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What you'll learn in this episode: How Jonathan moved from sculpture to jewelry to drawing, and why he explores different ideas with each medium How the relationship between craft and fine art has evolved over the years Why people became more interested in jewelry during the pandemic Why jewelers working in any style benefit from strong technical skills How you can take advantage of the 92nd Street Y's jewelry programming and virtual talks About Jonathan Wahl Jonathan Wahl joined 92nd Street Y in July 1999 as director of the jewelry and metalsmithing program in 92Y's School of the Arts, the largest program of its kind in the nation. He is responsible for developing and overseeing the curriculum, which offers more than 60 classes weekly and 15 visiting artists annually. Jonathan is also responsible for hiring and supervising 25 faculty members, maintaining four state-of-the-art jewelry and metalsmithing studios, and promoting the department locally and nationally as a jewelry resource center. Named one of the top 10 jewelers to watch by W Jewelry in 2006, Jonathan is an accomplished artist who, from 1994 to 1995, served as artist-in-residence at Hochschule Der Kunst in Berlin, Germany. He has shown his work in the exhibitions Day Job (The Drawing Center), Liquid Lines (Museum of Fine Arts Houston), The Jet Drawings (Sienna Gallery, Lenox MA, and SOFA New York), Formed to Function (John Michael Kohler Arts Center), Defining Craft (American Craft Museum), Markers in Contemporary Metal (Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art), Transfigurations: 9 Contemporary Metalsmiths (University of Akron and tour), and Contemporary Craft (New York State Museum). Jonathan was awarded the Louis Comfort Tiffany Emerging Artist Fellowship from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, two New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships in recognition of "Outstanding Artwork," and the Pennsylvania Society of Goldsmiths Award for "Outstanding Achievement." As part of the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, TX, and The Museum of Arts and Design in New York, his work has been reviewed by Art in America (June, 2000), The New York Times (June 2005), and Metalsmith Magazine (1996, 1999, 2000 2002, 2005, 2009); his work was also featured in Metalsmith Magazine's prestigious "Exhibition in Print" (1994 and 1999). Jonathan's art work can be seen at Sienna Gallery in Lenox, Massachusetts, which specializes in contemporary American and European art work, and De Vera in Soho, New York. His work can also be seen in the publications The Jet Drawings (Sienna Press, 2008), and in three collections by Lark Books: 1,000 Rings, 500 Enameled Objects and 500 Metal Vessels. Before joining 92Y, Jonathan was, first, director of the jewelry and metalsmithing department at the YMCA's Craft Students League, and later assistant director of the League itself. Mr. Wahl holds a B.F.A. in jewelry and metalsmithing from Temple University's Tyler School of Art and an M.F.A. in metalsmithing and fine arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz. He is a member of the Society of North America Goldsmiths. Additional Resources: Website: www.jonathanwahl.com Website: www.92y.org/jewelry LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jonathancwahl Instagram: @jonathancwahl/   Photos: Available at TheJewelryJourney.com Transcript: With more than 60 jewelry classes offered weekly, the 92nd Street Y's Jewelry Center is by far the largest program of its kind in the country—and it's all run by award-winning sculptor, jeweler and artist Jonathan Wahl. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about the different relationships he has with jewelry and sculpture; why craftsmanship should be embraced by the art world; and what he has planned for 92Y in 2022. Read the episode transcript here. Interview with Jonathan Wahl 4/3/22     Sharon: Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast.  Today, my guest is Jonathan Wahl, Director of the Jewelry Center at the 92nd Street Y in New York.  Jonathan was recently on the podcast, but we had to rush through the description of the many jewelry programs that are going on at the Y.  So, I asked him back to tell us about the programs in more detail.  Many of them are online and are recorded, so it doesn't matter where you are in the world.   Jonathan, nice to see you again.   Jonathan: Nice to see you, Sharon.  Thanks for having me back.   Sharon: You ran through it very quickly at the end because I didn't realize how much you had to say basically.  So, tell us first about your interviews you have with sculptors and jewelers.  Tell us about those.  Are there any upcoming?   Who are the next ones?  Give us--   Jonathan: Sure, so the lecture series came out of the pandemic obviously.  I think I've done about 25 or 30 lectures or interviews so far.  The most recent series was a series of three talks about female sculptors who are jewelers or jewelers who are sculptors.  As you could tell from our last conversation, I'm really interested in this line be-tween the fields of art, particularly between jewelry and sculpture or fine art and decorative art.  So, I was really curious to talk to these three in particular New Yorkers who practice in both fields and it was Joe Platner who is a longtime jeweler in New York City, Michelle Okeldoner(?) whose work was primarily sculpture and also does jewelry and Anna Corey whose work also started in sculpture, but now is primarily a jeweler.  So, it was really fascinating to talk to these women artists about how they practice and what inspires them in their practice.     Sharon: And do you have series upcoming more in the spring or summer?   Jonathan: Yup, I'm working on a series about enamel.  Enameling seems to be having a re-surgence in our department and I think in jewelry in general, we're seeing a lot more enamel and a lot more color in metals.  So, it will be with a contemporary artist, a historical collection and a contemporary fine jeweler.   Sharon: It sounds very interesting and enamel, at least in the view I see now, is becoming much more popular.   Jonathan: Yeah, yeah, I'm not exactly sure why.  I'm really curious.  I think maybe it's happy; it's colorful; it's as close to painting, I guess, as you can get in jewelry in a way.   Sharon: It's such a skill if you do it right.  It's an artistry.  Jewelry is an art, but it's such an artistry within the art in a sense.   Jonathan: Absolutely, you can, as we say, shake and bake and get color on metal pretty easily.  So, you can get pretty direct results and get color on your metal pretty simply.  Of course, to be an expert enamellist, to practice grisaille or cloisonne or brioche, you need to become master craftsman.  So, there's a lot to dig into.   Sharon: So, do we need to keep our eyes on the spring session, the summer session or when?   Jonathan: It's going to be the summer session.  I think it's going to take place in June.   Sharon: O.K., I look forward to it.   Jonathan: I'm not sure of the dates, but it's coming and you'll see it.  Most of the talks so far are on our archives at 92Y.org in the jewelry center page.   Sharon: Yeah, I know there are some that I'd really like to go look at that I missed.   Jonathan: The previous three were with three Brazilian jewelers.   Sharon: Now, you just had an interview with—I don't know how to say her last name—but she was talking about a Brazilian jeweler, Roberto Burle Marks.   Jonathan: Uhum, correct.   Sharon: But that was separate.   Jonathan: It was part of the Brazilian series because Roberto Burle Marks was a Brazilian.   Sharon: But it wasn't part of the Sculpture and Artist Series; it was a different series.   Jonathan: Correct, right, they were three and three.   Sharon: There's a lot going on.  So, tell us about this jewelry residency.  I was just looking at your Instagram and the ads for it.  So, tell us about it.   Jonathan: The Jewelry Residency Program, it would be its fifth year, but we took two years off because of the pandemic.  The Jewelry Residence Program is something that I've always dreamed of doing and I'm so happy that it's back on.  What it provides is a studio apartment here in our facility, 24-hour access to one of our studios and air-fare to and from New York City from anywhere in the world.   Sharon: Are people applying now?  When does it start?   Jonathan: Yes, the applications are open until April 15.  We extended the deadline.   Sharon: Does it start in September--   Jonathan: Sorry, it's August 18-September 19, if I'm not mistaken.  That's the residency program.   Sharon: And you get applications from all over the world or what?   Jonathan: We had applications from fifty countries in 2019.  I would love to have applications from farther afield.  Most of them come from western Europe.  We're still trying to figure out how we reach populations in Asia or sub-Saharan Africa or Africa in gen-eral or even more in South America.  It's been kind of hard to get to some of those areas.  I'm working on a trip to Korea which you know about, so I sent it to all the artists that we're going to visit in Korea.  So, I hope we get some applications from Korea and I also just was in contact with an artist who's a Ukrainian jeweler and she has started on Facebook to try and raise money and funds and help Ukrainian jewel-ers who've been displaced, so of course I've shared that residency with her and the opportunity.  We would love to support a Ukrainian jeweler and have them here in New York City for a month, particularly if they're not in a studio, but I'm also looking forward to seeing how we can support a Ukrainian jeweler in general if they are here in New York City.   Sharon: And so it doesn't matter, a male, female, anybody in between.   Jonathan: It doesn't matter and it is open to Americans.  It is an international jewelry resi-dency, but you are welcome to apply as an American.  The reason for the residency is, as I mentioned, to expand New York City's access to jewelers who don't maybe normally get here and the type of work that isn't often shown in New York City, but it's also for an artist who might not normally be able to come to New York City to come to New York City, but it's also about why an artist needs to be in New York, what would New York City do for them and that could be for a whole host of reasons and there is a jury panel that I assemble every year that helps me decide who that next person should be.     Sharon: Wow!  That sounds pretty competitive, but it's sounds really worthwhile.   Jonathan: Well, there's only one spot.  Sharon, with funding, we could expand that.  So again, if anyone wants to help support a residence.  The residency program, I'm completely open to a conversation.   Sharon: Well, I will suggest that people get in touch with you, O.K., or at least send the checks.  O.K., so tell us about the travel program to Korea.   Jonathan: I do a trip every other year to somewhere in the world and we have gone to Israel, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, India, Japan and this year hopefully to Korea.   Sharon: Wow!  That really sounds fabulous.   Jonathan: Yeah, the trips are centered around historical collections and contemporary jewelers and if you're not familiar with the Korean jewelry scene, it's really vibrant and really robust. It has its roots in Europe and the United States as well as with Korean tradi-tion.  So, I'm really excited to meet these artists who blend a lot of techniques and traditions and they're doing some really extraordinary work.   Sharon: Well, the Korean artists who have exhibited at the international shows have really been creative and really amazing.    Jonathan: Really strong work, yeah.   Sharon: So, the last I talked to you, I just wanted to double check.  Are you still thinking you'll be going October 6, whenever?   Jonathan: Yeah, that's the tentative plan.  The one thing.  Korea has lifted quarantine restric-tions which is great, but groups are still restricted to six or fewer, so it's a bit of a problem for our group which is about fifteen people.  So, I'm a little bit on edge about that.  I'm waiting to see if that will change.   Sharon: Wow!  Six or fewer, that's pretty--   Jonathan: That would make going out to dinner a problem and just going to into groups and staggering them, it's like taking two trips frankly.   Sharon: Yeah, no, it sounds like a lot of logistics.   Jonathan: With that being said, I have a trip to the southwest in the wings for the end of October.  If for some reason the gods are not with us to go to Korea, I'm putting together a trip to San Jose and Taos.   Sharon: There's lots to see there.     Jonathan: Uhum.   Sharon: So, you also have a program for highschoolers to teach them about the jewelry industry.  Tell us about that.   Jonathan: Yeah, this is certainly a program that's been a dream of mine for a long time.  It is a program that is offered to Title 1 art and design school in New York City and Title One schools tend to service underserve populations in general in New York City and most of those students wouldn't normally get access to a jewelry studio in high school.  Most kids don't get access to a jewelry studio in high school in general.  Particularly this population most likely wouldn't be taking a class at the 92nd Street Y as a fee-for-service program for obvious reasons.  So, this is a program to get kids who would normally be in the studio into the studio and expose them to the tech-niques and materials and offer them a view into a possible career path, if that's something they would like to pursue.  We're coordinating with New York City Jewel-ry Week who has organized wonderful guest speakers with these kids and with NYCJWM and the Department of Education, are able to offer paid internships this summer which is really exciting.  It's the first year of this program, so we're still find-ing our footing and I know there are going to be some kids who decide to go into the next year and I think particularly the juniors and seniors will hopefully take advan-tage of some of these opportunities and perhaps go deeper into the field.   Sharon: It sounds like a great opportunity, yeah.   Jonathan: Even master soldering to a teenager, regardless of whether or not you go into the field as a career, it's a great skill to have.   Sharon: I don't know that much about New York and the school system, but I would assume that there are not a lot of opportunities like this that are going on in New York.   Jonathan: To my knowledge, there is not a functioning jewelry studio in any of the public high schools in New York City.   Sharon: Now, that's really amazing to me.  Would a shop class teach jewelry and metal-smithing?   Jonathan: To my knowledge, there aren't any functioning jewelry programs classes in New York City public schools right now and we don't have trade schools for jewelry in America.  There are art schools and we've talked about how that's always the best fit if you're going into the trade.   Sharon: It sounds like a program that would really take off.  So, what else should we know about—and what else is coming up?  I know you have some great—you've had Tony Greenbaum teaching a class who teaches about modernist jewelry.   Jonathan: Yup and Bella Neyman just finished a great series on costume jewelry that was really fascinating.   Sharon: Uhuh, I do have to say it was great.  I did listen to it.  It was great because it was in Los Angeles and it was at seven in the morning which is usually not the time I'm up to watch class.  So, I watched the recorded classes which was great to have.   Jonathan: Yeah, and we're working on our fall programming, so I'm not exactly sure what the talks will be, but I'm sure there will be one.  I'm working on another few initiatives—well, one initiative in particular that is not confirmed yet, but I would like to also create a younger designer's award or fund in which we would help support a new jeweler and help them with classes and to continue their education as well as men-torship through our faculty and through our connections.  One of the huge leaps is to go from undergrad or grad in these very supportive environments and then to be let loose to fly free.  Many people hone their skills while working for another artist doing benchwork, but I would like to help an artist or a young designer home their skills through our classes and through our faculty mentorship and our professional mentorship opportunities.  So, I'm working on that.  I would love to see it happen by the fall, but TBD.   Sharon: O.K., well, you can keep us posted.  I know you have so much going on, so thank you so much.  I just envision you juggling so many balls.   Jonathan: There's always a lot going on as well as continuing to support the programing that we do on an ongoing basis here.  Every day, every week--there's a class going on right outside my office right now, one of three or four classes going on right now in the center.  We do offer over fifty classes a week for jewelry alone, so that in itself is enough of a job--   Sharon: For hands-on jewelry.   Jonathan: Hands-on jewelry, hands-on making.  To my right, there's a wax covering class going on.  To my left, there's a jewelry two class going on.  Further down the road is a goldsmithing class and then—yeah, I can't remember what's in the fourth studio right now, but the most pressing thing is if you are interested or know someone who might apply for the Jewelry Residency Program, I'd strongly encourage them to do so.  We've got some wonderful press from Town and Country Magazine last year and in the cut from New York Magazine, so there are some great opportunities.   Sharon: It sounds like it and since the deadline is right around the corner, April 15, people need to get on it.   Jonathan: But it's easy.  It's a submittable application.  You upload your images.  You make the case for why you want to be in New York City and away you go.   Sharon: I don't know.  That still involves somebody sitting down and really putting their brainpower behind it.   Jonathan: Get on it, people.   Sharon: Jonathan, thank you so much for being here today.   Jonathan: You're welcome.   Sharon: And we'll keep everyone posted on what else is going on at the Y.     Jonathan: Thank you, Sharon, it's always a pleasure.  Hope to see you soon.                    

