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Partner Spotlight: MasterCast

Both myself and my wife (an artist and high school art teacher) have been big fans of WaterFire right from the start. We think it’s a perfect blend of artistry and commerce …and a lot of the weekend tourism in Providence owes a big thanks to WaterFire.” -David Katseff, owner of MasterCast Ltd.

It has been wonderful to work with David Katseff and his MasterCast team to create some fun, classic pieces to add to the WaterFire Store. With over 20 years of experience in making and marketing lucite/acrylic products, David has been a great local resource for us. Here’s how our partnership began:

My connection to the organization began after I made a donation to WaterFire Providence’s annual fund and was lucky enough to be selected for their gift giveaway for donors that year. As a long-time fan, I decided to grow my donor relationship even further by inquiring about partnering with WaterFire through my business MasterCast Ltd. With the capabilities of MasterCast Ltd I knew their was a great opportunity to help support WaterFire by making products for sales and marketing purposes and for thank you gifts.”

WaterFire Providence Letter Opener in Gift BoxWaterFire Providence Bottle OpenerWith both our roots in Providence supporting the local economy is a win win! The proceeds from the WaterFire Store go directly to the organization to help fund our annual and event related costs.

MasterCast Ltd was originally based in Providence and we moved to Pawtucket in 1996. We continue to promote Made-in-USA emblematic and acrylic products, although we also have custom products manufactured overseas. We are proud to be a vendor for the WaterFire lapel pin and brass keytag. This year we have worked with the Marketing department to add some nice gift items to our WaterFire line of products, like our bottle openers and letter openers. We look forward to expanding our relationship with WaterFire in its next 20 years of production of these unique events on the river in Providence.

To check out all four MasterCast WaterFire products in this line click here.

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Partner Spotlight: Photon Fabrications

For several years, Joseph “JJ” Strong of Photon Fabrications has designed some of our most beautiful WaterFire gifts found in the WaterFire Merchandise Store. Photon Fabrications combines art, engineering, and modern technology with a laser cutting machine. Our relationship with JJ Strong began after being introduced through Gather Glass (another fabulous merchandise partner!) who had just collaborated with JJ on another project. Our first product collaboration with JJ was the creation of the WaterFire Wooden Magnet which continues to be a WaterFire Fan favorite! Over the past few years we’ve created many different designs and products. Including: Ornaments, “Matchbox Memories”, and the new Brazier and City Skyline Bamboo Key Chains!  We hope every challenge we give him will allow him to feed his passion and talent as a laser cut designer. (Check out all the WaterFire Photon Fabrications products here!)

Photon Fabrications Wooden Magnets (Photo by Jen Bonin)

“At WaterFire Providence I’ve found a group of fellow artisans that concern themselves with quality of design as much as I do. The folks at WaterFire work hard to maintain a high standard.  As a young artist – just starting college when I created those first magnets – my experience with WaterFire has taught me a lot.  I’ve been lucky to be a part of a great Rhode Island tradition and I look forward to many more WaterFire projects down the road!”
-JJ Strong of Photon Fabrications

We are excited to share our support and admiration of JJ’s wonderful laser cut designs. Today, JJ is creating laser cut designs for every occasion available on his website and at local art fairs in Rhode Island.

Want to know more about the process? Here’s a clip from photonfabrications.com:

A piece usually begins life as a model in Solid Works, a 3D engineering program, where the basic form is created. The model is then translated into a 2D art program, Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator, or both where I add all of the detail that the laser will engrave. This software allows for a huge range of detail to be added and manipulated. Finally to take the art from a digital image to a physical object a Versa Laser CNC machine, which cuts out the components to make the final pieces, which are then assembled into the finished product.

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