Resources

Academic

Relating to education and scholarship

Accelerator

An additive to speed up the chemical reaction between the catalyst and resin

Aesthetic

A particular approach to something is pleasing to the eyes

Affiliates

An affiliate is a subordinate group or organization associated with a larger group or organization

Antique Glass

Also known as “mouth-blown glass,” this type of glass is made at the end of a blowpipe in accordance with historic glass manufacturing processes

Appliqué

Cut-out elements that are added to a sewing project to give added dimension or interest

Appropriation

A strategy used by artist who intentionally borrow, copy, and alter existing images and objects

Archival

A permanent and durable material

Artisan

A worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand such as carpentry, leather crafting, jewelry making, and many more

Artist

A person who creates art that can be a painting, sculpture, music, or writing

Artist’s Book

A medium of artistic expression that uses the form or function of the book as inspiration

Artist-Run Centres (ARCs)

Non-profit organizations governed by a majority of artists, dedicated to providing alternative venues to the established art gallery system, supporting the production of new and innovative artistic forms and methods, and facilitating peer-to-peer networking

Baguette

A thin, long gemstone normally cut with just 14 to 18 parallel facets

Basketry

The art of making baskets with interwoven materials like wicker, wood, grass, bamboo etc.

Batik

A textile design technique using wax as a resist against coloured dyes

Batting

The material used between the quilt top and backing

Beadwork

The use of beads in decoration; beads may be individually stitched, applied in threaded lengths, or woven into the weft of the material. Beading has a very long artistic and cultural history among the Indigenous people in Canada

Bias

Any diagonal line between the crosswise or lengthwise grain line in woven fabric

Biscuit

A small wafer of wood that is inserted and glued to an edge groove between two pieces of wood to be joined

Bleeding

Refers to ink or marker seeping through the backside and sometimes to the next sheet of paper

Blowpipe

Refers to an iron or steel tube, usually four to five feet long, used to blow a bubble of air into a gather of molten glass

Braising

A metal-joining process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint to form a strong load-bearing joint

Canework

In glassblowing, cane are coloured lengths of glass made by stretching molten glass into a long rod. Once cane has been produced, it can be used to make patterns in glass vessels, beads, small sculptural objects, and other artistic creations

CARFAC

Canadian Artists’ Representation/Front des Artistes Canadiens

Casting

Making a mould of a form then using it by pouring liquid material into the mould

CCBC

Craft Council of British Columbia

CCF/FCMA

Acronym for the Canadian Craft Federation/Federation Canadienne des Metiers d’Art

Ceramic

Made of clay and hardened by heat

CERF+

Craft Emergency Relief Fund and Artist Emergency Resources

Chiaroscuro

A manipulation of light and shadow to add life and three-dimension to their images

Chin-colle

A process that introduces colour and texture into an etching without having to prepare and print additional plates

Citizens of Craft

A movement of makers, of appreciators, of shoppers, of admirers – of anyone whose values match our values of heritage, innovation, the leading edge, traditional, authentic, and entrepreneurial

Cleavage

The ability of a rock mass to break along glat planar surface or certain lines of weakness in the structure of the rock’s crystal lattice

CMAQ

Acronym for the Conseil des Metiers d’Art du Quebec

CoC

Acronym for Citizens of Craft

Coldwork

Any process that alters the state of the glass without using heat. Commonly used cold work techniques include sandblasting, engraving, cutting, polishing, painting, and bonding

Collaborate

To work together with someone else for a particular purpose

Colour Family

A collection of the tones and shades that make up a colour

Compatible

Material that can be fused together without excessive residual stress

Couching

An embroidery technique in which strips of fabric, string etc are stitched onto the piece of work. The end result produces a ‘zipped’ effect

CPAMO

Acronym for Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario

Craft

An activity involving skill and creating things by hand

Craft Industry

Goods that re handmade by artisans or those skilled in a particular trade

Craft Production

Manufacturing by hand

Craft Retail

Retail businesses such as galleries, craft store, online shop or boutique

Crafters

A person who has a hobby or small business of hand crafted items

Craftsmanship

A skill that has been acquired in a particular craft

Craftspeople

A person skilled in a particular craft

Creations

A thing that has been made

Crochet

A soft craft that uses a small hook to interlock loops of yarn together to create blankets, toys, jewellery and more

