Episode #45: Robert Mahar, Designer and “Making It” Contestant

Robert Mahar, Designer and “Making It” Contestant

This week on the show Vickie’s guest is Robert Mahar, an artist, designer, and host of the Crafted Channel on YouTube. Recently he was also a contestant on the NBC show Making It, hosted by Amy Pohler and Nick Offerman.

Vickie met Robert earlier this year at a California creative conference called Craftcation, where they were both judges, along with papercraft designer Amy Tangerine, for a tongue-in-cheek speed craft competition. She found him to be soft-spoken, kind, funny, and immediately liked him.

During their conversation, we talked about his Midwestern upbringing, his life in Los Angeles, and his journey from art appraiser, to designer, to on-screen personality. He also gave me some inside scoop on what it was like behind the scenes of NBC’s Making it.

This episode is sponsored by Penguin Random House Audio. They’ve curated a great list of audiobook titles just for us makers. Check them out here. While you’re there, download a FREE copy of Ivy and Inky the Butterfly, by Johanna Basford.

Show Notes

BIO:

Robert Mahar is an artist and designer who teaches imaginative do-it-yourself projects through high-quality video tutorials on YouTube, CreativeLive and in-person workshops. He is the host of his own YouTube channel Crafted and one of the reoccurring marquee talent on the YouTube channel Kin Community. The crafty content he develops and presents on camera is often rooted in nostalgia, and his talent for reinventing old-school crafts with a decidedly modern twist has gained him a loyal following.

Robert is a proud season one alumni of NBC’s crafting competition show Making It! Co-hosted by the brilliant Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, this six-episode series featured eight makers from across the U.S. who tackled themed challenges to demonstrate their specialized talents while sharing skilled insights and touching personal stories.

A Midwesterner at heart, Robert has called Los Angeles home for more than 25 years. With an education in studio arts and art history, he has worked in a variety of creative fields including 13 years as an appraiser of modern and contemporary art. When he’s not working in his downtown Los Angeles studio, Robert obsesses over vintage craft books and schemes ways to make it big as a doughnut connoisseur.

Robert’s Links:

Robert’s Website
Robert’s Studio
Robert’s Product Line
Robert on Instagram
Robert on Pinterest
Robert on Twitter

What I’m Crafting To … this week!

Special new segment brought to you by Penguin Random House Audio

Movie: A Star is Born (Starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper)
Music: Vickie’s Alternative Christmas Playlist
Audio Book: I’ve spent a lot of time this week listening to Becoming by former first lady Michelle Obama. It’s a really candid account of her experience as a girl then woman, of color, an attorney, a mother, and a first lady.