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Supporting the careers of Canadian craftspeople since 1931.
Supporting careers of Canadian craftspeople since 1931.

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Featured Artist: Andreas Krätschmer Dec 1st - 18th

Featured Artist: Andreas Krätschmer Dec 1st - 18th

Visit the Craft Ontario Shop from December 1st to 18th to see "Fragile Giants", our feature of turned green wood by Andreas Krätschmer.

ARTIST STATEMENT

In my woodturning, I use locally-sourced urban wood with sometimes surprising and unique characteristics. By working with green, living wood, I allow the material to take an active part in the creative process and often reflect on the life of the material itself.

By celebrating urban wood with all its beauty, flaws, scars, fragility, and strength, I hope to deepen our connection with the artifact and the natural material from which it is made.

FRAGILE GIANTS

In my latest project, "Fragile Giants", I explore themes that relate to the life of trees in the city: wounds, lack of space, and drought. Each piece in this collection is made from wood originating from the same urban Manitoba Maple tree, cut down in my neighbourhood on St. Clarens Ave in Toronto.

I work closely with arborists to source my wood locally. That’s how I came to salvage some of this majestic Maple tree. This healthy tree, that used to stand over 50 feet tall in the backyard of a family home, submitted to the arborists’ chainsaw blades when the family wanted more light in their yard.

The Manitoba Maple is a very unique tree because its wood develops red colouring in places where it has been injured. Injuries could be the result of insects eating their way through the tree or due to external impacts, natural or manmade. Each injury leaves a red “bleeding” wound that gives us a visual sign of the tree's vulnerability.

All the wounds, imperfections, cracks, warping and signs of human interaction are deliberately incorporated in my pieces to create objects that narrate their own past while living on in the cultural context of our homes.

 

 

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