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Handmade for Japan

Ayumi Horie's Handmade for Japan auctionIn the wake of the recent devastating earthquake in Japan, ceramic artist and Penland instructor Ayumi Horie has mobilized an online fundraising effort by the studio ceramics community to contribute to desperately needed relief and aid missions. With the help of her friends Ai Kanazawa Cheung and Kathryn Pombriant Manzella, she has organized Handmade for Japan, an online auction of unique, handmade art generously donated by talented artists and their galleries and collectors throughout North America and Japan. Handmade For Japan aims to raise over $50,000 and all of the net proceeds will be donated for GlobalGiving’s relief efforts in Japan.

The auction will be held on Ebay from 8:00pm EST, Thursday, March 24 to 8:00pm EST, Sunday, March 27.

Click here to go to the Handmade for Japan auction site on Ebay Giving Works.

The site will appear empty until the auction begins. A preview of auction items is available on the Handmade for Japan Facebook page (click here to visit).

The auction includes work by such ceramics luminaries as Jun Kaneko, Toshiko Takaezu, Shoji Hamada, Warren Mackenzie, and Betty Woodman, and by a number of Penland-affiliated artists, including Jana Evans, Michael Hunt and Naomi Daglish, Matt Kelleher, Michael Kline, Shoko Teruyama, Ron Meyers, SunKoo Yuh, among others. We applaud their generosity, and Ayumi and her co-organizers’ vision and compassion, and encourage everyone to consider giving their support to this worthy cause.

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This is How Amy Tavern Remembers It

Bow Cluster Brooch by Amy Tavern
"Bow Cluster Brooch" by Amy Tavern

Penland resident artist Amy Tavern is beginning work on a new body of work, intended for her first solo show, this November at Velvet da Vinci Gallery in San Francisco, and has launched a fundraising effort on the USA Projects micro-philanthropy website to cover the cost of materials.

From her project proposal:

I believe personal content that stems from my own experience is the key to creating innovative, thought-provoking work….

…The jewelry that has come in and out of my life over the years has had a profound affect on me, and ultimately, fueled my desire to be a jeweler. These special pieces, like the heirloom contents of a jewelry box I played with as a child or the ring that changed my perspective on how jewelry is made, form my history…..

…This personal history or memory will serve as my guide for two series of new works. I will create through today’s eyes the contents of a nostalgic jewelry box and respond to experiences with significant jewelry. These new pieces will abstractly represent the originals as interpreted through my formal vocabulary.

Amy views this show and the body of work she will create for it as the culmination of her residency. During her time at Penland, she explored her studio practice and discovered a stronger artistic voice, experimenting with technique, process, materials, and design to develop a more robust formal vocabulary and aesthetic, which she now intends to put to use expressing more personal and concept-driven concerns. She is seeking funding to allow her to achieve her vision for this work without having to sacrifice the number of pieces or the types of materials available to her.

If you would like to read Amy’s full proposal, watch her video, and consider supporting her new body of work, you can click here to visit her USA Projects site.

For more information about Amy Tavern, her artwork, and her studio practice, you click the links to visit her website or her blog.