Artisans

Wholesale artisans creating unique handcrafted products with aesthetic interest. Stimulate your customer's interest with beautifully crafted items from our artisans. You'll be proud to present these masterful creations to your customers. With our exclusive directory of artisans you'll find unsurpassed craftsmanship.

What are Artisans?

Artisans are craftsmen who skillfully apply aesthetic designs to everyday items with a multitude of materials.

Some artisans work in a field of study known as the decorative arts. Metalwork artisans, ceramic artisans, blown-glass artisans, textile artisans and wood artisans produce ornamental, as well as, functional items. From their handcrafted tables to blown glass vases these artisans create works that range in style from simple Arts & Crafts to Victorian styles. The binding thread is their dedication to the craft and unsurpassed skill.

With a vast array of medias (acrylic, aluminum, clay, iron, bronze, brass etc.) artisans can create furniture, sculptures, decorative pieces and even detailed house wares. Consumers' value handcrafted items and artisans fulfill that need. One of the most valued handcrafted products is jewelry. Artisans use a variety of materials to create wearable works of art. Beads, gemstones, gold, sterling silver, and other materials are fashioned by artisans into jewelry.

Artisan is synonymous with craftsman, handicraftsman, sculptor and painter. Only slight distinction can be made between these titles. Although craftsmen work with a variety of medias requiring differing skills, they all create functional or ornamental pieces thus making them artisans. A handicraftsman is one who produces functional or ornamental pieces by hand usually without the help of mechanized machinery; some say the truest of all artisans. Sculptors are artisans who shape, mold or manipulate media into an ornamental piece for aesthetic beauty. With a stoke of a paint brush, a painter becomes an artisan when he/she transforms the aesthetic quality of canvas, piece of furniture or some other type of media.

A Happy Medium For Artisans

Artisans use many medias to create fine works of art. The natural beauty of these displays can be seen outside of museums as well and are popular in every business and household. The clever hand of creative artisans can be seen in the details of most pieces of home decor. From metal dinnerware to wood furniture and hand painted ceramics to woven dolls, skillful artistry is fashioned into every person's daily life.

While many pieces of art commandingly leap into the foreground, some crafted home décor pieces are more understated in their beauty and usefulness. The following guide will help you and your customers to visualize the craftsmanship of common pieces and discover art in daily surroundings

Guide To Artisan Medias

Acrylic—refers to chemical compounds that contain acrylo-nitrile, an acrylic acid derivative. Can be formed into fiber, paint, or glass to form paintings, signs, and bulky fabrics.

Aluminum—a metal chemical element with a silvery-white color whose powder form is often used in paints. Recent technology advanced methods for coloring aluminum leading to its use in wall surfaces, jewelry, and kitchenware.

Antique buttons—often interchangeably used with ‘vintage buttons,’ a number of styles and materials of buttons collected for the type of material or the time period. Popular antique buttons include celluloid, brass, Bakelite, boxwood, and Civil War era buttons.

Art clay—molded clay fired and finished with a paint or lacquer. Clay is especially popular in kitchenware, pottery, jewelry, floor tiles, and other accessories.

Bamboo—baskets, chairs, placemats, and more made of the durable and water-resistant wood derived from the bamboo plant. Often used in furniture as an alternative to wicker.

Beads—ceramic, glass, or plastic pellets ranging in shape from round to octagonal, square to oblong, and more. Beads are especially popular in jewelry but also in art or as accessories to home décor pieces such as lampshades, paintings, tabletops, and more.

Brass—a muted gold-bronze colored metal popular in candlesticks, as parts of lamps, instruments, and as accessories to other home décor pieces.

Bronze—a metal with a deep orange-brown color popular in jewelry and sculpture.

Cement—a heavy material formed of mixing tiny particles of rock, ash, and water. Cement sculptures make excellent outdoor planting pots, garden statues, and monuments.

Ceramic—pertaining to heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant pottery, porcelain, tile, and art formed of clay then fired at high temperatures. Painted ceramics are commonly seen as sinks, tile, small tabletop items, pots, picture frames, and even jewelry.

Clay—a heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant material used in ceramics.

Copper—a heat-resistant metal with a brilliant gold color that is used predominantly in kitchenware and electrical hardware such as copper wire for lamps. Because of its versatility copper may also be used in sculpture, water fountains, candlesticks, and more.

Dichroic glass—pieces of glass containing multiple layers of metal oxides totaling three to five millionths of an inch in thickness. Pieces are formed into art through a process of firing the glass together in layers. Light then either passes through or is reflected which makes visible a large number of colors. Each piece is unique because the firing process cannot be exactly duplicated at any time. Dichroic glass is very popular as jewelry.

Fiber-textiles—a number of crafts designed and made from fabrics. Common pieces include bags, placemats, teddy bears, quilts, pillows, fur, dolls, throws, wall hangings and more.

Gemstones—also called precious and semi-precious stones, gemstones are attractive minerals popularly used in jewelry. Some beautiful rocks such as lapis lazuli are also used in jewelry and therefore also dubbed gemstones.

