crafts – Brooklyn Artisan

Visiting Maker Faire 2016

October 2, 2016 by Bruce Campbell 2 Comments

Emiko Shinozaki showing her elegant, chemistry-inspired jewelry at this year’s World Maker Faire 2016 (October 1 and 2 at the New York Hall of Science grounds in Flushing). Shinozaki, seen here wearing one of her signature pieces, lives in Carroll Gardens and works in her Dumbo studio (yes, artists still work in Dumbo). Trained in classical music, she chose jewelry design over medical school, yet keeps a link to her roots by often incorporating imagery that references organic chemistry, “especially caffeine.”

Filed Under: Craft/Design, Guilds/Fairs, Handmade Tagged With: craft fair, crafts, design, jewelry, maker, Maker Faire

The Factory Floor: Meet Makers This Weekend

October 25, 2013 by Bruce Campbell Leave a Comment

FURNITURE TAKES THE STAGE at The Factory Floor in Industry City in Sunset Park. The ground-floor venue is a former industrial space newly converted to showcase local design work. Sponsored by Industry City, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, The Pratt Center for Community Development and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, The Factory Floor is presenting primarily Brooklyn furniture makers, designers and builders. Last weekend’s show coincided with the Sunday opening of the Coming Together: Surviving Sandy art exhibit in the adjacent building. If you are interested in the art and craft of design, this is the weekend to make it out to 241 37th Street, Sunset Park, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 6pm. Bring the kids, Construction Kids has set aside an area where they can build their own objets d’art.

Here are a few highlights from Brooklyn Artisan’s visit:

Annie Evelyn at New Colony Furniture takes hard materials and makes soft seats. Really.

Diverse objects, from seats and shelves to vases and trivets at Souda’s space.

Funny and quirky pillow commentary from Alexandra Ferguson.

Beautiful maple stools and a passel of refrigerator magnets made from the leftover bits by Bower.

Filed Under: Architecture, Craft/Design, Galleries, Handmade, Innovation, Manufacturing, Method/Materials, Uncategorized Tagged With: arts, BKLYN Designs, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Brooklyn Navy Yard, children, crafts, design, furniture, Industry City, makers, Pratt, Sunset Park, Surviving Sandy, The Factory Floor

The Littlest Makers at Maker Faire

October 13, 2012 by Bruce Campbell 1 Comment

FOR A MOVEMENT THAT THE ECONOMIST magazine has declared may “herald a new industrial revolution,” there appears to be an inordinate amount of fun in the maker world, at least in the examples on view at the recent World Maker Faire 2012. Apart from the rolling cupcake-mobiles and the explosive “science” involving Diet Coke and Mentos, there were robots dancing Gangnam Style, a range of steampunk gadgetry and clothing, and a large number of—not to put too fine a point on it—toys.

Play appears to be a central value for makers, for many it may be a blast of fresh air from the spreadsheets and word processors of “adult” worklife. Get in your garage, create a robot or an autonomous helicopter, assemble a music machine that uses sunlight to generate music, put some flashing lights on your t-shirt that advertise your heartbeat. Why not?

Robot makers engineering the future at the booth of Brooklyn Robot Foundry.

In fact, of the many perspectives on fun at Maker Faire, the one from sub-four-feet was ever-intriguing, as thousands of children can attest. Brooklyn Robot Foundry was a substantial presence at Maker Faire, winning two Educator Awards, [Read more…]

Filed Under: Craft/Design, Encore, Guilds/Fairs, Handmade, Outer Brooklyn Tagged With: afterschool, Brooklyn, computers, crafts, festivals, hacker, kids, maker, robots

Better Than a Petting Zoo? The Kings County Fiber Arts Festival

October 6, 2012 by Joy Makon Leave a Comment

Kings County Fiber Festival was a visual feast Saturday afternoon at the Old Stone House on Fourth Street between 4th and 5th Avenues, Park Slope. Lots of wooly things to purchase, learn about and pet, including unspun wool, soft-as-air Angora, and two huge Angora bunnies!