What you'll learn in this episode: How Jonathan moved from sculpture to jewelry to drawing, and why he explores different ideas with each medium How the relationship between craft and fine art has evolved over the years Why people became more interested in jewelry during the pandemic Why jewelers working in any style benefit from strong technical skills How you can take advantage of the 92nd Street Y's jewelry programming and virtual talks About Jonathan Wahl Jonathan Wahl joined 92nd Street Y in July 1999 as director of the jewelry and metalsmithing program in 92Y's School of the Arts, the largest program of its kind in the nation. He is responsible for developing and overseeing the curriculum, which offers more than 60 classes weekly and 15 visiting artists annually. Jonathan is also responsible for hiring and supervising 25 faculty members, maintaining four state-of-the-art jewelry and metalsmithing studios, and promoting the department locally and nationally as a jewelry resource center. Named one of the top 10 jewelers to watch by W Jewelry in 2006, Jonathan is an accomplished artist who, from 1994 to 1995, served as artist-in-residence at Hochschule Der Kunst in Berlin, Germany. He has shown his work in the exhibitions Day Job (The Drawing Center), Liquid Lines (Museum of Fine Arts Houston), The Jet Drawings (Sienna Gallery, Lenox MA, and SOFA New York), Formed to Function (John Michael Kohler Arts Center), Defining Craft (American Craft Museum), Markers in Contemporary Metal (Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art), Transfigurations: 9 Contemporary Metalsmiths (University of Akron and tour), and Contemporary Craft (New York State Museum). Jonathan was awarded the Louis Comfort Tiffany Emerging Artist Fellowship from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, two New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships in recognition of "Outstanding Artwork," and the Pennsylvania Society of Goldsmiths Award for "Outstanding Achievement." As part of the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, TX, and The Museum of Arts and Design in New York, his work has been reviewed by Art in America (June, 2000), The New York Times (June 2005), and Metalsmith Magazine (1996, 1999, 2000 2002, 2005, 2009); his work was also featured in Metalsmith Magazine's prestigious "Exhibition in Print" (1994 and 1999). Jonathan's art work can be seen at Sienna Gallery in Lenox, Massachusetts, which specializes in contemporary American and European art work, and De Vera in Soho, New York. His work can also be seen in the publications The Jet Drawings (Sienna Press, 2008), and in three collections by Lark Books: 1,000 Rings, 500 Enameled Objects and 500 Metal Vessels. Before joining 92Y, Jonathan was, first, director of the jewelry and metalsmithing department at the YMCA's Craft Students League, and later assistant director of the League itself. Mr. Wahl holds a B.F.A. in jewelry and metalsmithing from Temple University's Tyler School of Art and an M.F.A. in metalsmithing and fine arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz. He is a member of the Society of North America Goldsmiths. Additional Resources: Website: www.jonathanwahl.com Website: www.92y.org/jewelry LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jonathancwahl Instagram: @jonathancwahl/   Photos: Available at TheJewelryJourney.com Transcript: With more than 60 jewelry classes offered weekly, the 92nd Street Y's Jewelry Center is by far the largest program of its kind in the country—and it's all run by award-winning sculptor, jeweler and artist Jonathan Wahl. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about the different relationships he has with jewelry and sculpture; why craftsmanship should be embraced by the art world; and what he has planned for 92Y in 2022. Read the episode transcript here. Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the second part of a two-part episode. Today, my guest is Jonathan Wahl, Director of the Jewelry Center of the 92nd Street Y in New York City. The program is the largest of its kind in the country. In addition to his life in jewelry, Jonathan is an award-winning artist whose work is in the permanent collections of prestigious museums. Welcome back.    When do you have time to work on your jewelry?    Jonathan: I'm here Monday through Wednesday in the studio here. Then I'm in my studio the rest of the time, so Thursday, Friday, Saturdays and Sundays.   Sharon: Your home studio or a studio at the Y?   Jonathan: No, it's not here. It's in Brooklyn. I wouldn't be able to work here. People would be finding me. No, I maintain a studio in Brooklyn. That's where I've done all my work basically for the past 25 years.   Sharon: Tell us about your work. I was reading about you. You have a whole series of different things, drawings, collections.   Jonathan: Lest I forget, I have had a jewelry line. In 2005—and I'll get to the larger bodies of work—when I moved to New York, my work was primarily sculpture. It was the tinware. It became the oversize tinware. I got a Tiffany fellowship which gave me a nice chunk of cash, and I made a series of work based on Frederic Remington, a series called Cowboys and Unicorns. I made a series of tasseled heads for this exhibition. It took about a year. There were many bodies of work, like Aztec Astronauts, which is inspired by Jared Diamond's book, “Guns, Germs, and Steel.” There's no jewelry in it at all, but it was interesting. I had a wonderful Foundation for the Arts fellowship for Cowboys and Unicorns. I had this Tiffany fellowship. I thought I was hot to trot. I was an artist, but because I've also been very self-directed in my work, I have made choices on my own, and I certainly hadn't thought of the larger picture, like, “Who am I marketing to?”    At one point, I felt like maybe I should do something different. I saw these people putting jewelry lines together and I thought, “Well, let me try that. I'm going to throw together a jewelry line.” I did put together a jewelry line in 2004 and 2005, and it got a lot of press. Barneys called and Bergdorf called. It was exciting and, true to myself, I looked at this opportunity and thought, “What they're asking for sounds like I'm going to have to start a real business.” Between my role here as Director of the Jewelry Center and my studio practice, I wasn't sure I wanted to run a full-time jewelry business.    What this position here affords me is the time and space to work in my studio on what I want to make. I thought that if I put together a jewelry line, that was a different kind of hustle, and a hustle that was going to take over. As a consequence, I declined Barneys and Bergdorf. I did sell my line at De Vera in New York, which is a much more boutique, gorgeous store that has since moved. Interestingly enough, launching the jewelry line brought me to drawing. People who knew me and knew my work as a sculptor, when I said I'd launched a jewelry line, to put it politely, they looked confused. I've said this in many interviews: a jeweler in the art world, people don't really get. An artist who makes jewelry is different than a jeweler who makes art, may I say.   Sharon: That's interesting.    Jonathan: I think that has changed. It has changed to some extent, but it's different. It's a one-way street. A potter and a sculptor, interesting, particularly with clay being very hot right now. A painter and a bartender makes sense; people get that. Anyway, I found this look of confusion quite perplexing. I started these large drawings, renderings of jet jewelry. I was working on a series of drawings about jewelry, about history, about my love for history, and I happened upon jet jewelry. I thought it was so out of the ordinary: monochromatic, at times really epoch-shifting in terms of what it was. So, I decided to start drawing these objects to take them out of the realm of jewelry and present them to the viewer as an object. Rendered large, they took on a completely different identity. It paralleled my experience of having this conversation with people saying I'm a jeweler and a sculptor. I thought, “If I present them with these drawings that are straight-up portraits of jewelry, maybe they'll think differently about what those edges are about or what those lines are, what those determinations are.”   Sharon: That's interesting about people not getting a jeweler as a painter or an artist. That's what you said, right?    Jonathan: I wish I could deny it. Again, this is 20 or 15 or 17 years ago; I can't remember. Things have changed a lot in the art world. I'll probably get in trouble for this; I don't know if any of the Whitney curators are going to hear this, but the Whitney, one of my favorite museums, had an exhibition of artists who employ craft, I think. It was all artists who made objects or used material that represented craft in some way. It was such an artist's use of craft, and done in a way that was pure aesthetics and abstraction, which was such a different experience with respect to the materials that I think a craftsperson has. I also find that curators are really only looking at artists who use craft techniques or craft materials from this artistic, old-school, may I say modernist perspective.    I truly mean that because it was fascinating to see how a fine art museum presented craft in this way. To me, it reiterated how these fields are viewed, certainly from each corner of the art world. I found the show at the Whitney really underwhelming in terms of how they represented craft. Just because you use yarn doesn't mean it's craft. That's the takeaway. I think that represents this weird, one-way street or one-way mirror of how crafts and art are viewed together. Martin Puryear was not in that show.   Sharon: Pardon?   Jonathan: Martin Puryear, whose work definitely involves craftsmanship. He wasn't in that exhibition. There were people who I thought could have been in that exhibition to represent how craft is employed in the fine art world and would have made the statement better.   Sharon: So, what is craft? It always seems to me the question that's has no answer. How do you know, when you're looking at something, whether it's craft or fine art or jewelry made with yarn? What's the difference? Not difference, but how do you separate it?   Jonathan: I think it's many times subjective. To that point, the curators at the Whitney could have put whatever they wanted and called it craft, but I think when you see craft, you know it. I think you really do. I think their lines can be crossed. I think there's craft that's art, and I think there's art that's craft, but for myself, I know it when I see it.    I think it also depends on how you employ the materials and for what end. I've been thinking about this recently. Craft was never really thought of as espousing an agenda other than its function. That was how it started, but now in some ways, the art world is looking at craft that explores itself beyond its function. It's making social commentary and is actually functioning in the way fine art would have explained itself, as material subjugated to the thought process of the artist. Craftsmen can be both, explaining or using functional materiality. They can also use a fine arts strategy, if they're making a commentary or going beyond the object's functionality into a realm that makes you think about the object differently. That is more of a fine arts strategy. So, it gets really sticky.   Sharon: It's one of those questions. I'm thinking about craft in jewelry. I'm thinking about when you were in camp, the lanyards you would make, the necklaces you'd make with plastics. I guess you could call it a type of craft jewelry.   Jonathan: For sure. I don't think craftsmen should be offended by lanyard jewelry. That's how you start. It's weaving; it's one of the most basic weaving skills. Voice that history. Those are old skills. That's how we built civilization. Believe in that. We wouldn't be here without those skills. Don't be afraid of that. I think my own jewelry journey, if you will, has been influenced by these experiences. I love jewelry. I love objects. I love technique. I love skill. I'm so in awe of people who can make, who can really fabricate something. It takes skill. It takes work. It takes focus.    I love jewelry. I wear one ring and a watch. I change my ring up whenever I feel like that. They're mostly rings I've made, but they're a specific type of ring. Apart from my look in the 80s, I'm a relatively conservative-looking guy, so I wear jewelry that reflects the aesthetics of myself. It tends to be kind of traditional, so I have no problem with great jewelry that has a great stone, that's made well, that some would consider traditional. I'm O.K. with that. You know what? Wear whatever kind of jewelry makes you feel right.    I love art jewelry and I think it's important in pushing the boundaries or the materiality of the field. I'm happy to see and support that. I love going to SCHMUCK. I'm always blown away when I see what's happening in the world of contemporary jewelry. I think contemporary or art jewelry, the field is also changing. I have to say everything's moving more towards the middle in a way, whether it's contemporary jewelry, studio jewelry or art jewelry. When I look at work today, it's all moving a little bit towards the middle, which is fascinating. But when it comes to jewelry, I don't have any problem with good jewelry, period. I love good jewelry.   Sharon: Big stones are nice.    Jonathan: I'm just saying good jewelry, however you classify jewelry, I like jewelry.   Sharon: Why are things moving towards the middle? Why do you think that? Is that part of the ethos of the country, or that people don't want to be extreme? They don't want purple hair anymore?   Jonathan: With all that being said, the generation that's coming up now wants to have purple hair, absolutely. I look at the trends that are going on right now, and I think of myself in art school in the high 80s with my hoop earrings and my dyed red hair and my capri pants and my corny shoes and my vests and yada, yada, yada. I look at this younger generation thinking, “Wow, it's coming back around again, interesting.” Maybe I talk out of two sides of my mouth, but I think in general, the bulk of those fields are moving a little bit closer together. I think there's an appreciation in the art jewelry world for techniques and processes that might not have been so accepted 10 or 20 years ago. I think there's an appreciation all around. I think I see contemporary jewelry making gestures that might have only happened in the art jewelry world 10 or 20 years ago.    Sharon: You also talk about the rift between fine art and jewelry. Can you talk a little bit about that?   Jonathan: I've got to say, I've met some great fine art collectors in New York and their jewelry has really stunk. I find it really funny when I see people who've got a great dress on and have a great art collection and mundane jewelry. It's the last thing that people think about sometimes. Although, the one person I'll say that always bucks the trend is Lindsay Pollock, who has great jewelry and has great art and knows great art.   Sharon: Who? I'm sorry; I didn't hear.   Jonathan: Lindsay Pollock, who used to be an editor at Art Forum. Now she also works for the Whitney Museum of Art, I think, as Director of Communications. I'm not sure, but she's a wonderful collector.    Sharon: And she has great jewelry.   Jonathan: Yes, and she knows the art world really well. Your question; please repeat it.   Sharon: The rift between fine art and jewelry. Is there a rift?   Jonathan: There's a difference. I think for so long people were trying to justify themselves, so people got defensive. Now people are starting to own what they do and who they are without the defense: “I'm not an artist, I'm a craftsperson” or “I'm a craftsperson, not an artist.” I think there's less apprehension about that now in terms of owning those fields. This is a conversation had by many people, but when modernism took its toll on craft, it stepped up its identity in many ways. I think since then, craftsmen and jewelers have been trying to figure out their way back to be on par with the rest of the arts. I think for a long time, because it wasn't modern art or contemporary art, there was a real apprehension about how we define artwork.   I think about how jewelry was, for a long time, just photographed on a white background so it reads as an object, like you're presenting it like a little sculpture. For many years, that's how it was presented. I find that representative of how we explain the work we were making. When you saw it, you generally saw it sitting on nothing except white, in a void, outside of any wearability or reference to the person, which I get. But when you think about that, for me, it has resonance. I also think that's kind of who we are and what we do. I think that's changing to some extent, but the art world and the craft world have been trying to figure out the relationship for a while.   Sharon: Do you make jewelry now?   Jonathan: I do. I just made a ring for myself with a beautiful piece of lapis that I came across. It's very plain and modernist. I had an old necklace from my former landlord who passed away and left it to me. I melted down this necklace, I milled the jewelry, I rolled down the sheet and I made a half-round wire that I put through the mill again so it was more like a trapezoid and set it again. Man, I was a jeweler for a day. I love good jewelry, and I like to represent.   Sharon: You like to represent? What do you mean?   Jonathan: I like to represent the field with a good piece of jewelry.   Sharon: Wow! You made the sheet metal and then you rolled your wire. The first time I saw somebody rolling wire, I thought, “You could buy wire. Why would anybody roll it?”   Jonathan: One great thing is I didn't have to buy new gold. Another great thing is I'm recycling the gold. I recycle, recycle, recycle whenever possible. I worked it all the way down, but I do not have a jewelry line. I rarely make jewelry on commission. Most of my studio practice is focused in other ways, although as I've been drawing for the past 12 years, I recently picked up my tin shears again. I have actually been making more tinwork, which is also reflective of our current state of politics and our country again. It's been fascinating to work in metal again, so stay tuned.    Sharon: How does it reflect where we are as a country or politically?    Jonathan: I'm making tinware again, and I think a lot of what's in question right now in our country is what is traditional? Who are Americans? There's a lot of questioning about do you fit, do you belong, what are those parameters, how are you judged as an American or not as an American. The painted tin I'm making right now is so understood as a traditional object and a traditional way of making. Mixing and presenting that work within this very traditional material and history of making is, again, a metaphor for traditionality. The viewer automatically looks at this thing and things it's an original object. It's meant to look very traditional, although right now I'm working on a six-foot-by-four-foot painted stenciled decal tray, which, after a few minutes of looking at it, you will know is definitely not from the 19th century. But again, the techniques and the feeling and the look are traditional, I find that that's what we're questioning right now. We're questioning what is traditional. What are these traditions?    The more I dig into these traditions, particularly in painted tinware—Japanware is what it was called. It was meant to imitate Japanese lacquerware. It had nothing to do with America. Another iteration is painted tinware that comes from a German and Scandinavian aesthetic, also not traditional American. So, these objects that you'd see in a folk museum and be like, “Yeah, Ohio, 1840, I got it,” these traditions and materials were not traditional until they became traditional. There's a lot of this material culture history that I find fascinating. It's very layered for me. I hope it's as interesting to the viewer. I have never really found the right format for many of my ideas or questions that fit into jewelry, and that's one of those cruxes. I've never found the right way for me to use jewelry or engage in jewelry with the same intents that I have in other materials or formats.    Sharon: What do you mean exactly? It doesn't fit into a category?   Jonathan: No, I can be really political with this tinware. I've never figured out how to get the same effect, with the same feeling, in jewelry. I find, for me, the wearing of jewelry is the great part of it, and I don't want my jewelry to say the same thing as my tinware. This is personal: I don't want my jewelry to work the same way as this giant tinware piece does, because I like this ring that fits on my finger. I love it, and I love when I get compliments on it. I think jewelry is special. It's great because we wear it.    As a sidenote, it was fascinating that during the pandemic, jewelry took off. Sales of jewelry took off. All my friends in the field of luxury jewelry and studio jewelry, they had great years. Jewelry is the stuff you take with you. Jewelry is the stuff you wear. Jewelry is the intimate stuff, and I think it was fascinating to know that in this time of extreme stress and trouble, people were going to jewelers to buy these things they could hold and keep and literally run with it if they had to. There is this intimacy of jewelry that people sought out, and that's special. It doesn't exist in other places. Those are the kinds of things, the resonance, that I want to embrace and love about jewelry and that I will not run away from.    One of the reasons why I started even playing around with images of jewelry, which led me to the drawings, is because I did this class at the Met called Into the Vaults. We went through all these different departments of the Met, jewelry and old jewelry. I came across the story of the Hannebery Pearls, which were pearls that were given to Catherine de Medici from her uncle, who was the Pope. This string of pearls went through the Hanoverians and then eventually into the British Crown Jewels. I thought, “Wow, if this string of pearls could talk, what we would know. What has it seen?” I was fooling around with this image of a gem, a ring that I had Photoshopped a historical scene from a movie on top of, so it almost looked like this gem was reflecting what it saw. I thought, “Wow, wouldn't it be amazing if there was a ring from ancient Greece that was passed down every generation until now, and that ring was held and worn by 200 generations?” I don't know how many generations that would be. That intimacy and history of an object doesn't exist in other places in the same way, where it's worn and carried with it. There's something about the intimacy of jewelry and the history that it can be embraced in a specific way that I really love.   Sharon: It's something very different and novel. I don't know if it's been done already.   Jonathan: I have an idea for a novel. I'll talk about it off-camera. We should talk about it. It's about that same kind of story, a will to survive.   Sharon: All right. Jonathan, thank you so much for talking with us today.   Jonathan: You're welcome.   Sharon: I expect an invitation to the opening of the 92nd Street Y in Los Angeles. I can't wait.   Jonathan: In the meantime, I hope you can come with us to Korea. As you know, I do trips around the world. South Korea is on the books, and there are a number of other wonderful things happening. The only residency for jewelry in New York City, called the JAIR, Jewelry Artist in Residence, that's happening this summer. Applications are open on our website. We had applications from 50 countries in 2019. It has been suspended since the pandemic.   Another little sidenote: I'm excited about a program called Team Gems, which is a fully-funded program for high school kids in New York City, Title 1 high schools in New York City. It's a fully-funded program for kids to get experience in jewelry that they wouldn't normally have, and will maybe create a pathway for a career in jewelry outside the academic model. I hope I'm going to be able to tell you more about it, but it's the first year and it's very exciting. Also, keep your ears open for my new series of talks coming up. I think this topic is going to be about enamel, and then hopefully a series in June in honor of Pride Month. A lot's going on at the Jewelry Center.   Sharon: Well, thank you for being here. We want to hear more about it in the future. Thank you so much, Jonathan. We greatly appreciate it.   Jonathan: Thank you, it's such a pleasure. Be well.   Sharon: You, too.   Thank you again for listening. Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.

