Tag Archives: Chris Dahlquist

Way Back with Cathy Broski

December 7, 2012 by Chris | 7 Comments

Cathy Broski

Cathy and I go way back.

 

Like back to those skinny knit ties and asymmetrical hairstyles that were fashionable so long ago. You know, the ones that have been unpopular for so long that they come around to popular again. Like fake ids and the mornings of bumping into each other in the hall at our boyfriends’ shared house (both of which are now our husbands). All the way back to when Cathy and I took a big road atlas, a borrowed listing of art festivals, and began marking the cities with festivals where we had family or a free place to stay. Continue reading »

Jewelry Heist – A Collection of Handmade Jewelry

December 6, 2012 by Chris | 8 Comments

I’ve gathered up some pretty jewels for you!

These beautiful friends of mine make beautiful handmade jewelry. Visit their websites to learn more about them and perhaps buy a thing or two for your shopping list.

While you’re there, buy yourself something this holiday season. You deserve it! Continue reading »

Wall Balls – Gregory Story

December 3, 2012 by Chris | 5 Comments

I want to introduce you to the artist I sleep with every night (well…one of them).

 

Gregory

I love to see artists homes and how they curate them. Most of the time you can walk around their house and see their shared history with a lot of other artists. Mine is no exception. Each piece we have in our home has special meaning; I can tell you many stories about the artist and the circumstances of how the piece came to live with us. And because our entire collection is created by people we know, it is like living and waking up with our friends everyday. Continue reading »

Money Wolf Music- Tommy Donoho and Justin Penney

December 2, 2012 by Chris | 7 Comments

Tommy & Justin

Kyle again, and this time I’m here to introduce you to lots of great people by way of two – Tommy Donoho and Justin Penney. These two are the founders and, dare I say, brains, behind Money Wolf Music. This little label is doing really innovative stuff, one of which is fostering cross pollination and collaboration between their artists. They are the label that released Fantoche, the latest album by my group Alacartoona (which makes a most excellent stocking stuffer) (a really, really great one) (seriously). Continue reading »

Contemporary Craft – Chris McCarthy, Park Avenue Glass

December 1, 2012 by Chris | 11 Comments

Chris and daughter Ella

I am a sucker for the blending of old and new. Take for example our home, an 1880’s building that we have renovated with a combination of the old architecture and a very modern aesthetic. Or my artwork that fuses photographic history with digital technologies. So it should come as no surprise that some of my favorite works follow this pattern, and are traditional crafts that the artist combines with a very contemporary look.

There are many glass artists whose work fits this bill, but today I would like you to meet one of my favorites, Chris McCarthy.

While doing art festivals all around the country I see lots of familiar faces from my past. So when I saw Stephanie Brown – that I shared the lunch table with my freshman year in high-school (and don’t believe I had seen since) – I wasn’t surprised. But finding out that she was at the show to assist her husband, Chris, in his glass booth was a shock! A blending of another sort: my old life that seems so far away, with the new one we are living now.

Park Avenue Glass

 

If you are in or near St. Louis check out Chris’ open studio this weekend Dec 1-2, where he’ll have glass blowing demonstrations from 11-3 and also a guest artist, Sharon Spillar. If St. Louis is little far to travel for a studio visit this weekend, you can visit his website instead.

 

 

 

Added bonus: Check out another good friend of ours, and very fine contemporary craftsman, Justin Teilhet.

Justin's porcelain

Combining porcelain ceramics with a beautifully simple, modern feel, his work is unrivaled and exquisite!  (Fun Fact: Justin introduced us to the first ipod, convincing us it would “revolutionize the way you listen to music in the van.” Right you were Justin, right you were.)

 

Don’t want to miss an artist in the “Buy Personal” series? Subscribe to my blog using the box to the right and they will be delivered straight to your inbox.

CuddleFish Clothing – Sage Billig

November 30, 2012 by Chris | 7 Comments

Kyle and I have been committed to buying from people we know for the holidays, but sometimes we have a hard time finding something for the smallest people on our lists. Not anymore now that our good friend Sage Billig is making CuddleFish Clothing!

Sage, her husband Ben, and her family are dear friends of ours. How lucky we are to know multiple generations of both of their talented, compassionate families. (Fun fact: Kyle and I both sport tattoos done by her sister Jen.)

Jen, Sage and Ari sporting Kyle mustaches

The adventures we have had with Sage and Ben are too many to count; we have camped together all the way from the Florida Keys to the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. And although we don’t get to see them near enough now that they are staying closer to home, we are having a blast watching their latest adventure unfold – the parenting of their most awesome little dude, Ari. Little Ari, and Sage’s eye to the future of his planet, have inspired her current creation.

