A trip to New Zealand in 2000 exposed me to felting…a return trip in 2004 got me hooked.

Felting is an ancient craft dating back thousands of years. It is the actual making of the fabric from wool by using a little soap to change the ph, water and agitation, commonly known as elbow grease.  Once the fabric or piece is partially made, it is then worked and molded, called fulling, to strengthen and harden the fabric.  Wool is the only fiber that will do this.

Each piece is unique and sometimes it seems to have a mind of its own.  I love the feel of the wool in my hands and working with it until its final form is something that brings pleasure, awe, joy, question or just plain laughter to me or someone else.  There is never crocheting or knitting involved but the laying out of wool roving in fine layers until the desired thickness is ready to be worked.  What happens next is up to the wool and my own ability to be flexible when the creative design ends up going a different direction than planned.  There’s the joy, the surprise and pleasure in the final creation.  I hope each piece you see and touch brings you that same kind of feeling.

The intense intimacy of weaving fascinates me. Each thread passes through my fingers several times in the completion of a finished piece, endearing it to me. The weaving process, in which I respond to the unique voice of individual threads, is rewarding and peaceful. I weave what I love, I sell what I can, and then I weave some more.

I work with variegated threads, hand-dyed by three different dyers. Overall color mixes include Bolds, Neutrals, Pastels, with specific color overtones of Blues, Greens, Reds, Browns, Purples, Blacks. Metallics are frequently used in the rayon chenille and mohair/wool mixes.

James “Bud” Bottoms is a native Californian who lives in Santa Barbara by the sea, where he has spent his life swimming and diving. His art education began at Jefferson Machamer School of Art in Santa Monica from 1947-48 and continued at the University of California-Santa Barbara from 1948-52.

Although much of his sculpture is of sea mammals, he often combines them with humans to express our essential inter-relationship. He has the unique artistry to capture their playful spirit in everlasting bronze. In particular, his admiration for the intelligence and beauty of dolphins and whales have inspired his work.

He also delights in using his grandchildren as models frolicking with dolphins, sea lions, and turtles; they express the joy he wants to achieve in bronze. His fascination for and love of earth’s creatures lead him to sculpt snails to condors, wherever he finds beauty.

The idea of Chilanthropy came to me about a year ago. My friends were expecting a baby girl…Lilly. I co-hosted their baby shower, and decided to hand make candles scented with Lily of the Valley as parting gifts for 60+ guests.

The candles were a hit! With experience in modern design and home crafting, I decided to go into a business that seemed saturated but missing personal touch, good quality and style.

Inspired by travel and world culture, each of Chilanthropy’s candles are named after places I have been. The scent is then built around the theme of the candle – recreating my journey for you to enjoy.
Residing in Los Angeles, I live my life eco and green. With 9 million+ neighbors every little bit counts! At home, everything possible is recycled, composted and I even keep a worm farm to eat unused food – providing fertilizer for the vegetable garden.  With work, I'm doing my best to make sure that my business practices emulate my eco-conscious lifestyle.  Minimal, recycled, recyclable, and compostable packaging helps offset this footprint. Eco-shipping is a little tricky - So I use green boxes and Milex packing peanuts that are made from corn and even edible! 

Inspired by environmental charities and organizations that help make a difference in keeping a greener planet – I'm dedicated to supporting these charities by donating portions of Chilanthropy's sales.

A Designer and Inventor, Alise Sheehan lives in beautiful Sonoma County, California. She is inspired by the area's many riches.

A seasoned painter, I’ve studied art all my life, painting professionally over 30 years. I feel fortunate to have lived and raised my family in Carpinteria for the last 24 years. Always appreciating the surrounding beauty of the area and its wildlife, I try to capture these elements in my paintings.

My art educattion includes Santa Barbara City College and UCSB Extention in the late 70’s, early 80’s with teachers Robert Frame, and Ron Robertson among others. Later painted for other companies and artists. Now I’m painting in my Carpinteria Studio recording the beautiful surroundings we all enjoy here in Santa Barbara County.

Awards include Best in Show to benefit the Santa Barbara Audubon Society, First Place Surf’s Up Show, among others. Public and private collections include B. Eric Rhodes of Plein Air and Art Connoisseur Magazines, CEC at Arroyo Burro Beach, and private collections worldwide.

