cathy of california

pantyhose crafts, 1978

"hose stretched over circular frames soften a glass door"

from the pantyhose craft book by jean ray laury and joyce aiken, 1978

claire falkenstein, 1971

gold on copper "harness" by claire falkenstein, from california design eleven, pasadena art museum 1971.

native funk & flash, 1974

judith weston's crocheted cape from native funk & flash: an emerging folk art by alexandra jacopetti, scrimshaw press 1974

macrame lady

image via the sew kewl blog - which is one of my all time faves.

the advanced candle maker, 1972

front + back covers of the advanced candle maker by james e. glick, 1972

barbara willis pendants

barbara willis studied under laura andreson and glen lukens. in 1942 she started a small home studio at her parent's house. by the late 40s her business grew so she moved to a larger location in north hollywood - but she remained very hands on and kept her business small.  she had to give up her ceramics business in 1958 following a glut of cheap imports that compromised the livelihood of many california potters.

in the early 90s she found a vintage piece of hers at a flea market. one thing led to another and she was contacted by a collector of her work and found out that she had a very big following and was considered to be a legend. she took ceramics up again and continues to work today in her malibu home.

i love these pendants and you can see more of them here

anna sui loves gemma taccogna

the september 2009 issue of elle decor features the home of anna sui. she has a rather large collection of papier mache by gemma taccogna - which you can get a glimpse of some of it if you take a close at these photos.

1969 stan bitters installation at duncan enterprises - fresno, california

we recently took a road trip to portland. i had always wanted to have a look at the stan bitters installation at the duncan headquarters in fresno but it's off the 99 and not the 5 freeway (our normal route). since we are usually in a hurry i kept putting it off. well this time i made sure we had enough time.

i had seen pictures of it in environmental ceramics and knew that it was going to be cool. but when we turned to corner and i got my first glimpse of it i gasped out loud - it was one of those moments when you see something so amazing that everything kind of stands still and you are totally awestuck.

anyway i went crazy with my digital camera and these posts are here for those of you who can't make the trip. but it you ever find yourself in fresno please do yourself a favor and go there - these pictures don't come anywhere close to what it's like to expierence it in person.

duncan enterprises (now called i love to create) is at 5673 e. shields avenue in fresno, california. duncan was started in 1946 by erma duncan whose "number one love was always the ceramic arts".  her family still runs the business and hats off to them for keeping the stan bitters installation intact.

"ceramics - world's most fascinating hobby" - the signs at duncan

the walls with circular designs at duncan