 

CuddleFish Clothing

one of a kind clothing for babies and children,

made by hand from upcycled cotton

 

 

Visit Sage’s website and then contact her directly. As with any one of a kind item it is difficult to represent it all online. But believe me, I was just in Sage’s Arkansas studio a couple of weeks ago and she has a fantastic assortment of amazing clothing ready to send to the special little someone on your list.

Want to meet more of our amazing friends? Subscribe to the blog on the right and don’t miss a single entry.

 

Beautiful People – Pam Summers and Raymond Rains

November 28, 2012 by Chris | 5 Comments

Ceramicist Pam Summers and glass artist Raymond Rains have a blueprint for what I want my life to look like – and when I grow up I want to be Pam Summers!

 

Pam Summers

They have a beautiful home at Eagle Mountain Lake outside of Fort Worth, beautiful artwork, beautiful grounds, beautiful vistas, beautiful studios, beautiful gallery and people. So I guess what I am trying to say is they are beautiful people, making beautiful artwork, that have created a beautiful life.

And this weekend you are invited to visit this wonderland for their Cliff House Studio and Gallery 30th Annual Holiday Open House Exhibition and Sale.

 

 

Raymond Rains

 

 

If you don’t think I am soaking up everything I can possibly learn from this talented duo, you don’t know me well. (Did you hear me say it is Pam’s 30th Annual Holiday Sale? 30th!) So despite our physical distance, I am so lucky that we currently serve on an artist advisory board together, have served together on artist jury panels, have photographed and drank mezcal together in Guanajuato, took a harrowing bus trip to Dolores Hildago, MX to visit talavera pottery studios and shops, and have shared many (but never enough) al fresco meals.

 

Pam's raku

 

 

Please, if you are anywhere near the Fort Worth/Dallas area go see them this weekend, make a day of it and plan on staying for the Raku and Glass Blowing demos, and give them a kiss for me. You will have a great new holiday tradition and will have as much fun shopping as your gift recipient will have receiving. That sounds like a win/win to me!

Not in the area? Road trip out of the question? Pam and Raymond are also kind enough to share their work with us online. And you can get a small glimpse of the loveliness that is Cliff House Studio & Gallery.

 

Raymond's glass

 

You fell in love with Pam, Raymond and Cliff House studio too didn’t you? Why not plan on going back to spend more time in a workshop. And don’t be greedy – Gift Certificates for Workshops make great presents too!

Cyber Monday – Lulu Smith

November 26, 2012 by Chris | 2 Comments

You can still shop personal on Cyber Monday

 

I don’t know about you, but I opened up my email this morning to a huge pile of online retailers with tantalizing offers for Cyber Monday specials. Amazon, with their monolithic army of marketers and one-click purchasing, has made it exceedingly easy for us to part with our money, but along with it goes much of the sentiment of the season.

So today, I introduce you to another artist that makes it just as easy, but will embue your gift with deeper meaning. You can buy knowing you are supporting her and her family, and not a nameless, faceless corporation. Continue reading »

Recollections of a Home and Family that Once Was…

November 22, 2012 by Chris | 2 Comments

Grandmommie & DaddyBuck

I posted this letter last year but it is my annual tradition to read this letter first thing on Thanksgiving morning, and really once a year isn’t enough. So I hope you enjoy it once again!

It was written on Thanksgiving Day, 1945 by my Grandfather Rev. Dr. W.W. Jones to my Grandmother, Adena White Jones, while he was away in the army. They were newlyweds and they were expecting their first child – my father. I am thankful!

Thanksgiving Day, 1945

…All the reams of paper couldn’t contain the mercies that I’m thankful for today, for they pass my imagination in a never-ending parade. The rain of yesterday, the bright sunshine of today: the little ponds of ice I saw outside this morning, a shelter warm as toast: memories, rich and mellow, embroidered with hearty friendship and camaraderie; enemies – and the joy of being able not to hate them; cool water from a spring on a long, hot hike; good food that makes one comfortable inside; flitting glimpses out of the past that now seems so far away, so much apart of another world that one gives pause to think – could it be so and could that have been me? Continue reading »

Breathe and be Thankful

November 16, 2012 by Chris | 1 Comment

In the last few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I got to where I am right now, and where I want to go next. The end of my travel season always becomes a time of reflection as I slow down, take stock and begin to make plans for the following year. Continue reading »