graphic art

• Laura Wilder, printmaker

  The beautiful and talented Laura Wilder is an illustrator and printmaker based in Rochester, New York. Her work is based quite solidly in the deco and Craftsman traditions, and Seccessionist patterns find their way into all sorts of little nooks and crannies – for example, look at the Klimt-like spiral pattern at the right.

• Guild.com: 21st-Century Arts & Crafts

  Building on the Arts & Craft movement of an earlier time, Guild.com is a treasure trove of current artists working in metalwork, ceramics, printmaking, painting, fiber, glass, wood, lighting, furniture and tableware.

  The Arts & Crafts masters of yesteryear would have enthusiastically approved of The Guild’s Philosophy: In a nutshell, we believe that when you live with art that you love, and it’s made by a gifted artist with skill and care, it adds something rich and sweet to your life, every day.

• John Murphy Jr., illustrator

  John Murphy Jr. is a graphic artist whose illustration work is strongly reminiscent of the magazine illustration of the 1920s and ’30s. He was trained at UMass & has worked as a painter, illustrator and graphic artist for a wide variety of clients (including Style 1900 magazine) in addition to his regular day-job as art director for Balboni Associates in Springfield, MA. Prints of many of his paintings are available for sale on his website.

• Craftsmen and Letterers

  Martin O’Brien and John Stevens create, together, some of the most stunning carved lettering I’ve ever seen. I don’t know how many of you go crazy over this sort of thing, but typography and lettering have always been huge interests of mine since I was quite young and their work really resonates with me. Martin O’Brien writes that John, his “partner-in-crime,” does all the design and layout work and that without him Martin wouldn’t be able to carve his way “out of a wet paper bag,” which is humble but I am sure not wholly true.

  Martin is also a well-known cabinetmaker, and even in this field their collaboration has had an effect. From pieces that expertly combine the art of the letterer and the craft of the wood- and stoneworker, to Martin’s own wonderfully detailed furniture design, building, repair and conservation work (much of which expresses both classical and modern Craftsman style), their work is a real treat. I hope to see much more work from this remarkable partnership.