guest star friday #41...yu-chun chen

necklace - untitled, steel, 18K gold, lacquer, 2009.

my friend joanna gollberg recently introduced me to the work of yu-chun chen, a jeweler from taipei, taiwan. i am interested in her work for many reasons. at first view, i like the shapes and textures, the use of alerternative materials and techniques, and the collage style compositions. upon closer inspection, i really like the softness of the appearance, the quiet and intimate character, and the subtle details.

brooch - "flowerness of the bird II", iron, paint, horn, steel, 2007

brooch - untitled, iron, tourmaline, wood, silver, 2009.

brooch

you can see more work on klimt02.

thanks for reading.

yay for spackle

yesterday i started working on my studio. first i pulled out all the nails and staples, then i spackled. there were a few holes that needed mending like the one pictured here. (i do love a good before and after. this hole was about 4" x 4") once the walls were repaired, i painted. i'm playing it safe with plain old semi-gloss white because i have a hard time committing to color. however, i do think i will paint my door my signature turquoise.

i was able to get most of the space done by dinner time. today i plan to finish the first coat and paint all the trim. my goal is to have the job completed by friday. i'll post more pictures on flickr soon.


thanks for reading.

more new work talk and now on twitter

i sent off my spring newsletter this morning which included info on my new collection pieces, changes to my shop, updates on upcoming exhibitions, and some residency news. i've been working on establishing a schedule for myself over the past year with the newsletter by sending one out around the first day of every new season. i really don't like to send too many emails to my mailing list but four seems reasonable and i like my method. i will post a copy of the newsletter on my facebook page if you would like to read it. you can also sign up for my newsletter here and you'll be on the list for the summer edition. speaking of facebook, i recently updated my page with more pictures. i added more to flickr, too. AND, i am now on twitter! i will "tweet" from my studio daily. it is a lot of work to keep up with all this stuff, but it is a fun experiment - come find me!

just to touch on the new collection items...i added about 15 new pieces on friday and along with my fall preview items, there are 25 new items altogether. my favorites are the aligned stem earrings, the quick bend pieces, and the egg pins. i especially like those little pins. they are so satisfying - you can just pop one on and go. cute!


thanks for reading.

knowing when to say no

recently i had two inquiries for custom rings. one was for wedding bands and an engagement ring in stainless steel and the other was for a ring with a large faceted stone. i am always at the ready for a new challenge and as usual believed i would just figure out how to make it all happen, which i am happy to say works great most of the time. however, after consulting jeweler friends and thinking long and hard i came to the conclusion that i am just not skilled in these areas. although i could learn new skills for these requests, in the end i think it's best to find another jeweler who's better suited to this kind of work. this way the clients get exactly what they want, and their pieces will be well made more quickly. it also means i don't have to stress over a design that will surely be hard or next to impossible for me to make, i don't have to worry about whether or not it is made well, and i don't have to take time away from all the other things on my plate. i really believe it is important to be realistic and i am glad i applied this notion to both situations. although i would have appreciated the challenge i am glad i ended up saying no. i have already found a jeweler for the wedding ring clients and i think they are psyched. i am close to finding an artist for the other client.

thanks for reading.

new collection pieces are here!

aligned stem earrings - preface collection

my new 2009 collection pieces are here along with free shipping until april 20. i have also updated my site here and there and added a new faq section. more on all that next week! for now here are a few examples...

quick bend earrings - egg and bean collection

pixie scallop necklace - steel and gold collection

thanks for reading.

maya kini brooch

i went to get the mail yesterday and was surprised to find several packages waiting for me. i remember saying something like "i'm sure none of these are for me" to a friend as i scanned the names. there were four! one of them was my trade from maya kini - an enameled brooch. (maya was one of the jewelers at the acc searchlight show.) it's more lovely than i remembered. thanks, maya!
thanks for reading.

what i've been up to

i've been back from acc for two weeks and since my return i've been busy catching-up in my office. first i had to do some tedious tax related stuff including a physical inventory of my materials and finished work. it was a struggle for me to get it done. in addition i had to sort through various invoices and payments which made me realize i'm not as organized as i thought i was. in response i recalled all my inventory that's on consignment in an effort to clean the slate. i will then send each shop a fresh batch of work including many of the new 2009 pieces. i'm kind of excited about doing this. i like a clean-sweep. later i wrote thank you's to the people involved with the searchlight show and the residency program here at penland. i think giving thanks in an official way like this is really important and it certainly makes me feel good. most recently, i started prepping and updating my website with the new work and a few new features. all this will go live on friday. (and don't forget, there's free shipping starting friday for a month!)

