South Side Works Exposed is an amazing mix of a music festival, artist’s market, and sidewalk sales … but most of all a celebration of art in life. The setting for the event is in and around the Town Square of South Side Works.

More than 70 local artists and craftspeople [including some of your favorite PCC Members!] will be selling their amazing wares including ceramics, paintings, jewelry, clothing and more on July 10th, 11th, and 12th.

Within the music festival you may get to see local, semi-national, national, and cultural performances. Gathered in the Artist’s Market you will get to see some of Pittsburgh’s newest exciting artists, along with some old favorites who have supported the Pittsburgh arts for years.

This Market is a partnership with the I Made It! Market. To learn more about the event and vendors participating throughout the weekend, visit www.exposedartistsmarket.org.

Beginning Crochet
Tuesday, July 14 6:30-8:30 p.m.

This class is for those who have never held a crochet hook. You will learn the starting chain, single crochet, and double crochet. You will also learn how to read a pattern.

Materials needed: none.
Location: Squirrel Hill (exact location give after registration)
Cost: $20 for members of the PCC
$25 for non-members
*Class is limited to 6 participants.

Intermediate Crochet
Tuesday, July 21 6:30-8:30 p.m.

If you’re comfortable with simple crochet stitches such as single and double crochet, but haven’t been able to move beyond the basics, this is the class for you. We will learn how to crochet in the round and will then practice some special stitches such as the shell stitch, popcorn stitch, and V-stitch. Requests for lesson topics are also welcome.

Materials needed: none.
Location: Squirrel Hill (exact location give after registration)
Cost: $20 for members of the PCC
$25 for non-members
*Class is limited to 6 participants.

Please RSVP to pghcraftcollective@gmail.com to hold your spot.

Bio:
Gina Grone is a self-taught crochet aficionado. She enjoys creating items in an array of categories, including baby’s/children’s clothing, adult clothing, scarves, toys, afghans, and purses. She especially loves starting new patterns and learning new stitches. This means that she has many unfinished projects stashed around her house! Fortunately, this also means that she has a vast repertoire of crochet knowledge and is familiar with a wide variety of techniques, stitches, and methods.

Join instructor Jennie Stephens for a fun evening of working with glass!

What: Fused Glass Workshop
Where: Panera (at Penn Center) Monroeville
When: July 16th, 2009
Time: 6:30- 9:00 PM
Cost: $30 members/$35 non-members (Cost includes the kiln firing and the bails (jewelry findings) for hanging the finished pieces)

This class is for beginners as well as those who have worked with glass before. Class includes the glass to create up to 10 jewelry-sized pieced of glass art, the use of all the tools, and materials needed.

**The Instructor will fire the glass in the week following the workshop, so participants will need to arrange for pick up of the finished pieces. Glass can be mailed to you for an additional $2.00 fee.

** Please bring a small tupperware container or shoebox to transport your glass pieces.

If interested, please RSVP to reserve your spot to  pghcraftcollective@gmail.com

keystoneedge, a great website about the, er…keystone state, shared the latest video in it’s Young Entrepreneur series today.

if you haven’t guessed by the title of this post, the video is about Carrie Nardini and the always fabulous I Made It! Market.

check out the video here. and make sure to pass it along to everyone you know.

oh, and if you are watching carefully enough, you will see some familiar faces and crafts. don’t you just love cameo appearances?

bonus points if you come back and mention who you saw!

This class will be an introduction to one of the most versatile and basic bookbinding techniques: the pamphlet stitch. Individuals will be able to make up to 5 different soft-covered books during this class. All materials will be included.

When: July 9th, 6-8:30pm
Where: Panera Waterworks
Cost: $15 for members; $20 for non-members
Materials: Included

Bio:
Emily has been surrounded by creativity her entire life. She was turned on to bookmaking in 2006 while fighting boredom at her day job. Emily is a self-taught book artist with a little formal training thrown in. She is also the sole-proprietor of Subu, Inc., an independent business where Emily is able to sell her handbound books, notepads and recycled notebooks.

Please join us for a reception this Saturday from 11-3 at Luke & Eloy Gallery to celebrate the opening of “EVOLUTION”, an exhibition showcasing dramatic Fiber Art by Ohio artist, Michelle Pajak-Reynolds.

This exhibition is a 10 Year Retrospective, displaying the diversity of Michelle’s work ranging from the lush and colorful “PETALS” series to the beautifully composed “DRAWING SERIES” that are both body adornment and wall sculpture.

Join us to see how Michelle plays with colors and forms, and uses a wide range of materials, such as colorful organza, glass beads, 18K gold leaf and plexiglas to create astonishing and dramatic pieces.

We look forward to seeing you this Saturday !

Luke & Eloy Gallery
5169 Butler Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
412.784.1919
lukeandeloy@live.com

the fabulous blog over at Handmade in PA (aka HiP) is featuring one of our favorite fiber artists: cosy.

stop on over for your chance to win a copy of her book, knit one, embellish too. while your there, read the great interview. it’s what we call a win-win.

SHEILA KLEIN AT THE INTERSECTION OF ART, ARCHITECTURE, AND FIBER

“It all started with textiles,” says installation artist Sheila Klein,
describing the art that has been her passion since childhood. “I was an
arty kid,” she recalls. “Not a painter, but a maker of things. It was a
natural place to start.”

Nowadays Klein works in a dizzying variety of media, and her “textiles” are apt to be knitted from stainless steel, studded with giant glass sequins, hanging from bridges and buildings.

Come hear this internationally-known artist and Pittsburgh native discuss her new and recent work, including two exciting Pittsburgh projects: a one-person show at PCA, “Map of Everything,” (July 2nd-Aug 30); and a permanent installation on a new pedestrian bridge connecting Shadyside to East Liberty, where Klein, now based near Seattle, was born and grew up.

The bridge installation features salvaged materials, native grasses, outsize glass sequins (fabricated at the Pittsburgh Glass Center), and a painted deck design inspired by street striping. Like much of Klein’s work, the bridge promises to bring a sense of drama to everyday activity; it’s functional, elegant, and formal, yet playful and fun.

Klein’s work has been exhibited extensively throughout the country and
around the world. Her public art commissions enrich hospitals, train
stations, parks, schools, and airports from Chicago and Milwaukee to Houston and L.A.

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet the artist and get a sneak preview of the public art Pittsburgh will soon be buzzing about.

What: Sheila Klein Artist Lecture
Where: Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, 5th and Shady Aves., Shadyside
When: June 29, 7-9 PM
Cost: $5 (Free to Fiberarts Guild members)
Contact: Susan Coen 724-789-1184 or scoen@zoominternet.net

Join us this Sunday, June 14th, from 2-4pm for another fun Sunday Crafternoon.

We will be meeting at the Coffee Tree Roasters in Shadyside {5524 Walnut Street} in the back room.

Bring a crafting project to work on and soak up the creative energy. Who knows, maybe Kelly will bring our button maker.

A Collaborative Book is being created to help define who and what the Pittsburgh Craft Collective is. The PCC is more than just a group of individual crafters and we believe that the Collaborative Book is a way to show this to the world.

Each member will have the opportunity to create their own 8.5 x 11 inch page to be included in the book.  The page is their opportunity to showcase themselves, their work, and their creativity. The possibilities are endless!

Our goal is to have the Collaborative Book reproduced and available for purchase on the site and at other PCC sponsored events.

Stay tuned for updates on the book, sneak peaks of the pages, and more.

Want to be involved in the project but aren’t a current member? Why not join.