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My aunt just sent me a newsplaper clipping of a story on the San Antonio Craft Mafia that was in the San Antonio Express-News a little while back.
Nice little article! Congrats ladies! Hope to meet some of you at Stitch!
"Crafter: Katherine Brown
Creations: Found-object jewelry, belts, wall sculptures
Roots: A fine arts graduate of UTSA, Brown hunts for found objects in flea markets. Her pieces are substantial and may contain old decanter labels, brass and copper tags, vintage tin cans, clock parts, antique amulets and old glass beads. Some come from trades she makes with other artists around the world via MySpace. She teaches classes on collage and found-object construction, lately at the Laredo Center for the Arts. Some of her pieces are 'happy mistakes.' Goal: to write children's books.
Online: www.artkatstudio.com
Crafter: Adriana Saucedo
Creations: Glass beads and glass-bead jewelry
Roots: 'I was always creative when I was little,' says Saucedo. But she became an insurance claims adjuster instead. 'I got lucky and got sick and had some idle time,' she says. Starting with small sculptural pulls for ceiling fans, her glasswork has grown into sophisticated, delicate glasswork for necklaces and bracelets. Lately, she's making a lot of Día de los Muertos-inspired work. 'I am so blessed to be able to express myself and my heritage through glass,' she says on her Web site. With a mandrel or blowtorch, she designs beads, color atop color. She never took a class, 'so there was a lot of trial and error. But I got good early on.'
Online: www.agirlandherglass.com
Crafter: Luana Alvarez
Creations: Polymer-clay pots, vases, coasters, beads, jewelry; sketchbooks and journals
Roots: Alvarez was creative as a child, encouraged by parents who were educators. She was an early entrepreneur, too, selling handmade barrettes and friendship bracelets in elementary school. 'For 10 years (when married) I didn't create. Then I gave up boys for Lent,' she jokes, which unleashed her talents. She works in polymer clay because it's functional, versatile and can be baked in a conventional oven, even a toaster oven. She puts the clay through a pasta machine, inlaying different colored clay thinly atop other clay. She bakes it onto glass or tin, sometimes using stamps and metallic paints to create her designs.
Online: lageekgirldesigns.com
Crafter: Denise Valdez
Creations: Sewing and embroidery
Roots: Valdez, founder of the San Antonio Craft Mafia, learned to sew from her mother, whose works were obvious to anyone who saw her five children. 'We all had matching outfits,' Valdez says dully. Her own work isn't as structured. 'I might start out making a shirt and end up with a purse.' Embroidery can be intricate and time-consuming, depending on the stitching required, she says. Over the years, she has done shirts, pillowcases and kitchen towels. The freelance graphic artist, who'll soon move to Maryland, has a goal: 'A year from now, I want to be an independent businesswoman,' selling her work online and at major craft fairs. Her advice to fellow crafters: Keep up with trends, and remember there's a market of depreciation in crafts. Too much of a good thing brings down prices.
Online: www.myspace.com/misguidedcrafts
Crafter: Myriam Lanau
Creations: 'Luck boxes,' postcards, note cards
Roots: Armed with an art degree from UTSA, Lanau has had a series of shows in San Antonio. But 'I'm an artist with a day job,' she jokes. Goal: 'to live off what I create.' Mantra: 'You've just got to find your niche and be a student of pop culture, which is why I don't do polymer angels and unicorns.' For inspiration, she subscribes to European magazines, pays attention to celebrity fashion and studies color trends. Her 'luck boxes' are uniquely hers. The size of a pack of cigarettes, they contain small objects such as seashells, postmarked stamps, tea light candles and coins. First made for friends, she now sells them.
Online: www.cabanaboyproductions.com
Crafter: Cece Garcia
Creations: T-shirts, purses, sewn and constructed belts
Roots: Garcia has been designing clothes since she was a girl, learning to sew at 12. Even though her 'parents said art won't take you anywhere,' she studied fashion design at the University of the Incarnate Word. She has been making T-shirts for years, but this year decided to open an online store featuring her original hand-painted tees.
Online: www.ceceblue.com"