Tamra Thomas-Gentry
Artist and Small Business Owner in Elgin, IL
SEARCH RESULTS DISCLAIMER
I am not affiliated with TamraGentryDesignStudio [dot] com or TamraGentryStudio. I owned the domain name from 2008-2015.
In 2015 the domain was purchased by someone who has been and still is fraudulently impersonating me. Visit the site at your own risk.
The only authorized website for my work is Intruse Studio of Contemporary Fine Craft.
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CRAFTSMAN
I am a craftsman working in textiles, metals, and photography.
Braided and woven textiles are a focal component of my work. The use of textiles in my designs originated from a desire to find an alternative to gemstone embellishment.
Using myriad braiding techniques across five wooden loom-type Japanese stands, I create micro-textiles from fine silk threads. Each stand produces different types of structure families.
My fiber pieces begin as either a spool or skein of very fine hand-dyed silk thread. Some of the silks are as fine as a strand of human hair. I warp the threads, then I section, tension, and braid them. The warps range in thickness from five silk strands per individual element (weighted bobbin), up to two-hundred strands per element. The number of elements can vary from eight for tiny ties, up to thirty-two and beyond for thicker, larger, more complex textiles.
As a textile artist and metalsmith, I combine my textile work with my own traditionally-fabricated metal handicraft including Etruscan-style chain weaving, metal forming, granulation and hand-engraving.
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SHOW SCHEDULE
2019
ACC Baltimore (Baltimore, MD)
ACC St. Paul (St. Paul, MN)
Smithsonian Craft Show (Washington, DC)
Academy Art Museum Show (Easton, MD)
Visual Arts Richmond: Craft + Design (Richmond, VA)
One of a Kind Holiday (Chicago, IL)
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2020
ACC Baltimore (Baltimore, MD)
Visual Arts Richmond: Craft + Design (Virtual)
CraftBoston Holiday Online (Virtual)
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2021
CraftBoston: Fiber Stories (Virtual)
ACC Baltimore CraftWeek Online (Virtual)
[NOTE: I am not applying to or participating in any in-person shows for the remainder of 2021.]