Featuring Fine Workmanship by Artisans

This is the second in a new series featuring art by members of the Artisan Crafts gallery that I feature daily in one of my journal modules. I add one each day and each is featured for 48 hours and then all are featured at the beginning of the next month as a group. These artisan works are found through my casual browsing and they could be very recently uploaded or they could be older works. They could have been made by very well-known artisans, by someone as yet unknown, or by someone very new to dA. They are random finds, so one gallery might be represented more than another and one artist might get featured more than once in the same month. My picks are totally random finds and that which struck me as something wonderful... I hope you think so, too, and that you enjoy this new series!

Rockin' Leather Life by *ElVaqueroMuerto (Leatherwork)
It takes a lot of talent and skills to not only make custom merchandise on this level, but to be versatile enough to offer a range of products as wide as this. Here we have tooled leather in a guitar strap, covered flask, and bracelet and each one can also be seen individually in his gallery. And, I can vouch for *ElVaqueroMuerto's talent because I own one of his pieces and it still looks as fresh and exciting as when I first got it in the mail! I also own the 2009 dA calendar he made that features his leather art, and let me tell you that I can also vouch for the excellent quality of dA's calendars and the leather art that this artist chose for his calendar!


Lamb3 by ~rustytrombone (Culinary Arts > Main Dishes)
Chocolate milk braised lamb? You simply must read the artist's comments to see the rest of this recipe's unusual ingredients!


Nouveau Artifact by ~Taylor-Cornejo (Metalwork)
The artist doesn't say what this piece's purpose is or what its dimensions are, but I'm guessing that it might be about 2 1/2" (6.25cm) long. Maybe it was meant for a brooch or pendant or perhaps just a talisman. The top half is sterling silver and the bottom part is ebony, with a round onyx cabochon and a pear-shaped amber cabochon.


"zeeland" Hairpin by ~Gadiena (Jewelry)
Quite a bit of complex soldering on this sterling silver hairpin and a faceted lemon quartz is set in the middle.


Japanese Tea House by ~abreathoutofacoma (Architectural Design)
A charming little tea house that the artist built and then skillfully and artistically integrated it in with his garden surroundings.


Lava Flow by ~suedollinQuilts (Textiles > Fiber Art)
Fiber art imitating the lava flow of a volcano, or as any rockhound might suggest, the mimicking of soil erosion that pushes precious gems up to the surface of the earth's crust.


Cleves gown close up by ~glittersweet (Textiles > Costumes)
Looking strikingly like a portrait by Hans Holbein the younger is this costume that suggests what Anne of Cleves might have worn had she remained in Germany instead of emigrating to England for her marriage to Henry VIII.


Spoils by *wibbledile (Jewelry)
A very delicate one-of-a-kind bangle in yellow gold with a large faceted blue topaz and several white diamonds set in a scrolling leaf design.


Group Two by ~TheMadTopHatter (Jewelry)
A handful of four rings in sterling silver. The stones look like they might be amethyst and moonstone.


ice cream ring and childhood ring by ~houseofbrokendolls (Jewelry)
The first ring got a DD last September and its DD description read: The two little mice look like they're thinking, omg it's icecream! dig in! But the mice really haven't anything to do with this extravaganza of a ring that is sterling silver with polymer clay ice cream "scoops" in the sterling silver bowl, copper "cones" with semi-precious stones (what looks to be an opal, two chrysoprases, and maybe a garnet) as the "ice cream" in the cones. The other ring is a double ring with a sterling silver cradle with silver charms of a doll and teddy bear that can be attached to the bedrails with jump rings. Also, set into the ends of the horizontal bedposts are amethyst cabochons.


Daruma Tea Set by ~heisaspy (Sculpture and Glass > Tableware)
Daruma dolls aka dharma dolls are very round Japanese dolls that have no limbs, no center of gravity, and are used for making wishes.


Seven Sins v1 Detail by ~da4tner (Sculpture and Glass > Pots & Vases)
A vase with text using the names of the seven deadly sins skillfully carved into it.


