Boat in hand by Cathy Broski

Every year the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) and the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) join forces and put on the Arts Ball. The Arts Ball raises much needed funds for these great organizations. This year it lands directly on Halloween. It will probably have the best costumes of any Halloween party in the city.

The museum is a great asset that "exists to exhibit, collect, preserve, and interpret modern and contemporary art." Almost all of the exhibits at the museum are free and they are always presenting new works and educational series.

The symphony presents amazing musical works and brings in some of the best musicians in the world to perform with them.

If you happen to be attending the Arts Ball this weekend, make sure you take a good look at the silent auction. And I recommend bidding on “Boat in hand” by Cathy Broski which was donated by Artful Home.

Ember Rose Scarf by Jenne Giles

If you’ve seen the Rose Scarves by Jenne Giles, you’ve seen how stunning the rose effect is. Recently we’ve had quite a few people ask us how to get that beautiful rose effect when wearing the scarf. Well, Jenne came to the rescue and created a great how-to video to show you how to tie your scarf to achieve the rose styling and several other creative ways for wearing the scarf. Take a peek at the video below.

Jenne herself is a San Francisco-based artist whose work ranges from traditional fine arts and crafts to innovative performance and installation art. She is dedicated to creating unique pieces of wearable art which combine her love for painterly color, sculptural form, folk art, and costume.

Besides her rose scarves in colors that range from winter white to “nocturne” (which is a combination of deep blue an grey), she also makes beautiful felted wraps. I love the luxurious fiber combinations that she uses. Her works contain Merino wool which is the reason the fibers felt, but she also includes various types of silk fibers to give the piece a luxurious look and feel.

Among the many highlights at last week’s national conference of the American Craft Council was the announcement of their prestigious awards of recognition. It was thrill to honor Michael Monroe, who serves as Artful Home’s most senior Art Advisor and Juror. Michael Monroe, Director of Curatorial Affairs at Bellevue Arts Museum, was honored with the prominent "Award of Distinction for Contributions to the Field of Craft" by the American Craft Council. The award "recognizes an organization, institution, corporation or individual who has made significant contributions to the field of craft with a minimum of 25 years of service," according to a recent press release by the American Craft Council, and "honors those who have demonstrated outstanding artistic achievement, leadership and service in the craft field."

Micheal’s response, as always, was humble.
"I’m delighted and deeply honored to be the recipient of the 2009 Award of Distinction from the American Craft Council," Monroe states. "The American Craft Council has been a driving force in both the traditional and studiocraft movements, and I’m proud to have been – and continue to be – part of introducing craft and craft artists to new audiences."

We know Michael well here at Artful Home, and turn to him frequently for his sage advice. His broad knowledge of artists across all media is staggering, and his openness and receptivity to newness has taught us much.

So just who is he? An eminent figure in the world of craft, Michael Monroe has served as independent curator, noted lecturer, author and juror for over 35 years. He joined Bellevue Arts Museum in 2005 as Executive Director/Chief Curator and transitioned into the role of Director of Curatorial Affairs in 2008. Prior to his tenure at BAM, Monroe was associated with the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, which collects and presents exhibitions that feature the creative achievements of craft artists and designers in the United States. Monroe served as curator from 1974, and in 1986, he became curator-in-charge, a position he held until 1995. During his tenure he was invited by President William Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton to organize a collection for the White House in commemoration of the Year of American Craft.

Congratulations, Michael! We can think of no more deserving recipient

Running Dog Table by Jamie Robertson

“I don’t like brown furniture,” says Jamie Robertson, who runs little risk of being grouped with the monochromatic crowd. With more than 30 years of experience making furniture in the Boston area, Robertson rests his reputation on cleanly designed pieces that make use of richly colored woods and highly imaginative carvings.

“From the start, I’ve used furniture as a vehicle for decoration,” says the artist, who began working in wood in the early 1970s. Robertson redefined his woodworking techniques both on his own and as a part of the Cambridgeport Cooperative Woodshop (1973-1990), which he helped to found. The members of the co-op often shared projects, tools, wages, and ideas.

Today one of Robertson’s specialties is marquetry, the art of cutting and fitting together fine strips of wood, known as veneers, to create a single surface. He calls it the ultimate jigsaw puzzle.”I used veneers because I love their variety, the different effects I can create, the color combinations,” says Robertson.

Water Bench by Jamie Robertson

Given this attention to color, it’s no surprise that Robertson is a fan of modern painting. He also draws from early-twentieth-century designers associated with Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements.

“The Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements were really a rebellion against industrialization—the mass-produced, factory-made furniture that was becoming popular at the end of the nineteenth century.”

“Protesting against mechanization is not the reason I make furniture, of course. I drive a machine-made car every day. I use power tools. I’m not living in the woods; I’m not a Luddite. But I am making a complicated statement—if it can be called a statement—in my art; about how important it is to be connected to the objects in your environment and to interpret them. Objects don’t come out of nowhere. Every time I create a new object, I’m responding to, and in some ways organizing, a history of ideas and forms.”