Great WMASS Etsy Treasury

Check out this lovely collection of items listed on etsy by members of Artisans of WMASS. http://www.etsy.com/treasury/e085ea1dbdbccb4b7af79900/delightfully-dreamy





Our group is growing and flourishing, supporting and networking with local artists, encouraging the local and the handmade. Search "wmass team" on etsy for more great stuff from western mass. My garlic bottle stopper is featured in this treasury! Thanks Karen of moonandsundries.etsy.com for the great selections.

Higgins Armory and TWIST!

Coming up this Friday is an event at the wine event at Higgins Armory. Check it out at http://www.higgins.org/int-wine.php. It looks like there'll be lots of tasty treats! And I know there will be a great selection of glass bottle stoppers as well as beautiful corkscrews and beer openers made by my friend Ben Westbrook of BMW Ironworks. http://hammeronsteel.etsy.com



Then next weekend at the Northampton Center for the Arts is TWIST 4.0! This is an event not to be missed. Twist is a fresh kind of fair, showcasing original goods and art from 60+ talented vendors. Twist is held twice a year, in May and November. Save the dates for an exciting feast of shopping and fun!








Friday May 7, 2010
VIP Reception 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Market Party 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Saturday May 8, 2010
10:00 am - 6:00 pm

twistfair.com for more info. See you there!

Bead Extravaganza Tomorrow and Sustainability Festival

TOMORROW! This is an excellent sampling of top notch bead makers who make truly amazing stuff. Definitely worth the trip! I'll be there absorbing their splendor while selling my veggie earrings and other accessories.

April 17,2010 10am-5pm
*Holiday Inn, 265 Lakeside Ave, Marlboro MA*


Welcome to Glass Bead Extravaganza 10, Presented by the Boston Chapter of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers. Glass Bead Extravaganza is THE PREMIER all glass bead show in the Northeast. This year's show features exceptional glass beads, and finished pieces from over 30 glass artists with a wide range of styles to fit everyone's tastes. You will also find a variety of glass-working tools as well as jewelry and beading supplies to interest beginners to professional designers.






NEXT WEEKEND- APRIL 24TH, 10-4 PM
SUSTAINABILITY FESTIVAL IN DOWNTOWN AMHERST

The 1st Annual Amherst Sustainability Festival is being held
in the downtown area from Kendrick Park to the Town Common.
Lots of us from Artisans of WMASS will be showing our handmade goodies!

Bead Class and Craftopia

I have a 3 hour introduction to glass beadmaking class with one spot open for you! Sunday morning, March 28th, 9-noon in Northampton (actually Florence). You'll get to melt glass with a torch and leave having made some of your very own beads! It's lots of fun, I promise...
$50 for the class, all materials included.

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Upcoming craft show on April 11th. This will be my first adventure down there to RI, but it looks like it will be a good one!



And....Last but not least...


**Save the Date- Opening May 21 through May 30**

Of Borders and Bridges: Complex Identities in Education

This project is a multimedia artistic and academic exploration of how diversity and belonging are constructed and contested in public education and how this impacts people as individuals and as a nation.

Hosted by Commonwealth Center for Change, in the Dynamite Space in the bottom of Thornes, Northampton.

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Call for workshops, presentations and multimedia contributions for a mini-conference to be held in the space on May 22nd or 29th. Please email a proposal by April 15th.

Also seeking artists who are interested in contributing or collaborating and volunteers to help assist in installation, gallery sitting, poetry reading and other facilitating roles.

Please contact katierayrich@gmail.com to get involved.

Old Deerfield- Spring Sampler Show

This weekend is the first big show of the year, the Deerfield Spring Sampler! Don't be fooled- its actually held in West Springfield- Saturday and Sunday, March 13/14, from 10-5 both days.

LOCATION: 1305 Memorial Av, West Springfield, MA 01089
At the Eastern States Expo, "Home of the Big E."

go here for an admission coupon
http://www.deerfieldcraft.com/Coupon/index.php

My booth will be surrounded by other great artisans from our group "Artisans of Western Mass" in booths 147-150. Artisans of WMASS is a group dedicated to promoting things local and handmade. www.artisansofwmass.com

Hope to see you there!

http://www.deerfieldcraft.com/ for more info

Upcoming Glass Class

Starting Tuesday, February 23, and continuing for 6 weeks, I'll be teaching an intro glass class. The class will be an introduction to flameworking using a portable set up that allows us to create stunning beads out of moretti glass. Learn how to melt glass, form beads and decorate with a variety of technique including dots, stringers, raking, plunging and more. Class is 7-9 Tuesday nights at the Mudspun Art Center in Belchertown.
You can find more info at www.mudspunartscenter.com.

As always, if this time doesn't work for you, contact me to arrange for private workshops or lessons at my studio.

***Also, don't forget to visit the Dirty Truth in Northampton to see my sculpture show before it comes down on Feb 1st. Reception is today, Tuesday, January 26, from 5-7. ***

Sculpture Show and Reception

Sculptural Explorations (Seeking Home)


Come join me for a reception on January 26, 5-7pm, celebrating my current sculpture show! The show is a grouping of work exploring issues of home-safety/danger, fragility/strength, comfort/fear.

If you can't make it on the 26th, stop by the Dirty Truth anytime before February first to check it out.

Start Date: December 21, 2009
End Date: February 1, 2010
Reception Date: January 26
Location Name: The Dirty Truth
Hours: 4pm-2am daily
Address: 29 Main Street
City, ST: Northampton, MA

Artist Statement

We draw lines around everything, we create barriers and borders and barricades, we build walls and fences, physically, socially, culturally, emotionally, economically. Human nature defines the world around us in contexts of in/out, safe/scary, home/foreign, and this system is what allows us to understand the things around us. But what do these lines we draw mean, what do they imply and how do they impact our visions and hopes for our world?
Inspired by these intersections of human life and social context, and the insane necessity of these lines we draw, I join the never-ending search for home. I revel in both the natural world and mechanized beauty, and make nests and cocoons of organic warmth and rigid cold. These forms question boundaries between safety/danger, fragility/strength and comfort/fear. Who belongs and who protects? Who gives life and nurtures it? What is safety and who is home?