What you'll learn in this episode: How Jonathan moved from sculpture to jewelry to drawing, and why he explores different ideas with each medium How the relationship between craft and fine art has evolved over the years Why people became more interested in jewelry during the pandemic Why jewelers working in any style benefit from strong technical skills How you can take advantage of the 92nd Street Y's jewelry programming and virtual talks About Jonathan Wahl Jonathan Wahl joined 92nd Street Y in July 1999 as director of the jewelry and metalsmithing program in 92Y's School of the Arts, the largest program of its kind in the nation. He is responsible for developing and overseeing the curriculum, which offers more than 60 classes weekly and 15 visiting artists annually. Jonathan is also responsible for hiring and supervising 25 faculty members, maintaining four state-of-the-art jewelry and metalsmithing studios, and promoting the department locally and nationally as a jewelry resource center. Named one of the top 10 jewelers to watch by W Jewelry in 2006, Jonathan is an accomplished artist who, from 1994 to 1995, served as artist-in-residence at Hochschule Der Kunst in Berlin, Germany. He has shown his work in the exhibitions Day Job (The Drawing Center), Liquid Lines (Museum of Fine Arts Houston), The Jet Drawings (Sienna Gallery, Lenox MA, and SOFA New York), Formed to Function (John Michael Kohler Arts Center), Defining Craft (American Craft Museum), Markers in Contemporary Metal (Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art), Transfigurations: 9 Contemporary Metalsmiths (University of Akron and tour), and Contemporary Craft (New York State Museum). Jonathan was awarded the Louis Comfort Tiffany Emerging Artist Fellowship from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, two New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships in recognition of "Outstanding Artwork," and the Pennsylvania Society of Goldsmiths Award for "Outstanding Achievement." As part of the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, TX, and The Museum of Arts and Design in New York, his work has been reviewed by Art in America (June, 2000), The New York Times (June 2005), and Metalsmith Magazine (1996, 1999, 2000 2002, 2005, 2009); his work was also featured in Metalsmith Magazine's prestigious "Exhibition in Print" (1994 and 1999). Jonathan's art work can be seen at Sienna Gallery in Lenox, Massachusetts, which specializes in contemporary American and European art work, and De Vera in Soho, New York. His work can also be seen in the publications The Jet Drawings (Sienna Press, 2008), and in three collections by Lark Books: 1,000 Rings, 500 Enameled Objects and 500 Metal Vessels. Before joining 92Y, Jonathan was, first, director of the jewelry and metalsmithing department at the YMCA's Craft Students League, and later assistant director of the League itself. Mr. Wahl holds a B.F.A. in jewelry and metalsmithing from Temple University's Tyler School of Art and an M.F.A. in metalsmithing and fine arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz. He is a member of the Society of North America Goldsmiths. Additional Resources: Website: www.jonathanwahl.com Website: www.92y.org/jewelry LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jonathancwahl Instagram: @jonathancwahl/   Photos: Available at TheJewelryJourney.com Transcript: With more than 60 jewelry classes offered weekly, the 92nd Street Y's Jewelry Center is by far the largest program of its kind in the country—and it's all run by award-winning sculptor, jeweler and artist Jonathan Wahl. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about the different relationships he has with jewelry and sculpture; why craftsmanship should be embraced by the art world; and what he has planned for 92Y in 2022. Read the episode transcript here. Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. Here at the Jewelry Journey, we're about all things jewelry. With that in mind, I wanted to let you know about an upcoming jewelry conference, which is “Beyond Boundaries: Jewelry of the Americas.” It's sponsored by the Association for the Study of Jewelry and Related Arts, or, as it's otherwise known, ASJRA. The conference takes place virtually on Saturday and Sunday May 21 and May 22, which is around the corner. For details on the program and the speakers, go to www.jewelryconference.com. Non-members are welcome. I have to say that I attended this conference in person for several years, and it's one of my favorite conferences. It's a real treat to be able to sit in your pajamas or in comfies in your living room and listen to some extraordinary speakers. So, check it out. Register at www.jewelryconference.com. See you there.   This is a two-part Jewelry Journey podcast. Please make sure you subscribe so you can hear part two as soon as it comes out later this week. Today, my guest is Jonathan Wahl, Director of the Jewelry Center at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. The program is the largest of its kind in the country. In addition to his life in jewelry, Jonathan is an award-winning artist whose work is in the permanent collections of prestigious museums. It has been exhibited nationally and internationally. We'll hear more about his jewelry journey today and how art fits into that. Jonathan, welcome to the program.   Jonathan: Thank you, Sharon. It's a pleasure to be here. It's a pleasure to see you.   Sharon: It's nice to see you. Hopefully next time, it'll be in person.    Jonathan: I would love that.   Sharon: Jonathan, tell us about your jewelry journey. How did you get to jewelry? Was that where you originally started out?   Jonathan: Recently I've been doing a lot of interviews myself with artists around the world—virtually since the pandemic—as Director of the Jewelry Center, and one of the questions I always ask them is “How did you find your way to jewelry?” It's one of the questions I love to be asked because, at least for myself, it was interesting. I think all of us start out as artists, unless we're born into a jewelry family. Everyone learns how to draw. Everyone paints on their own. Maybe they have classes in high school. If you're lucky, you have a jewelry class in high school. I didn't, so like many people, I discovered jewelry in college at Tyler School of Art, which has one of the best jewelry programs in the country, but I didn't know jewelry existed until I went to art school.    When I went to art school, I thought I was going to be a graphic designer. Being the son of a banker and coming from a prep school, I figured I was going to be an artist, but I had to make a living. I wasn't going to be a painter, so I was thinking I was going to be a graphic designer when I grew up. At the college, I discovered jewelry in my sophomore year. Stanley Lechtzin said to me—I'll never forget it—“After you graduate you could design, if you wanted, costume jewelry in New York City,” and I thought, “That sounds kind of exotic and fun in New York City.” That's how my jewelry journey really began, in an elective class as a sophomore at Tyler School of Art.   Sharon: Where is Tyler? I'm not familiar with it.   Jonathan: In Philadelphia. It's part of Temple University.   Sharon: And Stanley Lechtzin, is he one of the professors there? I don't know that name.   Jonathan: Stanley Lechtzin really put the program on the map. He's in collections internationally. He pioneered the use of electroforming in individual objects. Electroforming was a commercial process used throughout the country for many different industrial applications, but Stanley figured out how to finetune it for the individual artist. His work has recently had some new-found appreciation because of the aesthetics from the 60s and 70s that are also coming back into vogue. His pieces are extraordinary.   Sharon: Before you came to the Y, did you design jewelry? Did you do art? Did you come home from your banking job and work on that stuff?   Jonathan: My father was a banker. I was not a banker. The closest I got to banking was working at a casino in Atlantic City one summer. My family has a house in Ocean City, New Jersey, so I could get to Atlantic City. I had to count a bank of anywhere between $30,000 and $70,000 a night. That's the closest I got to being a banker.    I quickly then moved to London. This was the summer of my senior year after Tyler. After I graduated from Tyler, I moved to London briefly and worked for a crafts gallery in northern London. Then I decided I wanted to go to graduate school. I came back for about a year to work towards applying to graduate school, which ultimately became SUNY New Paltz. I graduated Tyler in 1990, so most of my undergraduate years were in the 80s. If you're familiar with 80s jewelry, it was no holds barred. It was any kind of jewelry you wanted. My work—or at least my practice—quickly started to veer away from jewelry and towards objects and what I would call small sculpture. My choice to go SUNY New Paltz was specific because I didn't really want to make jewelry, but I was interested in the field and decorative arts, the material culture of jewelry and metalsmithing. That's what I pursued while I was in graduate school. I was recreating early American tinware about my experience as a gay American at that time. I wish there were visuals included, but that's what I was doing at SUNY New Paltz.    Sharon: How did you find that material?   Jonathan: The tinware was a metaphor for America, for traditionalism. The pieces were metaphors for the function or dysfunction of America. These objects were a little perverse, a little sublime and really honest about how frustrated I felt about being an American and growing up in Philadelphia during the bicentennial. I thought life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was for everybody, but I found myself not really able to access the full extent of that saying, like many people in our country even today. But I'm happy to report that a piece from that era was just acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I'm thrilled that the older work is getting some interest. There's some interest from the New York Historical Society, which is not finalized yet, but it's interesting to see that work with new eyes 20-some years later.   Sharon: Congratulations!   Jonathan: When I was in Germany, my partner at the time was finishing his master's degree, and I was an artist in residence there at the Hochschule der Künste, which is now the Academy of Art, I think it's called. That was an interesting experience because Europeans in general, and Germans in particular, approach craft differently. They have a much longer and supportive tradition of craft of all kinds, so when they saw my tinware, it was a little confusing to them. I ended up in a program called small sculpture as an artist in residence because there was no jewelry program at this art university. It was interesting. It was curious.   Sharon: Tell us how you came to jewelry.   Jonathan: Jewelry eventually gets into my story. After leaving Berlin, I moved to New York. I knew I wanted to be a New York artist. That's the place I had to go. That's the place I had to find my destiny. I was walking around looking for positions in a gallery, which was what I thought I was supposed to do. I walked into one gallery and the director there said, “I don't have any gallery work for you, but I'm on the board of a not-for-profit gallery at the YWCA. That's the home of the Craft Students League. They are looking for a program associate, which pays a ridiculously low hourly wage but has health benefits.” I thought, “O.K., I can do that.”    That's when I found myself in the not-for-profit arts administration position that was developed into what I do now, at least part time. I was the program coordinator for the Craft Students League, which is unfortunately gone now, but had a wonderful ceramics, jewelry, painting, and book arts department. I ultimately became director of the jewelry studio and metalsmithing studio there, and then I became the assistant director of the whole program before I moved to the 92nd Street Y to become the director of the Jewelry Center here.   Sharon: Did they have an opening? How did you enter the 92nd Street Y?   Jonathan: Yes, there was an opening. There was John Cogswell. The Jewelry Center has some wonderful previous directors. It was Thomas Gentile from the late 60s to mid-70s, who really put this program on the map. He was followed by John Cogswell until the early 90s. Then briefly Shana Kroiz took over. She was between Baltimore and New York, and when she left the department, there was a call for a new director. That's when I joined the program here.   Sharon: Wow! I didn't know that Thomas Gentile was one of the—I don't know if you want to call it the founders, but one of the names that launched it.    Jonathan: Yeah. The program began in 1930 in its earliest form as a class in metalworking and slowly evolved into a few more classes. It became part of the one of the largest WPA programs in the country here at the 92nd Street Y, but it kind of floated along until Thomas came—and Thomas, forgive me if I get this wrong—in the mid-60s, I think, maybe later. He came in and really started to formulate a program of study here. He was the one who really created the Jewelry Center as a center.   Sharon: Was he emphasizing art jewelry or all jewelry?   Jonathan: There was a great book put out by the Museum of Modern Art in the 50s about how to make modern jewelry. Now, I don't know if the MOMA realized that they put out a book on how to make jewelry, but my point is in New York, I think there was still this idea of the modernist aesthetic and the artist as jeweler or jeweler as artist. I would say that Thomas was focused more on artist-made jewelry, the handmade, the one-of-a-kind object. It was still not looking in any way towards traditional or commercial jewelry.   Sharon: Jonathan, tell us what the 92nd Street Y is, because people may not know.   Jonathan: The 92nd Street Y is a 140-year-old institution here on the Upper East Side of New York City. It is one of New York City's most important cultural anchors. It has many different facets. We have a renowned lecture series. The November before the pandemic, I remember we had back-to-back Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Lizzo. Wednesday night it was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Thursday night it was Lizzo. Last night we had Outlander here, and I think we had a full house of 900 people plus 2,000 people online. We also have a world-renowned dance center that has a long history with Martha Graham and Bill T. Jones. In many ways, modern dance coalesced at the 92nd Street Y. The Jewelry Center has had a presence here at the Y since 1930. We have a wonderful ceramic center. We also have one of the most prestigious nursery schools in New York City. You name it.    The 92nd Street Y is a Jewish cultural center. It's part of the UJA Association, but it's kind of its own thing. It's a whole other story about what Ys are and the difference between YWCAs, YMCAs and YM-WHAs, which is what we are, but the 92nd Street Y is really a cultural center.   Sharon: When are you opening your West Coast branch in Los Angeles? Because you have such an incredible number of speakers and programs.   Jonathan: Many of them come from the West Coast. We had Andrew Garfield here the week before last to talk about his amazing performance for a Reel Pieces program with Annette Insdorf. I think that was a full house of 900 people for a performance from “Tick Tick Boom,” which was great. I don't know when we're coming to LA. We're just reemerging from the pandemic here in New York.   Sharon: This is not related to jewelry, but do you think that without the pandemic, you would have gone online to such an extent? Would it have been possible for people around the world, including on the West Coast, to see what's going on?   Jonathan: The pandemic was the catalyst to do something we'd always thought about, but yes, the pandemic definitely forced us to do it. On March 13, New York City shut down. That Monday, we flipped all of our classes, every single one of our classes in the Art Center, which is about 200 classes, to be virtual. That worked for some classes better than others, obviously for painting and drawing. It was fine for jewelry. It's tough if you don't have a studio. What we did through the summer is offer online classes. We still offer online classes to some extent, but my focus is on building back our in-person class schedule, which we're doing. We're over about half enrollment now from the pandemic and moving quickly towards three-quarters.   Sharon: Did the people who enrolled in hands-on jewelry classes, did that just stop with the pandemic?   Jonathan: Yes, it stopped from March 2020 until September 2020. In September, we actually opened back up for in-person classes. We wore masks. We were socially distanced. We were unvaccinated. I was taking the subway and it worked. It was slow at first, but I think this process is a part of many people's lives and this program is so meaningful for so many people. Being in New York, access to a studio is important, and very few people have studios at home. This is not only an important part emotionally of their lives, it's also literally, physically, an important part of making jewelry their practice.   Sharon: Since you started as director of the program, I know you've been responsible for growing it tremendously. Was that one of your goals? Did you have that vision, or there was just so much opportunity? What happened?   Jonathan: All of the above. There was a lot of opportunity. Unfortunately, the Crafts Students League closed shortly after I left. Parsons closed their department. There were a number of continuing education programs that left Manhattan, and this is before the country of Brooklyn was discovered, even though I lived there. There were no schools in Brooklyn, really. The 92nd Street Y became one of the few places to study when I came on.    Also, to my point about studying jewelry in art school, you're studying to be an artist generally in art school; you're not really studying to be a jeweler in the way most people understand jewelers to be. Although certainly at Tyler, it was a great technical education and I learned a lot of hard skills, many people, including myself, were not adept at those hard skills. We're not taught at a trade school, and I found that most of the people who were looking for jewelry classes wanted to make more traditional jewelry than the classes we were offering. Most of our faculty came from art school. There were some amazing people, Bob Ebendorf and Lisa Grounick(?) to name just a few, but as the 90s wore on and the aesthetic changed, I found that people really wanted to learn how to work in gold, how to set a stone. The aesthetics of jewelry shifted. You probably know yourself that the art jewelry world shifted a little bit too. For myself, I wanted to learn more hard skills, and I basically started creating classes that reflected my interests in how to make better wax carvings, how to set a brilliant-cut stone. I can then make that into what I want: studio jewelry, art jewelry, whatever, but those hard skills were lacking.    I've said this many times: I don't know that this program would exist in another city other than New York because there was so much talent here. There were people from the industry here. There were artists who were studio jewelers and art jewelers all at my fingertips. I think that was one of the ways it grew, not because I reduced the perspective of what was being made here, but because I enlarged the perspective of what was being made here or taught here.   Sharon: How did you do that? Did you do that by identifying potential teachers and attracting them? What did you do?   Jonathan: I was lucky to have some wonderful people in New York City at that time. We had a wonderful faculty to begin with, but we also were able to expand the faculty with incredible people who had recently resigned. Pamela Farland, who was a master goldsmith and was the goldsmith at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for many years, was on our stuff. Klaus Burgel, who was trained at the Academy of Munich, was here in New York and came to us as a faculty member. Tovaback Winnick(?), who was a master wax carver and worked for Kieselstein-Cord for many years, came on as well. Some people work here for a shorter period of my time. My good friend, Lola Brooks, was here and taught stone setting. There was some really stellar talent around that helped me build this program.   Sharon: That's quite a lineup you're mentioning.   Jonathan: And a really diverse lineup.   Sharon: Diverse in what sense?   Jonathan: Klaus' work is pure art jewelry: the iconic object, incredibly crafted, but what one would consider as art jewelry in its most essential sense. Lola Brooks, her work crosses the lines of both art and jewelry, and she's got a beautiful studio jewelry line. Then there are people like Pamela Farland, who made very classical, Greco-Roman, high-carat granulated stones, classical goldsmithing. Then there was Tovaback Winnick who teaches carving, which is how the majority of commercial jewelry is made. We had real range as well as your regular Jewelry 1, Jewelry 2, Jewelry 3 classes where we're teaching the basics of sawing, forming and soldering.   Sharon: You answered my question in part, but if somebody says, “I'm tired of working as a banker; I want to be a jeweler,” can you come to the Y and do that? Can you go through Jewelry 1, Jewelry 2, Jewelry 3 and then graduate into granulation? I don't know if there's a direct line.   Jonathan: Absolutely. We don't have a course of study. We don't have a certificate, but you can definitely come here and put your own skillset together. That's also what I found strong about the program, that it gave people access to put their skillsets together without going through art school or going through college. You're able to learn those hard skills in an environment where it's no frills.   Sharon: Are they mostly younger people, older people, people of all ages?   Jonathan: It's people of all ages. When I joked about the country of Brooklyn not being discovered yet, I lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for my whole New York life, so I'm speaking the truth. There really wasn't anything out there. If you were young and hip and cool when I lived in Brooklyn, you had to come here. So, for a long time, we had a much younger population that was cool, hip. Now, everybody has moved to the country called Brooklyn. That demographic has aged a little bit for us.    We have three classes during the day. We have a morning class, an afternoon class, a late afternoon class and then an evening class. If you're a younger person, it's most likely that you have a job, so you're going to come at night for our classes. That's only one-quarter of the population that can take a class here, because there's only one slot of night classes. There could be four classes happening at the same time, but all from 7:00-9:30. So, in general our population skews old because those are the people who are generally available during the day.    That being said, it's New York City. There are lots of different ways to make a living here. There are definitely people who are actors or bartenders or artists or what have you who do have time during the day and come here. It really depends on what class, but absolutely; we have all ages for sure. We also have kids' classes in the afternoon from 4:00-6:30.

