Hammer and Anvil
The art and tradition of good blacksmithing – shaping, pointing, bending, splitting, and joining. These are some of the topics you might hear discussed at the Central Virginia Blacksmith Guild. Forging metal to create everything from furniture and sculpture to light fixtures and tools, blacksmiths in our area represent the self-sufficiency and do-it-yourself nature of […]
An Instrument Built to Last
By Davy Jones Many would consider metal to be Richmond’s main musical export, but an instrument with a slightly more dulcet tone is bringing our city’s creativity and ingenuity to households all over the globe—the ukulele. From the Richmond office of Hohner, the storied German instrument manufacturing company, Leon Lewis heads up Lanikai, which has […]
A Town that Prints Together
Climbing into the driver’s seat of a bright-green steamroller, Ashley Hawkins starts the engine and engages the clutch. With a singlewide roll at the front, Hawkins moves the heavy equipment forward with a cheer from onlookers. This was the scene on September 13, 2013 as Hawkins hauled her first steamroller off the lot of Sunbelt […]
Knife-Making in RVA
It was during his time living in an inner city Chicago mission seven years ago that now-Richmonder Brent Stubblefield began making knives. “I lived with all these old hippies and they all did stuff like leatherworking, making things with their hands, and a couple guys showed me how to make knives,” recalls Stubblefield, who-if you […]
The Quest for the Cannonball
The coveted Cannonball in RVA has become a symbol of exceptional work to those in the advertising space. Each year the Richmond Ad Club doles out this local advertising award to agencies and individuals who are creative, inspiring, and passionate. And most of all, those who get results. Each year, the Richmond Ad Club uses the […]
By the People. For the People.
A new project, where anyone can write their own stories and thoughts in books that have been repurposed for others to check out, has Richmonders digging out their library cards. Two 2013 VCU graduates have created The People’s Library, taking books headed for the recycling bin and removing pages and shredding the paper to make […]
Fresh Prints: Is 3D Printing The Next Collaborative Medium For RVA?
On the second floor of The Martin Agency’s Shockoe Bottom headquarters, there’s a small, glass-encased room known as the “lab.” This is where you’ll find creative technologist Jeff MacDonald working on some of Martin’s more advanced projects. “We kind of work in this space of being advertisers as well as inventors,” says MacDonald. “We try […]
Preserving the Tradition of the Artfully Printed Word
Somewhere in the maelstrom of text messages, evites, and mass-produced flyers that dominate today’s correspondence, a local company is preserving the tradition of the artfully printed word. Worth Higgins & Associates, an employee-owned printer whose vast portfolio of products covers everything from printed brochures and baby announcements to a suite of online communications services, has […]
Beer Lovers, Beer Drinking & Custom Furniture in RVA
By Karri Peifer What happens when a professional stunt drinker/international celebrity/Richmond bartender/furniture maker gets together with the chief beer officer of Richmond over a few beers? A whole new look and feel for a beloved Richmond restaurant-and the number one beer bar in America. An Bui, owner of Mekong restaurant in the Near West End, […]
Grid Creations
GRID TACOS In honor of this month’s Mash-Up issue, Grid decided to co-create a few local products of our own. It didn’t take long for us to place tacos on the top of the list. John Haddad, Grid’s food writer, took up the challenge and quickly concocted a tasty mash-up while writing about Chupacabra and […]