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Soigne at Eastside Culture Crawl 2010

Beata Kacy — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 07:47:03 +0000

Thank you all for coming to Soigne during Eastside Culture Crawl at Octopus Studios. We were thrilled seeing the over 800 people visiting our studio. It was nice to see familiar faces visiting us every year, people traveled from other cities to see us, it is all very appreciated.

Hope to see you all next year, at the same time in the same location.

Congratulations to Izabela Bzymek for winning 3 hour Solder Pendant Workshop.

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Eastside Culture Crawl at Octopus Studios

Beata Kacy — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 05:13:02 +0000

Please visit Soigne during the 3 days of art festivity at Octopus Studio.

Friday to Sunday 26.27.28 of November 11-6pm.

Soigne has prepared new belt designs, cuffs, funky wool necklaces, leather pendants for only $5 each, and of course 7 traditional soap flavors.
See you all there.

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Soigne at the Open Doors Project

Beata Kacy — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 07:08:38 +0000

Please join Soigne and Octopus Studios (393 Powell street) during Open Doors Project on July 31- August 1 – from 11:30am till 5pm. Open Doors is collaborative project led by the Powell street Festival Society and the Japanese Canadian National Museum. Founded under the City of Vancouver’s Japantown Revitalization project, the Open Doors initiative is to commemorate the divers histories of 300 and 400 blocks of the Powell Street neighborhood.

Check the below link for more information: http://powellstreetopendoors.wordpress.com/

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Metal Clay Certification – Aprill 16th, 17th, 18th

Beata Kacy — Mon, 03 May 2010 01:07:44 +0000

Soigne joined a fantastic 3 day PMC (metal clay) Certificate run by Rio Grande in Snohomish, Washingtown. The course was taught at “The Ranch” where you can take courses lead by world class artists. Randi Harper the owner and the founder of “The Ranch” makes you feel like at home; very welcoming and unforgettable hospitality. Patrick Kusek, senior PMC instructor, made our 3 days worth every penny and great overall experience. I had the chance to meet other jewelery artists from all over the Washington State and exchange opinions, get advice and learn new methods. You can check every bodies work below. We had to follow Rio Grande guidelines to pass each piece, technique was a key in the final mark.

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Arts and Crafts in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico part 3

Beata Kacy — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:49:37 +0000

Galleries and Shops

If you are seeking an art scene, galleries, cozy courtyard shops and hundreds of the best restaurants with a traditional approach San Migelle De Allende is the right place. Colonial architecture fills the entire city with warm colors. Church bells can be heard on every corner while you are diving through galleries, endless shops, craftsmen and artisans. The most visited gallery is Fabrica La Aurora, a former textile factory converted into artists studios and shops where you can meet all the artists every Thursday. Lots of my attention went to La Bottega Di Casa.
There is a great variety of European and American fabrics to make items to measure and the best selection of fabrics for upholstery, but it’s not just fabric – Mexican artisans also create designer pieces exclusively for La Bottega di Casa, offering unique items in ceramic, carved wood, and much more. If you need something for your home or as a gift, here you’ll find that perfect, unique piece you were looking for.

Independent artists

Walking down the Zacateros street I had the chance to bump into a very unusual store. All the items, mostly bags, were made of pop can ring pulls – even dresses and jackets. You can see on the pictures below a Mexican lady holding a ‘Metal dress’. Would it be environmental art? Or just fashion?

Walking down the same road I finally manage to find a leather craftsman as SMA doesn’t have many of them since Leon, a neighbor city, is the world center for leather products and they are all located there. Ernesto Hermandez G runs his small leather workshop surrounded with all kinds of machinery and piles of leather hides. Again I witnessed typical SMA hospitality and got invited to his workshop.

A little road from Zacateros called Pila Seca led me to a small shop called Mixta run by Anna Sinclair. Her items were very hip and urban. I would say a North American craft style which was quite surprising to find there. That was the only shop where i found felt products…who would believe that felt was never used in Mexico. Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of the products. What surprised me even more was when i found an old hand written book from Japanese temple written by monks and I couldn’t resist…

In the Craftsman Market, next to Hotel Quinta Lorto, I found an amazing Amber artist. Don Del Ambar creates unique pieces of jewellery captivated by the colours and form of Chiapan Amber. Chiapas amber is between 22 million and 26 million years old. The resin came from the Hymenaea Leguminoseae tree. Most of the Chiapas amber comes from an area in the Chiapas highlands near the town of Simojovel.

