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BIOGRAPHY:
Al Pine
Al Pine grew up in upper Manhattan, Harlem and the Bronx. As a boy he was fascinated
with making things like model air planes, wooden scooters and other toys for street games.
Pine attended an experimental high school in the Bronx. There he took shop classes that
included working with sheet metal, printmaking and woodworking. He decided early in his
education he wanted to be a woodworker and furniture maker. On behalf of his father, Pine
attended City College of New York where his major was Industrial Arts. During his time at
City College he met and befriended Fred Fenster and Bernard Bernstein.
Pine greatly admired the jewelry work he saw in Greenwich Village. He was often asked by
his sister to reproduce items in the catalogs of jewelry studios in the village. This was
a learning experience for Pine. Pine entered Cranbrook Academy of Art. He was originally
accepted as a graduate student in the Industrial Design Department. He soon grew tiresome
of only having a drawing when he was finished and then another person making the
prototype. He transferred to the metals department. Once Pine entered the metals area he
realized he would need to change his approach to his work. Richard Thomas helped him
change his materials exploration into an investigation leading to personal insights and
therefor contributions to the field. Pine's thesis topic was on forging techniques applied
to contemporary jewelry. He also worked with casting. Pine was the first American
silversmith accepted in Germany on a Fullbright Fellowship. He returned in 1962 and was
offered a teaching position at California State University at Long Beach. Pine accepted
the position teaching metals, woodworking and sometimes design classes.
Much of Pine's work is forged or cast gold and silver. Pine was able to take a few
sabbatical leaves during which he traveled worldwide. While he was in the army he was also
able to travel. He was stationed in Germany for one year. Pine has gone to Denmark,
Sweden, Norway, Holland, England, France, the Middle East, Indonesia and China. Pine was
able to expand his knowledge and appreciation of jewelry and metalsmithing due to his
travels.
Pine's work has been exhibited in regional, national and international exhibitions and is
the recipient of numerous grants. |
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