More about Kim's Fabrics

Kim Snyder’s Collage Purses and Hand Painted Silk Chiffon Scarves.

I collect fine fabrics such as antique kimono silk, fine cotton, Japanese shibori fabric, as well as hand painting my own raw silk and other fabrics. The purses are basted on silk sandwiched with batting then collaged fabric design with temporary basting glue. I free motion machine stitch the fabric down leaving raw edges. The raw edges fray and soften with time. If you like a crisper look you can trim loose threads and iron with spray starch.

I like to embellish the purses with stones such as turquoise, fresh water pearls and sterling silver wrapped sea glass and hand stitched on.

The approx. 14x72 inch hand painted Silk Chiffon scarves are elegant sheer a loosely woven fiber with a soft beautiful drape and crepe like texture. They float like a feather on the summer breeze!

See Kim's Fabric Designs
with prices and order info.

At the age of thirteen, I moved in with my uncle, a sculptor, who had a studio in the basement of his home in Washington state. I’d watch him take natural objects – wood, clay, and stone – and peel away the layers to reveal what only he knew would lie underneath. I’m reminded of my uncle when I create a new piece of jewelry; I try to let the raw materials present themselves naturally, almost as if they are whispering to me.

After a couple of years in college studying the things I was supposed to study – I began to study art, first in Italy and then at the School of Visual Arts in New York, before rounding out my education at Otis Parsons in Los Angeles. My uncle’s voice was always in the back of my mind.

Refugio Gardens is a small family owned business committed to producing high quality therapeutic essential oil products. The native California medicinal plants are wild crafted and sustainably grown on our ranch in Santa Barbara. The discovery of these native plant essences is the result of a lifelong passion for native plants and herbs and a love for therapeutic handmade botanical products. We take pride in offering unique, rare, and precious lotions made from essential oils steam distilled slowly in small batches to ensure high quality products

The Christy Fisher collections are constructed by hand in our Jerome, Arizona workshop.

Using recycled elements (such as cast glass, vintage fabrics and aluminum cans) Our clothing and jewelry go beyond the trends and become those irresistible pieces you reach for again and again.

Innovative styling and attention to detail make for one of a kind and limited edition pieces that are timeless works of contemporary art.

She uses native abalone shell and often native wood (Ceanothus and Manzanita) from her ranch on Refugio road in her jewelry designs.

The designs are reminiscent of long days spent on the warm sand or watching sunsets from a kayak while paddling north in the Channel.

Amy Hazard began making jewelry at 12 years old. Her earrings, made of recycled magazine pages and wire, were sold at a local Santa Barbara boutique. She learned Native American abalone adornment carving from a fellow volunteer for the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group while raising and caring for baby peregrine falcons on a remote beach north of Jalama. Their job was to fend of predators and feed the falcons until they could survive on their own. Most of the work took place at night, scaring of the Great-horned owls and other predators, so she had all day to sit on the desolate beach and carve abalone pendants using rocks and sand as her only tools. Amy learned from her mentor that abalone was sacred to the Native Americans of California and symbolized eternal life.

During the late 1960's Ashleigh became involved with the Hippie scene in San Francisco's Haight/Ashbury district, where he began producing the illustrated epigrams known as Pot-Shots or Brilliant Thoughts which led into a whole new career. In 1973 he and Dorothy moved to Santa Barbara, where Dorothy's family had been living since her great-grandfather, a clipper-ship captain, retired there in the 1870's.

Ashleigh's work was first published on postcards, then became a syndicated newspaper feature, and was eventually collected in a series of books. It also appears on many licensed products.

Lynn Richardson

Born on August 28, 1942 in Los Angeles, California, Lynn Richardson is an artist residing in Santa Barbara, California, who carves Netsuke and Ojime in the Katabori style, using porcelain from Arita, Japan. The pieces are fired to 2400° f., using glazes and underglazes for a variety of effects. Lynn graduated from San Jose State College in 1965 with a B.A. in Art Education. She is well known for her intricate pen and ink, water colored illustrations and graphic artwork used in advertising and for private commissions.

She was drawn to carving porcelain after observing her late husband, Armin Muller, and their friend David Carlin carving netsuke together in Armin's studio. She very much enjoys the quiet, but intense process of turning a tiny ball of raw clay into a small, beautiful, functional object. "I find carving similar to the process of my drawings in execution and design, with the added surprises that working in three dimensions can bring."

