process today.
Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.
My main source of inspiration is the junction between human construction and the natural landscape. I’m particularly interested in areas where this junction creates an uneasy tension. An example of this is the strict grid system for laying out roads which was applied most evidently in Western areas of the U.S. The areas where the grid meets the natural topography of the landscape can create feelings of serendipity, tension, and can feel absurd at times. My experience of these areas growing up in Colorado had a profound impact on how I see the landscape and on what I find interesting.
Is there a work/body of work that you are particularly excited about sharing with us at RISD Craft this year?
Over the past year, I’ve been working on a series of small sculptures that I can my “Ore Series.” These works take inspirations from gemstones, crystals, and geodes and use brightly colored glazes to highlight and enhance their forms. I hope to share several of these at RISD Craft this year.
To see more of Martin’s work, visit martinrmcdermott.com
MATHILDE
Claudia Middendorf
[2005, MFA Graphic Design]
Based in Pawtucket, RI
Mathilde celebrates the sustaining power of beauty and comfort in daily life. These European-inspired heirloom quilts and throws are made of carefully curated natural materials; imported linen and 100% cotton sourced in the U.S.A. With each washing, the fabric becomes softer and the intricacies of the pattern work and texture more apparent. I focus on quality, a respect for the timeless power of the handmade, and hold firm to the belief that reconnecting with beauty and comfort will keep us more balanced and in good company with our hectic world.
What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?
I plan the layout with great care. The stitching of every quilt and throw is mapped in a way that emphasizes their texture and I’m keen on the way the character of each piece is enhanced after each washing. It’s like wearing your favorite pair of jeans–after each wash, they just get softer! I’ve always collected blankets and throws–I like how functional and beautiful they are, and I am very interested in using natural materials such as 100% linen and cotton. These are designed for layering in all seasons, as they are very breathable, and entirely machine washable.
How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?
I was trained as a graphic designer, but my true joy is working with linen and creating functional heirloom quilts and throws that can be used every day. My studies had started by looking at patterned language. I’ve taken that concept further by using it with textiles. I love the tactile quality of the fabric and designing how scale changes work with different patterns. The surface designs are intricate yet simple—a blend of influences, subtle references to structure and line elements.
Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.
My great-grandmother was a French-Canadian seamstress. I have two of her aprons she made for my mother and I admire her simple attention to detail. I’m also a architecture enthusiast and I enjoy walking around the east side of Providence and looking at how builders constructed details on old houses. You can see the window and roof line references in my work. Like them, I focus on quality, a respect for the timeless power of the handmade, and believe that reconnecting with beauty and comfort will keep us more balanced and in good company with our (sometimes) hectic world.
Is there a work/body of work that you are particularly excited about sharing with us at RISD Craft this year?
This is the first time I will be introducing these heirloom quilts and throws in a curated fair. I’m proud to be part of the RISD community. I have many friends that are also participating and I’m excited to be part of this incredible array of artists and designers.
To see more of Claudia’s work, visit mathildehome.com