Craft Show Artists 2011

David D'Imperio — Stony Run, PA   |   daviddimperio.com

My lights are functional sculptures. They are a combination of new technology and old fashioned hand craftsmanship. I explore each idea through drawings, then models. Later I scale them up. The simple lines of the design are composed of hundreds of parts that have been cut, carved polished lacquered, turned, formed or engraved. Electricity then adds the final touch and magic. My current collection uses wood, metal, plastics and glass components.

Jenifer & Don Green — Delhi, NY   |   greentreehome.com

Dedicated to the creation of well crafted timeless studio furniture and accessories, we use traditional joinery and construction to build each piece, by hand, in our studio. Know for our heirloom pieces, we work with select domestic and exotic hardwoods and veneers to produce new and innovative work. Our designs represent a marriage of fresh design and traditional construction.

Richard Judd — Belleville, WI   |   richardjudd.com

My furniture designs represent a continuous exploration in wood working techniques. My current work incorporates bending wood. Glue is applied to thin sheets, which are placed against a solid form and vacuum pressed. The birch ply core is a sustainable yield product. I carefully select the most highly figured veneer for the faces. It is estimated that this technique uses one tenth of the natural resources compared to solid wood construction.

Gregg Lipton — Cumberland, ME   |   liptonfurniture.com

Inspired by the inherent beauty of wood and driven by my fascination with furniture design, I hope to uncover new and unique solutions to the design problems posed by furniture of where to relax, eat, read, work, sleep, and collect. In my concern with form, line, shadow and proportion, my work ultimately reflects a respect for the past while reaching for the future. As in nature, I believe that equilibrium in design is achieved when nothing can be added, nothing taken away.

Riki Moss & Robert Ostermeyer — Grand Isle, VT   |   studio-glow.com

The illuminated sculptures of studio-glow are formed from paper pulp of a compressed banana stalk and leaf called abaca. The pulp is pressed into sheets which are assembled in patterns, hung upside down and allowed to dry and shrink naturally. By processing the pulp in our Hollander beater for 8 hours, the plant fibers are cut short, increasing the shrinkage and strength of the drying paper. As it dries, it interacts with its structure in a startling collaboration of time, gravity, air and armature. Each unique piece takes a week to create, dry and assemble. Abaca is the perfect material for our times; natural, renewable, beautiful. When lit, the color is golden, warm, comforting. Light travels over the surface evoking universal forms; the breaking of a wave, the spiraling of shell, reef, river, smoke and cloud.

Dean Pulver — El Prado, NM   |   deanpulver.com

I strive to create pieces that are layered with reference to nature, culture, creativity, life and living. They are meant to be monuments to our existence. My hope is to create a beauty that is true and pure, and resonates in the mind inescapably.

Michael Puryear — Shokan, NY   |   michaelpuryear.com

As a designer and studio furniture maker I provide a service to imaginative and discerning clients by designing and building to their special needs. I work primarily in wood because of its natural warmth and appeal to the hand.

I wish to imbue my work with shibui, the Japanese term for simple elegance. This often involves curved elements and contrasting woods. This simplicity belies the complexity of the problem of creating and joining these elements aesthetically while maintaining full function of the design.

Bradford Smith — Worcester, PA   |   bradfordwoodworking.com

Furniture is often categorized into easily recognized styles such as Shaker, County or Arts and Crafts. Over the past 30 years, I have worked to develop a design language that is truly my own. In doing so I have been able to create furniture that cannot be pigeonholed into an existing style. Despite this, my work has a familiarity. I achieve this through the use of recycled materials, good proportions, and old-fashioned usefulness. I find a warmth and history in each salvaged piece of lumber that I use. The marriage of old and new that can be found in my work plays an important role in expressing the richness of things made today and things made decades ago. I want my furniture to not only tell a story, but also be the beginning of a new story.

David Stine — Dow, IL   |   stinewoodworking.com

I design and craft furniture working only with local, native hardwood that I have harvested and sawn myself from my family's forests. Every piece is hand crafted and hand finished using only natural and environmentally friendly finishes like linseed oil. The design of each piece is driven entirely by the inner beauty of the boards; as I saw each log, I see what I will build. Each piece is a testament to the grace and majesty of the tree, which lives on in a beautiful and functional way. No two pieces are alike. Each is one-of-a-kind.

J.M. Syron & Bonnie Bishoff — Rockport, MA

We collaborate to create furniture that reflects the sensuous forms and patterns found in the natural world. We enjoy making surfaces that intrigue the eye on many levels. Our solid wood furniture incorporates unique veneers of polymer clay. We use both millefiori and marquetry techniques to create richly detailed surface designs in the polymer clay veneers. Our exploration and development of polymer clay techniques for these purposes is most unique.

Damian Velasquez — Albuquerque, NM   |   Half13.com

The furniture I create is a culmination of twenty years of experience and learning, none of which were formal. The expression has always been consistent: to provide beauty in objects that we surround ourselves with every day. My latest body of work goes back to where I started: simple forms from welded metal. The latest offerings have evolved from steel to stainless steel as a response for the desire for long lasting quality outdoor furniture. Each piece is conceptualized on a napkin, transferred to cardboard where it is mocked up to refine dimensions, comfort, and scale. Upon arrival of a design that is worthy of further effort it is then made from expanded steel. When this prototype is finished any details that need adjustment are noted and changed. Finally the design is made from expanded stainless steel. A powder coated color is often applied to enrich the overall effect on the senses. Often one design will inspire the next, which continues the never-ending pursuit of my life.