Remember the 1969 film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? There’s a point when Etta, Butch and Sundance’s loyal companion, tells the two outlaws to retire their rogue ways for good: “There are other ways of going straight” she says.

Interior of Dangerous Man

During a recession, it makes sense to walk the straight and narrow. Yet, a few outlaws among us have transcended the hardship with creativity and invention. They’ve grown up but won’t give up having fun, they’ve taken deep risks while applying clear judgment, and they’ve paired delicious hopps with timely fermentation.

Dangerous Man Brew

While craft breweries are decidedly trendy and cropping up everywhere (craft beer runneth over), there’s one nestled in the heart of Minneapolis’s Northeast Arts District that deserves the limelight. On any given Friday or Saturday night, it’s the reason you’ll find Twin Citians, young and old, lining the blocks of 2nd Street NE.

So, how exactly does one blaze a trail, especially a successful one, through the overgrowth of craft brewing? Dangerous Man is the perfect place to find out.

High ceilings, light woods, and an open floor plan are a welcome respite from the homely tavern atmosphere one might anticipate at a beer joint. This is a brewery that knows the importance of paying as much attention to the space and ambience as to the brews themselves. At Dangerous Man, you don’t want to just down your beer and head out. You want to earn a perch in the crowd and stay awhile. In such a warm setting, you’ll inevitably find yourself chatting with other patrons and you may be surprised to discover just how eclectic a group the brewery draws. Sitting atop my bar stool, this is how I came to know the architect to my right who introduced me to his wife’s work.

Patrons at the bar

The space came to fruition with the help of a local design and build company called Rogue Arc. As Sam Holzinger, marketing manager at Dangerous Man, explains:

Since the “Surly Bill” passed, brew houses have been popping up all over the city, giving people the freshest beer possible. Unfortunately for us, the space that screamed our name, was within 300 feet of a church.  We fought tooth and nail to amend the law that states no bar or liquor store can be within 300 ft of a religious institution … after a long fight, we passed the amendment, and thus began the journey to opening Dangerous Man to the public.

One of the knowledgable bartenders

Dangerous Man’s aim is to contribute to the existing surrounding community and to create a new, smaller one within that. In a nod to these efforts, the brewery actually encourages patrons to bring in food from nearby restaurants and eat while they drink. There are many things like this to love about the brewery, but my favorite part about Dangerous Man is the story behind the name:

The name came about in Austin, Texas at a good friend’s wedding. We rented a huge house for the week and all our friends flew in from everywhere. Rob’s [the founder’s] best friend, who lives in Berlin, Germany, flew in with his wife and daughters. His 5-year-old daughter Tallulah speaks 3 languages, so her English is always creative. We all had a great time at the wedding, especially Rob, who at the time was donning a huge beard and crazy longer hair. The next morning…Rob stumbled out with his crazy beard and hair all over the place. Talulah jumped off the couch and ran to her mom and yelled, “Mummy there is a dangerous man in our house!” He became the dangerous man then and forever more.

There is also this wonderful quote: “All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”  –T.E. Lawrence

To those who refuse to go straight, or to those who have artfully maneuvered their dreams into a sustainable reality, we raise our glass.

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There’s some powerful mingling going on between craft, art and design these days. San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood is certainly embracing it. Once a light industrial area, the area is radiating new energy these days, due in large part to the recently opened Museum of Craft and Design. On top of this exciting addition, there’s the bold Yellow Building which houses MAC – Modern Appealing Clothing, Piccino restaurant and DIG wine shop. Playing off the Yellow Building, the bold black and blue façade of The Workshop Residence fits right into the block, offering its own pulsing energy in the craft and design world while celebrating the neighborhood for what it once was and still is: a manufacturing district.

Clever signage was created by one of the residents, graphic designer Jennifer Morla.

Founded by Ann Hatch in 2011, The Workshop Residence offers eight one to two month residencies a year for artists and designers. During this time, they have the opportunity to work with local fabricators to create functional, affordable objects. The for-profit organization is self-sustaining and profit from sales is split 50/50 with the artists. The Workshop acts as a laboratory, incubator, studio, gallery and store, embracing all of these labels in one fluid, ever-evolving space.

The retail space features an ever evolving array of products.

Visible from the street, the retail area of The Workshop Residence offers a creative overview of the products made by the artists and designers during their residency, all very affordable considering the high quality of construction. Beautifully displayed on wood supplied by local wood craftsman Paul Discoe of Joinery Structures, the space constantly changes to accommodate the products available.