THE POWER  OF THE LENS A WAY OF LIFE © 2021 ISBN 978-976-96768-4-8 PODCAST 130The stark reality is all these lenses help us see or perceive things and persuade us global citizens to a particular action or new behaviour. It is generally accepted that the origin of the lens can be traced back to the ancient Roman philosopher, Seneca, who described, “letters could be magnified by a ball of crystal” about 2000 years ago. The lens works using a principle known as light “refraction”: the light bends and changes its direction of travel.According to Robert Woods ASME Fellowat some point in any scientific endeavour it becomes necessary to bring philosophy into contact with the real world. The tools for doing this are the scientific instruments such as an optical instrument (or "optic" for short) which is a device that processes light waves (or photons), either to enhance an image for viewing or to analyze and determine their characteristic properties. Such common examples are namely periscopes, microscopes, telescopes, and cameras which can be used to perform critical experiments.WORKS CITEDwww.explainthatstuff.com/lenses.htmlGittens,William  Anderson,Author, Cinematographer Dip.Com., Arts. B.A. Media Arts Specialists' License Cultural  Practitioner, Publisher, Podcaster, CEO Devgro Media Arts Services®2015,Editor in Chief of Devgro Media Arts Services Publishing®2015https://www.masterclass.com/articles/basic-photography-101-understanding-camera-lenseswww.britannica.com/technology/lens-opticswww.explainthatstuff.com/lenses.htmlhttps://www.explainthatstuff.com/lenses.htmlhttps://windhoek-optics.com/index.php/2015-09-03-10-59-08/historical-timeline-on-lenseshttps://windhoek-optics.com/index.php/2015-09-03-10-59-08/historical-timeline-on-lenseshttps://ethw.org/LensesAbraham Bosse; Cellier, Antoine, 17th cent; Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (France) (1665), Traité des pratiques geometrales et perspectives enseignées dans l'Academie royale de la peinture et sculpture, A Paris Chez l'auteur, retrieved 28 July 2018www.zennioptical.com/blog/history-eyeglasses/https://ethw.org/Lenseshttp://www.glasseshistory.com/glasses-history/history-of-optics/https://techktimes.com/types-of-historical-lenses/https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/teaching-resources-for-historians/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/through-the-lens-of-history-biafra-nigeria-the-west-and-the-world/why-study-about-biafra/the-lens-of-historyhttp://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/pdf/The%20Cultural%20Diversity%20Lens_Pedagogical%20guide.pdfhttp://www.differencebetween.net › Science https://www.adobe.com/https://www.datacolor.com › spyderx-lens-human-eyehttps://www.vocabulary.com › dictionary › lenshttps://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Optical_instrumenthttps://www.umgc.edu › tutorial › chapter8 › chapter8-04https://www.britannica.com › Newtons-laws-of-motionhttps://www.keyence.com › products › vision › visionbasicshttps://www.bbc.co.uk › bitesize › guides › revisionTyler, C.W. (2009) Editorial Essay: Straightness and the sphere of vision. Perception 38, pp. 1423–1427http://www.universalphotonics.com › ReferenceLibraryhttps://www.tutorix.com/index.htmhttps://www.photoguard.co.uk/camera-lens-guideHill, Robin (July 1924). "A lens for whole sky photographs". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. 50 (211): 227–235. Bibcode:1924QJRMS..50..227H. doi:10.1002/qj.49705021110. David Brooks (1982). Lenses and lens accessories: a photographer's guide. p. 29. ISBN 9780930764340.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisheye_lensStafford, Simon; Hillebrand, Rudi; Hauschild, Hans-Joachim (2004). The New Nikon Compendium. Lark Books. pp. 209–210. ISBN 1-57990-Support the show (http://www.buzzsprout.com/429292)