Chowder and Shnitzel by ~pisikspanzuratadebec (Sculpture & Glass > Ornaments & Paperweights)
Meet Chowder and Shnitzel, characters from Cartoon Network's animated TV show Chowder, which has been nominated four times for awards, including an Emmy. The characters live in the charming city of Marzipan and Chowder (on the right) is a young apprentice chef and Shnitzel (on the left) is a real chef and Chowder's friend even though here he doesn't seem too happy with Chowder, aww.


Elizabeth Swann by ~Ravenspiritmage (Textiles > Costumes)
This one had previously been located in Photography > Cosplay, but the workmanship on this costume from PotC is so well done and authentic that it truly sets a standard and is well placed in Artisan Crafts > Costumes.


Wrapped Flask by ~MaillerPhong (Metalwork)
An almost flawlessly wrapped flask. Stainless steel chainmaille, using European 4-in-1 and Half-Persian weaves.


Greenman leather belt pouch by ~Mparker (Leatherwork)
A belt pouch that was carved, tooled, dyed, and painted in thin layers of transparent acrylics and dyes.


Men's Rubber Ball Pendant by ~SongBird55 (Jewelry)
A clean, simple, and very wearable man's necklace. Sterling silver, black rubber cord, and a black rubber ball.


Crowling - Four - Coin by =bleaknimue (Custom Dolls)
A mixed media doll by an artist whose forte is making very unusual and unique dolls. I like how the background in this one really adds to the atmosphere... a piece of rust-colored suede becomes a very convincing desert background!


stained glass mermaids by ~princevulpine (Sculpture and Glass > Stained Glass)
A set of custom shower doors with borders of beveled glass. Made for a private client's large shower area, so these must be very big.


Gem Encrusted by *ellyloo (Sculpture and Glass > Miscellaneous)
*ellyloo has many fine lampworked beads in her gallery, but this one looks like it was made for a fairy princess. To describe it, her own words say it best, "The dots are all 'reduction' glass (Psyche, or Nyx for those who do glass). They have a faint metallic sheen to them as well! I love how the ivory crackled and fumed around the high silver glass (it's an old antique crackly colour, rather than a smooth 'cream' colour it usually goes on as). The poked bubbles make the glass uneven so that the light bounces around and enhances the reduction that happened (that's my theory anyhow)."


Octopus by *WeirdBugLady (Plushies)
Using fleece and no patterns, *WeirdBugLady makes everything imaginable from all sorts of animal species, even insects, snakes, squid, salamander, sugar glider, stingray, eel, slug, and many more!


Flying beer by ~Kaduflyer (Miscellaneous)
This is not a miscat, not kidding. It doesn't belong in the Photography gallery because it's actually plastic that's been heated, shaped, and colored to look like beer and then fitted into a glass!


Amethyst and Citrine Bracelet by ~mdvannes (Jewelry)
One of my favorite pieces in the Jewelry gallery for two reasons: the cool, pale pastels of the amethyst and citrine work so well with the white color of the sterling silver and because I always enjoy seeing a nicely wrought design from an Eni Oken tutorial.


NIOMA-nijas front by ~kromann (Leather work)
All in all, a very attractive leather armor design, especially with how the gauntlets and spaulders integrate with the chainmaille, and one of the very first deviations ever submitted to the Artisan Crafts gallery.


CATBUS COSPLAY by *Tsubaki-chan (Textiles > Costumes)
Catbus is my favorite character in My Neighbor Totoro, but it's not often you see Catbus as a costume and I can't even imagine how hard this one must have been to make!


Sheryl Nome - Macross Frontier by ~yayacosplay (Textiles > Costumes)
A lovely photo of an equally lovely artist who had left dA but came back only a few months ago. If you're not familiar with this brilliant cosplayer, you're sure to be soon enough as she is very well known at cosplay conventions on a major level and for her hard work and dedication at building and constructing her costumes, accessories, and props. This costume of Sheryl Nome from the anime Macross Frontier was cleverly constructed to be held together with velcro so that it can be removed to reveal a second costume underneath.


rock waterfall by ~teteto2000 (Jewelry)
So spare, clean, and simple and one of the loveliest pieces of jewelry I've seen on dA, one of my very first faves, in fact. An amethyst left in its natural form, set with a white pearl in sterling silver.