Spring Forum Welcomes Visiting Masters on April 3
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
As we welcome spring and prepare for our annual Masters jury, we invite the public to join us on Thursday night April 3 at The Roycroft Inn, as we take advantage of the treat of visiting masters to host a spring master's forum, with visiting Master printmaker Holly Bird of Florida and CJ Hurley of Oil City, PA who are joining Master jeweler Patty Cancilla and Master photographer Peter Potter. This panel of Roycroft Masters from "away" and near is RALA's featured program for the April 2025 Little Journey at The Roycroft Inn.
Offered in the fall and spring, the RALA Meet the Masters gives the public a chance to engage and meet the Masters in our movement and get an intimate glimpse into their practice, process and philosophies as they engage in conversation on all things Roycroft, community and their personal practices and motivations.
Our Spring forum is timed to coincide with our annual April Masters Jury, where we consider the work of new prospective members and reaffirm quality of our existing Artisans progressing to Master; because we are a national organization many of our masters are infrequent visitors to East Aurora except during our jury or Summer Festivals, so a spring forum provides a special opportunity to interact with Masters from different areas of the country and hear more about their work and processes, and how the spirit of Roycroft and Roycroft Renaissance is alive and well outside of our immediate WNY community.
The Little Journey speaker series is sponsored by and proudly presented in two parts within The Roycroft Inn Complex on South Grove Street in East Aurora. Little Journey are free to the public and advance registration is required. Visit our Little Journeys page for ticketing.
The evening’s program will begin with a relaxed cocktail hour at 4:30 pm in the Library Bar before attendees to the lecture will move to the Roycroft Chapel for the presentation beginning at 6pm.
Those who wish to dine following the lecture will receive 10% off of their dinner at The Roycroft Inn that evening beginning at 7:15 p.m. by mentioning Little Journeys when making a reservation. We highly encourage those joining us to take advantage of the hospitality of The Inn and to be considerate of Inn staff by making a reservation for dinner service ahead of time if possible.
Active Patrons and Members in good standing who are unable to join us in person may join us via livestream. There is no sign up required for member livestream; the link will be made available 24 hours prior to the evening's event. For information about patronage or membership, please see our membership page.
About our panelist Masters:
Holly Bird:
Holly Bird is an etching and relief printmaking instructor at the Dunedin Fine Art Center in Dunedin, FL with an extensive background as an art director and illustrator in magazine publishing, television news broadcast design and as a storyboard artist in the film industry. She has been a Roycroft Artisan in printmaking since 2010 and achieved Master status in 20215. Besides being a Roycroft Renaissance Master Artisan-At-Large, she is a signature member of the American Society Of Marine Artists (ASMA). Bird lives in the Tampa Bay area of Florida with her husband, mother and a very lazy chocolate Lab. When not teaching, she worries about hurricanes, reads a lot of science fiction and tries to get in a little sailing.
More information on Holly can be found online at www.studioibis.com and on social media.
Patty Cancilla:
Patty Cancilla is self-taught in her technique, has been creating one-of-a-kind jewelry designs using wire wrapping since 1995. Patty's handmade settings are created directly on the stone using 14kt. gold filled or sterling silver wire and using a technique similar to weaving with precious metal. While all of Cancilla’s pieces are one of a kind, of special interest are her pieces made with hand cut reclaimed Roycroft pottery, used with exclusive permission from The Roycroft Inn. She is the only artist who has the rights to do so, and her pendants, necklaces and earrings are in high demand. She prides herself on a drive to be meticulous and ever expanding in her designs, with the goal of constant improvement and perfection of her Craft. Patty is an award-winning jewelry making and has been the recipient of the Allentown Purchase Award. She has been a Roycroft Renaissance Master Artisan in jewelry since 2016.
Patty can be found on social media and pattycancillaart.com.
CJ Hurley:
CJ Hurley is an artist and designer known professionally as Century Arts Design and Fine Art Studio, based in Oil City, Pennsylvania with his wife and business partner, Barbara. Hurley Hurley trained in art at Guilford College. His current work explores composition, watercolors and India ink to achieve the intricate detail that he is known for. In addition to his studio practice, he is regarded for his commissioned custom painted interiors, projects that allow him to blend his love of architecture and design with his art. These projects, conducted across the United States, incorporate symbolic content inspired by architecture, nature and things meaningful to his clients. Hurley developed a mid-career passion for the ideals of the Arts & Crafts Movement, and these themes that began to emerge in his work in the early 2000s. In 2005, he was accepted as Roycroft Renaissance Artisan in painting. Hurley has been a Master in painting since 2008.
Hurley can be found on social media and online at cjhurley.com.
Peter Potter:
Peter Potter is a Roycroft Renaissance Master Artisan in the medium of photography. His influences include Rix Jennings, Charles Burchfield, and R. Crumb. In addition to his work as a photographer, he is also a lecturer and educator. 2019 on the 200th anniversary of John Ruskin’s birth he presented a talk on Photography in the Early Arts & Crafts Era on the Roycroft Campus, and he spoke at the 34th Annual Arts and Crafts Conference about the evolution of photography from a documentary craft to the fine arts.
Potter is active on Facebook and more about his work can be found in our artisan portfolio pages.
The panel discussion will be moderated by Artist and Educator Tami Fuller. Fuller is an award winning and internationally published fiber artist who works out of East Aurora. She is an exhibiting member of the Buffalo Society of Artists, where she serves on the board of directors as the Chair of Exhibitions and is a 2021 Roycroft Emerging Artist in Fiber. She is currently the Executive Director of the Roycrofters at Large.
Little Journey are free to the public and advance registration is required for entry to the Chapel at 6pm. Reserve your space Here.
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