Product launch parties follow each artist’s residency.

As you step further into the space, you enter a working artist’s studio where all of the objects you are now coveting from the retail section were born. The artists have constant access to the workshop, their processes open and accessible. There are several public workshops, exhibitions and open houses per residency. And just to keep it interesting, Hatch aims for a stark contrast between projects.

Flatbread Society aprons ready to be assembled by workshop participants. The event was hosted by residents Amy Franceschini and Michael Swaine of The Futurefarmers.

In the back of the space one can see the tools used to make the products a reality. A production budget and staff are on hand to facilitate creative ideas. In-house prototypes are built to ensure complete understanding of the production process. Offsite, small production runs offer greater control over quality, but also lend themselves to local production, oftentimes within the Dogpatch. Program director Braden Weeks Earp and shopkeeper Katie McCracken assist artists with production tasks. Hatch and Weeks Earp have a long list of the most talented craftspeople they can call in for help, as needed. Ceramicist and educator, John Toki of Leslie Ceramics in Berkeley, for example, has helped residents with several projects, including large scale casting for Aurore Thibaut and creating glazes that match Pantone color chips for Dirk Van Saene. Ben and Chris Ospital, the owners of MAC, are early and ongoing supporters of The Workshop Residence. Chris even acted as a fit model for a denim work coat developed by resident Ann Hamilton.

Martha Davis at work on her shoes.

There’s been a creative buzz happening every time I’ve visited The Workshop Residence. At one of several open houses for the kimono workshop, reviewed here, I chatted with the current residents, Tsuyo Onodera and Maki Aizawa, while they adjusted a student’s obi. Meanwhile, the neighborhood textile printer, ZOO-INK, was checking in with the current residents to ensure they were happy with his company’s print job for them, which featured delicate patterns on natural linen. (The fabric is available sewn into aprons and stuffed zabuton pillows or for sale by the yard and it’s selling fast). Upcoming summer resident, Agelio Batle, was sifting through these fabrics and was eager to talk design. As I left, I watched a prominent gallery owner wander in, likely inspiring some amazing conversation about the art scene. It seems impossible to imagine that there is ever a dull moment here.

Creative Growth director, Tom di Maria and resident JD Beltran play with her snow globes developed at The Workshop.

Upcoming Events:

The Workshop Residence will be a part of “The Making Of…” at SFMOMA May 30^th through June 1^st.  They will be hosting various resident artists at two beautiful elm wood tables in the first floor lobby. Artists who have completed projects over the last year will share their processes and talk about how they make products in the SF Bay area.  Rotating artists at the tables include:

• Jennifer Morla (Graphic Designer– winner of AIGIA Gold Medal and has 50 pcs in SF MOMA permanent collection)
• Martha Davis (Shoe Designer / Industrial Design)
• Phil Ross (Fungal Furniture)
• June Resident Artist Agelio Batle
• Lauren DiCioccio (tromploi soft sculpture and embroidery)
• JD Beltran and Scott Minneman (Cinema Snowglobe)

The June Artist in Residence will be Agelio  Batle:   http://theworkshopresidence.com/residents/agelio-batle-and-family. Learn more about Agelio on his website:  http://www.asbworkshop.com/
Baskets with The Parker Family June 7,8,9.

Sign Up:  http://theworkshopresidence.myshopify.com/collections/workshops-and-lectures/products/julia-parker-basket-weaving-workshop. Learn more about the Parkers with Deborah Valoma’s forthcoming Book:  http://www.amazon.com/Scrape-Willow-Until-It-Sings/dp/1597142263

Workshop Residence presents made in CA works by resident artists at the 100% California booth at The Dwell on Design conference June 21-23 at The Los Angeles convention center.  http://www.dwellondesign.com/

Boat Building with Aaron Turner July 2-30

Sign Up:  http://theworkshopresidence.myshopify.com/collections/workshops-and-lectures/products/boatbuilding-workshop-the-coquina. Learn more about Aaron: http://www.theworkshopresidence.com/residents/aaron-turner

Details

Images courtesy of TWR’.

http://theworkshopresidence.com/

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Mint Plus and Jungle Gold Triangles Linen Pillows

Erin Dollar has many qualities one hopes for in a small business owner and maker of handmade goods: vision, spunk, a love of her materials, a taste for working solo, and a willingness to experiment. She’s got the concrete things, too: a close-knit professional network, a crisp website, stellar product photography, an up-to-date blog, and many, many Instagram followers. She even has a studio cat.