Cross Stitch

A type of counted embroidery that uses small crosses or ‘x’s to create a tiled pattern or design

Culture Appropriation

When a dominant culture uses the culture elements of a minority group outside of their original culture content

Curator

A person whose manages a collection and organize exhibitions

Cure Time

The length of time it takes for the material (resin or silicone) to completely set or harden

Dalle de Verre

From French: “glass slab,” this is a glass art technique of sawing or breaking thick coloured slabs of glass and setting them in liquid cement, epoxy, or other supporting materials

Debossing

The process of lowering an area of paper

Die-cutting

A technique where metal dies are used in a manual or electronic machine to cut words, shapes and designs into a range of materials, including card, fabric, foil and more

Distress

A technique that is used to make a project look antiquated, or vintage

Drag

Refers to the weight of a quilt pulling while sewing

Earthenware

Sometimes known as terracotta, a fine-grained clay body fired at low temperatures, resulting in pottery that is slightly porous and coarser than stoneware and porcelain. It can be made impervious to liquids with glaze

Embellishment

An additional decorative element added to a project to finish it off

Embossing

The process of raising an area of paper

Embroidery

The craft of decorating fabric with thread using a needle

Enamelling

A technique in which powdered glass is fused to a metal, glass, or ceramic base in the heat of a kiln to create glossy, vividly coloured metal objects

Exhibitions

A public display of works of art

Felting

The process of separating and relocking the fibres in yarn or wool, most commonly through needle felting—matting wool with a barbed or notched needle—and wet felting—combining fibres with agitation, soap, and water

Fibre

A natural or synthetic structure that is significantly longer than it is wide

Findings

Small jewellery making components

Float Glass

A type of sheet glass produced by floating molten glass in a bath of liquid metal of a low melting point, typically tin

Gaffer

The head glassblower in charge of a chair, or team, of hot-glass workers

Gallery

A room or building for the display or sale ow works of art

Glass

A substance made by fusing sand with soda, lime and sometimes other ingredients

Glass Fusing

The process of joining compatible sheet glasses together in a kiln to fabricate plates, tiles, bowls, jewelry, wall hangings, and other artistic creations

Glaze

A vitreous substance fused on to the surface of pottery to form a hard, impervious coating

Goldsmith

A person who makes objects from gold

Hand Building

A ceramics technique that allows artists to create forms with clay using their hands and other tools, but without the use of a throwing wheel

Handcraft

Something made with skill by hand

Handicrafts

Decorative objects made by skilled hands

Hard Crafts

Non-textile based crafts, for example papercrafts (including cardmaking, scrapbooking, book-making, etc), mixed media, polymer clay, beading, woodwork, etc.

Hardy

A blacksmithing chisel that has a square shank, which prevents it from rotating when placed in the anvil’s hardy hole. It is used with a hand hammer for cutting both hot and cold metal

Hide

An animal skin treated for human use through stretching, drying, and tanning. Indigenous people across Turtle Island have developed processes of making animal hides into wearable leather for clothing, shelter, and ceremony over generations

Hot Shop

A glassblower’s studio with the equipment necessary to physically work with glass in its molten state

HTV

Heat Transfer Vinyl

ICCA

Indigenous Curatorial Collective / Collectif des commissaires autochtones

Installation

Large-scale, three-dimensional constructions, often designed to transform specific spaces

Interfacing

A layer of material used to stabilize the fabric. Interfacing can be woven or non-woven, fusible or sew in and is available in various weights and thicknesses depending on its intended use

Jacquard Loom

A loom originally controlled by a chain of punched cards laced together into continuous sequences to create intricate designs in fabric. In today’s Jacquard weaving, punch cards have evolved into electronic files