What you'll learn in this episode: How Nicolas made the jump from the corporate world to jewelry Why there is unlimited potential for the art jewelry market  How Nicolas finds the artists he showcases in his series of jewelry books Why art jewelers should focus on finding customers who love beauty, and not just customers with expendable income About Nicolas Estrada Nicolas Estrada (Medellín, 1972) discovered his artistic pathway in Barcelona, a city that he had come to for entirely different reasons. Until that point, he had been an inhabitant of the business world, where he was involved in marketing. His destiny, however, was to follow another path: creating one-off jewelry artworks that were meaningful, unique and infused with stories that speak to the senses. At Barcelona's Llotja and Massana schools, he came into contact with the jewelry world for the first time, where he discovered that his efforts opened up infinite possibilities for expression to him. He has studied widely, learning the techniques of gemology, setting and engraving. Nicolas has given lectures and workshops at universities and art centers in England, Germany and the United States. In 2019, he was invited to represent his homeland, Colombia, at World Art Tokyo in Japan, where he also had the opportunity to give a lecture and lead a workshop at the Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry in Tokyo, Japan's most highly regarded jewelry school. Nicolas is the author of the five books in the series on jewelry that has been published by Promopress in several languages and distributed worldwide. Nicolas lives in Barcelona, the city that allowed him to be who he wanted to be and to do what he wanted to do. He has his own studio, where he shares his craft and experiences with other jewelers who also live in or are passing through this wonderful cosmopolitan city. Additional Resources: ·        Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/NEJ ·        Instagram: @nicolasestradajeweler ·        Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolasestradajeweler ·        Video about his books: https://youtu.be/Ph8aoK8Vg4I ·        Video about his studio & work: https://youtu.be/SxwJYAPZfJQ Photos: Earrings 1: hand-carved rock crystal, gold  Earrings 2: trapiche emeralds, diamonds, silver Brooch: agates with intaglio, silver, steel Ring 1: rock crystal with intaglio, silver, pearls Ring 2: wood, copper, silver, paint Transcript: Although Nicolas Estrada entered the jewelry field later in life, he has as much enthusiasm for the industry as any newcomer. Coming from a background in the business world, he brings a wealth of creativity and keen insight to his work as a maker, researcher, and author. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about why he thinks art jewelry will explode if makers tap into the right market, how he compiled his series of jewelry books, and why he finds more meaning in art jewelry than traditional jewelry. Read the episode transcript below.  Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. Today, speaking with us from Barcelona is my guest, Nicolas Estrada. Nicolas is a maker, entrepreneur and creator of five books featuring art jewelers from around the world. Each book focuses on a different type of jewelry such as necklaces or bracelets, and I'm sure many of you have his books on your shelves. We'll hear more about his jewelry journey today. Nicolas, welcome to the program. Nicolas: Thank you very much for inviting me, Sharon. I am very happy to talk to you today. Sharon: It's great to talk with you. Tell us about your jewelry journey. Were you creative as a child? Nicolas: My journey in jewelry started in 2000 exactly, I think around the same month. I was a very creative child. My parents and my sister thought I was going to study design. In Colombia at that time, if you were very creative, you could go to architecture school maybe, but I went into engineering because I wanted to be like my father. So, I went to electrical engineering, but I crashed against a wall in the first semester.  Then I went into business administration. The situation at that time in Colombia was extremely dangerous. All the things you see in the Narcos series, this was my city; this is how I grew up. I think my father was very worried that I was living in the city at that time, so without saying anything, he sent me to Boston to study business. So, the creativity went into a parenthesis for a while. I was always making gifts for my girlfriends, for my friends, but I was going to be an executive. When I came to Barcelona, it exploded. I became a jeweler with many, many things happening in between. If you want, I can tell them, but this is a long story. I don't know if you want me to share it with you. Sharon: I'm curious why Barcelona. How did you go from Boston at Babson College, I think I read, to Barcelona? How did you make that leap? What was the catalyst? Nicolas: In Boston, I had a great time in the university. Babson was a great school. They're international, so I had many friends during the first time in my life by myself. But the winter was so hard, and it was the first time in my life when night arrived at 4:00 and the day started at 9:00. So, at the end of Boston, I went back to Medellín. I worked in a bank for six months. Then I went into a multinational company knitting garments for one or two years, then I went into another consumer goods multinational for another two years and I burned out completely. This corporate world was very hard for me. I was very successful, but the only thing I was getting from this corporate world was money, nothing else. I decided to quit. I started to apply for an MBA at all these Ivy League schools, but I didn't get the GMAT score I needed. So, I was thinking, “O.K., what am I going to do?” My sister was living in Barcelona. I had never been to Spain before, so I decided to go visit her, maybe take the summer for myself, think about life a little bit and decide what to do. I came to Barcelona, and in September I went to a jewelry school because there was professor who was a friend of a boyfriend that my sister was dating at the time. I started to do some jewelry because I wanted to express myself, take a break from the corporate world. It was the first time I had time for myself in five years, because I was always going from one work to another without any holidays in between. I remember in that school, I went to an exhibition and saw work from McClure in Canada and another artist here in Barcelona; it was a museum. I said to myself, “This is the kind of work I want to do for the rest of my life.” I saw that most of the people who were exhibiting in that museum were from the Massana School, former students or professors. I went to talk to Ramón at Massana and he said, “Yeah, transfer and I will receive you here,” and I got into Massana. Sharon: When you say Ramon-- Nicolas: He was my sister's friend. I went to talk to Ramón. He was so friendly, and he said, “Well, yeah, transfer and you will get into Massana. I will make sure you get into it this year.” So, I transferred, he accepted me and I started at Massana. My father was freaked out because, imagine, he had paid so much money for education. I was so successful in Colombia. I was doing extremely well in the corporate world. I was starting to change a little bit, so he was like, “O.K., why don't do jewelry as a hobby and maybe you'll come back to the corporate world.” I said, “Dad, give me a little time and let me decide.”  I think putting all these oceans between Colombia and my life was also very helpful, because in Medellín you don't do what you want; you do what people want you to do. If you are a man, you are supposed to play a certain role in society: not artistic, not cooking, nothing like that, no creativity. You just go into business, or you become a doctor or something like that. Here in Barcelona, nobody knew who I was; nobody cared about me. I've said many times that in Barcelona, it was the first time in my life that I had time for myself and the opportunity to be exactly what I wanted to be. This was also very difficult because I had this background and the commitment with my father. I needed to retribute all the effort he made for paying for my university. When I graduated from Massana, I won a prize. I went to Marseilles as a representative from Massana and I won a prize and went to Germany— Sharon: You're talking about Galerie Marseilles? Nicolas: Exactly. At Massana School, I won the prize for one of the best graduation works. The best works went to Galerie Marseille. I won a prize in Marseille at Galerie Marseille, all the ones who won the prize went to Germany. I won the first prize in Germany. There was a woman here called Pilar Garrigosa. She was a woman—I don't know how you say the word in English, but the woman who supports artists a lot. Sharon: A sponsor, sort of? Nicolas: Yeah, a sponsor, exactly. She's also a jeweler, but she was always sponsoring people she liked. She liked my work, so she invited me to exhibit in her house. My parents were here during that time of the year, and when they saw this exhibition, they realized this is what I was going to do. People were amazed; I was very happy. I saw a lot of work. It was fantastic. So, my father relaxed, and I continued with jewelry. I was with jewelry for a while. This was, what, 2000, 2003, 2004? And it was fantastic.  I was working for a very important jeweler here, not artistic at all, very commercial. I was doing a lot of his pieces and I was earning my livelihood. I liked the craft; I liked working with my hands. I was learning technique, because in jewelry most of the good technicians, they start at 14 in the studio, or at 12 or 16. I started very old in the craft. I took advantage of all this time to go to technical schools, to learn from masters, but most was commercial jewelry. Sharon: When you say commercial jewelry, were you working in what we think of as traditional jewelry, as opposed to art jewelry, where you're working with gemstones? Nicolas: Exactly, yeah. Traditional is a more appropriate word. I needed to earn my livelihood; I needed to pay the mortgage. I needed to bring some money into the house. Artistic jewelry is fantastic for the soul, but very bad for the pocket. I was doing some artistic jewelry, but I was mostly making my life working for this known jeweler here in Barcelona. Sharon: Who was the sponsor you named? I don't know the name.  Nicolas: Her name is Pilar Garrigosa. She's a very important woman here. She's from the family of one of the most important mayors of the city. She had a jewelry gallery a long time ago, and she's a fantastic woman. She also opened the door for me to the jewelry institutions, to many people. I went with her to Munich for the first time. She's still a very good friend of mine, and she was my collector in the beginning. She was buying a lot of pieces from me. She's a woman I am very grateful for. Sharon: What attracted you to art jewelry as opposed to, say, traditional jewelry? What was it that you liked? Nicolas: Traditional jewelry gave me the technique, but I think traditional jewelry sometimes is a little boring because it doesn't speak to the person; it's just gold and gemstones. It's fantastic to know how to do these, but I think the jewelry that speaks, that tells a story, this is the artistic jewelry. This is the jewelry I like to do now. I also try to do some traditional jewelry that has a more artistic look. I am not a professor; I earn my living from jewelry and artistic jewelry. The public is very narrow, so it's difficult to approach a lot of people with artistic jewelry. I like to make more commercial pieces, more traditional jewelry to appeal to a broader audience. Sharon: There is a real market for art jewelry, but it's a lot narrower than regular jewelry. Do you see any changes in that marketplace? Do you see it growing? Do you see it declining? You travel all over the world and talk to art jewelers. Do you see any changes or hot spots, let's say? Nicolas: The thing is that, apart from us, nobody knows what art jewelry is, so the potential for growth is 1000% if we manage to arrive to people. People don't know who we are; they don't even know that this exists. When they see a ring from Niessing, they are overwhelmed, and this ring is from the 40s, 50s. People still believe that jewelry from the 60s is extremely creative. We are not doing a good job at all in showing to the world what we do. The image that people have of jewelry is from Cartier, Bulgari, a diamond from De Beers, the engagement ring they buy in the most traditional store. There's all the potential in the world because people don't know what we do. They have no idea there is another kind of jewelry. Sharon: Every art jeweler has to be a businessperson and market their own things, but you have such a strong business and entrepreneurial background. Do you think that gives you an edge or makes you see things differently in how you sell your stuff or make art jewelry more known? Does this give you more edge? Nicolas: The marketing is very good when you are using somebody else's budget. Sharon: Somebody else's money? Nicolas: Budget, the money from somebody else. If you are a corporation and you get $1 million to invest in advertisement, you do it all perfectly, but when you have to sell yourself, this is extremely difficult. Also, I think nothing prepares you in life for rejection when people say, “This is too ugly,” or you have things in red, blue or white, but they want it in yellow, the color that you don't have. You have variety, but people want exactly what you don't have. For me, no matter how well you are trained, rejection and negativity and these things are very difficult to take. The business world prepares you maybe to manage money, to invest, to be organized, but it doesn't prepare you for the artistic world, because the artistic world is extremely difficult. As you said before, it's not that we are not only the owners of our business. We have to be the photographer; we have to write; we have to deal with social media; we have to teach and we have to speak, so we are all in one. We need to be very well prepared. Sharon: That's so true. Nothing prepares you for the rejection when it's your own work. Maybe somebody has been out in the world as a salesperson, but they're not selling their own things. It's so personal when somebody says, “It's too expensive,” or “Do you have it in yellow?” How was it that you started compiling books? Why don't you tell everybody about them? Nicolas: Since I started in the artistic world, I tried to be receptive to all the doors that open in life. You have to be very careful of what you ask for, because usually what you ask for is going to arrive. I try to be prepared every time a door opens. Usually for me, it's very difficult to say no to things.  When I mentioned to you before that I got this prize here in Barcelona, there was a guy in the exhibition of the winners. He liked my piece, so he made me do one piece for his girlfriend and we kept in touch. He's a little bit older than I am, maybe two or three years older, so we were seeing each other in all of our exhibitions, in the art scene in the city. One day our friend said, “I have a friend who is a publisher and he would love to publish a book about jewelry. I will tell him to call you.” This was in 2005. In 2010, I got the phone call from this guy, five years later when I had totally forgotten about it. He told me he was selling the books from the Lark Books publisher, like the “1,000 Rings” books that are fantastic, and that opened the door for all of us. So, I said yeah, but I want to make a book for my house. I said, “Look, I don't copy things, but we can start talking about different languages, different artists, stuff like that.” We started to talk about it. This was in 2009 maybe. I started to do some research, to look at all the books, and we started with “Rings.” We were calling at that time; this was by email and calling and by regular mail. We published the “Rings” book in 2010 and it was a total success.  Then we did “Earrings.” It was also very successful. After “Earrings,” we did “Necklaces.” “Necklaces” is one of my favorite books because it allowed me to show for the first time the people who wear the kind of jewelry we make. In “Rings” and “Earrings,” you don't see much of the face or the body, but in “Necklaces,” I was able show the people. The British publisher who buys most of the books from the catalogue publisher didn't like some of the bodies, so this was the big heat. The catalogue publisher said, “No, we'll go with the book anyway.” This was also a very difficult book. Now we have five books. It's like one book every two years. Sharon: They are so fabulous. I have a hard time looking at some of them because the jewelry is so beautiful. It's so creative and fantastic, and it's also a great way to learn about other artists, too. There are a lot of names I'm sure a lot of people don't know or aren't familiar with. Do you search these people out? I'm sure they come to you also. How do you find them? It's such a variety and so global. How do you find them all? Nicolas: Well, Sharon, after so many years in the field—the first book was extremely difficult. I had to invite every single person in that book because nobody knew me. Many people didn't trust me. There were even some people in Argentina trying to bring the book down because they thought I was going to steal all the images. This was so difficult to make. Now, after so many trips to Munich, so many trips all around the world looking at nice jewelry, I have my database. I also make huge calls everywhere. I think I reach a big jewelry audience with this call. For example, in the “Bracelet” book, I was surprised because 60% of the people who are in this book—it's the last book—I didn't know anything about. I was very afraid of this book because it was going to be the end of a collection in a way, so I wanted this book to be beautiful. But not too many people make bracelets, so I was always in fear, “Am I going to fail? This is not going to be good enough.” But at the end, I got all this information from people I didn't know anything about. To answer your question, in the first book, I had to invite every single participant. In the last book, the attention was so nice that I was bombarded by applications of many people I didn't know anything about and has surprisingly beautiful work. Sharon: What kept you going if the first book was so difficult? Was it that the publisher said, “O.K., we're past the worst. Now, let's get to the second book”? What kept you going? Nicolas: For me, as I said before, we have huge potential because mostly nobody knows what we do. This is the seed I give. This is my way of contributing to the field to show to a broader audience that rings are not only from Cartier; there are many more rings. If you want to adorn yourself, you don't have to go Bulgari; you don't have to go Fifth Avenue in New York. You can look for people, crazy guys, crazy girls, who make things in an atelier and get dirty and cut themselves. There's a very beautiful way to adorn yourself if you go away from the most traditional sources. This is how I want to contribute to the field that has given me so much. Jewelry is my life. Jewelry makes me a happy man because I love the field; I love my work; I admire my colleagues very much. This is a way for me to give back.  Also, to be very honest, books give me a little bit of a reputation in the field. The artistic world is so hard most of the time. This reputation is a little fuel to my ego to keep going after rejection, after failing to sell, after not doing well in the gallery. I get the messages of people who are in the book, “Oh, I love your work. My pieces look fantastic.” I get back a little bit. I get very nice feedback and it makes very happy. So, I want to contribute to the field. I get a reputation. It's a balance. It helps me a lot. Sharon: They're beautiful books. Do you think it's opened some people's eyes, people who didn't know about this kind of jewelry? It's certainly a great way to do it. It's a great introduction if somebody doesn't know anything about the field. Do you think it's opened people's eyes? Nicolas: Totally, yeah. To give you a personal example, my mother didn't know this kind of jewelry existed, and now she's sharing these with all her friends. If we give a book like this to friends, if we open their eyes, little by little we're going to create a broader audience. That is what we need. I think the luxury world is not our world. The luxury world for me is very boring. If you are a man, you go to Armani, you buy off the mannequin, so you dress like the mannequin, same tie, same suit, same belt. You go to Rolex and buy the watch because in the luxury world, you want to show how much money you have and how much you are worth. I think we are never going to reach the luxury world because we don't sell prestige, but we sell a story. I think we have to look for the people who go to museums, who are more responsive to a storm or a sunset or the beautiful things in life, not only money. These are the people I try to target because these are the people who want to invest in the things that make them happy, not in the things that show others how much money they have. These are the people I want to target with the books, with my jewelry, with our approach. There are so many people like this in the world. Millionaires, there are a few, but I think there are many more people who are responsive to beauty, and these are the people who we want to approach. Sharon: Do you have another book in the hopper or in mind? Is there another one, or do you feel like you've covered the gamut? Nicolas: “Bracelets” was delayed one year because of the pandemic. It was supposed to be released in 2020, but it just got released in January of this year. I am taking my time to enjoy the book, to enjoy the comments, to make sure all the participants get their copies. I think there is going to be another book in the very near future, but I don't know exactly what it is going to be. The thing with these books, Sharon, is that they cannot only be beautiful books; they also need to be commercial books because they are business for the publisher. Many books you see are exploring beauty and everything, but they are targeted to a certain audience. The books I make, they need to sell out. They need to get everywhere; they need to have a second edition, otherwise the publisher is not going to be interested. I have to talk to him and see what is going to be beneficial for him and beneficial for me. We have to get together maybe later this year, during the second semester, and start deciding what are we going to do next, because this is exacting work. It's not that I go to the publisher and tell him what to do. This is a work; I am the author and I make compilations for them, but they are the ones who sell and they are the ones who invest. They are the ones who need to get back their investment.  Sharon: Right, I understand. They have to make money. Well, it's a good thing they sell because it's a great series. Thank you so much for being here today. Hopefully when the next book comes out, we'll have you back. Thank you so much, and good luck with everything. We'll be talking with you. Nicolas: It was a fantastic invitation. Thank you very much, and I hope we can have a reality again without all the virtuality. Virtuality is amazing, the way we manage to discover the spiritual world that connects to many people, but I think we miss the hug; we miss touching; we miss seeing; we miss saying hello, having a drink. I hope to see you again very soon here in Barcelona, in Munich or somewhere else in the world, Sharon.  Sharon: I look forward to it. We will have images posted on the website. You can find us wherever you download your podcasts, and please rate us. Please join us next time, when our guest will be another jewelry industry professional who will share their experience and expertise. Thank you so much for reading. Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.  

