FEATURED SELLER - JM CRAFTWORKS

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Jim .For the last 5 years, I’ve sold primarily online, marketing my handmade woodwork. I’ve concentrated on a limited production of small intimate items, many produced to stock my shop on Etsy, but I spend a large amount of my time producing individual custom works requested by individual clients.

I received my Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of North Texas.  While there, I was granted a teaching assistantship, was a member of the university craft guild, American Crafts Council and the College Art Association.  I participated in the NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) annual meeting held at the University of Northern Colorado. While at North Texas my exhibition record included juried competitions such as the 10th Annual Prints, Drawings and Crafts Exhibition, Little Rock, Arkansas; 67th Annual Texas Fine Arts Association Exhibition, Austin, Texas, and the Texas College Art Show, Austin, Texas.  During this time I also worked as assistant manager of the university Crafts Studio where I supervised student workers and taught classes.

I received my Bachelors of Fine Arts degree at the University of Houston.  As an undergraduate at the University of Houston, I was awarded an art scholarship, taught introductory art under the supervision of my major professor and was elected President of the University of Houston Craft Guild.  As chief officer of this guild, I organized annual crafts sales, conducted the guild’s meetings and scheduled the guild’s activities.  In my senior year I joined ten other artists in opening Center Gallery in downtown Houston.  This was organized as a co-op featuring fine arts and crafts.

I’ve always enjoyed the creative process and like to work with enough freedom to allow objects to end up substantially different than the initial idea. Most of my work is with wood, and I avoid endangered exotic woods and concentrate on reusing materials from mostly salvaged or re­cycled sources.  Much of this material is flawed; when I find a flaw, a knot, or a rough edge, I design a piece to make the best of it. 

My focus is on limited production and I intentionally work on a small, friendly, and intimate scale.

"The idea was to eliminate everything unnecessary, to make the whole as direct and simple as possible, but always with the beautiful in mind as the first goal." - Greene and Greene

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I have a collection of cameras; I maintain a garden, growing produce for our family; and I’m active in a bicycling group here

What would be the title of your memoir? Why?

“Unfinished Business”

Because there’s never enough time to do all the things you’d like to do.

Where does your inspiration come from?

The work I do is pretty traditional so there’s a large body of work out there to draw inspiration from.  I spend time in the library and online to keep up with trends in the craft & design worlds.  And I enjoy letting a piece of wood with all its flaws and individual character lead the way in how a design should go together.

What does handmade mean to you?

It’s artistic work that counters the “big box” stores and their cheap mass-produced goods.  It’s offering an alternative to low quality items by working with the individual to produce a customized solution to their needs and crafting that with traditional techniques to produce work that can be kept in use for years.

Who has been most influential in your craft?

There’s a par­ticular aesthetic that I use as inspiration for my functional pieces, early Arts & Crafts and American Shaker.  These styles were known for their understated simplicity and austerity; they’re a good match to combine with today’s minimalism.

American Shakers designed their furniture with care and believed that utility was the first tenet of good design.  There was no ego involved, no conscious effort to produce works of art.  Austere utility is beautiful in and of itself, and works of art were inadvertently produced.

William Morris, the 19th century English Arts & Crafts designer argued that art should meet the needs of society and that there should be no distinction between form and function “Good citizen's furniture, solid and well made in workmanship and in design having nothing about it that is not easily defensible".  “I do not want art for a few, any more than education for a few or freedom for a few.”

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, from Scotland - "The craftsman of the future must be an artist"   He was an Arts & Crafts designer very influenced by Japanese design.  This style was admired by Mackintosh because of: its restraint and economy of means rather than ostentatious accumulation; its simple forms and natural materials rather than elaboration and artifice; the use of texture and light and shadow rather than pattern and ornament. Gustav Stickley, Charles & Henry Greene and James Krenov are influential in my work too.

When did you know you were an artist/maker?

I grew up listening to my father working in his woodshop and learned early on to make things with my hands.

How would you describe your creative process?

When I start on a project, I start with the usual techniques, but like to stop from time to time to consider what path to take and if I can end up with something new in the piece, I add that to my list of solutions.  I’m especially glad when a project ends up considerably different than the original idea.Other artist’s studios?

I would love to visit the studios of James Krenov and Sam Maloof .Both developed their own very personal approach to design and produced inspiring work for years.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

My major professor in graduate school gave me one of his pieces as I was finishing.  I’ve always kept it in a place of honor in our home.

How do you get out of your creative ruts?

I keep a journal and notebook, as well as records of past projects.  Reviewing these reminds me of designs I wanted to try out but didn’t have the chance to put into work.

Where would you like to be in ten years?

I plan to continue with my one-person shop for as long as possible.  There’s no predicting what changes might occur in the future, but as long as the internet exists in its current form and I’m able to connect with others around the world and work with them to provide personalized handmade items, I’ll stay in the marketplace.  I enjoy what I do.

more info: here