Explore the World of the Human Spirit. Passion, Ingenuity and Skill.
Editor’s Picks
Silver & Gold
These precious metals have been part of the lexicon of jewelers since humans mastered blacksmithing, thousands of years ago.
RAPHAEL SANZIO PENDANT
by Roberta and David Williamson.
Features and Departments
Shuoyuan Bai Volume 43.1
The quiet and conscious aesthetic of Chinese jeweler Shuoyuan Bai, born in China but taught in America, is revealed in this article.
Craft in America with Harriete Estel Berman
The Process of Becoming 42.4
Craft in America Jewelry Episode 42.4
Early Roman Mosaic Face Beads 42.4
Iris Apfel Volume 42.3
Iris Apfel’s flamboyant and bold sense of style has made her the standard bearer for individual expression.
Philadelphia Craft Show 2021 Volume 42.3
This leading craft show gets back in-person for November 2021, giving us pause to reflect on the connections that these events help foster.
Small Wonders
The Heard Museum’s exhibition, “Small Wonders,” showcases vintage and contemporary Native American jewelry and small objects.
Breton Shirts
Ornament reviews the history of the Breton shirt, worn by French sailors and others in the maritime trade, but transformed over the years from utilitarian garment to bold fashion identity.
Crafting Excellence: The Windgate Fellowship
The Windgate Fellowship is a grant for college seniors in the crafts, which gives recipients the opportunity to develop their careers in this field.
Amy Nguyen
Amy Nguyen’s intensive study of the Japanese dyeing technique of shibori has allowed her to develop a distinctive style that merges East and West.
Smithsonian Craft Optimism
A new digital crafts market by the Smithsonian Women’s Committee draws attention to the issue of climate change, and the artists whose methods and materials seek a more sustainable future.
Harriete Estel Berman
Glen R. Brown examines the jewelry and message of Harriete Estel Berman. With a mindfulness of our finite Earth and of the destructive impact from disposable plastics, Berman uses her sense of humor to transform trash into treasure.
Freddy Wittop
Producing costumes for the Paris music halls, ice skating performances, Broadway, the New York City Opera and ballet, Freddy Wittop transformed many a stage into a magical wonderland.
J. Fred Woell
Carl Little opens a window into the mind and work of the late J. Fred Woell, fellow Mainer, jeweler and sage, equally adept in his jewelry of found/cast work as his philosophy of art.
Carter Smith
In this reprinted article from 2009, the late Carolyn L. E. Benesh explores the artist’s path through the world of shibori textile artist Carter Smith.
Marianne Hunter
The late Carolyn L. E. Benesh introduces us to the mind and work of enamel jeweler Marianne Hunter, whose pieces are both intricate and full of symbols and hidden meanings.
TUAREG JEWELRY
Robert K. Liu gives coverage to the extensive Tuareg collection of Ellen Benson. The unusual and finely crafted examples in Benson’s collection help illustrate the level of technical mastery by Tuareg smiths, as well as predominant styles and types of work.
Chris Francis
Patrick R. Benesh-Liu finds in the front window of the Craft and Folk Art Museum a spiritual compatriot to Koos Van Den Akker. Shoemaker Chris Francis has worn many hats in his life.
African Print-Fashion
Wax prints have been adopted by Africans and made into their own expressive, brilliantly colored textile.
Please note that these articles have been reformatted for web viewing. To read the full article as it was intended, purchase the magazine or article PDF.
Best of
Wearable Artists
As the 60s and 70s, the heyday of wearable art as a new medium, fade into the past, contemporary wearable art has become more refined, minimalistic, and influenced by fashion. This divergence has seen some of the spiritual successors to wearable art branch off into popular culture, such as Burning Man, cosplay, and fursuiting.
JACKET by K. Riley, of hand-carved blockprinted fabric, 2019.
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We revisit the mesmerizing jewelry of Mary Lee Hu by the late Carolyn L.E. Benesh. Carolyn had a personal appreciation of Hu’s meticulous work, and in this article, she offers a paean to beauty, accomplished and mighty, through Hu’s own journey of teaching and innovating.