Erin’s hardworking Janome Travel Mate sewing machine

Her line of screenprinted textile and paper goods, Cotton & Flax, has brilliant colors, bold lines, and the cohesion of a successful brand. Everything is made by Erin in her studio in Los Angeles. All of her pillow cases and tea towels are stitched on her Janome Travel Mate sewing machine, still going strong after over a decade of use. She loves the entire process of making, from sketching patterns with brush and ink to screenprinting fabric and stitching pillowcases. Though she aims to hire her first employee by the end of this year, she is struggling to figure out which part of her work she would hand over to someone else. Perhaps it would be her email inbox, she concludes with a laugh.

Sketching with brush and ink

Black Diamonds Tea Towel

All of the simple, graphic patterns for Cotton & Flax products start as marks in Erin’s sketchbooks, where they often sit for months before being picked as potential new designs. Once she chooses a pattern, Erin draws it out full-size with pen and ink before scanning it to be burned on a screen. She likes to highlight the fluid, imperfect lines of brushstrokes made by her hand.

Triangle Patterned Wool Felt Coasters

White Plus Tea Towel

Attention to detail and to her products’ longevity is important to Erin. The interior edges on her pillows are neatly finished and she uses a natural linen-cotton blend fabric for her towels in order to produce the perfect balance of absorbency and durability. Linen lasts forever, she explains, and only gets softer and more wonderful with age.

Wool Felt Coasters

Screenprinted postcards

Though makers so invested in physical, handmade details often have difficulty bridging the real and the digital, Erin does not. Her attention to detail and flair for clean, bold images translates to her website, blog, and Instagram feed where she is a prolific supplier of photos and fun tidbits about new products, stockists, and Los Angeles craft stores.

Thanks for the inspiration, Erin!

Details

Images courtesy of Erin Dollar and Hollin Brodeur

http://www.cottonandflax.com

http://instagram.com/cottonandflax

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At Handful of Salt, we’re always striving to bring attention to American makers, but also to the marketplaces and organizations that support them. In the past, we’ve spoken with craft leaders such as Brigitte Martin of Crafthaus, an online community of US-based makers, and Jill Read of the Crafts Council in the UK. In the coming months we’ll be featuring the work of several more national crafts organizations. We like to think holistically about the future of craft–be it in the marketplace, academia, museums, non-profits, magazines, or in the homes of makers– and what can be done to promote its growth as a way of life. These are some of the places and people helping to make that happen.

The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design

Tucked away on a 55 acre property near Asheville, North Carolina, with an intrepid staff of only 4 people, sits The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design. Despite its small size, this organization has a national presence, relations with international craft communities, regular exhibitions, and the largest craft fellowship program in the country.

The Center can be thought of as a conduit between craft artists, researchers, curators, and educators, explains Stephanie Moore, executive director of the Center. Each year the Center hosts an annual Craft Think Tank in which craft leaders from around the country come together. These brainstorming sessions focus on what is needed to further the recognition and future of craft in the United States.

Merging, 2012, Joo Hyung Park, Spoon | Fed Exhibition

One Think Tank spawned the publication of Makers: A History of American Studio Craft, a comprehensive collection of portraits of American makers working in fiber, glass, clay, wood, and metal over the past 100 years. Other conversations at Think Tanks have included brainstorming new apprenticeship models for craftspeople and highlighting the need for funding to support craft research at the graduate school and professional levels. The latter led to the creation of the Craft Research Fund, which has awarded over 75 grants since 2005.

It is this focus on finding solutions and forming a national craft community that so impresses me about the Center. Many craft organizations seem to spend much of their time focusing on sustaining an aging or shrinking member base or putting effort into supporting only one craft medium. That’s not the case here. They ask big questions about the future of all makers in the U.S. and give money to the next generation of American craftspeople to ensure that the industry keeps growing.

Hapa Table, Christpher Fong, 2013 Windgate Fellow

Florastero, Christopher Fong

Each year, the Center awards money to emerging craft artists, researchers, and curators.  In 2012, these funds totaled over $245,000. A large portion of these funds go to 10 undergraduates working in craft. Each graduating senior is awarded an unrestricted $15,000 Windgate Fellowship. Many choose to travel abroad, participate in workshops, and purchase supplies.

Grants like the Windgate Fellowship that aren’t limited by craft medium, geography, or how a student chooses to use the funding are rare for a maker at any stage in his or her career. They’re especially rare and crucial for young makers just leaving college, when cash flow is low and the need to launch a professional trajectory for their work is high.

