Attention NYC crafters! Join me this Thursday at the amazing Brooklyn Craft Company in Greenpoint, BK for an evening of summer crafting. There will be eight other DIY stations. And of course, I’ll be at the needle felting table.
I just returned from the annual Renegade Craft in Brooklyn. It was pretty great. The fair showcases handmade work and wares of independent craftspeople, artists, and designers from all over the country. Each year the quality of the crafts and goods gets better and better. Here are a few photos I quickly snapped earlier today.
Earlier in the week, Guerilla street artist Olek adorned the Astor Place cube (a scultpural staple of Lower Manhattan) with an enormous crochet covering. The text at the top of the cube reads “I’M STILL PROUD TO SAY WHAT I DO FOR A LIVING.” Sadly, the city removed the cover within a few hours– days of crochet looping destroyed in a matter of minutes. Sigh. If you missed the (extremely) temporary public artwork, check out this video of the pre-dawn installation and see how one covers an unwieldy sculpture in what’s essentially an oversized afghan.
By the way, this isn’t the first time Olek wrapped something in her signature camouflage. With the help of a crochet hook, she’s covered the Wall St. Bull, a bike under the Brooklyn Bridge and an entire studio apartment– just to name a few!
The Cube: Before & AfterOlek covers the cube (screen grab from video)Olek in her installation at the Christopher Henry Gallery (2011)Olek installation at the Christopher Henry Gallery (2011)Wall Street Bull (2010)crocheted piano & player
I came across these amazing sea urchin shells in Manhattan’s Flower District. Sea urchins are pretty amazing, brainless (literally) creatures. When not roaming the oceans of the world, they might be found in fancy floral arrangements. I bought a dozen shells for no other reason than to stare at them. While obsessing over them to my boyfriend, I proclaimed the urchin the “new bird.” The next day he sent me this painting (made on his iPhone using the Brush app, AKA virtual finger painting).
iPhone art by Sean McBride
I went with it.
And more of the amazing sea urchin!
sea urchin ornaments by Ashley Harwood"Mothership" by Rachel Joyntsea urchin lamp (chopsticks cast in resin)"Echinus Esculentus or Common Sea Urchin" copper engraving by George Shaw, 1809
I spent this past weekend at the 2011 World Maker Faire, a massive DIY festival held on the original site of the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing, Queens. Maker Faire celebrates arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the do-it-yourself mind-set, which means tons of hacks and how-tos. My favorites! I learned how to solder for a dollar, watched a life size mouse trap, listened to musical art robots, coveted laser cut felt jewelry, and gawked at MetroCard Man.
The highlight of the fair may have been learning how to knit in 20 minutes. Seriously, in less than a half hour I was transforming a ball of yarn into rows of stitches! (Full disclosure: I still need to learn how to cast on, but I can do a mean knit stitch.) An entire area was devoted to fiber arts instruction where anyone could learn how to embroider, cross-stitch, knit or crochet. You simply told a volunteer what you wanted to learn, they grabbed a few starter materials and sent you on your way to a craft expert. I had a one-on-one lesson with a woman who owned a yarn store for ten years. She was so great. I was knitting all the way home.
THE BASICS:
Yarn Over Knitting Letterpress Linocut Print by PS Press
And here’s another knitting-on-the-subway illustration by Sophie Blackball, a Brooklyn-based artist who recently completed a project illustrating a collection of Craigslist Missed Connections postings. These fleeting love stories are painted in Chinese ink and watercolor. I love them!
HEART in CRAFTS 