Juried vs. Non-Juried

A juried exhibition, sale, or show requires potential artists to submit images or samples and information about the work they hope to display or sell to a selecting jury. A non-juried show allows artists to apply without having to present their work in advance, often on a first-come, first-serve basis

Knitting

A craft where loops of yarn (“stitches”) are created in a line, using two long needles, or a knitting machine

Lampwork

Also called “flameworking,” this type of glasswork uses a torch to melt and shape glass

Lapidary

A person, or the craft, of cutting, grinding, shaping, or polishing stones, semi-precious stones, or gemstones

Loom

A frame or machine for making cloth by weaving two or more sets of threads or yarns

Lost Wax Casting

Also known as “investment casting,” this is the process by which an object is cast from a wax model. Lost wax casting involves building a mold around a sacrificial wax model. After the mold investment is set, the wax is melted out and forms a cavity where the metal or glass flows in

Manifesto

A written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer

Market

To advertise or promote something

Marquise

A cut oval gemstone which tapers to a point at both ends

Matrix

The physical surface which the artist manipulates to hold ink, which is then transferred to paper or other materials like blocks of wood or plexiglass

Members

Belonging to a group or organization

Metal Work

The activity of making items with metal

Mill Scale

The bluish-black flaky surface formed on the outer surfaces of plates or sheets of hot rolled steel

Miniature

A small-scale reproduction of something typically much larger

Mixed Media

A form of artwork or crafting where multiple mediums are used, for example, paper and fabric

MMAQ

Maison des Metiers d’Arts de Quebec

Mordant

For dyeing fabrics by forming a coordination complex with the dye, which then attaches to the fabric

Mosaic

A pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of coloured stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar and covering a surface

MUMAQ

Musee des Metiers d’Art du Quebec

Murrine

An Italian term for coloured patterns or images made in glass cane that are revealed when cut in cross-sections

Negative Space

The empty or open space between, within and surrounding an object that defines it

Nivingajuliat

A form of appliqué Inuit wall-hanging that developed in Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), Nunavut in the 1960s

Octopus Bag

Named for their distinctive shape, also called “Fire bags” and “Many legs bags.” Popularized by Anishinaabe people in the Western Great Lakes region, these highly decorated, beaded, and tufted case-skin bags are also made by the Nahkawininiwak, Métis, and Plains Indigenous peoples and are found across many Indigenous nations

Papier-mâché

This paper and glue technique used for shaping everything from animals to planets

Parfleche

Lightweight carrying bags and containers made of rawhide by various Plains Indigenous peoples. Colourful and beautifully decorated with a distinctive style of painted designs, parfleche is considered as much a piece of art as a practical tool

Pâte de Verre

From the French, “paste of glass,” a technique of pressing ground glass powders or frits into a mold and fusing them in the kiln into a desired shape

Platform A

Means to communicate ideas or information to a group of people

Podcast

A digital audio file available on the internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device

Porcelain

A high-firing, fine-grained white clay body that fires to a durable, strong, vitreous ceramic. It is usually pure white because of its high kaolin content

Pottery

The making of clay objects by hand

Pounce

A chalk bag that can be patted over a stencil to quickly and accurately transfer a pattern to fabric

Public Art

Any works of art installed in a public area, whether outdoors or indoors. Usually, but not always, it is commissioned specifically for the site in which it is situated and can include murals, sculpture, monuments, community art, digital new media, and even performance

Pug mill

The potter’s solution for transforming clay scraps into workable clay

Punch

A hard metal object with a sharp tip and a blunt butt end, which is usually stuck by a hammer

Pyrography

Writing with fire or heated tools onto leather or wood

Quillwork

A type of decoration using softened and dyed porcupine quills. Quillwork has been practiced for centuries in many parts of Turtle Island, most notably by the Dene people

Quilting

A form of patchwork where multiple pieces of fabric are sewn together, with quilt padding in between, to create a quilt

Quilting Squares

Small squares of fabric to join together in the making of a quilt

Rag Hooking

The art of making a rug by pulling loops of yarn or fabric through a stiff woven base such as burlap, linen, or rug warp

