Red Pleated
by Britt Rynearson

Every year we come to the end of November and we think about the things we are thankful for. One of the things I am thankful for is getting to work with some of the best artists in North America. Nearly every day there is a new piece of artwork being added to the website. Often something that we ooh and ahh over. The originality, the hand-crafted detail, the uniqueness of the work.

The economy is starting to recover, and not a moment too soon for American artists. They were really hit hard when people started spending less and only buying the necessities. Because for many, hand-crafted work is not a necessity. I disagree. I would rather save my pennies and purchase something that I know was created by someone who loves what they are doing, someone who pays attention to the details, someone with a vision for how an object is going to be used. Because of this I may not have a lot, but what I have is very special – and I am thankful for every single object.

What are you thankful for?

We have partnered with the One of a Kind Show and Sale® Chicago to be able to offer a limited number of passes to the event. Each pass gets you and a guest into all four days of the show. Find a wide range of works in ceramics, clothing, furniture, glass, jewelry, sculpture, and much more.

To win your free tickets, visit the Artful Home fan page on Facebook and post why you want to go to the One of a Kind Show and Sale®. The first 5 posts will receive a 2 free VIP passes for all four days. Every post after that will receive a four day pass for you and a friend, until all the passes have been given away.

Attend on Saturday, December 5 at 1 pm and watch Lisa Bayne’s presentation “Collecting Fine Craft” – free with VIP pass.

The One of a Kind Show and Sale® Chicago is an extraordinary holiday shopping show featuring the best in fine art and fine craft from more than 500 of unique artists, artisans and designers from across North America. Each item for sale at the show will be made by hand, one piece at a time, and every artist represented will be in attendance-offering shoppers the wonderful opportunity to buy pieces directly from the artist who created it and support the independent artist community. The show is a refreshing alternative to traditional retail and the ideal place to find unique gifts in a wide range of media and categories. For more information, please visit www.oneofakindshowchicago.com.

Artful Home is thrilled to celebrate the debut of Season Two of the Peabody-Award Winning PBS series “Craft in America”. We have teamed up with the folks from “Craft in America” to offer two exciting ways for you to take part.

Do you live in Los Angeles (or know somebody that does)?
Artful Home has two free tickets* to the preview screening and party and the winner will get to have a private tour of the new Craft in America Study Center and the Maloof Woodworking Exhibition.
> Enter to Win

Want your very own copy of “Craft in America”, Season Two?

Through our relationship with PBS, we have TEN copies of the DVD to give away to Artful Home.
> Enter to Win

Learn more about “Craft in America”
More than 10 years ago, at about the same time that we opened Artful Home to present the work of North America’s finest craft and fine artists, Carol Sauvion set out on a parallel journey into the origin and continuation of craft traditions across the United States. Her journey resulted in the Peabody Award-winning series on PBS, CRAFT IN AMERICA, as well as an accompanying book and museum show which has toured the country for the past two years. The second season airs nationwide on PBS, Wednesday October 7, 2009, 8-10PM ET.

Other Advance Screening Locations and Viewing Parties

Brian Kershsnik

By the age of 18, Brian Kershisnik had lived in four different countries. His father, a petroleum geologist, relocated the family from Oklahoma to Angola; from Angola to Thailand; from Thailand to Texas; and from Texas to Pakistan.

“I’ve always felt somewhat out of place, but I think that being a stranger may be more of a universal experience than belonging,” says Kershisnik, who ultimately settled in the small Mormon town of Kanosh, Utah. “I believe that humanity is largely motivated by a sense of belonging to something we haven’t quite seen yet but can almost remember. Being awkward is a part of life.”

Reading a Very Small Book

And, he realizes, a part of art. The people in his paintings—drawn in bold, charcoal outlines, but often left with unfinished features— are often out of place themselves. In Father and Son Dancing, a man holds his infant son on his shoulder. It could have been painted as a pure expression of joy, but this father is clumsy, heavy-footed. In Flight Practice with Instructions, a man tries to fly, but is tethered to the ground like a kite on a string. He is not flying as much as practicing flight, a crucial theme for the artist.

“Several summers ago, I saw a man in his front yard practicing his cast with a new fly rod. My comment to my wife was quite accidental. ‘Look. That man is practicing flying.’ She is quite used to my making such mistakes and rather than correcting me suggested it was a good idea for a painting. As I began sketching, I realized how vital the issue of ‘practice’ has been in my work, though I had never before named it. How splendidly human it is to practice. Everything we do can be seen as practice, as long as we believe that the failure of our current task will sooner or later—and probably gradually—give way to something lovely, even beautiful.”