2+ hour, 17+ min ago (305+ words) Early in Siesbye's life in Denmark, she maintained an epistolary friendship with Edip Cansever, among the foremost poets of modern Turkey. Cansever's letters to Siesbye, which were published in 2021, are moody, erotic, and playful'full of yearning and of reproach. A terrible longing takes over. Everywhere, you, all at once'and a slow anger begins. Toward whom? Toward longing, the melancholy of distances, the oppression of helplessness, toward it all' After an editor encouraged her to publish the letters,Siesbye agreed with some hesitation. They become less fervent, more brooding, around the time that she meets David. After the epistolary friendship ended, Cansever destroyed all of Siesbye's letters. And yet she also calls herself a worker. Is that, I asked her, not a contradiction? "Why should it be a contradiction? I've never called myself an artist. You need to be a really…...

5+ day, 36+ min ago (800+ words) Home " Handmade pottery by Sheree Timm that celebrates sustainability In Mossel Bay, Sheree Timm creates sustainable, handmade pottery that embraces imperfection and unique design. In an age of mass production and disposable goods, Sheree Timm has chosen to embrace the enduring quality of clay as her preferred medium for creating handmade pottery in her Mossel Bay studio, Ruby Ceramics, where she transforms clay into functional art. People are constantly reminded to consume more commodities as factories can produce more, faster, cheaper, and even deliver to their doors from across the world. We live in a global village where consumption is enabled online with little thought for its origin. Consumers can buy whatever they need, made to exacting specifications, and suppliers will undercut any competitor's price." Sheree's process is deliberately slow and unrushed because she enjoys the act of creation. It's…...

5+ day, 19+ hour ago (644+ words) In the BOH series What I Love, we're asking designers to build us a mood board of what's inspiring them right now. Jess Cooney lets the materials do the talking in a room. The Great Barrington, Massachusetts'based designer employs a carefully curated mix of textures and attention-grabbing finishes to create warm yet pared down interiors. "This flat lay reflects the delicate balance of strength and restraint I aimed to achieve in my own spaces," she tells Business of Home. Having recently completed the renovation of her historic 1870s Victorian home, she fashioned her current mood board with a menagerie of modern artisan-made items'crafted by makers she discovered while exploring different corners of the world'that continue to inspire her. The final scheme makes a quiet statement, and features creamy greige hues, gilded bar cabinets and mixed-media artwork. "From the textures of Mexico…...

6+ day, 23+ hour ago (1258+ words) LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte " Traditional handloom weaving in the Philippines is in decline due to the rise of modern garment technology. However, weavers from Luzon to Mindanao continue to fight for the survival and continued recognition of their cultural heritage. Based on estimated data, there are over 5,200 weavers from 481 weaving communities in the country. The survival of traditional handloom weaving, passed down through generations, depends on these communities and the people who continue to patronize their work. Five weavers from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao share their stories and the significance of their traditions to their lives. Florence Amily Ao-wat, 66, of Kinwa Etnika Handicrafts in Tabuk City, Kalinga, began learning backstrap weaving at 15. After completing an accountancy degree in Baguio City and starting her career, she returned home and noticed that their weavers were aging, and younger people were no longer…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (202+ words) The High Museum of Art has reopened its African art galleries with a new installation centered on women's ceramic traditions, a medium that curator Lauren Tate Baeza describes as both physically intimate and historically overlooked within museum collections. The gallery, which previously focused on masquerade arts, now elevates ceramics in a permanent rotation that acknowledges the centuries-old labor, knowledge, and cultural continuity embedded in clay-based practices across Africa. Since joining the museum in 2020, Baeza has expanded the ceramics collection with multiple works now on display. One of the most recent acquisitions arrived in April after years of study, with the addition of Ngozi-Omeje Zema's ceramic work, Togetherness, 2022." "We had been looking at it for years," she said. "The board voted to acquire it in April, and she assembled it in September." The installation also highlights contemporary artists whose work draws…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago (232+ words) One glimpse of Jeremy Brooks" crocheted vessels, and you"d be forgiven for thinking they"re knotted with vinyl cord. These playful, colorful, and meticulously crafted pieces are actually made of porcelain. His works are also deceptively small'usually around three inches wide'making the process of literally stitching slender lengths of clay even more impressive. Currently based in Conway, South Carolina, where he is Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Coastal Carolina University, Brooks has spent the last several years experimenting with the consistency of clay. While we may think of the hardened medium as brittle and rigid, the artist challenges the limits if its flexibility. "A portion of my research has fixated around a unique blend of clay materials that possess qualities of elasticity rather than qualities of plasticity traditionally found in common clay recipes," he says in a statement. "To…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago (602+ words) With the holiday season settling in " a time of giving, reflection, and celebration for many " I've been thinking a lot about artisans, the people who devote themselves to a craft, who stay with the work long after the novelty wears off. And I've been wondering whether we, as a society, still value them the way we should. That question took me back to my first failed attempt at college. I was a 22-year-old music composition major then, carrying three years of military service, a tour in Bosnia, and plenty of family turmoil on my shoulders. I was not an ideal student. I was stubborn and frustrated, sitting in freshman-level classes that felt beneath me. Instead of composing great works, I was stuck in piano basics and weekly exercises inside the Finale notation program. I spent long hours on assignments I…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago (1423+ words) The great potter explains why he turned his decades-long fixation with Axel Salto " maker of unsettling stoneware full of tentacle sproutings and knotty growths " into a new showPotter and writer Edmund de Waal, a dark silhouette of neat workwear against the blinding white of his studio, is erupting with thoughts, all of them tumbling out of him at once. He is giving me a tour of the former gun factory on a London industrial estate gently disciplined into architectural calm. It has work stations for his staff (it's quite an operation); store rooms; and a main space nearly empty but for some giant black lidded vessels he made in Denmark, as capacious as coffins. At either end, up discreet sets of steps, are the places of raw creation. One, with its potter's wheel, is where he makes; the other, with…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago (256+ words) This year's edition coincides with the Year of Handicrafts 2025. The Saudi Heritage Commission, one of 11 sector-specific commissions, organizes the event to highlight handicrafts as a vital part of the Kingdom's cultural identity and strengthen their presence in the creative landscape by providing a platform bringing together prominent artisans worldwide. The event also attracted audiences across its diverse zones, particularly the children's area, "Banan Story," an interactive space where play becomes educational. Children explore materials, experiment with tools, and create art inspired by world crafts. This area nurtures creativity and introduces young participants to various cultures. "Banan" is regarded as one of the region's leading cultural events, offering an international platform to celebrate traditional crafts, empower artisans, and reflect the Kingdom's growing contribution to cultural and creative industries. About the Heritage Commission: Launched in 2020, the Heritage Commission is one of the…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago (441+ words) Latest Issue: November 2025 The exhibition also marks a milestone for the Homo Faber Guide, which now welcomes American artisans and studios, connecting U.S. makers with an international network of designers, collectors, and curators. Following an open call, more than 800 submissions were reviewed by the Homo Faber sourcing team before a nine-member jury'including American curator Nora Atkinson'selected the final group. Porcelain meets couture in Chilean artist Bernardita Cossio's Memora where stitched leather molds immortalize each fold and seam as a fossilized memory of craft. In An Expanded Fragment Series: Oriental Blue, Korean artist Minyeol Cho transforms discarded denim into sculptural vessels that meditate on resilience and time. Layered and bonded textiles from Seoul's sewing workshops take on new life, turning everyday fabric into a quiet study of labor and touch. Extending this theme of reuse, Spanish artist Nati Rodr'guez creates Sea of…...