In an ideal world, the Center would have an even larger impact on the national craft ecosystem, but being based in the South and having been established as part of the University of North Carolina system means that unfortunately, they often fly under the radar for makers in the rest of the country. Much of their funding comes from private donations and a charitable foundation in Arkansas. Funding from federal sources is, predictably, extremely limited. The funds the Center does raise, however, are put to incredibly good use. 90% of every dollar raised goes directly to programming.

First Collection Stool, Gabriel Cruz-Ramirez, 2013 Windgate Fellow

I often think of the United States as lagging behind other countries in terms of national support for local makers. Though locally-produced goods are currently trendy and many corporate brands pay lip service to craft and the handmade, there is little cohesion between these marketplace trends and existing craft organizations. Little funding or national dialogue exists to support local makers. Certainly there is very minimal government support for craft traditions, especially as compared with European countries such as the United Kingdom or Sweden.

There is, however, reason to be hopeful about craft in the United States, and the Center for Craft, Creativity & Design is part of that reason. Marilyn Zapf, assistant director at the Center, says that she has been encouraged by the opening up of craft conversations in the U.S. Artists are increasingly less confined by trying to define of the type of work they do and there is more and more cross-pollination between practitioners and academics.

Moore and Zapf dream of expanding the Center’s international artist residency program, publishing online resources for students and professors working in craft, expanding public knowledge of craft research, and staging larger and more regular national crafts conferences. And we’re dreaming of all that right along with them.

Details

Images courtesy of The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design

http://www.craftcreativitydesign.org

http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk

http://crafthaus.ning.com/

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“Against this top bent plywood is wrapped, so that during the construction of a light it will grow step by step. During this process the lights are created – in advance it cannot be determined what form eventually will come out.”

Erwin Zwiers is a Dutch maker versed in furniture making and 3D design who takes inspiration from his material selection. His twisted collection turns bent and wrapped plywood into spectacular, one-of-a-kind, organic shapes that he has used for lighting, accessories and tables – combining art with function.

Erwin Zwiers Twisted Mirrors

Erwin Zwiers Twisted Tables

Erwin Zwiers Twisted Lights

Exhibited widely in Europe, their success lies in the indeterminate nature of the sculptural process – leading to unpredictable circular mazes combined with an undulating scale that draws in the eye.

Love what you see? There’s more of the Erwin Zwiers collection at Wood Design.

Details

www.woodindesign.com 

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Summer is on the horizon, and what better way to bring that warm sunshine in than with some lovely art meets design meets craft events. Here are a few of our picks.

First up, of course, is the release of the second edition of Handful of Salt in print. Good stuff, explore here.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

All Things Artisanal for the Desktop (the Real One) pop up through May 15, at La Boutique, 414 Jackson St, SF. Together with La Boutique Galerie, we’ve assembled a collection of locally made, beautifully designed modern artisanal products that we need at work—from writing instruments, to cases, to decor, to the guilty pleasures we just have to have while we toil away. Get the goods from folks like Josh Jakus, Heather Palmer, Evan Brown, and Jered.

Chain Reaction April 20-May 26, 2013, at Shibumi Gallery, 1402 Fifth St, Berkeley. This exhibition features two contemporary art jewelers, Erica Schlueter and Elliot Gaskin, and their unique approach to the chain and chain making.

CUPS from 20 Artists May 4-June 2, 2013, at fourth & clay, 2370 4th St, Berkeley. Opening reception: May 5, 5-8 pm.

Marin Living: Home Tours May 18, 2013, 10 am -4 pm. Presented by AIA San Francisco and the Center for Architecture + Design, this is the first tour of its kind in the Bay Area to give design enthusiasts a first-hand look at architectural styles from the architect’s point of view.

No Mirrors In This House April 16-May 25, 2013, at Vessel Gallery, 471 25th St, Oakland. This show presents the work of Juan Santiago, known for his beautiful and extremely detailed porcelain sculptures.

Handmade/Mindmade May 17-25, 2013, at Dogpatch Cafe and Gallery, 2295 3rd St, SF. Featuring innovative designs from the creative minds of 19 students at the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking Program. Opening reception: May 17, 6-8 pm.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Sonya Clark: Material Reflex May 26-September 8, 2013, at Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles. In her first solo museum exhibition in Los Angeles, Sonya Clark provides a symbolic and innovative interpretation of materials and weaving processes that explore the layered historical and intergenerational contexts of racial identity, disenfranchisement, and definitions of beauty within African-American cultures.