Glass—the hard, brittle product of the fusion of silicates and an alkali at high temperatures. Glass is commonly used as dinnerware and tabletop items such as candlesticks, figurines, oil lamps, vases, beads, and sun catchers. Glass may also be found as furniture, jewelry, and other uses.

Gold-filled—jewelry made of a layer of gold backed with a base metal such as brass. Gold-filled or filled gold is popular because only a small amount of the product is made from pure gold while the rest can be created with a more cost-effective metal.

Hand painted—decorated crafts painted with a human touch as opposed to a machine. Though pieces may be similar, none are ever exactly the same. Hand painted items are popular and valuable because of this individuality of each piece.

Hand printed—Invitations, stationery, and other materials requiring writing that have been written or drawn by hand. Calligraphy is a popular form of hand printing.

Iron—a metallic chemical element with a silver-gray color that is durable, heavy, and useful as a stylish material for the creation of candleholders, pot racks, benches, sculptures, and other fixtures requiring sturdiness and functionality.

Ivory-bone—Bone and ivory are materials widely used as knife handles, jewelry boxes, piano keys, and the decorative finish on other accessories. These fragile and not easily obtainable materials increase the value and popularity of items made of the beautiful pale-white pieces.

Leather—leather is formed from a process of curing cowhide. Leather is extremely well known for its use in clothing such as wallets, pants, vests, bags, shoes, bracelets, and pet accessories.

Mixed media—pieces made of two or more materials such as iron and glass works or wood and fabric.

Niobium—a metallic chemical element with a gray-white color. Niobium is a soft, malleable, ductile metal used in the creation of some stainless steels. Niobium carbide is popular in hardware while the malleable and soft properties of niobium are valuable in jewelry production.

Oils—oil paints are popular to painters who value slow-drying oils with luminous color suspension properties. Oils do not dry up quickly when left out, and painters are able to resume the painting through several sessions. Oil paints offer subtle blends as the oils of one paint begin to mix with nearby oils of other colors.

Pen and ink—refers to an art technique of using a special pen or stylus to apply colored and black ink to paper. Sketches and calligraphy are examples of pen and ink art.

Pewter—a metal with a bright brushed silver-gray color. Pewter is popular in jewelry, kitchenware, and other locations where an alternative to stainless steel, nickel, or platinum is desired.

Poetry—an excellent addition to greeting cards, inspirational posters, as a painted border décor and much more.

Porcelain—nearly everyone is familiar with porcelain as bathroom fixtures, but porcelain is a ceramic material also popular as fine china, dinnerware, and tea sets.

Recycled materials—mediums that have been used, discarded, and reworked as a medium into another piece. Glass, paper, and aluminum are very common recycled materials that can be reused as jewelry, more paper, bags, and even clothing.

Reed—an alternative to wicker or bamboo used in bags, furniture, instrument accessories, and more.

Steel-stainless steel—an iron-carbon alloy with a minimum of 11.5% chromium. Stainless steel is not rust proof but is more corrosion resistant than steel. Stainless steel is commonly used in cutlery and as watch straps. The oils of human fingers are less abrasive on stainless steel which makes it an excellent alternative to silver, steel, pewter and other silver-gray metals.

Sterling silver—silver alloy containing at minimum 92.5% pure silver. The other 7.5% can be a variety of metals though copper is the most common. Other metals are incorporated into the alloy to provide the soft pure silver with more strength and durability while maintaining the majority composition of precious metal. Jewelry is the most widely recognized example of sterling silver though it may be used in kitchenware, lighting, and other places that desire an alternative to pure silver, pewter, or platinum.

Stone—like ceramics and cement, a durable and sturdy material commonly used as decorative jewelry boxes, monuments, dinnerware, plaques and sculpture. Semi precious stones such as lapis lazuli are used in jewelry while large finished stone such as marble are used for elegant countertops, tile, and home furnishings.

Tin—a metallic chemical element with a silver-white color that is very soft and malleable. Slightly harder than lead, tin is easily formed into sheets for use as tin foil or to be molded into cookie cutters and other unique items. Tin is also used as a coating for other metals such as iron or steel because of its greater resistance to corrosion by contact with water.

Watercolor—refers to pigments mixed with water rather than oils to form paints as well as the style of medium and artwork produced of the medium. Watercolor is popular for the playful and less realistic qualities it holds in artwork and is therefore largely produced on greeting cards, note cards, stationery, paintings, wall art, tissue boxes, and other items needing a cheery touch.

Wood—wood is among the most common mediums in home décor. Wood is a sturdy, durable material that comes in many colors, grains, and textures depending on the region in which the trees were grown. Stains, lacquers, and paints allow wood to be transformed into a wide range of colors making wood popular for use as carvings, statues, furniture, candleholders, clocks, chests, baskets, cabinets, bowls, figurines and much more.

Suggest a Artisans Vendor

The wholesale floral and gift industry is constantly evolving; therefore, we need your help. If you do business with a Artisans supplier or manufacturer who is not listed in our wholesale directory, please help us by providing the Artisans suppliers information on the suggest a vendor form. Thanks in advance for your assistance.