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      Artist of the Week: Krista Tranquila

      Artist of the Week: Krista Tranquila

      "If it seems hard, you are probably using the wrong tool."

      Presenting our Kindred Artist of the Week series! We are big fans of all the artists we work with and we are so excited to share their stories!

      This week’s featured artist is Krista Tranquila, whose mixture of illustration and metalsmith we instantly fell in love with. It's been a joy seeing her bring some Juneau images into her work for us and learn more about her process!

      Who are you?

      Krista Tranquila

      What do you do?

      I make jewelry.

      Who/what inspires you?

      At the moment, the idea of nature therapy.

      What’s your favorite moment in the process?

      Working out new problems or ideas.

      What’s a trick of your trade, or a piece of advice for other artists in your medium?

      If it seems hard, you are probably using the wrong tool.

      What’s next?

      My daughters will go back to school and I will have a little more time to work out some new ideas.

      Juneau View Necklace
        Rivet and Fold Hoop Earrings Small 
      Wood Slice Necklace
      See more of Krista's work here!

      Artist of the Week: Sarah Ritter

      Artist of the Week: Sarah Ritter

      "I make jewelry in my basement lair of badbitchery."


      Presenting our Kindred Artist of the Week series! We are big fans of all the artists we work with and we are so excited to share their stories!

      This week’s featured artist is Sarah Ritter, whose work has been a long time local favorite with its endless color and texture and shape surprises. We're hosting her jewelry line (Bronze Betty Finery)'s pop up shop tonight during First Friday; come through to see what's new on her workbench! 4:30-7pm.

      Who are you?

      Sarah Ritter, lifelong Juneauite.

      What do you do?

      I make jewelry in my basement lair of badbitchery.

      Who/what inspires you?

      I love the natural state of materials like gems and leather, and being able to highlight their unique colors and patterns.

      What’s your favorite moment in the process?

      A eureka moment when a combination of colors or shapes just belongs, and there's no doubt that those earrings are gonna be hot!

      What’s a trick of your trade, or a piece of advice for other artists in your medium?

      Find your own style and run with it. Don't be afraid to get weird.

      What’s next?

      Not entirely sure, I tend to fly by the seat of my pants.

      See Sarah's work at the store always, and a bigger array of her collection tonight during First Friday!

      Artist of the Week: Bill Spear

      Artist of the Week: Bill Spear

      "Get to work and inspiration will take care of itself. I am most inspired, in awe really, of the remarkable things that individual human beings are able to do and create." 

      photo by Keith Sutter

      Presenting our Kindred Artist of the Week series! We are big fans of all the artists we work with and we are so excited to share their stories!

      This week’s featured artist is Bill Spear aka Wm Spear, local artist perhaps best known for his wide and wonderful collection of pins and zipper pulls that have adorned the goods of Juneauites for over 35 years. 

      Who are you?

      I discovered a few years back, much to my shock and disbelief, that I am just another pilgrim on the road to wherever it is we all end up. I always hoped I would turn out to be a polymath but have wound up pretty much a dilettante. Still, there aren’t that many of even those around anymore! 

      What do you do?

      Best known locally perhaps as the “pin guy”. I began a business creating and marketing enamels over 35 years ago. It was one of the very first “information age” businesses. I could draw the designs in Alaska, or on the road in a motel room, have them produced in Taipei and sell them in France or Antarctica. On their travels people reported back that they saw our enamels “everywhere”: in hundreds of Nature Company and Natural Wonders stores and in national catalogs mailed to them. No one then could figure it out. Generous journalists have described me as an “artist” but I make claim to little more than making a living drawing. If there is a genuine artistic act with the enamels it is in the entire body of work, not individual designs.

      I also have produced work in the fields of sheetmetal forming (as in sculptural and automotive forms) gold and silversmithing, watercolor and oil painting beading machinist work (lathe, mill etc) tool making, welding, metal fabrication, automotive restoration and as a writer.

      Who/what inspires you?

      A Scottish Enlightenment thinker whose name slips me said: “Don’t think. Try.” and I have a sign in my workshop that says “Just start!”  Don’t wait for “inspiration.” Get to work and inspiration will take care of itself. I am most inspired, in awe really, of the remarkable things that individual human beings are able to do and create. This is not a very popular point of view of late where people prefer to emphasize the side effects. We cannot ignore the dark side but should not live in it exclusively. The next time you look at the moon consider that someone looked at it and instead of howling at it or deifying it as everyone had before, became obsessed with the nearly inconceivable idea of going there, walking on it and coming back to tell about it. Whatever one says, I cannot but feel that a culture that can do that is not all bad.

      What’s your favorite moment in the process?