NORTHWEST

Object Focus: The Bowl May 16-September 21, 2013, at Museum of Contemporary Craft, OR.  Engage+Use, part 2 of the two part exhibit, features contemporary project-based work that investigates the processes of making, using, and living with bowls. Curated by Ayumi Horie.

EAST COAST

International Contemporary Furniture Fair May 18-21, 2013, at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, NYC. More than 500 exhibitors from all points of the globe will display contemporary furniture, seating, carpet and flooring, lighting, outdoor furniture, materials, wall coverings, accessories, textiles, and kitchen and bath for residential and commercial interiors.

WantedDesign NYC May 18-21, 2013. Featuring a rich program of design workshops, conversation series, school projects, a pop-up store and lounges and cafes for people to relax and connect, WantedDesign is truly a designophile’s dream destination. This event is a central point of exchange for the international design community during New York Design Week.

Model Citizens NYC May 18-20, 2013. This definitely isn’t your ordinary design expo! The exhibit will offer two presentations: an exceptional presentation in Noho, and a curated virtual gallery presentation of new independent and emerging work from all over the world.

Punk: Chaos to Couture May 9-August 15, 2013. The Met’s spring 2013 Costume Institute exhibition examines punk’s impact on high fashion from the movement’s birth in the early 1970s through its continuing influence today. Can’t wait.

SOUTH

The Tool At Hand May 31-September 8, 2013 at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, TX. An exhibition that brings together artworks resulting from an unusual and slightly eccentric experiment to make a work of art with one tool alone. This show puts the skill and creativity of some of the most talented names in the contemporary art world to the test. Opening reception: Friday, May 31, 5:30-8 pm.

The Ornamental Plumb Bob May 31-July 27, 2013 at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, TX. A solo exhibition of objects and brooches by San Antonio metalsmith, Gary Schott, that explores the plumb bob, a tool used by many craftspeople to denote a vertical line of reference. Opening reception: Friday, May 31, 5:30-8 pm.

EUROPE

UK

Clerkenwell Design Week May 21-23, 2013, London. UK’s leading independent design festival and one of the most acclaimed trade events on the international design calendar, this three-day event hosts a full schedule of design exhibits and artist talks.

COLLECT: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects May 10-13, 2013, at the Saatchi Gallery, London. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, COLLECT will bring together 32 galleries and 11 Project Space artists, exhibiting an incredible breadth of exceptional, museum-quality work.

Images courtesy of aiasf.org and crafthouston.org

The post What to do May 2013 appeared first on handful of salt.

“Simple, good things for people.”

Creating functional, beautiful, and timeless objects, Heath Ceramics introduces notes of elegance and refinement among our everyday household necessities.

Heath Ceramics Summer Collection'13

This summer’s seasonal glaze: fresh indigoes. Decorate, dine, and play with Heath’s bright and cool collection available in limited quantities until October, 2013.

You can find more about the Heath story in our first print edition. To order the inaugural issue, click here.

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Having done so much back-to-back New York coffee drinking last December that even Juan Valdez would have raised an eyebrow, I figured I knew a thing or twelve about coffee. But the incredible thing about the Good Food Awards, the winners of which we’ve been covering in this series since January, is that no matter how much you know about food, they’re always going to surprise you with a new discovery.

Coffee contestants at The Good Food Awards, image courtesy of Sprudge.com

Though there’s certainly no shortage of coffee these days, regardless of location or time of day, and drinkable—decent, even—coffee can be found pretty easily, the good stuff is often still elusive. We’ve all been burned by a cuppa recommendation gone terribly wrong. “This is (insert now dubious friend’s name here)’s favorite cup of coffee?” we think as we gulp down our first and last—no, wait one more taste maybe in case it wasn’t that ba…no, we were right the first time.

We don’t go back to eat the same bad food over and over. One tasteless, mushy sandwich is enough to keep us going back for more. So, why do we continually subject our taste buds to bad coffee?

In this coffee-crazed time filled with convincing imposter connoisseurs, who can we trust to not just steer us clear of the wrong beans, but show us just how right the best ones—in all the ways they can possibly be the best— are?

Thankfully, we have the Good Food Awards for when just such a question arises.

The Good Food Awards offer nine categories for entry, each of which is assigned an expert judging panel to choose their share of the 114 winners. Fourteen of these winners are in the Coffee category (several of which you can find in our afore mentioned article on New York coffee), from 1,366 qualified entrants that met the GFA criteria for submission in their category. With a base-line standard so high that contestants are impressive just by virtue of being admitted, competition often comes down to subtle nuances captured only by the truly spectacular. We’re talking degrees of greatness here.

