New Showing: Dimensions, Dec. 6 2019

This month we are hosting a new gallery showing featuring the work of Emma Macchiarini. A selection of her paintings will be on show until the end of January and available for public viewing Tuesday-Saturday from 11am-6pm.

DIMENSIONS FLIER.jpg

Statement from the Artist:

Contrary to popular belief, it was not my grandfather, Peter Macchiarini, who taught me to draw. It was another artist, a woman named Virginia Macchiarini, who was married to Peter, and happened to be my grandmother, who schooled me in the nuances, and magic, of drawing. However, what I do remember clearly is that after I had created a drawing, my grandfather would come to examine them. He always told me to “fill the entire page” suggesting that perhaps I could learn something about composition as well as fidelity to the image.

Dimensions is about composition, design, macro and micro levels of visual imaging. It’s about jewelry, it’s about painting and drawing, and it’s about the deep sense of design and composition that runs through my bloodline.

It feels a little crazy to me to make a whole bunch of paintings of jewelry, since I have no idea if anyone will know how to value them as artwork. Who wants paintings of jewelry? But on some level I felt that the design components were interesting enough to transcend the basic sense of “what it is”. I also enjoyed calling into question what I was doing and to me it called up my love of Magritte’s questioning about whether a painting of a pipe is still a painting.

Another inspiration point for creating these paintings was my job at Academy of Art where I taught a Jewelry Rendering class. I learned so much in that experience, and I certainly upped the ante on my ability to paint and draw shiny stuff. At some point I felt like as an artist, there wasn’t enough freedom for me to depart from the rigors of academic drawing there. Simply making a drawing that looks exactly like a photo of an object has it’s uses, but in the end, it’s rather boring, isn’t it?

The bit of slap dash here and there, or some tiny exaggerations, or a rich velvety addition of texture was needed to keep me interested in drawing objects. There were other pedagogical disagreements with the Academy, but for the most part I felt like the experience grew me as an artist, which is of course tantamount to all other things in life, LOL.

For better or for worse, here is “Dimensions”, a show of paintings of jewelry. I chose images of the work of my father Dan, grandfather Peter and my own work to portray. These are all acrylic on canvas, and I made them in my home studio between work and raising a wild redheaded girl-child, doing chores and commuting.

So there you have it from the artists herself. What more is there to say?

This series of paintings are all paintings of jewelry and we loved the tones in which the jewelry is presented, the rich variance in all the reflection of the rendered metals and the love with which all the material was meticulously painted.

New Work From DannyMac!

Come in for North Beach First Fridays tomorrow from 6-9PM and check out our new work and behold old treasures.
Hope to see you soon!

Presenting: Kelsey Simmen - The Nature of Metal

Macchiarini Creative Design is thrilled to present Kelsey Simmen- The Nature of Metal, an awe inspiring collection of wearable works of art in silver and found objects. Reflections and remnants from nature are encapsulated, mimicked and embellished in silver and fused gold. Inspirations, artifacts and materials are sourced directly from her collections from the woods, the beach, the city streets as well from her personal experiences with Type 1 Diabetes. We invite you to join us for the opening reception,  Nov. 2, 2012 from 6-9PM, to discover the luscious leaves reticulated with organic textures, curious mushroom spore prints etched into silver, thoughtfully repurposed insulin syringes, pen vials, pump sites and more from this earthly and body centered collection of truly, everyday-wearable pieces of art.

Bio: Kelsey Simmen grew up on a farm in a small town in Northern California make-believing and walking around in nature, crafting mud pies and coffee out of plant life. She creates beautiful jewelry using silver and found, cast, fabricated or recycled objects gathered from nature and her experiences with Type 1 Diabetes. Kelsey applies several techniques to treat metal, most of which she learned from her studies at the Academy Of Art University, in San Francisco.

Back from Burning Man, Fertility 2.0 2012

We've returned safetly from the desert, once again! This year's burning man was really different for us, with a handful of new team members and two pregnant ladies on crew- (yes, we took Fertility 2.0 seriously) this one-of-the-hottest years in the desert presented great challenges amidst the breathtaking sunsets and enchanting fire dancers atop our lady dragon. Check out this amazing picture gifted to us by a fellow burner! Describing what happens at Burning Man is a little like trying to describe one's relationship to something that is both terrifying and beautiful. Putting your verbal finger on an experience that is so full of circumstance, chance meetings, personal insights, transformations and interpersonal dynamics, that are fuelled by challenging environmental conditions and collective styles of living- the stories we can recount and the words we can offer seem to somehow dilute it all- the wonder, pain, pleasure and grace, the beauty, joy, clarity and craziness. It can be both challenging and rewarding, action packed and quietly reflective, and so many other things as well.

So this year, we offer you a brief report in pictures, and will add the stories of some of our crew as they are offered.

Let us know what your experience was and what it seems like is happening in our pictures! Then check back in soon, for our upcoming programming in the gallery for Fall.

Here's a shot of the dusty dragon and some of our 2012 crew:

This year's coin:

One of our very favortive events of the week: Workshop with the Black Rock Scouts- they're making their very own coins!