      Almost immediately upon commencement of a complex physical project, and regardless of medium, the creator must endure a substantial period of chaos and uncertainty. One enters a dark place when one takes the first brush stroke or hammer blow, and simply has to take it on faith that if ones vision is followed and the rules of ones craft are observed that something worthwhile might emerge from the crude roughing out and blocking in of the early stages where everything looks just horrible. Maybe as expertise builds this tunnel gets shorter or disappears altogether for the maestro,-a, but for me the best part of the process is emerging from that dark uncertain place into a realization that everything is on track and going to be okay. The rest is kind of pleasant detailing and adjustment and the final result is usually anticlimactic or short lived. It really is true that the road is all; the end nothing.

      What’s a trick of your trade, or a piece of advice for other artists in your medium?

      With no formal training I am in no position to give anyone any advice, but, the one element that seems to walk across everything successful I do personally, and what I find almost invariably in others whose work I most admire is obsession. I have come to regard it as perhaps the most important human quality and is more important in my view than raw intelligence in works of genius. Of course it is really a sort of mental disease, but it’s like Tom Robbin’s hump on the camel. It is a big hairy ugly awful thing we bear, but, it is what gets you through the desert. 

      What’s next?

      We (Susan and I) continue to tend the enamels enterprise which is still swimming along well with now third generation customers I am always doing interesting commission work and even  add a few pins to replace things in our general line that (finally) sell out (what I like to call art history). The book project took a lot out of me and I thought it might be a good time to take oil painting a little more seriously. To get familiar with the materials and craft I have begun with landscape, supposedly a dead genre, but I love getting outside and it has revolutionized the way I look at everything. So far a casual pastime, but at times when I get into it I feel as if it was what I was born to do. I guess I am standing around the station waiting for the old Obsession Express to pull in!

      No. 2 Pencil Pin 
      Heart Pin
      See more of Bill's work here!

      Artist of the Week: Hana Brewster

      Artist of the Week: Hana Brewster

      "Try not to get discouraged if something doesn’t turn out how you envisioned. If you look at your “messed up pieces” with a fresh perspective, you might find you actually like them even though you planned on something different."

      Presenting our Kindred Artist of the Week series! We are big fans of all the artists we work with and we are so excited to share their stories!

      This week’s featured artist is Hana Brewster, the one woman show behind Quiet Clementine. We love the playful, colorful, energetic nature of her work - receiving a new batch feels like opening up a box of ear candies! 

      Who are you?

      My name is Hana Brewster and I’m the owner and maker of Quiet Clementine, a line of colorful ceramic jewelry and decor pieces. I live in Arkansas with my husband and work out of a spare bedroom in our home.

      What do you do?

      I create ceramic jewelry and small decor pieces inspired by vibrant color palettes and playful patterns. In the last year and a half, statement earrings have become a large part of what I make.

      Who/what inspires you?

      Color, geometric forms, and simple repeating patterns are the main inspirations behind my work. Playing with different combinations of all three of those elements provides endless possibility to create different designs. Sometimes I take earring pieces that haven’t been assembled, lay them next to each other to see how different color combinations work together, and end up discovering new shapes and designs that I haven’t thought of before. I love how such small pieces can allow for so much variation and that new ideas can sometimes be accidental. Hopefully that means I won’t run out of them!

      What’s your favorite moment in the process?

      During the actual making process, I love the glazing phase. My forms are fairly simple, so my pieces really come to life once I apply the surface designs. Other than that, I love the moments when I open a glaze or a gold luster firing. It’s so fun to open the kiln and see all of the color and shiny gold pieces waiting for me.

      What’s a trick of your trade, or a piece of advice for other artists in your medium?

      Clay and glazes have a mind of their own, so make test tiles of your glazes to see how they look so you don’t mess up something more important. Also, learn to be patient and enjoy the process. Ceramics is slow and labor intensive, taking several weeks just to complete one piece, even something as small as a pair of earrings. The process is fun and seeing those finished pieces at the end of it can be really exciting, and sometimes, disappointing. Try not to get discouraged if something doesn’t turn out how you envisioned. If you look at your “messed up pieces” with a fresh perspective, you might find you actually like them even though you planned on something different.

      What’s next?

      I’m always thinking of new earring designs, so definitely creating more of those. I recently started working with a speckled stoneware clay and I’m looking forward to experimenting with it more. It’s so different than my white clay and the glazes react differently since it fires at a much higher temperature, so I still have some testing and learning to do. It gives my pieces a different feel, but my colors and patterns help connect it to my usual work. I’m so excited to see what I can create with it!

        
      See more of Hana's work here!

      Artist of the Week: Jacob Pickard

      Artist of the Week: Jacob Pickard

      "Listen to as many different sounds as you can get your hands on."

      Presenting our Kindred Artist of the Week series! We are big fans of all the artists we work with and we are so excited to share their stories!

      This week’s featured artist is local musician Jacob Pickard! You've probably seen/heard Jacob's music all over town - not only does he play his own music, but he often collaborates with other musicians and poets on recordings, performances, and open mics. He'll be at Kindred Post tonight for an interactive Sound Bar - like a salad bar, but for your ears! Play with objects, drum machine, buttons and more to add your unique sound to the live community soundtrack he'll be mixing! 4:30-7p tonight.

      Read more