Art and Artisan Traditions
Five years ago, I started this blog to feature the excellence of Spanish design. I have featured dozens of artisans and makers of fine works of ceramics, leather, fiber, metal, textile, and basketry. I recently caught up with four of the studios that I have featured. In this first of two articles, I reach out…
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In April, those in the Madrid area can learn the art of ceramic making from the team at Guille García-Hoz, a ceramic artist and interior designer. The workshops take place at his studio at 6 Nao Street. Please check his website to verify available spots. Clay and Wine (April 3, 10, 17, 24) Learners enjoy a…
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On December 15, 2023, Galician artisan Álvaro M. Leiro received one of the highest honours in crafts in Spain, the prestigious Premio Nacional de Artesanía (National Award), at the sixteenth edition of the National Craft Awards. Convened annually by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism through the School of Industrial Organization (EOI) and its craft promotion arm, Fundesarte,…
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Purposely pared back, this year’s holiday gift guide showcases Spain’s rich and varied ceramic, textile, glassmaking, and woodworking artisanal traditions. Plaart Located in Madrid, Plaart studio makes unique handcrafted contemporary ceramics. Founder Isabel San Martín is a graduate in fine arts and received specialized training in ceramic arts from the School of Art Francisco Alcántara and the Moncloa School of…
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The Association of the Friends of the National Museum of Decorative Arts (La Asociación de Amigos del Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas) has organized a six-session online course, La Platería Doméstica Española de los Siglos XVI y XVII (Spanish Domestic Silverware of the 16th and 17th Centuries). Participants will learn about the characteristics of Spanish domestic…
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When you view the pieces of Idoia Cuesta, the line between art and artisanship begins and ends as one. She describes her work as the “fusion of basketry with textiles and the versatility of the resulting piece through the combination of organic materials with different craft techniques.”. A longstanding admirer of her work, I was happy…
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To speak with my voice: the ultimate. I did not want anything more, anything different. Cassandra, by Christa Wolf On March 30, Spain’s National Museum of Decorative Arts in Madrid inaugurated the exhibition Cassandra, featuring the works of textile artist Kima Guitart. Cassandra is her vision of the myth of Cassandra, a symbol of unheard…
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The Madrid Design Festival which began in February is taking place at various locations around Madrid and online. The only festival in Spain that brings together all design disciplines, including architecture, graphic and interior design, hybridizing them in a contemporary and innovative format. This year’s event, the sixth edition, sees the participation of over eighty…
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Woodic-a contraction of the words wood and ceramic- is the art studio that ceramicist Natalia Suárez opened in a small village in the northern community of Asturias in 2018. A graduate of the University of Barcelona in Fine Arts with a specialty in design, she pursued further education in Artistic Ceramics at the Barcelona Arts…
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This curated selection of made-in-Spain pieces has wonderful gift ideas for the discerning recipient. Representing some of the best of Spain’s artisan traditions-leathercraft, ceramic, textile, woodwork- they stand out as purely art pieces as well as functional objects. All items are available online or by special order and can be shipped outside of Spain. José…
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The Friends of the National Museum of Decorative Arts Association (La Asociación de Amigos del Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas) has organized a six-session online course, Las artes del hierro y la forja artística, (The iron arts and artistic wrought iron ). Participants will learn about the significance of iron in the history of Spanish and…
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“At Sagarminaga Atelier we are passionate about telling stories, those of natural fibers that are expressed and transformed through our hands.“ In 2017, Gabriela de Sagarminaga created Sagarminaga Atelier, a craft studio and workshop born of an illusion: to collect an ancient tradition, the craft of vegetable fibers. It is her material of choice for exclusive…
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