Have you liked our Dragon Smelter Facebook page?

Have you liked our Macchiarini Creative Design Facebook page?

Maccharini Creative Design with the Metal Arts Guild Presents: Homage to Ancestors

Macchiarini Creative Design and The Metal Arts Guild Proudly Present: Homage to Ancestors - A juried/invitational exhibition of contemporary wearable metal art pieces and sculpture, where artists have re-imagined the work of artists who have passed, in homage and dedication to the practices which inform their own.

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Notable MAG Members show Closing! Reception: March 2, 6-9 PM, in concert with First Fridays in North Beach

Don't miss out on seeing this fantastic collection! We are honored and excited to be showing such a broad range of work from some hard working and notable members of the Metal Arts Guild.

Featuring handcrafted wearable metal art by talented in house artists and prolific, notable Metal Arts Guild members of the past and present! Showcasing works by: Merry Renk, Emiko Oye, Alison Antleman, Christine Dhein, Kelly Nedderman, Aimee Golant, Adam Clark, Daniel Macchiarini, Emma Macchiarini Mankin-Morris, Peter Macchiarini, Chrystal Powell, Dustin Offutt and more!

Find out where this shadow comes from...

An open letter from Terry Lorant: As we were finishing the rock work and landscaping at the front of our house, it was clear we needed handrails along the new stone steps leading from the stereo level down to the house.  We really wanted something unusual, lovely and fun.  Where else to turn but to our friend Danny Mac at Macchiarini Creative Design.

We love our Macchiarini wearable art and wondered if Dan would be up to such a task as creating art for our front garden.  Dan understood what we were talking about right away and started sketching ideas that might be work.  He came out to measure the area, refine sketches and make suggestions for possible ways to proceed with the job.

Then he arrived with the materials and did the fabrication on site.  We were involved with the construction and the evolution of the design.  It was tons of fun and we are thrilled with the result!  Everyone who comes to visit arrives via our front steps and the "art installation".  "Wow"  and smiles…every single time!

We're looking forward to coming up with the next art installation for Danny Mac to do at our home!

Thursday, Dec. 8th 6-9pm Annual North Beach Holiday Boutique Crawl

Crawl around the neighborhood and stop in and see new featured functional, conceptual, wearable works from notable Metal Arts Guild members! This month we will host the 60th anniversary party and celebration of the Metal Arts Guild, and in honor will be exhibiting awe-striking new work from talented and notable folks we know you'll be just as excited about as we are! This  special night is not to miss!

Historic photographs lend us visions into the culture creating work of Peter Macchiarini and his cohorts, as they produced the oldest urban street fair in the United States!

Join us for the 57th Annual North Beach Festival and a historic look back to the Upper Grant Ave Street Fair from which it (and every other street fair in the US) grew. June 18 and 19, 2011  .  10 am to 6 pm  .  FREE!

"The North Beach Festival, started by a committee that included renowned sculptor and metal artist Peter Macchiarini, began as the Upper Grant Avenue Street Fair and is the oldest urban street fair in the United States."

Dive deeper into our history and the history of street fairs in general in this fascinating article by S. Reynolds in Northside San Francisco Magazine!

This weekend we will be showing original photographs of the Upper Grant Avenue Street Fair from way back when, and the committee who made it all happen! Come satiate your thirsts for history and join us in paying homage to Peter Macchiarini and the folks who worked so hard to give us this great tradition!

We are mesmerized by one particular photograph taken by THE  Joe Rosenthal! It is hauntingly breathtaking. We hope you might come by to see it and the rest of our collection in person!

June 3- We'd love to see you at First Friday's in North Beach!

Join us again this Friday for another round of First Friday's in North Beach! All the neighborhood becomes a-flutter with art loving folk who stroll the local sprawl of galleries, young and old! It's a fantastic time to see the new pieces we've been working on, to get a sneeky peak of the shop in the back or to have a glass of wine and socialize with your neighbors. Come out! We'd love to see you there. Friday June 3rd 6-9pm

Funded Artists for Burning Man 2011!

In 2010, six team members from the our shop refurbished the Dragon Smelter from the inside out. With an unmentionably long list of upgrades including her new lights, claws, and head constructed from a salvaged oil barrel with saw blades for eyelashes, the smelter team took our lady Dragon to the playa so she could breath her fire into desert nights, at Burning Man 2010, Metropolis.

 We worked in the sun and the dust with the crowds, to explore and redefine notions of value. We poured large relief sculpture coins from recycled aluminum cans at multiple live casting events, while miniature versions of the coin were smelted by participants with our supervision and assistance, and given away and at our sideshow, a travelling minting pour and press!

This year, we've been invited back as artists for Burning Man 2011: Rite of Passage! Emma has designed a brand new coin, sculpted in collaboration with Dan. Here's the sculpture in preparation to be molded!

 

Inspiration came from this:

"An oriental symbol of the soul's pilgrimage through life: the souls climb up the four belts of the world, or elements, to its purification, win through from darkness to light."

This year we're expanding and improving and are really looking forward to what adventures the playa and our dragon will bring! If you're interested in joining our team or know someone who might be, please contact us for more information!