Nature endures despite the pressures of population and development. As a member of the Oak Group I have been proud to contribute 50% of the sales of my work in our group exhibits towards environmental protection organizations. These include the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County (LTSBC.org), The Environmental Defense Center, The Trust for Public Land, The Nature Conservancy, Marin Agricultural Land Trust, and many others. Many successes have occurred in Santa Barbara County, including the Douglas Family Preserve, Sperling Preserve, and the Arroyo Hondo Preserve.

On to Aspen, Colorado skiing and then opening a bakery, IRENE'S in Basalt, Colorado in the '70's.

Next stop the Santa Ynez Valley with my stained glass and then Santa Barbara and the Cabrillo Art Show, my collage and the Goleta Valley Art Assoc.

I finally found my calmness with hand building clay and the Santa Barbara Art Assoc.

I am a Teaching Assistant with the SB High School Special Ed. Transition Program. The community is our classroom from SBCC , the MTD, and job coaching. I embrace what I can share and learn with my students whether it is Art, Phys Ed ,or “street smarts .”

Every year I journey for a week on a supported camping /bicycle trip exploring the USA and inspiring my art.

Thank you for sharing it with me.

Dee - Scarf tying seminars and handpainting silk accessories ten years, Assisting with Art classes in San Diego City Scholl, Masters Degree San Diego State Univ..

Both of us are retired from teaching. We are dyeing silk full time and traveling. We enjoy meeting new silk painters and other interesting people in our travels to share ideas and techniques.

We are self-taught after admiring some scrarve in Nova Scotia, Danny decided to learn to handpaint for enjoyment and therapy from teaching. Through trial and error we have developed our own technique. Silk has a way of taking dye that is always new and exciting.

Kelebek Travers

Wearing jewelry is an act of self-expression. Like an art piece that you choose to adorn the walls of your home, a piece of jewelry might simply be decoration. It can also, and often does, hold personal meaning.

My silver pieces are all hand-crafted, no two exactly alike. The cuff bracelets are created using a Hopi overlay technique that I learned from master Norm Gutshall. The designs, however, are original and are inspired by various artistic and mythic sources.

Mette and Sissel work together in their studio in Santa Barbara, California - half a world away from the farm in Norway on which they were born and raised. They grew up surrounded by handmade objects passed down through generations.
Sissel became a teacher in Norway. Soon after, she and her husband moved to Africa. Together, they spent 20 years there, making homes in Nigeria, Zambia, South Africa and Tanzania. Sissel spent these years working in various art media (batik, painting), continually inspired by the ancient forms and rhythms of the people and nature around her.
Mette came to America at the age of 20 to study at Wellesley College. She went on to complete degrees in Japanese Area Studies and librarianship from UCLA. During the late 60’s, she and her husband spent three years working and studying in Japan, completely in love with the traditions of Japanese ceramics and folk art. Here she first began “playing” with clay.
The two sisters, now together again in America after a life of travels and adventures in many cultures, have settled down to making art together. Their work is bound to reflect multiple influences, but is grounded in their great appreciation for all folk art, in a strong common esthetic sense, and, most of all, in their great joy in the creative process. Sisters art pieces are each original, one-of-a-kind creations made from a variety of materials including porcelain and silver and painted with layers of acrylic and varnish. Because Mette and Sissel sculpt and paint each piece individually, no two are alike.

From the first time I saw bronze being poured and the forms you could create with it I was hooked on sculpture and metal smithing. It has taken me down a long and satisfying road.

After moving to Hawaii in 1967 I was fortunate enough to make my living for five years as a professional sculptor. Along with a friend, we operated a foundry where we cast aluminum, bronze and iron. While in Hawaii, I had several one-man shows, participated in many group shows, did commission work and won my share of awards.

In 1982 I moved to the Southwest and became involved in an unrelated business. I started making jewelry because I needed the creative outlet. I just don't feel right if I'm not making something with my hands.

After 911 my wife and I decided to move to the north coast of Oregon where I took up metal smithing full time. It was the right decision.

At this point in my life I enjoy the scale of jewelry. I also collect and study Asian metalwork.

My background is in video/film production, sculpture and advertising.

