BY ADRIENNE SLOANE Adrienne Sloane’s Political Knits I am a self-confessed sculptural knitter. It is always difficult to describe what that means since for most people it is a bit of an unusual obsession. However, I seem to be compelled by…
BY KEITH RECKER Nani Croze, her buildings made with recycled materials, and her health and education projects. Nani Croze, German artist and community activist, settled in Kenya many years ago. Her flower-child idealism has inspired a complex of Gaudi-esque buildings with…
BY ANNIE WATERMAN Working with sisal Cultural artistry meets age-old tradition when we take a peek at Gone Rural’s innovative collection of home accessories, all created with sisal. This organization impresses in their unique designs as they experiment with natural and sustainable fibers that they hand…
TEXT: MARNIE FLEMING A native of Oaxaca, Mexico, 33 year-old Christopher Brandon creates artisanal furniture designs that speak to the traditions and the vibrancy of this dynamic city. His business is aptly named, Guibani: a Zapotec word for the “color of…
BY KEITH RECKER Unique-Eco cleans up the Kenyan shoreline and uses what it carts away to create sculpture and jewelry that are getting attention in European fashion circles. Julie Church went from being a marine biologist to businesswoman…just because she had…
BY CHERYL ROBERTSON Handicrafts bring independence, industry and income “My message to every woman is that the first step to self empowerment is to learn to love and believe in yourself,” says Halima Al Quaidah, once a volunteer wool-washer and now…
BY LYN HART The Tapestry Life of Silvia Heyden, a film by Kenny Dalsheimer How does one peer into the mind of an artist, into the deep recesses where creativity and vision abide? What would be visible there? How could it…
BY REBECA SCHILLER Mitra Bali’s Ceramic Cups Coffee aficionados might argue what makes the perfect cup o’ Joe, but no one can deny that a lovely oversized cup handmade from the artisans of Mitra Bali makes the morning ritual worth waking…
BY REBECA SCHILLER The vintage style of Don Carney Admire a wall of Don Carney’s work and you would swear that numerous 1940s vintage woodblock prints were long-lost treasures found in his grandparents’ attic. Not so. These are 21st-century ink drawings…
BY REBECA SCHILLER In a part of the world where economically empowering women is not a priority, FanSina—located in the village of St. Katherine in South Sinai, Egypt—is a 100 percent Bedouin woman run enterprise that produces embroidered and beaded handicrafts,…