via flickr: my galleries

over the weekend i created some galleries on flickr that include my favorite pictures of things like yellow jewelry, wood jewelry, and arrangements. there are 7 galleries total and they bring together the kinds of jewelry, themes, and imagry i am most interested in, both in others' work and for my own. i really enjoyed putting these together. it was fascinating to troll flickr for images and exciting to find a gem here and there. i can see myself creating more in the future when a specific theme catches my attention.

thanks for reading.

guest star friday #50...barbara crocker

since this is my 50th GS post, i thought i would go back to the beginning (also appropriate because i've been looking back this week...) barbara crocker was my first metalsmithing teacher. when i graduated from suny fredonia in 1996 i promised myself i would go back to school some day to learn metalsmithing; about a year later i ran across an ad for private lessons and i gave barbara a call. we had an initial meeting to see if we might like working together and a few months later i had my first lesson. i really loved that time with barbara in her sweet studio in great barrington, ma. i spent a few hours there every other saturday for about a year before i moved to seattle.


barbara's work is elegant in design and impeccably made. i remember how impressed i was when i saw her mastery of tools/techniques and her attention to detail...and i most definitely loved her minimal aesthetic, simple geometric shapes, clean lines, and descending compositions.

today barbara works for McTeigue and McClelland Jewelers in great barrington, ma. they make exquisite fine jewelry and their website is definitely worth a visit.

thanks for reading.

201 designs

pop necklace

over the weekend i looked through the images of all my collection designs that have come and gone. there are about 200 of them and a few that really stand out to me. they were my favorites then and i still love them now. i thought i would share a few that you probably haven't seen in awhile:

billionaire earrings

jellyfish earrings

tiny traipse necklace

version earrings

it's so interesting to me to look at them and think about what i'm making now. they are very different and yet there are some similarities, too. i'm still interested in line and negative space, pattern, asymmetry and visual movement, but my newer work is loose and gestural and not nearly as structured as these pieces. i also remember being against oxidation for my work and now i can't seem to stop. wonder where i'll be in another 5 years...

thanks for reading.

all my little shops

rare device

one of the other things i've been thinking about is the many shops that have carried my work over the years. i put together a list and there are about 75 different shops in 19 states and 4 countries. it was really interesting to compile this list. i had forgotten about some of these places and i found myself exclaiming a few times. they are all a part of my success and my total experience as a small business owner/working artist. i learned a lot from them including things i like and things i want to avoid. a few caused some serious headaches while most of them just made me happy. i would like to say thanks to a few in particular - these are the ones i started with, who ordered again and again, gave me trunk shows, featured my work in some way, and who were just an incredible pleasure to work with:

velouria in seattle, wa
fancy in seattle, wa
cog and pearl in brooklyn, ny
rare device in san fransico, ca
carol young studio in los angeles, ca
habit in chicago, il

velouria

thanks for reading.

a shed, a basement, and a closet

elfin studio

my recent shop-closure/end-of-my-collections has got me thinking about the past. the other day i was fondly remembering my very first studio which lead me to the others. since i've moved a lot i've had the pleasure of occupying many different ones. my first studio after graduating UW was in my backyard, a tiny shed that i renovated with the help of my dad. it was 6' x 7' and had a sweet dutch door. i felt like an elf in there. later i moved into a deluxe basement in portland, OR that was at least 5 times as big. it had wall-to-wall carpeting. (unfortunately, i cannot find any photos!) then i revisited my small studio roots back in seattle and made a utility closet my workspace. next i did something really different and moved into a big shared studio across the country in north carolina with joanna gollberg, geoff giles, and molly dingledine. in between all those were a few very temporary spots - a 4 month residency at vain, a dark and damp basement, my benches at penland during classes, a dining room - and now i'm here in the biggest, most beautiful space i've ever been in and quite possibly might ever be in. so glad i get two more years here.

the utility closet

with joanna, geoff, and molly

to see more pics of my different spaces from 2002 and beyond, please visit flickr.

p.s. arthur hash has been posting pics of different artist spaces on his blog, the art escape plan. i love seeing how and where others work.

thanks for reading.

go amy go

my friend, beth schaible, gave me this lovely letterpress card yesterday. it made me feel really good...yesterday was the last day for my collections. i spent the day working in my studio filling final mail orders and then later in the evening i got a bunch more. but, now it's done. my shop is gone from my website and my etsy and supermarket shops have been cleared. you will also see some other changes to my website - it's cleaner, simpler, and feels fresh. i have also made a few changes to my blog. now you can find a complete list of the blogs i read and all my favorite jewelry and art/design websites and links at my new delicious site. (delicious is for social bookmarking and is a fantastic way to find websites you haven't seen before and save/share sites you love.) i am not quite finished with my import and tagging, but probably by the end of today.

thanks for reading.

this is it

large aligned earrings

today is the last day to order pieces from my website collections or from my etsy and supermarket sites. tomorrow my shop will disappear and a few changes will occur on my website. i will also close down my etsy and supermarket shops. please keep in mind i am not ending my business or my work, i am just taking a break to focus on developing my studio jewelry while i am resident at penland. i will return to brand new collections in the future.

tiny ratio necklace $30

bean bracelet $56.25

thanks for reading!