Arts enthusiasts in Chicago are about to have an unmatched opportunity, thanks to a collaboration between luxury hotel Pendry Chicago, French brasserie Venteux, and Nest Artisan Guild. During the Winter Weekend Paint & Sip Series hosted at Venteux's botanical cafe, participants can explore their creative interests through guided workshops on natural dyes, gemstone jewelry, screen printing, candle making, clay carving, and designing perfume. Lin Bader is an ambassador for Nest Artisan Guild and an artist whose jewelry utilizes sculptural techniques and the ancient practices of metalsmithing, wax carving, forging, granulation, and filigree. Bader spoke with Third Coast Review to give us the inside scoop on the upcoming workshop series and shared her hopes for the future of the arts in Chicago.
How did you first get involved in this collaborative workshop and what's it been like to partner with Pendry and Venteux to foster new creative spaces in Chicago?
So last year I was working as an ambassador for an artist organization. It's called Nest Artisan Guild. It's a global organization, and I'm the ambassador of their Chicago branch. So my job as ambassador is actually to reach out to different venues and create opportunities and dream up new exposure for local artists and makers. That's how I got connected. I reached out to Pendry Hotel about possibly hosting some artists there as an open studio setting.
And they then connected me to Venteux, a restaurant, because they have been hosting workshops. So it's kind of a perfect match and it just all happened organically from there. And they reached out to me, I think in December again, and we started to get this ball rolling and I've been super, super excited. We have six makers, including me, and we're going to have this little creating series where we teach our craft.
Yeah, that's incredible. Did you already know the makers you were going to include or did you get to reach out to people? How did that come together?
I actually already know them. My business is built in in-person markets, so I've done a lot of craft fairs, art fairs, for the past three years. I've met hundreds and hundreds of Chicago makers, so I have a whole friend list of all the crafters you can imagine. So when they reach out to me, I just think, oh, who likes to teach? And there's definitely a lot of teaching artists in my circle, so I reach out to them, and they're like, yes, come in, please.
Oh my gosh, yes, it's such a wonderful opportunity. And have you ever seen this kind of workshop series before or does this feel like something new that you'd want to continue and loop artists into?
Absolutely. I haven't actually ever seen a series like this before. It's usually that artists are on their own. It's just how it works. So far what I've seen my friends do and what I do is that we individually reach out to different retail stores that have a space and we negotiate with them and we kindly ask for a space to teach. And that's how it's been because we don't have our retail stores in our physical space, most of us actually craft from our home and we can't be hosting workshops there. So yeah, it's been very, very hard for artists in these circumstances. But this is something brand new. This is one space hosting a whole series of artists with space and chairs and tables ready, and support for marketing and promotion. I've never seen this before in Chicago, to be honest.
Yes, it's wonderful. You were talking about your creative space at home and your work. You can't mass produce your work because it's forged and hammered, and you've described yourself as a goldsmith and a metalsmith. What kind of workshop do you have at home to create your jewelry?
I have a tiny, tiny studio at home, because I live in an apartment. My dream situation is actually to move somewhere with a garage where I can do more heavy-duty stuff. But for now, I'm happy with my little closet. I literally put all of my equipment in the closet and that's where I create, because goldsmiths usually require very tiny spaces. I have a whole list of techniques I used to teach back in New York City and now I do them every day, making my own pieces, because I have to keep practicing them. I'm specialized in gold granulation, which is about a 3000-year-old technique. And I also do wax carving. I do hammering and forging. I also do a little filigree.
Wow. Yeah, that's a wild amount of jewelry-making to do from your home, from a closet!
Which is why I really, really, really appreciate this space to teach.
Absolutely. And being a part of Nest Artisan Guild, what has that fostered for you in the Chicago community so far?
I've loved it so far. I've been with them for almost three years and I participate in every single program they offer. It's so wonderful. Their membership is totally free for artisan makers and their goal is just to help us out. And this is so rare. I've gotten so many opportunities, and differing opportunities too. They have a newsletter sharing what's out there and what you should be aware of: grant opportunities, trade show opportunities, mentorship opportunities, where I can learn more about the business side. I'm good at the crafting side. But I had no idea how to run the business side, and I got a lot of help from there.
They also run lots of cohorts. They run workshops and networking events, everything I can think of, every element that I need help with, basically, they have that program. They even have a full list, a digital library, with all the workshops we've recorded. So if I need something like the finance part, since I know nothing about accounting, business planning, I can go search and literally learn it on the spot. It's just been so amazing. And for the ambassador program, I was just really happy I get to do what I love and I also get to reach out to people and connect organizations with venues with people, and that's been really fulfilling.
That sounds like such a great opportunity to build community, and also the resources sound wonderful. What would you say to artists who are hoping to get their businesses off the ground, besides join Nest? What advice would you give them to start their businesses?
I just brought my own experience. I started my business and the first thing I do is I join the organization, which is Nest, which got me resources and help. And then I sign up for an in-person market. That for me is kind of a huge boost. Because before that, I was on Etsy. I have my own website, but it feels like me and the customer are a million miles away from each other. I don't have direct contact with them and I'm guessing what they like.
