Contemporary Wood Now on Display at Carnegie Museum of Art

A week ago on our way home from a Christmas party, we stopped at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh to see the newly re-opened decorative arts area; the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Galleries of Decorative Arts and Design. The entrance takes you past some very ornate French furniture then around a U shaped space where the display transitions to more contemporary work. At the end just before you pass through the exit doors are two wall cases with glass fronts. The one on the right has 4 of my spoons. The spoons are in with two Ellsworths, the 3 generations of Moulthrup, and two Hunters. The second case, even closer to the exit door, has Harvey Fein on the wall, Ron Kent and Rude Osolnik on upper shelves and Liam Flynn, Virginia Dotson, Ron Layport, Bin Pho, John Jordon, and Michelle Holzapfel going left to right. This decorative arts room of the Carnegie has been closed for a long time for renovation and restoration. More here: http://www.cmoa.org/info/bruce.asp

Updated Video from Christian Burchard

This is the "final" version of video featuring Christian and his work. Some great images.
Click here

Pictures from Figge show courtesy of Steve Sinner

Journal of Modern Craft article coauthored by Mark Sfirri

The Journal of Modern Craft is an international peer-reviewed academic journal out of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Glenn Adamson is the editor. Roberta A. Mayer and Mark Sfirri co-authored a feature titled "Early Expressions of Anthroposophical Design in America: The Influence of Rudolf Steiner and Fritz Westhoff on Wharton Esherick." It appears in the current November 2009 issue of the journal. Mark has been researching Esherick for the past three years and has previously published three articles on him for "Woodwork" magazine

Check It Out - Recent Acquistions of Turned Wood at the Victoria and Albert Museum

Filling a Gap: Recent Acquisitions of Turned Wood at the V&A
by Glenn Adamson Head of Graduate Studies and Deputy Head of Research Department, V&A
Abstract

Until very recently, the V&A has made little effort to represent the art of wood turning in its collection. The discipline involves shaping wood on a lathe, and often altering it through carving or other techniques. This gap in the collection has been redressed recently through a curatorial initiative, which has resulted in the acquisition of a small but important group of key works. This article explains the reasons for the relative neglect of wood turning in previous years, and also describes some of the recently acquired objects.

Click here for article. http://www.vam.ac.uk/res_cons/research/online_journal/journal-2-index/adamson-filling-the-gap/index.html

Check It Out - Woodwork Magazine

Rob Hitzig writes:
Woodwork (magazine) has its annual issue on the newsstand right now. For those not familiar with it, it is a really great resource for woodworkers, collectors, and galleries interested in cutting edge artists working in wood. Great profiles, images, and discussions that go well beyond any other magazine that I've ever found on wood art; however, they have been struggling to continue to publish and recently went from quarterly to yearly issues. For those not near a newsstand that carries it, you can purchase it online at: http://www.foxchapelpublishing.com/g-10-woodwork.aspx. Among other things, there is a nice profile on David Ellsworth in this issue.

Smithsonian Craft Show 2010 Wood Artists

The following wood artists have been juried into the Spring 2010 show from over 1300 total applicants. Congratulations.

Michael Bauermeister
Donald Boudreau
Christian Burchard
Bruce Chapin - first time exhibitor
John Dodd
Louise Hibbert
Jay Hollis - first time exhibitor
Janel Jacobson
Simon Levy
Tsvetomir Naydenov - first time exhibitor
Denise Nielsen
David Nittmann
Judy Rand
Norm Sartorius
Mike Shuler - first time exhibitor
Phil Weber

Other stats of interest. Last year there were on 7 exhibitors in the wood category.
In 2010:
4 Basketry
20 Ceramics
10 Decorative Fiber
10 Furniture
12 Glass
17 Jewelry
3 Leather
7 Metal
6 Mixed Media
6 Paper
11 Wearable Arts
16 Wood