Christopher Clark

Christopher Clark got his start in photojournalism while serving in the U.S. Navy; he was a photographer on the U.S.S. Iwo Jima (LHD 7) from October 2005 to October 2009. He was deployed twice to the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean, and went on numerous underways. His primary mission was to shoot photos telling stories of everyday life onboard ship.

After the Navy, Chris realized the need to become more technically proficient in digital photography and post production work while maintaining the storytelling aspect of photojournalism. Upon his discharge, earning a degree using the G.I. Bill became his top priority. Currently, Chris is living in Santa Barbara, CA, and pursuing his bachelors degree in commercial photography at Brooks Institute of Photography. 

Early in the program at Brooks, Chris discovered the post-production technique of high dynamic range (HDR) photography. The impressionist-inspired photographs on this site are the result of his exploration of this technique and were taken across California and Nevada, in Detroit, and in his hometown Dayton, Ohio.

Sandy Wolk

Art is a language that speaks to the soul. Through symbols, images and moods a work of art takes the viewer on a sacred journey, and ultimately toward their own Divine nature.

Art speaks to the unlived energy within us, to old buried wounds, and to the emergence of new energies. Art becomes for us a vehicle for healing... and a means by which we come home to ourselves.

Art is a song that sings us home... it has the capacity to touch those precious parts of our being which have been denied into the shadows of our awareness. For as we bring those buried aspects of ourselves into the light of consciousness there in lies the potential for transformation, for healing, and for connecting to our souls truth.

My gifts as a healer and a visionary allow me the ability bring forth art for the soul and spirit; to serve individuals in their journey toward wholeness and to serve the collective through embracing and expressing the reemerging energies of the sacred feminine.

It is my honor and delight to bring forward these artistic visions.
It is my hope that they offer light and healing into the world, and serve as blessing to those whom are drawn to them.

Amy Faust

I started making jewelry in high school and continued through college receiving a Bachelor's of Fine Arts at the State University of New York at New Paltz in 1984 where I also concentrated in painting. I also attended jewelry classes at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco. I am a business graduate of Women's Initiative for Self Employment based in the Bay Area, attended 2 years of private business training with The Entrepreneurial Edge and I am certified in Life Coaching for Artists as well as Canine Obedience training.

I find that working in the jewelry arts allows me to think sculpturally, graphically and painterly. I can also satisfy my desire to make things with my hands as well as use tools such as files and torches.

I love simplicity, color, light, subtle texture and the mysterious connection that art has to nature. As a visual person I am always looking for inspiration from both the natural and urban environments.

I love finding objects, such as beach and bottle glass with hints of writing or design or gorgeous smooth pebbles. Cutting them into specific shapes they resemble gemstones and take on a new precious quality.

My wish is that each finished piece is perfectly made, contemporary, elegant, refreshing to the eye and highly wearable.

New Artist #1

My name is Thomas Kelsey. I am a former Pulitzer Prize winning photographer and writer for the Los Angeles Times and the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado. For the last 30+ years I have been working on my project "The Spirit of the West", a landscape and wildlife book of photography.

Come eyeball-to-eyeball with an Alaskan Black Bear as it snatches a Pink Salmon out of the Anan River. Stand in the shadow of the Anasazi cliff dwellings of the Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, where its people simply vanished. See Elephant Seals jousting on the beach in San Simeon, California . Journey to Alaska, California Yellowstone & and the Tetons to see the true ‘Spirit of the West’.

The book includes an Alaskan Journal, stories behind the photos, and speaks of time I spent with my mentor, Ansel Adams.
 

Arthur Korb

Arthur is a designer & craftsman of fine handcrafted jewelry in 18k and 24k yellow and rose-gold & silver. He has been making his unique individually forged pieces for more than 40 years.

Kavita's designs are an example of what is achieved when a masterful hand is led by an artistic heart. Silk artist Kavita Singh has come a long way since her apprenticeship in Paris as a textile designer. Kavita has
perfected her silk painting techniques by studying and practicing silk
painting for more than 25 years.

Being truly international Kavita has studied, produced and exhibited in
London, Paris, South East Asia and her native India.

She has designed for such greats as Yves Saint Laurent, Lanvin of Paris,
and American Companies such as Cannon, Burlington, Wamsutta, Schumacher and Fieldcrest. She has created designs for The White House and Malaysian royalty.