On site mill at Finca San Luis farm in Colombia depulps coffee plant “cherries,” image courtesy of Gimme! Coffee

All in all, the Good Food Awards have come up with an amazingly expansive and accountable way of assessing food quality—a thing that goes much deeper than taste. The Good Food Awards were created to celebrate American grown and made food that is “tasty, authentic and responsibly produced.” Award winners are true craftsmen and leaders in their industry. They are the bar-setters—the people who are continually heightening standards, while maintaining a commitment to sustainability and social and agricultural responsibility. For each of the nine categories awards are given to “producers and their food communities” that best embody the ideals of the Good Food Awards, while also creating the most spectacularly delicious delicacies.

In addition to meeting the general criteria for GFA entry, in order to be eligible to compete in the Coffee category, beans must sourced from a traceable origin from a farm that uses sustainable practices, such as water conservation and minimizing synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides. Coffee must also be sourced on the whole “in such a way that there is price transparency throughout the supply chain” and that “farm-gate prices meet or exceed Fair Trade minimums, and the rights of farm workers are respected.” But since all coffee entrants are operating on these same admirable tenants, the thing that distinguished the winners from the rest was flavor. Roasts that left with medals were comprised of beans with “sweet, clean, well developed body, balanced acidity and phenomenal aromatics.” While winning is exciting enough, this year, coffees made using certified organic beans were eligible to receive the Good Food Awards Gold Seal which celebrates producers showing that “taste excellence and environmental sustainability can go hand-in-hand.”

The Coffee committee and judging panel for the 2013 awards were stacked with talented roasters, coffee experts, and business owners who really do know beans about coffee. This included Aleco Chigounis, Green Coffee Merchant at Coffee Shrub, Anette Moldvaer, SCAE World Taster’s Cup Champion from Square Mile Coffee, Trish Rothgeb, owner, Green Coffee Buyer, and Roastmaster at Wrecking Ball Coffee, Tony Konecny, co-founder of Tonx, Brent Fortune, co-founder of Coffee Common, Jen Apodaca Coffee Roaster and Quality Control Specialist for Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, and Andrew Barnett, Blogger for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Coffee beans during the roasting process, image courtesy of Cuvée Coffee

Perfection may be a typically unattainable goal, but thanks to The Good Food Awards, you can at least count on finding it whenever you like…in your cup. Here are 14 ways to create it flawlessly. Make sure to take the time to click on each site—these companies are some of the most impressive socially and environmentally responsible crafters around:

1000 Faces Coffee, Ethiopia – Shakiso Mora Mora, Georgia

Case Coffee Roasters, Kenya – Nyeri Gaturiri Co-Op-Peaberry, Oregon

Cuvee Coffee, El Salvador – El Molino Witness Project, Texas

Evans Brothers Coffee, Ethiopia – Yirgacheffe Birhanu, Idaho: Founded by Rick and Randy Evans, Evans Brothers Coffee has made an impressive mark on the coffee industry in a fairly short period of time. The brothers were no strangers to working with coffee when they began the company in 2009, having worked with specialty coffee companies for over a decade. Since they knew a good deal about high-end coffee, they also knew exactly how they wanted to improve upon what already existed in the market. They set out to roast “sustainable artisan blends, single origin, and award winning estate coffees,” and achieved that goal and much more. This socially and environmentally responsible company’s passion for their craft shines through in their delivery of some of the finest beans in the country week in and week out to their customers.

Image courtesy of Evans Brothers Coffee

Flying Goat Coffee, Ethiopia – Wottuna Boltuma, California

Gimme! Coffee, Colombia – Finca San Luis La Gloria, New York

Heart Roasters, Ethiopia – Yukro & Kenya – Ndumberi, Oregon

Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, Kenya – Gichathaini & Kenya – Kangocho, Illinois & California

Joe, Ethiopia – Camp, New York

Joe Bean Coffee Roasters, Nicaragua – Don Roger Pachi, New York: This roast is the result of one of Joe Bean’s first direct trade relationships. The coffee comes from the “meticulous” Roger Mairena’s farm in Nicaragua, where experimentation with the best way to grow the best product is constantly underway. In addition to growing coffee, Mairena runs his own dry mill, “a rarity among his neighbors,” for processing the coffee tree “cherries” that become coffee beans. Joe Bean Coffee Roasters has become one of the best coffee roasters in the country precisely because they foster relationships like this with expert coffee farmers. Their excitement for and dedication to their craft leads them to constantly discover and create, build new working relationships, and work in a supportive and sustainable way with coffee communities.

