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
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.
Enduring Splendor of India
The jewelry featured in “Enduring Splendor” derives primarily from Rajasthan and Gujarat, on the westernmost periphery of India.
SHOE STORIES
Stuart Weitzman was both a shoe collector, and a shoemaker.
Worn On This Day
Every garment in Worn on This Day has two histories: its provenance—how it came to be—and what it came to mean. Each one takes us beyond the who, where and when of fashion history to the elusive how and why.
Meticulous Geometry
Minimalist yet monumental, Richard Chavez’s jewelry utilizes bold and contrasting combinations of stones. He employs unusual specimens, such as black and green jade, to eloquently depict imagery both abstract and representational.
Made in India
Dutch bead researcher and glass artist Floor Kaspers describes vividly in words and photographs the current production of glass beads in India, resulting from her extensive travels to Europe and Asia to study beadmaking around the world.
Virginia Dudley 39.4
Ashley Callahan traces the career of a modernist artist who worked in many media, but was best known for her award-winning enamels during the 1950s. While Virginia Dudley’s life is not well-documented, Callahan still shapes a fascinating study of an artist passionate about her vocation.
Donna D’Aquino Volume 38.4
Jeweler Donna D’Aquino uses soft steel wire to create three-dimensional drawings using the wire as her pen and ink.
Kiff Slemmons 37.5
Glen R. Brown brings to bear the contemplative and reflective nature of Kiff Slemmons’s modes of ideation; this most recent act of retrospection has Slemmons taking Neolithic stone tools and refashioning them into distinctive new works, all while regardful of the ancient toolmaker and maintaining the inherent craftsmanship of the objects.
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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Robert K. Liu provides a comparison between the ancient and the modern craftsperson, using his own personal experience in making as a reference, as well as ancient examples of crafts.