Calendar

March 2024 General Meeting


Ceramic Artist John Fink
Thursday, March 14, 7-8:45 pm (doors open at 6)
Syosset Library (Downstairs)
225 S. Oyster Bay Road, Syosset, NY


In addition to his teaching at Nassau Community College, John Fink is an award-winning artist and has been affiliated with Manhattan and Long Island galleries for the exhibition and sale of his work, while several individuals throughout the country collect his art. Mr. Fink is a frequent guest artist at a variety of institutions offering demonstrations and workshops in pottery and sculpture to aspiring artists and collectors.

Although his ceramic pottery is mostly functional cups, bowls and teapots, his sculptures are made of hand-fabricated ceramic combined with mixed materials. These works of art reflect the duality of his nature: a sense of humor and a serious side, but always plumbing the depths of what it means to be human.

His whimsical and mythological sculpture includes miniature people and what are called “far-fetch dragons.” These small dinosaur-like creatures, along with miniature human forms, often populate relatively larger imaginative shapes to form mythological, freestanding environments, or at other times, wall pieces, each having a story to tell. Some are created for indoor placement, others for outdoor garden settings. Some of these outdoor pieces are designed as fountains. See John Fink’s art on his web site www.johnfinkart.com.

John has very generously donated several of his clay works for a silent auction during the meeting, with proceeds going to the Guild. This is your chance to take home one of John’s wonderful, whimsical sculptures and support the Guild at the same time.

Above image: “Childhood Reflections: I Love Elephants”

January 2024 General Meeting

“Structural Splendor:
Exploring an Architectural and Geometric

Jewelry Design Aesthetic”
Patricia Madeja
Thursday, January 11, 7-8:45 pm
(doors open at 6)
Syosset Library (Downstairs)
225 S. Oyster Bay Road, Syosset, NY


Patricia Madeja is a studio jeweler, goldsmith and educator. She designs and handcrafts limited edition collection and one-of-a-kind pieces in sterling silver, 14k, and 18k gold with gemstones and pearls. Her elegantly playful designs are inspired by geometric forms and architectural structures and are skillfully engineered to embody unique movement.

Madeja is the recipient of numerous industry awards and has exhibited her work in galleries, museums and fine craft shows around the world. Her career as an educator began at Pratt Institute in 1998. As Jewelry Program Coordinator, she has been instrumental in crafting a jewelry program that provides future jewelers with a grounding in theory, studio and professional practice. Madeja is a member of the SNAG Metalsmith Board of Directors and has been a collaborator on several international jewelry philanthropic projects.

This meeting will also be available via Zoom for members.

Patricia Madeja
Patricia Madeja

November 2023 General Meeting

Members Show-and-Tell Presentations
Thursday, November 9, 7 pm on Zoom

Our scheduled presenter was unfortunately forced to cancel due to illness, so we will be filling in for her ourselves with a repeat of our own Members Show-and-Tell meeting on Zoom. A great opportunity to share your work with fellow members! Everyone gets three minutes of fame. Instructions are in the November e-news and the Zoom link will be sent out before the meeting.

September 2023 General Meeting

Member Artist Demonstrations
Thursday, September 14  6:00-8:45 pm
Syosset Library (Downstairs)
225 S. Oyster Bay Road, Syosset, NY

Patricia Bridges: Scratching the Surface with Underglaze  Transfers, Overglaze Decals, Iron Oxide Printing
Patricia will show you several ways to use surface decoration to change and enhance the clay canvas. She will demonstrate rice paper underglaze transfers, iron oxide printing, and discuss other image and pattern transfer methods that can be easily used on many kinds of clays and surfaces. You will learn some good tips and tricks to take home as well as a great resource sheet.

Bridges has been designing and creating ceramics for several decades. She is a full-time studio potter in Port Washington and has been teaching adult ceramics since 2010. Bridges Pottery creates wheel thrown functional ceramics for the kitchen, table, and home.  Bridges Pottery can be found online at www.bridgespottery.com, in person and in a few select retail shops. Follow her on Instagram www.instagram.comn/bridgespottery


Julie Luks: Silk Dying 
Julie will demonstrate the process of dying silk designs on habotai silks with Jacquard Green Label silk dyes. The multi-step process, called Serti, involves making a design on the silk with a resist called gutta which contains the flow of the dyes into “islands” created by the gutta. The dye is then applied to the silk. Colors can be mixed making beautiful ombres and salts can be applied to the wet silk, adding dimension to the colors.