Kickapoo Coffee, Ethiopia – Organic Yirgacheffe Haru Cooperative, Wisconsin

Panther Coffee, Colombia – Finca El Ventilador, Florida

Portland Roasting Coffee, Ethiopia – Organic Sidamo, Oregon: If we’re talking about companies giving back to the farms and food communities they work with, Portland Roasting Coffee is one of the most amazing examples around. This company is dedicated to a “way of doing business [that] is built on integrity and trust,” from the very beginning of the sourcing process and their relationship with their employees, all the way through product production and customer interaction. They’ve been a carbon neutral company since 2008 and keep as much of a focus on goals such as waste reduction and environmental accountability as they do on crafting delicious, creative, and distinctive roasts. The company even goes an incredible extra mile by creating stewardship projects in coffee communities, participating in the annual Walk for Water, donating resources to different nonprofit organizations, and creating the fundraising program for Oregon public schools called School Grounds. Check all these wonderful projects here at portlandroasting.com.

PT’s Coffee Roasting Co., Ethiopia – Nanno Challa Heirloom, Kansas

Verve coffee beans during roasting, image courtesy of Verve Coffee Roasters

Verve Coffee Roasters, Ethiopia – Birhanu & Panama – Elida Estate Gesha, California

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Come on, what could possibly be wrong when someone aims to bring analog goodness into the digital world?

Hand-cut, hand-screen-printed cards from Black Sheep Postal

A lot, probably. Unless, that is, you’re Justin Kerr of Black Sheep Postal Service. We think he’s really on to something. He’s tapped into what the big brains in marketing call “deep consumer insight”: the understanding that there are a great many people in the world with good intentions and bad follow-through.

“That’s not me,” we’re all thinking.

Yeah, right.

Black Sheep Postal, postcards for the 21st century

Black Sheep Postal is all about resuscitating the art and craft of the postcard—and the postcards are truly art: hand cut, hand-screen-printed with big, bold colors and strong typography (nary a twee birdie in sight). Because they’re hand-cut and hand-printed, they’re perfectly imperfect, which of course adds to their charm.

Justin Kerr, founder and creator, Black Sheep Postal

Because the whole thing has been thought through and executed in just the right way, the payoff from sending one of these exquisite postcards is bigger than you might expect. You actually feel the human hand behind this little piece of art that’s responsible for connecting two people through space and time.

That’s all good. But a cool card doesn’t get around the problem of bad follow through. There are so many things that we let get in the way, after all: you might have the card but you can’t find the right pen, or you realize you’re out of stamps with no time to get to the post office.

Or you just can’t find the right words.

Black Sheep Postal remedies that, too: They’ll hand-write, address, and send the card for you. All you have to do is to give them some basic information, online.

If you’re a little better on the follow-through front, but don’t quite have the time to pull all of the pieces together as quickly as you’d like, you can buy the cards, but pre-stamped.

And if you want something completely bespoke, Black Sheep Postal can do that, too. (The day I was there, Justin was working on a mammoth heart, about two feet by three feet. And according to Justin, it will go through the US Postal Service.)

Beautiful stamps are part of the design, part of the service

The stamp is an integral part of the art of the card, something many people don’t even realize. Black Sheep Postal does not do bland stamps. The stamps are gorgeous, mini-works of art, each carefully curated because they are part of the whole creation. (Spend even a few minutes with Justin, and you’ll start thinking about stamps differently.)

So, who is the man behind this slightly eccentric, definitely charming, so-crazy-it-just-might-catch-on business?

Hand-screen-printed cards for any occasion

No less than a former senior executive from Old Navy and Levi’s who happens to be an artist, has ridden his bike across the US, published 10 books along with a zine, started a record label, and keeps bees on the roof of his sun-filled San Francisco live-work loft. Phew.

Did you always know you were an artist? Not really. Art was never encouraged in my house growing up. I grew up in a really sports-centric household. It was all about how many goals I scored and why I didn’t score more.

I went to Princeton where I played soccer, but I got really injured my junior year. I thought that soccer was my future but when I got injured I couldn’t do sports anymore (no cartilage in my left knee). As I recovered from surgery, I ended up sharing a room with a former Olympian rower. And he told me something that changed my life: that this is the moment when you’ll decide whether you’ll create new chapters or keep re-reading old chapters.

And from that second on, I’ve never looked back.

In the studio

How did the retail career happen? When I graduated, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I heard about this retail program at Gap where you got to do lots of different things. I really fell into that, with no real affinity to apparel.