Latinx Poet Laureate of Philadelphia. Witness the Isthmus. Books for Unaccompanied Minors. Guests: Raquel Salas Rivera is poet Laureate of Philadelphia, and Geographer and storyteller Jessica Ofelia Alvarenga created the powerful exhibit Witness the Isthmus. Find out about a book drive for unaccompanied minors trapped in the immigration system. Bios Jessica Ofelia Alvarenga is a visual geographer and storyteller based out of Houston, Texas. Coupled with her background in journalism and social justice organizing, she uses photography as a way to document and reimagine immigrant narratives, particularly that of the Central American Diaspora. Her interests include urban political economies; religion and sexuality; diasporic identities; and volcanoes. She is the co-founder of Mujeres en Medio, an online media collective for women of color. In Spring 2017, she was awarded an Individual Artist Grant from the Houston Arts Alliance and the City of Houston. Jessica holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Texas-Austin. Raquel Salas Rivera es la poeta laureada de la ciudad de Filadelfia del 2018-19 y becaria de CantoMundo del 2018. Sus poemas han aparecido en revistas tales como la Revista del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, Apogee y el Boston Review. Es la autora de Caneca de anhelos turbios (Editora Educación Emergente), oropel/tinsel (Lark Books), tierra intermitente (Ediciones Alayubia) y lo terciario/the tertiary (Timeless, Infinite Light). En la actualidad, es co-editora para The Wanderer y co-editora de Puerto Rico en mi corazón, una colección bilingüe de volantes de poetas puertorriqueños contemporáneos. Producers: Leti Lopez & Marlen Treviño. Board Operators: Alex Sorto, and Joe Anthony Trevino. Founder and Director: Tony Diaz, El Librotraicante NP Radio airs live Tuesdays 6pm-7pm cst 90.1 FM KPFT Houston, TX. Livestream www.KPFT.org. More podcasts at www.NuestraPalabra.org. The Nuestra Palabra Radio Show is archived at the University of Houston Digital Archives. Our hard copy archives are kept at the Houston Public Library’s Special Collections Hispanic Archives. Tony Diaz Sundays, Mondays, & Tuesdays & The Other Side Sun 7am "What's Your Point" Fox 26 Houston Mon Noon "The Cultural Accelerator" at www.TonyDiaz.net Tues 6pm NP Lit Radio 90.1 FM KPFT, Houston www.NuestraPalabra.org 24/7 The Other Side TV www.TheOtherSideTele.com