You can even spot artists who come just for few weeks and get inspired to work on streets of SMA

Traditional Crafts

There is no better than Mercado de Artesanias for local craft and design. Here you can find imaginative spaces, fruits, jewellery, fabrics, ceramics, bags and all you can think of, for little price. San Migel de Allende has lots to offer, this little town of just a 100,000 population has a big personality.

Next post about SMA Architecture.

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Casting workshop in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico part 1

Beata Kacy — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:00:13 +0000

Soon after a workshop in San Francisco I flew to San Miguel Allende in Mexico for a 3 day bronze casting workshop. I didn’t have any expectations and the week in SMA blew my mind. I will post more about the city in part 2, 3 and 4.

Our casting instructor Diana Maycotte and her assistant John were the sweetest people on earth, their passion for jewelery, art and life was very inspiring to the entire group. It was just 3 of us, two lovely ladies from San Antonio and myself. How much fun we had no words can describe. Our workshop was based about 30 km outside of SMA in Diana’s farm. Horses, donkeys, cacti, sheep, an organic winery, a chapel in all forms you could imagine were surrounding our workshop. Every morning Diana brought new traditional deary drinks to try, snacks and all her stories to share. On the last day we all got invited to her gorgeous house/palace for traditional Mexican lunch…but more about that in the next post. Having a sheep on the farm there is no better way to get an organic wool for felting. Soigne is looking forward to run felting courses in SMA in the near future.

Diana is extremely talented jewelers and great passionate teacher. She says: “I love life! I love seeing things grow and progress, whether it is my children, a Chardonnay on our ranch, a bonsai, or a design. Like things that grow, a design needs to be nurtured, developed, and eventually find it’s home with a special client.
I have been designing and producing jewelry since 1983. I grew up in a very creative environment, both my parents were musicians, an opera singer and a conductor. One of my father’s pursuits was jewelry making. My mother is also a very talented and accomplished sculptor in San Francisco. So, naturally, I studied art and found my way into jewelry design.”

Please enjoy pictures below.

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Soigne at metal clay workshop with Hadar Jacobson in San Francisco

Beata Kacy — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 03:02:16 +0000

It was quite an experience to enter Hadar’s workshop. Her jewelry pieces scattered along the studio created a fascinating gallery. Her simple yet original displays with a slight layer of dust and matted-look pieces made it all mystical and secret. I was fascinated. Moving slowly i kept catching myself not breathing while admiring her pieces. The course started soon after. Hadar was generous with her precious time offering me a one on one class. I spent 2 full days learning various techniques, exploring and following Hadar’s directions. She is the only jewelery artist who is using steel clay, which she invented herself. There is no better experience than learning with the masters and I was lucky to be part of it. Please check the picture below of Hadar’s workshop and her pieces. I have the 3 latest books written by Hadar and they are available in Soigne library.

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Happy Holidays

Beata Kacy — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:52:47 +0000

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Portobello West 2009

Beata Kacy — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:50:10 +0000

Thank you everybody for stopping by our table at Portobello West. Thank you all for participating in the draw. Soigne is pleased to announce winners:

1. Pendant (attached picture) goes to lucky winner: Ewa Polaszewski
2. 2for1 level 1 solder pendant course goes to : Carla Kushner

Thank you all for participating and visiting Portobello West.

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Quick sneak peek of our history and how it meanders from my grandmother through to Soigne

Beata Kacy — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:49:27 +0000

Now for a quick sneak peek of our history and how it meanders from my grandmother through to Soigne, whilst allows being embedded in Craft.

In 1922 my grandmother Bronislawa Klimek was running a High School program for “woman only” in cooking, sewing, knitting, home decor and fashion design. Its name in Polish was Wyzsza Szkola Gospodarstwa Domowego, and it was a very respected school where Earl K. Roztworowski was the school founder and sponsor. (group picture below, my grandmother in white coat in the center on the picture, next to Earl Roztworowski) Recently my family came across a stash of historic family documents many of which belonged to my grandma. Browsing through those documents I found a few pictures with her and her students as well as some beautifully hand written testimonials from various people she encountered during her teaching career. I even manage to find a program she wrote for a one year course (picture below). The program is written in Polish but I have set myself the task of translating it to English and then sharing it here, so watch out for that. In 1928 my grandmother was a guest teacher in several Polish cities, running courses from just a few months to sometimes a year long in each school. So here are my thoughts…maybe my grandma is the reason that i love crafts so much, maybe I inherited that love from her. I am hopeful that over the coming months as I explore the document stash that I uncover more of this story; more about a wonderful Polish lady who traveled Poland teaching craft to all those she met.

We will soon have a History section up on Soigne where you can check my historical exploration as it unfolds.

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