And why the change? Long story short, I didn’t want to spend my days and nights trying to figure out how to sell more cargo pants.

Beautiful byproduct

I’m still not getting where the art comes in. It was something that I always did, even while working in retail. But I think my grandmother recognized it early. She was the only one who told me my whole life that I was a good artist.

In Justin's studio

Ah. So it was always there along with this streak of creativity, where you did things like publish zines and self-publish books. You know, I read this book called Michael Azzerad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life, about punk bands in the 80s. One of the bands, Minor Threat, really embodied this concept of DIY where you just do it yourself: no excuses, just do it. I read that and it was another one of those life-changing things. I’d been was raised in a house where my father always told me I couldn’t do things. And that book taught me that wasn’t true. It just removed a lot of excuses.

I just decided, do what you want to do. It’s only your own imagination that holds you back.

What is it about postcards for you?  I was looking for my medium and I kind of stumbled on postcards. Part of the reason I was drawn to postcards was that in the 90s, I spent 2 years in Edinburgh and I communicated with friends via handwritten notes. There’s something so real about that exchange, and it seemed like kind of a miracle that this piece of paper traveled halfway across the world to get from one person to another. And letters and cards are great. They’re something you can hold on to, reread, save.

Cards for the way we live

One night, I saw my postcards on my nana’s wall, and realized what an impact they made on people.

So I started to work on postcards. What I started to figure out was that I liked the size and possibilities of the postcard: they’re the bite sized vehicles for communication.

I just started hand-cutting matte board, and doodling on the piece of paper and was sending them out. In the last 5 years I’ve sent a few thousand post card to friends. I used to do post card battles with other artists around the country. For the next 30 days we’d do a postcard exchange, we’d eventually start to build on these. Postcards became the vehicle for my creative visions.

Then I did subscriptions, one was the 25 days of winter. (Go to jdkjdk.com, where can see some old postcards.) People got 25 days of postcards from me. Subscriptions have always been a part of my process.

I had this realization that old people get lonely. What if I could be a facilitator and help people be in touch with the oldster in your life. It started as a subscription service, where you’d buy a year and get something going to someone once a month. Then I started a service with birthday and anniversary reminders.

Screens of art

Where’d the name come from? It came from wanting to help the black sheep of the family. That felt like a good mission.

But it turned out that changing behavior is the hardest thing to do and the black sheep didn’t really care about changing their ways! So now we’re finding that we’re appealing to people who [make up] a snail mail army, the ones who love the medium. They sign up online and send things to each other. People like that just come out of the woodwork.

Work in process

Why do you think that is? Why are some people so into keeping this form of communication alive? I think people are trying to figure out where they fit in this world. They’re out of touch with themselves and with each other. This is one way to build that connection.

Stamp curation

What 5 objects define you? Or if not define, perhaps best represent you? 

1. Turquoise High Top Converse with my monogram initials

2. Levis White 501 Jeans

3. American Apparel Tighty-Whitey multi colored underwear

4. Mismatched patterned socks

5. Sweatpants with cuffs

The future of communication

Could Justin Kerr and Black Sheep Postal be the salvation of the postal service? Has he figured out the perfect analog medium for the Twitterati?

Quite possibly.  This is definitely a space worth watching.

Details

www.blacksheeppostal.com

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The Workshop Residence is where craft, art, and design come together, and is one of the smartest, coolest places in San Francisco. (We’ll be talking about them more in the coming weeks.)

But to whet your appetite a little, here’s a little from our recent visit to the Workshop to see the team there preparing for an Opening to celebrate their current residency and workshop: Yukata-style Kimono making with Tsuyo Onodera and Maki Aizawa.

Tsuyo Onodera has devoted fifty years of her life to the art of kimono making in Japan, having trained hundreds of students to become licensed kimono makers during five year long apprenticeships at her school in Sendai, Japan (catastrophically damaged in the 2011 Tohoku earthquake.) Working on the project is her daughter, Sonoma-based artist Maki Aizawa.

The Opening, on May 4 from 12 pm-5 pm, is the culmination of the wildly successful spring 2013 sold-out workshop where participants learned to make yukata-style kimono. (The workshop will be reprised in Fall 2013.) Come see the yukata kimonos made during the workshop, as well as printed linen pillows and aprons made during their residency.

Details

http://www.theworkshopresidence.com

12:00 – 5:00 833 22nd Street, San Francisco 415 285 2050

The post Cool Event: Kimono Workshop Opening appeared first on handful of salt.