Julie Luks

Lesley Magaril Delia: Polymer Clay Caning Technique
Since retiring in 2014, Lesley has been learning, creating, and teaching others to use polymer clay. Lesley is a member of the International Polymer Clay Association, the Art League of Long Island, the Long Island Craft Guild, and is a member of the Board of the BJ Spoke Gallery, an artists’ co-op in Huntington, NY. She placed third in the International Polymer Clay Association 2021 Global Exhibition. You can view her work at downtheroaddesigns.net

She will demonstrate “complex caning.” The cane will be used to create a veneer to decorate a small glass jar. The design formed from the polymer compound runs the length of a log called a “cane,” and every slice taken off the log is identical. This allows a design element to be repeated throughout a piece in various sizes. She will demonstrate how to create the cane, how to reduce the cane, how to shave off ultra-thin slices from a cane to create a veneer, and how to apply the slices directly to a small glass cup. This is a hands-on demonstration so please join in.

Gail Neuman: Introduction to Shrink Plastic for Jewelry and Other Possibilities!
Shrink plastic can be cut by hand, with a Cricut machine or many other means. It can be colored with colored pencils, markers, ink pads and also using stencils: your only limits are your imagination! Come and try your hand at this simple and unique means of creating jewelry.

Gail Neuman is a multimedia artist working primarily in the decorative arts, including wire sculpture, intaglio prints on handmade paper, and beaded or fine metal jewelry.

 Nancy Yoshii: Art on a Box
Nancy Yoshii will be showing how she creates irregularly shaped collages by deconstructing packaging boxes, flattening them out, and covering their blank inside surfaces with various and sundry papers and other media. The result is a fun and sometimes surprising doodle of a piece–and the process is addictive. Participants will get their own boxes to take apart, along with lots of paper choices, to create their own collage: play at its best! Many thanks for the packaging art inspiration go to my Instagram friend Ina Lehnertz in Meckenheim, Germany, for her encouragement and generosity.

Nancy is a longtime Guild member who has worked in many media over the years: clay, papermaking and paper arts, bookmaking, rustic furniture, jewelry, paper quilts, fiber arts, found object sculpture, photography, collage, and mixed media. She especially loves upcycling discarded materials and “making something out of nothing.”

Nancy Yoshii
Donna Samuelsen: Getting Started with Wire-Wrapping
In this demonstration/workshop, you will be able to make a pendant and ring using copper and sterling silver-filled wire. You will learn how to make a frame for your pendant with a wrapped bail, how to secure your stone (provided), how to add embellishments, as well as which basic wire and tools you need to get you started. You will be able to choose between cabochons (stones with a rounded top and flat back) or free-form rocks, polished or rough for the pendant, and we will be using millefiori glass beads for the ring. The techniques explored here will be applicable to any round bead.

I have been wire-wrapping gemstones, crystals, minerals, and other stones for just over 4 years. I went to a beginners’ workshop myself and I was hooked! It was a new creative outlet that seems to have endless possibilities for growth. There are many amazing wire-wrapping artists from whom to draw inspiration, and endless online resources from which to learn, which help keep this craft from ever getting dull!
Donna Samuelsen

May 2023 General Meeting

Artist Lian Brehm
Thursday, May 25  6:00-8:45 pm
Syosset Library (Downstairs)
225 S. Oyster Bay Road, Syosset, NY

Lian Brehm is a New England artist working primarily in handmade paper sculpture. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally; most recently at the 2021 International Paper Biennale in Shanghai, China. She is the recipient of several awards, including from the Blanche E. Colman Foundation, the Freeman Foundation and the Vermont Studio Center. She recently completed a winter studio residency in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and will exhibit work from this residency in an upcoming solo show in Vermont.

Lian received her MFA from RI School of Design in 1984, her BFA from Alfred University’s College of Ceramics in 1980, and was included in the European Honors Program in Ceramics at Wolverhampton Polytechnic in England. Lian maintains her studio practice in South Walden, Vermont. Lian is the daughter of Peter and Emelyn Garofolo, who were past co-presidents of LICG.

Our General Meetings are free and guests are welcome. You may invite a friend, student, fellow artist, or anyone who might be interested in discovering what the LICG is all about. Become a member by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.

2023 Fine Craft Fair

Saturday, April 22, 10 AM to 5 PM
Ethical Humanist Society
38 Old Country Rd., Garden City, NY

Original work in fiber, glass, metal (jewelry), clay, paper, mixed media and wood, all hand-crafted by members of the Long Island Craft Guild. A wonderful opportunity to meet the artists; work in all price ranges. Special one-day only event, ample parking.

Above, from left, Stuart Rabeck, Jane Irvine, Bernadette Puleo.

April 2023 General Meeting

Thursday, April 27 at 7 PM
Sylvia Wolff

Via Zoom for members

Peruvian Imagery

Sylvia Wolff, now 95 years young, has been a member of the Long Island Craft Guild since its inception. Her husband Julian was one of the founders of the Guild. Through the years she has worked with a variety of media, including printmaking, paper making, cast paper, enameling, and several techniques using fabrics.

