In the spirit of Parents’ Weekend, the Craft Center is hosting a unique presentation sure to attract visiting families.
Marlene True, metal-worker and designer, will demonstrate how to turn old, painted tin cans into unique jewelry. The event will be held in the Crafts Center commons area at 7 p.m . Friday, and is to be in conjunction with True’s workshop called “Ordinary Materials- Extraordinary Jewelry.”
The workshop will be held twice over the weekend from 9 a.m . to 5 p.m . on both Saturday and Sunday.
True’s jewelry is made from materials that would usually be thrown away and wasted, like vintage tin cans, .
“I really like to use the ones with the labels printed right on the can, and they’re getting harder and harder to find,” True said.
Using these unique cans, True makes necklaces, bracelets, brooches and rings, and suggests that people view her website to get an idea of the kind of treasures she creates.
“What I’m going to be doing is showing the students in the workshop how to use tin cans, how to take them apart. It’s really different than using regular materials. I’ll also be talking about how I started working with tin cans, how I discovered that and the evolution of my work with this material over the past eight or ten years,” True said.
This weekend will be True’s first time presenting on campus, but she has displayed her work at other venues throughout her career.
Crafts Center staff and faculty heard about True’s work last year, when, at another crafting event, a designer spoke highly of her work.
“We’re expecting about 50 people,” George Thomas, director of the Crafts Center, said. “It’s a great event because it can gather a much larger crowd than our usual eight or ten people. We’re also trying to make this more available to the general public — there are a lot of jewelry crafters in the Raleigh area.”
Among those local crafters is Katie Sarber Kinnane , a Raleigh citizen whose current project is working with duct tape. Using her unique materials, she crafts wallets, flowers, headbands, and other wearable items. In addition, Kinanne also collects bottle tops and other recyclables for her crafts.
“I’m so excited that a fellow crafter is going to show off her work at State. I can’t wait to learn about how she uses her materials and maybe get a few ideas for my own projects,” Kinnane said.
Her crafts are available for sale at etsy.com , under CSarber .
Attracting students, families and local crafters, the Crafts Center is sure to be a busy place this weekend. The event, according to Thomas, is also geared toward students in the Arts Village and the School of Design.
“We don’t normally have the capacity to fill a whole lot of seats, but this weekends’ event will be able to accommodate a lot more people,” Thomas said. “We’re doing the seminar Friday as a way to let others see what the workshop will be about and also for people who couldn’t get into the workshop to be able to still get the experience.”
For those interested in attending, True promised an interesting learning experience. Those who are unable to make any of this weekend’s crafting events can find her work on her website at www.marlenetrue.com .