Raku

A ceramics technique that has evolved from ancient Japanese pottery. Raku pottery is removed from the kiln while it is still in fusion and then is cooled extremely fast, sometimes by plunging a ware into water, sometimes by cooling it naturally in the air, and sometimes by plunging it into some combustible material such as paper, straw or sawdust, reducing oxygen and creating spectacular colours

Rasp

A craftsperson’s tool with a long blade covered with rows of sharp points for scraping, filing, or rubbing down objects of metal, wood or other hard materials that create a smooth surface

Recto

It is the right hand page in a book and is usually numbered with and odd page number.

Riveting

A durable and decorative technique using a cold connection method that secures laters of varied mediums such as metal, leathers and fabrics using a “rivet” along with special tools ans the application of force creating a permanent fastening

RJA

Robert Jekyll Award

Roving

Wool fiber that has been processed but not spun into yarn as of yet

Saponification

The process of soap making

SCC

Saskatchewan Craft Council

Sconces

A wall-mounted candle holder or light fixture

Screen Printing

Transferring images by filtering paint or ink through patterned and layered screens onto fabric, canvas or other surfaces

Sculptural

Items made by shaping a material such as wood, clay, metal, or stone

Skein

A length of thread or yearn wrapped/coiled around itself

Slumping

A kilnforming process that uses heat and gravity to transform sheet glass into the shape of a mould

Soapstone

A metamorphic rock composed primarily of talc carved by Northern Indigenous communities into tools and decorative sculptures for over 7,500 years. Today, the term “soapstone carving” is often used to refer to sculptures carved from soapstone as well as other soft, compact carving mediums, including serpentine

Spray Paint

Paint that is contained in an aerosol can for the purpose of spraying onto a surface

Stoneware

A mid- or high-firing coarse-grained clay body that can be anywhere between buff colour to gray to dark brown, because of varying levels of iron and other impurities

Tapestry

A piece of thick cloth with a pattern or picture that is formed by weaving or embroidery, traditionally used as a wall hanging or furniture covering

Textiles

Types of cloth or woven fabric

The Craft Spectrum

Craft exists on a spectrum that encompasses disciplines, materials, tools, and cultures

Tradecraft

The skills learned from experience in a trade

Trades

Buying and selling goods and services OR a skilled job, typically one requiring manual skills and special training

Tufting

A type of textile art in which a thread or hair is inserted on a backing material. Indigenous people—including the Dene, Cree, and Métis—have developed distinct forms of decorative tufting using small bunches of dyed animal hair to create sculpted designs

UFO

Abbreviation of unfinished object

VAA/AAV

Visual Arts Alliance/Alliance pour les Arts Visuels

Veneer

This sheets of wood or other material (brass, mother-of-pearl, etc.) used for marquetry

Verso

Which is the left hand page in a book that is usually numbered with an even page number

Warp or Weft

These two terms refer to the directionality of the threads that make up a woven fabric. Warp threads run vertically, whereas warp threads run horizontally

WCC

World Crafts Council

WCCNA

World Craft Council North American Region

Weaving

The craft or action of forming fabric by interlacing threads

Wheel Throwing

The technique of shaping ceramics on a potter’s wheel. The wheel turns constantly, triggered by the potter’s foot, a motor, or the help of collaborators, rotating the clay as the potter shapes it with both hands

Wholesale

The selling of goods in large quantities to be retailed or sold to the public by others

WIP

Acronym for work in progress

Wood Carving

The skill of carving wood to make functional or ornamental objects

Woodcraft

Skill in working with wood

Woodworking

The skill of making things from wood

Wool

A fibre that originates from animals, mostly commonly the fleece of sheep. Wool is the raw material that can be spun into a type of yarn which can be used in knitting, crocheting, weaving, etc.

Workshop

A seminar or a discussion group that emphasizes the exchange of ideas and the demonstration of techniques and skills

Xylopolist

The old formal name for a timber merchant

Yarn

A length of natural or synthetic fibre used to create fabric