Sylvia graduated from FIT with a major in textile design and has a master’s degree in art education from Adelphi University. She has taught at several schools and universities, and has attended workshops at both Haystack Mountain and Penland Schools of Crafts, and the Blackburn Printmaking Workshop in Manhattan. Her work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows in the northeast. A partial list includes the Heckscher Museum, Lever House in NYC, the Printmaking Society of Philadelphia, Gayle Wilson Galley in Southampton, and Fern Gallery in Hardwick, Vermont.

Inspired by the design possibilities she sees and feels in the world around her, Sylvia uses her work to express the moods these create. She looks forward to sharing her art and experiences with you.

Zoom link will be emailed to members at least 24 hours before the meeting. If you are not a member, join us! Click on the JOIN button at the bottom of the page.

March 2023 General Meeting

“SHOW N’ SHARE”
Thursday, March 9  6:00-8:00pm
Syosset Library (Downstairs)
225 S. Oyster Bay Road, Syosset, NY

It’s been a while, so we’re looking forward to getting together in person!

We’d love to see and hear what you’ve been up to. If you’d like to participate, bring something, or just tell us. You’ll have 3-5 minutes to catch us up on your creative endeavors:

What did you accomplish during the Pandemic?
What are you working on now?
Have you discovered a new tool or technique?
Do you have a new source of inspiration?

Following the library’s current COVID policies, masks are not required, which means that will be your decision. However, to keep us all safe, please do not come if you are not well or have been in recent contact with anyone who might have COVID. 

We will not have refreshments or door prizes at this meeting. You may bring any stuff you’d like to unload and rehome on our “Free” table. 

Our General Meetings are free and guests are welcome. You may invite a friend, student, fellow artist, or anyone who might be interested in discovering what the LICG is all about: our multi-talented members!

2024 Exhibits

“Seeing the Other”
Rescheduled for 2024:
March 23 through April 20, 2024
Art League of Long Island
107 E. Deer Park Rd., Dix Hills, NY
Artists’ Reception: Saturday, March 30, 1-3 pm

Click here to see our online catalogue with images and artist statements.

Gallery Hours:
Tuesday – Thursday: 10 am-8 pm
Friday & Saturday: 10 am-3 pm
Closed Sunday & Monday

Attention exhibiting artists: Receiving is Wednesday, March 20 from 10:00- 2:00.


January 2023 General Meeting

Thursday, January 26 at 7 PM
Indigo Grower and Fiber Artist Bernadette Puleo

Via Zoom for members. See link below to join.

A Stone’s Throw

Member Bernadette Puleo, indigo grower and fiber artist, is a life-long professional in graphic design, apparel graphics, textile design and accessory design for the children’s market. Bernadette has pursued her interest in growing indigo since 2002. Upon her retirement in January of 2020, she decided to devote her creative energies and time to this magical plant. She is honored and delighted to share her creative journey with indigo and more with the Guild members.

Click HERE for a printable membership form. Zoom link emailed to members at least 24 hours before the meeting.

LICG on YouTube

Some of our previous Zoom artist talks are available on the LICG YouTube channel, so please join us there.

General Membership Meetings 2023

Thursdays at the Syosset Public Library
225 South Oyster Bay Road, Syosset, NY

The Long Island Craft Guild invites the public to attend its bimonthly membership meetings, held on a Thursday in September, November, January, March, and May. We feature speakers from a variety of fine craft media who offer slide presentations and demonstrate a wide range of techniques. At some of our meetings, the audience is invited to participate in hands-on activities. Join us for refreshments and good conversation before and after the program. We welcome all craftspeople and lovers of fine craft.

For directions, see the map below or call the library at 516-921-7161. Meetings begin at 7:00 pm; doors open at 6 pm at the Syosset Public Library 225 South Oyster Bay Road, Syosset, NY, just north of the LIE. Meeting cancellations due to inclement weather will be announced here and on the LICG Facebook page; members will be notified via email.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS:
Some of our previous Zoom artist talks are available on the LICG YouTube channel.

Online Exhibit


“The Current Climate”
A Juried Virtual Exhibit, ongoing from March 2021
Juror: Karen Kettering Dimit

Co-founder, Long Island City Arts Open

The Current Climate

Featured media: clay, fiber, glass, paper, metal/jewelry, wood and mixed media .

Note to Members

While we invite anyone to bring a door prize or snack to any of our meetings, the list below is the media group responsible for refreshments/door prizes for each meeting:

January: Paper
March: Glass
May: Fiber
September: Metal
November: Clay

© 2024 Long Island Craft Guild. All Rights Reserved.