An evening of handmade art at West Elm

Last night I ventured up to the Fenway area to attend the West Elm Handmade Art Event. This pop up shop featured local artists showing their wears among the loveliness of the West Elm Collection. I was greeted at the door with a Boston Iced Tea and 20% off card to use on a later purchase. I was smiling already.
As I strolled sipping my tea, already being familiar with West Elm's products, I search and searched for the artists who's work I had excitedly come to see. It took a while to find the first, and this a while longer to find the second. In total, there were about 9 artists present with a small, but lovely selection of work on display. There were stationers, printmakers, a soap maker and jewelry designers. But it wasn't until I arrived at artist Alli Herrmann's table that I got really excited.

(Golden Glow2010encaustic4"x4")

Her beautiful and tiny little gems of layered seeds and wax are lovely in their translucent, almost underwater quality. I bought one of these encaustic pieces immediately for fear of the few that were left would be gone by the time I made the rounds.

Another favorite of the night was the fellow Jamaica Plain-er rennes. The designer's sensibility to line and detail was spot on and her use of bright color was something I identified with.
I spent a fun few hours chatting and browsing and eating mini crab cakes that were too delicious. It's nice to see handmade goods coming so far as to gain the attention of a design giant like West Elm. The future is looking bright for the handmade nation and I'm so glad I get to be a part of it!