James C. Watkins is a ceramic artist whose work is included in the White House Collection of American Crafts, and the Shigaraki Institute of Ceramic Studies in Shigaraki, Japan.  Mr. Watkins is a Paul Whitfield Horn Professor.  The Horn Professorship is the highest honor that Texas Tech University may bestow on members of its faculty. Horn Professorships are granted to professors in recognition of national and international distinction for outstanding research or other creative scholarly achievements. Mr. Watkins teaches Architectural Ceramics and Architectural Drawing in the College of Architecture. He is also a recipient of the Texas Tech University President’s Excellence in Teaching Award.  He is a 2005 Fulbright Scholar, Teaching in Vietnam at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture.  He is the co-author of two books, “Alternative Kilns & Firing Techniques” published by Lark Books and “Architectural Delineation, Presentation Techniques and Projects” published by Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.  His work is also the subject of a book entitled “A Meditation of Fire the Art of James C. Watkins” by Kippra D. Hopper published by Texas Tech University Press. He received his B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute, and his M.F.A. from Indiana University.

Behind the Mosaic is a series of audio studio visits with some of the most inspirational people in the mosaic art community. This episode features Sherri Warner Hunter, an artist whose large scale public & private installations have elevated the value of the mosaic medium beyond that of a surface treatment to method of achieving meaningful impact and engagement with the environment and community for which a work is created. Sherri is the creative force behind SWH Art Studio Inc. in Bell Buckle, TN. Since moving there in the mid-90’s, the Studio’s production has concentrated on large-scale public commissions and community-based artworks. Hunter’s work is included in many private collections and can be viewed publicly at the Executive Residence of Tennessee, Nashville; McLaren Health Care Village, Clarkston, MI; The Pediatric Network Therapy Center, Torrance, CA; and at Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, Palo Alto, CA. Hunter has written two books. The most recent “Creating Concrete Ornaments for the Garden” was published by Lark Books and developed from expertise honed through decades of teaching studio workshops. She continues to teach workshops at SWH Art Studio Inc., across the country, and internationally. Visit her website for additional information: https://swhartstudioinc.wordpress.com For accompanying images and references, visit: https://americanmosaics.org/?p=12389

Today’s guest is Kara Gott Warner, who also appeared way back in Episode 16. She’s been the Creative Knitting Executive Editor and the host of the Power Purls podcast. She began her career designing knitting patterns in 2002. Her designs have been published in several magazines, including Creative Knitting, Vogue Knitting, Family Circle Easy Knitting, and Interweave Knits. Kara has a background as a technical illustrator, working with craft book publishers such as Random House, Lark Books, Sterling Publishing, and F+W. Kara first joined Annie’s Publishing in 2008 as knitting book editor, and then in 2010 signed on as Executive Editor of Creative Knitting Magazine and Annie’s Knitting Publications. Through the Power Purls podcast, Kara’s mission is to dig deep and ask those burning questions about what turned her guests on to the “two sticks and fiber” in the first place, and what keeps their needles moving! Making the Leap: Do you know your ONE thing? Kara shares how she planned it out and did the math before leaving her full-time job to pursue her dreams. She reveals the empowerment she felt by putting her plan on paper and beginning to work on HER dreams full-time. TWEET: “It’s hard to not get caught up in the busy-ness instead of the #productivity.” @karaknits   Defining your Dream: Do you allow your dream to morph and grow along the way? We all know that dreams may not stay the same over time as they are refined by experiences and situations. Kara decided to focus on her podcast and use it to create a sustainable life and community. The dream has layers to it as she realizes her goals within the knitting industry. Don’t be afraid to let your dream evolve! TWEET: “Your #wellness is all part of the process.” @karaknits The One Thing: In this age of busy-ness, we are probably all involved in several “dreams” and projects at once. Kara tells about the things she has going on within her dream. Even though we focus on ONE thing, we have commitments to many things. Is multi-tasking a bad thing? Absolutely not! Kara shares how to find the one thing that makes thousands of other things become easier. You, too, can find a way to streamline your dream. TWEET: “You can do everything you want, just not at the same time.” @karaknits OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE: [1:35] Checking in on Kara’s dream after two years [8:50] What am I waiting for? [10:15] The first two weeks after leaving the 9-5 mentality [15:35] Working at your best to chase your dreams [18:50] Defining your dream [23:43] The ONE thing vs. multitasking [27:35] Going in many different directions [29:25] Repurposing material [35:25] Coaching clients and podcast interviews [37:25] The Chalkboard Method   RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE: Kara’s Websites: www.powerpurlspodcast.com www.karagottwarner.com www.splendidsticks.com (Creative Knitting Editor’s Blog) www.creativeknittingmagazine.com Kara on Twitter Kara on Instagram Kara on Facebook   TWEETS YOU CAN USE: TWEET: “Even though we focus on ONE thing, we have #commitments to many things.” @karaknits TWEET: “If you can’t identify the things that are the most important, then you’re screwed.” TWEET: “Focus on the one thing that helps you get everything else done.” @karaknits

Aired Wednesday, 2 August 2017, 3:00 PM ET Finding Inspiration and Bringing Creativity Into Your Life Join us for this “WISDOM WEDNESDAY” at 12pm PST / 1PM MT / 2pm CST/ 3pm EST on INSPIRED LIVING RADIO as we welcome special guest, former white house correspondent, and news reporter turned professional blogger, Lisa Tutman Oglesby, LISTEN LIVE: http://omtimes.com/iom/shows/inspired-living/ OM TIMES INTERNET RADIO CALL-IN LINE: 1-202-570-7057 TOPIC: Finding inspiration, bringing creativity into your life, blogging, creative expression for the soul, sharing your talents with the world; Finding what you love to do and more… For as long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed creating beautiful things for family and friends. I’m Lisa Tutman-Oglesby, the voice and heart behind the Food/Lifestyle blog, Celebrate Creativity. If you’ve spent any amount of time on my blog, you’ll see I’m pretty hooked on creativity. I just like making things and I delight in the simple rewards that come from taking raw materials, applying a little elbow grease and imagination and making something wonderfully new and unexpected. You can never have too many hobbies or interests in my book and I take that mantra to heart. I enjoy recipes; sewing, gardening, home decorating and food photography and styling (just to name a few). I believe if you do what you love… you’ll love what you do. I’m a diehard baker, bargain hunter, DIYer, crafter, collector of fabrics and vintage dishes, home décor enthusiast, wife, mom of two and a Virginia transplant. I relish taking the everyday and the ordinary and transforming it into pretty darn extraordinary… without spending a fortune to do it. Celebrate Creativity is a natural extension of that sentiment. Before turning my attention to Celebrate Creativity, I spent more than 20 years as a television news reporter and anchor at stations in Flint, MI, Indianapolis, IN and Atlanta, GA as well as Washington, D.C. where I was a White House/Capitol Hill correspondent. The latter half of my reporting career was spent at NBC in Chicago, IL where I also won an Emmy award for Outstanding Achievement for Individual Excellence. That winged, golden statuette with her raised globe looks great on my fireplace mantle. You know I keep her looking fresh and shiny too… thanks to my dandy, handcrafted feather duster. Yes, I make those too. I think my experience as a journalist certainly influences my news-you-can-use blogging approach where I blend words and vibrant pictures to inform, entertain, educate, enchant and hopefully… inspire. I’ve been fortunate to have my writing, photography and projects appear in some wonderful books and magazines including Romantic Homes, Crafts ‘n Things, Creating Keepsakes, Apronology and many more beautiful publications. Perhaps you spotted me as a finalist in Country Living magazine’s 2012 Blue Ribbon Blogger awards competition. I didn’t win the category but it was still really cool to be nominated and in the running against some of the biggest bloggers out there. I was also featured in the book, Blogging for Bliss by Lark Books (2009) and my popular handcrafted cookie mix gift sack project appeared in the December 2015 issue of the French crafts magazine, Creative. Creativity sits at the heart and soul of my blog. My aim is that readers will take my colorful tutorials, doable step-by-steps and other offerings and put them to good use to make their day easier, beautiful, more efficient or just plain fun. I want my readers to try a new recipe, tackle an interesting project or attempt a craft project never considered before. I think Celebrate Creativity has plenty to tickle the fancy and I’m happy to provide the inspiration to kick-start readers’ creative juices and instincts. Go

Out of Our Minds is the second longest running poetry radio show in the United States hosted weekly on KKUP Cupertino. The show airs on Wednesday nights from 8-9pm PST on 91.5fm in the Bay Area, CA and streaming live on KKUP.org. The show's host is Rachelle Escamilla (Poetita). If you'd like to be a guest, please email Rachelle through her website: www.poetita.com Raquel Salas-Rivera has published poetry and essays in numerous anthologies and journals. Her first book, Caneca de anhelos turbios, was published by Editora EducaciónEmergente. Her chapbook, oropel/tinsel , was published by Lark Books & Writing Studio. You can find out more about her work at http://www.raquelsalasrivera.co.

