CRAFT OF MAINE – SEPTEMBER 2008

By Joshua Bodwell

Photography Trent Bell

Ponds, paths, and native plantings on the Blue Hill peninsula

This October, at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland Village, over forty craft artists who have been selected will show their work in a prestigious exhibition and sale. For nineteen years the Work of the Hand show has presented the work of New England’s finest artists and artisans at CMCA’s historic firehouse gallery. Here we showcase six representatives from this remarkable group.

CMCA Work of the Hand
Show and Sale, October 10 through 19.
Center for Maine Contemporary Art
cmcanow.org
207-236-287

Basha Burwell

Basha Burwell is a photo stylist and art director as well as a jewelry designer. She studied art history at Hamilton College and the University of Florence, Italy; trained in metalsmithing, clay, and jewelry making at MECA and Haystack; and apprenticed in New York and Maine.

Galleries: Foundry Lane, Fibula, Josephine
bashaburwell.com

Beaded bands and etched bands, 2005–2007, 18K gold

Scott Tubby

Scott Tubby’s elegant forms and firing techniques have been written about in The New Yorker magazine, Ceramics Monthly, and Studio Potter. His art has been widely exhibited in numerous public and private collections throughout the United States, and several of his pots are in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Galleries: Beth Ellis Cove Gallery, Domaine Gallery, Haley Farm Gallery

Untitled Raku, 2007, earthenware, 8” x 10”

George Pearlman

George Pearlman has been making pots for over twenty-five years. He is a recipient of the Maine Arts Commission individual artist grant as well as many other grants, teaching positions, and artist residencies and shows in galleries, museums, and universities throughout this country and many others. He lives and works in St. George, Maine.

Galleries: St. George Pottery, The Firehouse Gallery, The New Era Gallery
stgeorgepottery.com

Bottle Pair, 2008, porcelain, 10” x 4”

Geoffrey Warner

Geoffrey Warner has designed and made contemporary furniture for over twenty-five years. Arts and crafts, Japanese, Danish, and Art Nouveau designs, as well as nature inform his distinctive, evolving vocabulary. Warner designs with practicality, builds with integrity, and works with efficiency, never compromising beauty. Warner’s pieces are conceived as functional sculpture to delight the senses.

Galleries: Geoffrey Warner Studio, New Center for Maine Craft, Daniel Kany Gallery
geoffreywarnerstudio.com

Stonington Continuous Armchair, 2008, walnut, 39” x 24” x 24”

Sarah Shepley

Sarah Shepley graduated from The Maine College of Art with a BFA in ceramics and has explored many different media over the years, including twelve years designing polymer clay jewelry. Over the past six years, Sarah has taught bookmaking throughout the state, combining the technique of handmade books along with designing papers and embellishing with metals, wood, and collage.

Galleries: Handworks Gallery, Hole in the Wall Gallery, Commons Art Collective
shepleydesigns.com

Wisdom teachings, 2008, book board, handmade paper, wood, 5” x 6” x 4”