.......The American Craft Council Event
The American Craft Council recently brought their event, "Make Room: Modern Design Meets Craft", to Atlanta. The event was launched with a panel discussion at ADAC featuring Bill Peace of Peace Design, Chip Cheatham of Chip and Company, and Tish Mills, of Tish Mills Interiors, who each designed a vignette for the American Craft Council show. Along with several other local designers, they were challenged with incorporating hand made goods from the exhibitors in the show into their design vignette. This was not a tough task considering the talented artisans who presented their wares. The discussion was moderated by Monica Moses, editor of American Craft Magazine and it was a fun conversation because the three designers are friends and have great chemistry plus they share a great sense of humor.
Tish Mills
Bill Peace
Chip Cheatham
Moses
asked the three designers questions about where they get their
inspiration and how they get to know their clients but the most important question Moses asked was, "What
role do crafts and hand made goods play in your design process?"
Chip had a very thoughtful response, "When you add
handmade pieces to a room you add a sense of history and humanity in
the form of art, utensils, and objects. These things reflect the
homeowner’s mood and energy, they also create conversation."
Tish
and Bill added that a hand made or collected piece can actually drive
their design direction. For instance, getting to know the
client by observing their favorite things in their home and what they
collect really helps during the design process.
What comes to mind when you hear the word "craft"? Glue guns and DIY projects?
While there are some good uses for a glue gun and some pretty good DIY projects out there, some people don't comprehend the meaning of the word craft. Dictionary.com defines the word craft as "an art, a trade, or an occupation requiring a special skill, especially manual skill: the craft of a mason."
While I was writing this post, my sister just happened to tell me about a woman named Marsha Gold who wrote a book called, Crafting Life: Travel through my collection, and I liked what she had to say about crafts. "There
are lots of debates about what craft is, but for me, 'craft' involves
objects that are made by people, usually by hand, whether to serve
functional purposes or as artistic expression—or both. Collecting
crafts has provided me a way to get to know, understand, and support
diverse craftspeople and the communities in which they are engaged.
The collection also serves as a vital source of memories that I
can revisit and use to bring a smile to my face every day".
The
following are some of my favorite hand made items that were used in
the vignettes designed by Bill, Tish and Chip, as well as a few of
the other designers.
This
vessel is a piece of pottery designed by Becky
and Steve Lloyd that Tish featured in her vignette.
Interior
designer, Jackie
Naylor used these tea light holders, by Brooks
Barrow, in her vignette.
Lori
May, of Lori
May Interiors, used artwork by Lynn
Pollard. Pollard creates these by dipping, what appeared to
be watercolor paper, into different dyes.
Bill
Peace used this stool by Donald
Shelton.
Lori
May also used this chair by Derek
Hennigar.
Chip
used this sculpture by David
Bryce.
Let's
return to the panel discussion. When Moses asked the panel how
they turn off their design switch, she got a brief chuckle followed
by all three saying, "you don't". When Tish isn't
designing interiors, she is designing pieces for her lighting line,
B5b, or designing jewelry with her daughters. Chip said he has
to keep a notebook on his bedside table to write down his ideas when
he wakes up in the middle of the night. I can certainly relate
to that.
One
last question that Moses asked was, "what is the most fun about
being a designer?" Bill said what he enjoys most
is the sense of collaboration with artisans, builders,
architects, and landscape architects; working together on a project,
getting to know those people. Chip said his favorite thing is
travel. "When I was in Java, we were walking through
this cow pasture and I saw a stump sticking up, I said 'let’s dig
it up'. Six hours later, this 50” diameter, 28” high,
gnarly root is now a table for sale in my showroom. Finding
unusual objects in unusual places is fun to me."
I have the
luxury of working with many talented craftsmen and artisans every
day. Follow me and see who they are.
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