Today's episode is a double header. I'm interviewing Kara Gott Warner, host of Power Purls Podcast, and she's interviewing me! Read on for more details and then have a listen to both episodes. About Kara Gott Warner Kara is the Executive Editor of Creative Knitting magazine. She began her career in the yarn industry as a knitting designer in 2002. Kara's designs have been published in several magazines, including Creative Knitting, Vogue Knitting, Family Circle Easy Knitting, and Interweave Knits. Kara has also worked as a technical illustrator, working with craft book publishers such as Random House, Lark Books, Sterling Publishing and F+W. Kara joined Annie’s Publishing in 2008 as knitting book editor, and she became the Executive Editor of Creative Knitting and Annie’s knitting publications. Kara's also a podcast host! Her first show, the Morning Cooldown is a seasonal program that is currently on hiatus. Knitters and yarn industry folks may prefer her latest show, Power Purls Podcast, where she loves to dig deep and ask those burning questions about what turned her guests on to the “two sticks and fiber,” in the first place, and what keeps their needles moving. You can find Kara online on her website, as well as on Facebook and Twitter. About the interview Kara shares an editor's perspective on the magazine design submission process, along with tips for increasing your likelihood of getting a design accepted, and how to build a strong relationship with a magazine as a freelancer. We also talk about the importance of networking within the industry, developing multiple streams of income, and using morning rituals to increase your productivity. Resources mentioned in this episode Kara recommends the following books: The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert Jocelyn Glei's Make Your Mark, Manage Your Day-to-Day, and Maximize Your Potential,  Designing Knitwear by Deborah Newton Knitwear Design Workshop by Shirley Paden Sweater Design in Plain English by Maggie Righetti You may want to listen to these back episodes of the Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show for more discussion about topics addressed in this episode: Episode 1 Episode 43 Episode 49 Episode 56 You can find Kara's interview with me on Power Purls here. If you enjoyed this episode The Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show is no longer broadcasting. Episodes are available as a service to the yarn community. This episode originally aired in March, 2016. Be aware that content may be outdated. If you'd like to chat with other yarn-related business owners, join the Creative Yarn Entrepreneurs Facebook group. Support Marie's work by buying one of her books, Make Money Teaching Crochet: Launch Your Business, Increase Your Side Income, Reach More Students (Amazon | Gumroad) or Design It, Promote It, Sell It: Online Marketing for Your Crochet and Knit Patterns (Amazon | Gumroad).

Today’s podcast episode is motivated by Aimee’s desire to have all of her listeners hear her guest’s story. Kara Gott Warner, Creative Knitting Magazine Executive Editor, and host of Power Purls Podcast, began her career designing knitting patterns in 2002. Her designs have been published in several magazines, including: Creative Knitting, Vogue Knitting, Family Circle Easy Knitting and Interweave Knits. Kara has a background as a technical illustrator, working with craft book publishers such as Random House, Lark Books, Sterling Publishing and F+W. Kara first joined Annie's Publishing in 2008 as knitting book editor, and then in 2010 signed on as Executive Editor of Creative Knitting Magazine and Annie’s knitting publications. Through Power Purls Podcast, Kara's mission is to dig deep and ask those burning questions about what turned her guests on to the “two sticks and fiber,” in the first place, and what keeps their needles moving! TWEET: If you just focus on one small aspect of your industry, it’s going to be hard ~ Kara Gott Warner The negative power of pigeonholing yourself. When Kara Gott Warner began working full time as editor of Creative Knitting Magazine, she became aware of the ease with which knitters could pigeonhole themselves. To her, it seemed that too many would lump themselves into a certain skill category and feel that they were unable to move from there. Kara felt that the categories needed to be broader, so she created new categories to enable people to more easily move from one to the next without as much fear of stepping out of their comfort zone. Isn’t that a great parable for life? We all too easily think of ourselves in one set way when the reality is that each of us has the ability to grow, mature, and increase in skill so that we are not today what we were tomorrow. Hear more of Kara’s insights on this episode. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. It’s common nowadays for people to talk about the impossibility of overnight success and today’s guest, Kara Gott Warner agrees. Her journey from an unhappy financier to editor of Creative Knitting Magazine was almost a decade long. She attributes the success she’s experienced to constant motion in the same direction. She wasn’t standing still. She was moving toward what she wanted, preparing herself, learning, growing in the skills it would take to become what she wanted to be. In this episode Kara unpacks her thoughts about how that happened in her own journey and gives some advice about the importance of preparing yourself for the future while you’re waiting for the opportunities to come. TWEET: I was on a trajectory I didn’t like and my husband encouraged me to quit ~ Kara Gott Warner When you truly care about something you just can’t quit. Kara Gott Warner had a reintroduction to knitting in her early 20s. It became a place of solace and personal therapy for her at the end of a hard or busy day. She fell in love with knitting and began designing patterns of her own. But it wasn’t long before she realized that she wanted to somehow make her love for knitting into a career. That might sound crazy because knitting doesn’t sound like a very lucrative business niche, and it’s not. But Kara didn’t care about that. Her desire was to always have knitting be near the center of her life and that included  her work. So she set out in that direction and never looked back. Even though hard times came, she didn’t allow herself to become discouraged because she cared about knitting so much.  Aimee does a great job of drawing out Kara’s story and the lessons she’s learned on her way to the top, so be sure you listen in to this inspiring episode. Looking back, what things would you change? Most of us have missteps or regrets of one kind or another - both small and more serious. But when Aimee asked  her guest, Kara Gott Warner what she would change if she could start her journey over, Kara said, “Not a thing.” She believes that everything she’s been through has been for her own growth and development and that if any of those things were magically changed, she wouldn’t be the person she is today. Now THAT is a refreshing perspective, and Kara’s full of them. You can hear the entire conversation Aimee had with Kara, Editor of Creative Knitting Magazine, on this episode of Chasing Dreams. TWEET: I’m blown away by the broad scope of people I’m touching ~ Kara Gott Warner OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE: [1:03] Aimee’s introduction of her friend, Kara Gott Warner. [4:30] The big, BIG world of knitters. [5:27] The negative power of pigeonholing yourself. [8:15] The challenges beginning knitters face and things Kara has done to help. [8:57] Resources Kara recommends for beginning knitters. [11:02] How Kara got interested in knitting in the first place - and the place it has taken her. [13:56] “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” [15:08] Sticking with it until she made it. [18:00] The size of the knitting industry and the people it reaches. [19:10] The connections and impact the Power Purls Podcast is having. [21:10] How Kara came to create a podcast. [25:27] Why Kara’s story inspires Aimee and the power of something you care about. [29:26] Looking back on her journey: Would Kara change anything? [31:04] The Rapid Fire Game! - Category: Magazines [34:01] Kara’s recommendation: “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert KARA’S RECOMMENDATION: BOOK: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert QUOTE: “Take the first step in faith. You don’t need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. AIMEE’S RAPID FIRE GAME! - Category: Magazines Aimee and her guest play a quick response game, based on a randomly drawn topic. Once they begin, the first to pause too long, give an obviously wrong answer, or repeat an answer that’s already been given, will be the loser. WHO’S GOING TO WIN? RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: www.StitchGuide.com - Knitting site for beginners PowerPurlsPodcast.com The Morning Cool Down Podcast Creative Knitting editor’s blog: www.splendidsticks.com www.CreativeKnittingMagazine.com www.KaraGottWarner.com Kara on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/karaknits Kara on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/karaknits1 Kara on Facebook: www.facebook.com/powerpurlspodcast TWEETS YOU CAN USE: TWEET: If you’re struggling and confused, it’s a sign you need to stop. It’s not time ~ Kara Gott Warner TWEET: You don’t need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

John Britt is a studio potter in Bakersville, North Carolina who has been a potter and teacher for over 30 years. He lives in mountains of western North Carolina although he grew up in Dayton, Ohio. John is primarily a self-taught potter who has worked and taught extensively, both nationally and internationally, at universities, colleges and craft centers, including the Penland School of Crafts where he served as the Clay Coordinator and then, as the Studio’s Manager. He is the author of the “The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glaze; Glazing & Firing at Cone 10” which was published by Lark Books in 2004, and his most recent book “The Complete Guide to Midrange Glazes: Glazing and Firing at Cone 6” which will be published October 2014. He also has and two e-books (PDF’s): “The Quest for the Illusive Leaf Bowl and Other Assorted Articles” and “Aventurine Glazes”. He also has a DVD produced by Ceramics Daily entitled: "Understanding Glazes: How to Test, Tweak and Perfect Your Glazes”. He was the juror for the book; "500 Bowls”, Technical Editor for “The Art and Craft of Ceramics”, and the “Ceramic Glaze: The Complete Handbook” by Brian Taylor and Kate Doody. He has written numerous articles for ceramics publications including: Ceramic Review, Studio Potter, Clay Times, Ceramic Technical, New Ceramics, The Log Book and is a frequent contributor to Ceramics Monthly.

Stay-at-home mom, former lawyer, now a knitting designer, author and yarn dyer, Carol Sulcoski handdyes wool and silk yarns and roving as Black Bunny Fibers. Her new book, Lace Yarn Studio, published in April from Lark Crafts, features fresh ideas for using lace weight yarn; her previous book, Sock Yarn Studio, published fall 2012 from Lark Books, is full of patterns using sock yarn for things other than socks.  Listen Live for chance to win great prizes! Stay up to date with the Yarn Thing podcast with the App available on iTunes and for Droid.Find our more about Marly at www.MarlyBird.com or follow her on facebook Sponsored by: Knitter's MagazineCraftsyLo-Lo by Bar-MaidsDecade by Drew EmborskyBijou Basin RanchRed Heart YarnErin.Lane BagsKristin Omdahl Bamboo So FineBuffalo Wool Co.Green Mountain Spinnery

Finding truth in the moment...   Nathan sits down with Haley Steinhardt owner of Soul Tree Publications for the 61st episode of the Finding Asheville podcast. They chat about getting over the fear of self-promotion, growing up in Ohio, what it was like to work for Lark Books, how she built a profitable Reiki business and found the courage to walk away from that same business, why Soul Tree Publications is her new purpose and why life is all about finding truth in the present moment.   This episode was recorded at Mojo Coworking at 60 North Market Street in Downtown Asheville.   Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here to get new episodes to download to your listening devices each week and get caught up on past episodes!   Oh and if you are feeling super nice like the Finding Asheville Facebook page here.

Kate Maury received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kansas City Art Institute and a Master of Fine Art from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Currently she resides in St. Paul, Minnesota where she is a studio resident at the Northern Clay Center and teaches full-time as a Professor in the School of Art and Design at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Her work is featured in both juried and invitational shows at regional, national and international venues. In addition Maury’s work is published in contemporary ceramic art books such as Making Marks: Discovering the Ceramic Surface by Robin Hopper, 500 Bowls, Lark Books, The Art of Contemporary American Pottery by Kevin Hluch, and High-Fire Glazes by Lark Books. She has taken part in two residencies at the Archie Bray Foundation, three residencies at the Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute in Jingdezhen, China and most recently completed two residencies at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemet, Hungary. 

Today I talk with Marthe Le Van. After eleven years as an editor for Lark Books, Marthe set off on a new adventure and started her own retail jewelry store called Mora, located in Asheville North Carolina. Listen in as Martha shares her journey from editor to shop owner, and the challenges and rewards she found along the way.   Make sure and visit www.craftcast.com for all the links talked about on today's show. 

http://www.polymerclaytv.com In this episode we review 3 different polymer clay books by http://www.larkcrafts.com Two of the books are project books and one is a gallery book. Enjoy!

Subscribe to the Homegrown Evolution Podcast in itunes here.Download Homegrown Evolution Podcast Episode #1 (mp3)On this first episode of the Homegrown Evolution podcast we talk food preservation with author Ashley English who blogs at small-measure.blogspot.com. English will have two books out next year on food preservation and chickens, part of a series entitled "Homemade Living," (Lark Books). She also has a weekly column every Friday on Design*Sponge at www.designspongeonline.com/category/small-measures.In the second part of the show we talk to Wing Tam, assistant division manager for the Watershed Protection Program in the City of Los Angeles' Bureau of Sanitation about a new rainwater harvesting pilot project. You can find out more about the program at www.larainwaterharvesting.org. We conclude with a reaction to this new program from river activist Joe Linton, author of Down by the Los Angeles River and one of the bloggers behind lacreekfreak.wordpress.com.As we say on the podcast, we prefer gardening to staring at computer screens and putting a podcast together involves a hell of a lot of the latter. Don't look for frequent updates, but we'll put out another one later this year. Please excuse the mike popping and other technical flaws, as we're still working out the technical side of podcasting.Music on the program is from archive.org:A bluegrass cover of DEVO's Mongoloid, recorded in 1980 in Cleveland, Ohio by the Hotfoot Quartet. Bob Frank, guitar and lead vocal, Jim Blum, upright bass and vocals; Paul Kovac, banjo and vocals; Bob Smakula, mandolin and vocals. Available here.Also from archive.org, a collection of surf music.