Welcome VIVA’s 2023 Artisan Market Artists!
Robbie Brokken – Jewelry - I create one-of-a-kind jewelry from repurposed vintage jewelry. I dismantle the older pieces and recreate them to new eclectic pieces. These pieces are whimsical, eclectic and fun.
Jared Torkelson – Woodcarving - A fanbird starts with a single piece of wood, usually white pine, with the correct grain orientation and moisture content. After the profile of the feathers and the outline of the body are carved, the feathers are carefully split apart, fanned out, and interlocked to form the wings and tail.
Andy and Jolene Rasmussen – Fused Glass – Our fused glass work consists of decorative as well as functional pieces. The process begins with a theme, usually reflective of the movement or patterns we see in nature and then interpreted into glass. Starting with sheet glass we create and fuse the base layers of a piece. Next, components made in our studio including twisted cane, millefiori, and pattern bars are added to the base layer to create the desired pattern or picture. The piece is fused several more times as consecutive layers of components are added to achieve the desired composition. A final firing into a ceramic mold gives the piece it's final shape.
Mariella TerBeest-Schladweiler – Fiber - I design and construct upholstery fabric handbags. I start by sketching a design out on paper and draft a pattern. I work with color, pattern and blend a combination of fabrics, which develops into a unique look to the handbag.
Anna Loney – Metal - I think it’s fun to make shapes and forms with wire.
I don’t make things which are overly self-conscious, but are well-crafted, and thoughtfully executed.
Whimsy, simplification, imagery and abstraction can show up in pieces I make. I value these objectives. And I’m just part of history’s long chain of makers who’ve found a way of making which appeals to their time and sensibilities.
Nic Smolen - Metal - Hand forged ornamental items for the home, personal adornment, and cutlery. I specialize in using my own Damascus steel and mokume gane for cutlery and personal adornment items. I combine traditional forging techniques with modern manufacturing processes to produce unique artistic pieces.
Crystel Curley – Textiles - Working through the creative process, from common textiles to a useful tangible potholder, helps soothe my heart and soul.
Sally Turner - Woven and Coiled Baskets - My pine needle work is created using longleaf pine needles that come from the Carolinas, Georgia, or Florida. The raw needles are placed in a water and glycerin bath and roasted slowly for several hours at a low temperature. The needles retain the glycerin, this strengthens them. If I choose to use color in the needles, dye is added to the glycerin bath. Once this process is finished the needles are placed on drying racks and rotated on a daily basis until they are completely dry. They are then ready to be coiled into a vessel using various embroidery-type stitches. Not always, but often I will use a base (wood, ceramic, wire form) as an anchor for the needles and stitches when I begin a piece.
Harvesting bark has taken me to SE Alaska for red and yellow cedar, Iowa and Wisconsin for willow, and my own back yard for birch. Timing is everything when harvesting natural materials as the ease of bark removal depends on sap flow through the tree. Whatever outer bark isn't needed is peeled and left behind in the woods. Inner bark can be processed right away or set out to carefully dry for processing at a later time. Strips of bark can be thinned to produce multiple pieces (cedar and birch, not willow), these pieces can then be refined into thinner strips for weaving.
Reed is a wood-like material that comes from a type of bamboo plant that grows in a vine in parts of Asia. It is plentiful as its habitat is a tropical rainforest. Each plant can grow 3'-5' per day. The vines are harvested and processed overseas, and the product is available from basket suppliers. Reed accepts both natural and commercial dyes well.
I enjoy using a variety of materials, I find working with naturals to be the most rewarding. There are many life lessons I experience when creating art; knowing when I need to be patient, working through a challenge of design and media, being intuitive with the piece as each project has a mind and soul of its own and realizing when I've given a piece my best and the outcome is way different than what was intended. Like life itself each piece and its journey is part of a bigger plan.