But for that very first in-person market, I learned exactly on the spot what they like and what they don't like and I can see them trying on my jewelry and I can see how it looks, their reactions, their comments, all so so helpful. So what I say is, get into an artist organization, get all the help and all the learning in, and then join the in-person markets and test your craft out. That's just helped me so much. It really got my business off the ground.
That makes all the sense in the world. For your gemstone necklace workshop, you're going to be able to describe the healing practices for the gems that you've used. I'd love to know more about how you discovered different gems and how your artistry has come together with your personal healing.
Oh my gosh. So I started working with gemstones, and working with jewelry in general, about eight years ago. It's just been really eye-opening. I don't go into details because there's hundreds of gemstones and there are thousands of years of history of human beings interacting with them. I feel like I discovered a vast library of treasures. I love treasure hunts and I consider myself just really lucky to be able to use them to create something out of nothing with them in it.
And I'm just really happy that I can finally start teaching again, because I used to teach back in New York City and this is kind of my going back to teaching attempt in Chicago. So I'm just happy that I get to share all of that knowledge again. And sharing knowledge is so important, just because handcrafting is kind of a dying art. If you don't protect it, it's going to get lost. And what we believe back in my school where I taught is that you have to teach this to as many people as you can. So people inherit that knowledge, take it with them, and put their take into it, and then they can hopefully spread it to someone else. This is kind of the preserving of our knowledge.
Absolutely. I mean, if it's been around for 3000 years, you really do have to keep it going. And speaking of sharing knowledge, are there any specific workshops in the series or artists whose work really speaks to you? I know they're all your friends, but are there any whose knowledge especially intrigues you?
Oh my gosh, this is going to be hard. I love all of their work. That's why I reached out to them first. I was hoping like, oh, I can't reach out to all of them, there are only a couple of spots. But the first round of people I reached out to, they all said yes. So I'm like, oh man, I love all of them.
I got the personal opportunity to do one of their workshops, which is Selinger Gonzo. She teaches natural dye. She specializes in using kitchen scraps and anything you can collect, so like dried flowers. And she actually works with a couple of florists and if they have anything that they want to discard, she will treasure them and she will preserve them, dry them, and she will dye her art pieces with them. I think that really touches my heart. During the workshop, I learned everything from her, kind of like an intro to natural dye, and it's just a magical, magical experience. I feel like I'm coming out of it transformed. Not only knowing a little more knowledge than before, but also, it's kind of a spiritual thing too.
I love that. It's so sustainable when you're using resources you already have, and that can be one of the coolest things about crafting. I know there's some support from the Design Museum of Chicago. Have you guys had any collaboration directly with them?
Yeah, the Design Museum has been really, really helpful. They view design in a really broad way, meaning you don't have to be a designer-designer, like have "designer" as your job title. You can just be anyone that has a design mindset. And they've just embraced us, basically all of the crafters that usually don't call ourselves designers. They think we're all designing our pieces and they just provide so much help.
I just like to loop them in on any project we do, just because they have a really good following, they have a great relationship with a lot of cultural institutions in the Chicago area, and they have been providing us with a lot of free opportunities. Also, they would love to help promote these workshops and get the word out too, so I'm just really happy that they're on board as well.
Yeah, absolutely. It sounds like everybody's come together in such a gorgeous way. And the workshops themselves are going to be at Venteux's Botanical Cafe. Have you been in the space? Are you excited to work there?
Yes, and the restaurant is actually one of my favorites, I'm located about a mile away from them. I sometimes walk there with my partner and the cafe is just out of this world. It's the most beautiful venue I've seen, and I have been to a lot of venues in Chicago just because I do in-person markets. That combining with craft, combining with a workshop, is kind of the perfect match.
Yeah, absolutely. And it's a sip and create, so they're going to have a glass of wine included in the price of the ticket. I think it's going to be super atmospheric. Is there anything else that you'd want to share about what people can expect from your workshop?
Yeah, come with your hands and that's all you need to do. All the tools and materials and all background information is prepared. And be ready for a bit of a history lesson, a bit of a technical lesson, a bit of in-person, one-on-one instructions. Because that's how I love doing things. I like taking turns and going around and doing hands-on demonstrations and answering any questions they might have. So come with their hands ready and being ready to transform, just like I was transformed by the natural dye workshop. Just to arrive at the other end with one finished piece. And I think creating something out of your hands is really magical and crafting things is really rewarding, and I'm ready to share that experience with anybody that's interested.
Well, it sounds so lovely, I hope I get to come to one of these workshops! It's been wonderful speaking with you, and congratulations on your ambassadorship and this workshop series. And it's going to be cool to see what you do next!
Thank you. Thank you so much for taking the time and for helping promote this program. I really believe this helps the Chicago local makers and crafters a lot, and I hope this will be the beginning of a very beautiful series.
Workshops happen on Fridays and Saturdays beginning on January 18. Tickets range from $60-$110 and include necessary materials and a glass of Venteux's house wine. Sign up for workshops on Eventbrite.
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