in between computer sessions i was cleaning my studio and trying to rid its windows of beetles that i like to refer to as "ladybug posers." they look like ladybugs but with more spots and are orange, not red. my windows were crawling with them - hundreds and hundreds. just listening to the clicking of their wings on the glass as they flew around was driving me crazy...and if that's not enough, they are stinky and they bite.
this week i hope to reunite with my bench. i have some work on my plate already and it seems to be piling up which is exciting and is also making me hopeful. i have several shows over the next 6 months and i am super psyched about all the new work i am going to make. finally!

thanks for reading.

guest star friday #40...joanne haywood

earrings

today's guest star is joanne haywood. i am often attracted to jewelry that incorporates textiles and their related techniques and joanne's work is no exception. she complements her simple stark metal structures with complex crocheted forms. she also created a group of embroidered and felted wool brooches. these brooches were inspired by a trip to oslo, norway and were part of an installation at flow gallery in london.

red rings

100 oslo brooches
joanne haywood installing 100 oslo brooches

thanks for reading.

new work is almost here!

i will be adding new work on friday, march 20 to my new condensed shop. i decided to pare down this year so my signature and layered collections are now retired. egg & bean, steel and gold, and preface were trimmed a bit but also got some brand new pieces and a few updated styles. i also moved men's over to preface since the look of these two complement each other so nicely. to celebrate the changes i will be offering free shipping on all orders from march 20-april 20.

if you would like to be on my mailing list please visit my website here to sign-up.

thanks for reading.

acc shout outs

stacey lee webber necklace

along with all the great show attendees and customers i talked to at acc, i also wanted to mention some of the great artists i met and spent time with. i even got to do a little trading with a few of them right at the end - images are above and below. it's the people at events like these that really make it worthwhile for me.

arthur hash pins

richard saja - historically inaccurate
jane d'arensbourg
geoff giles (my former studiomate)
erica rosenfeld
nanda soderberg - solos glass
christina miller - ethical metalsmiths
annie chau - imogene
erica gordon - steel toe studios
elisa shere (a former student!)
todd reed
jessica benzaquen - jika james jewelry & sculpture
sondra bonazoli and jim dowd - beehive kitchenware
gabriel ofiesh (my mentor for the show)
arthur hash
talya baharal
ali dryer - pistol designs
sylvie rosenthal

jennaca davies earrings and ring

one of my trades, a brooch by maya kini, is missing. i'm just waiting for maya to photograph it. i'll post an image soon.

thanks for reading.

acc. ok.

i've been back from acc baltimore for about a week now and i'm feeling good about the show and my experience there. i feel much the same way i did when i returned from the august buyers market show. i learned a lot, was fascinated by the scene, and was excited about the people i met...all ditto for acc. i arrived on thursday, march 26 and spent the day setting up with fellow jewelers, maya kini, jennaca davies, and stacey webber. things weren't quite ready for us when we got there so there was some waiting at first, but then we got started and the booth just unfolded. it was fun to work with maya, jennaca, and stacey and it was fantastic to see their work in person. i posted more images on my flickr.
the show opened the next morning and i was astonished by the droves of people. there was constant action for the first couple of hours. over the next three days i met so many people - customers, show attendees, fellow artist participants, colleagues....and, as i mentioned on friday, one of the highlights for me was meeting biba schutz.

as for the other searchlighters...what an amazing group of artists. i was psyched to be included among such great work. i think we presented a very strong show and i was really impressed by the work. you can see images on flickr at searchlight 2009. you can also read more about searchlight at acc's site and at greenjeans brooklyn, the blog of amy shaw, who designed this year's show.

thanks for reading.

guest star friday #39...biba schutz

4+1 stonehedge brooch

i have admired the work of biba schutz for years. my first metalsmithing teacher, barbara crocker, gave me a few metalsmith magazines and asked me to mark what i liked. biba's work was among my favorites. i got to meet biba at acc over the weekend which was a pretty exciting moment for me. we had a great conversation, i got to look at all of her work very closely, and i walked away feeling really good. she later came to the searchlight section to look at my work which was also very exciting. the whole transaction was definitely a highlight of the event. biba's work is interesting to me because of its simplicity and its focus on lines and space. she has mastered a gestural quality that makes her work seem effortless. i also love her asymmetrical compositions and their graphic feel.

brooch

earrings

you can see many examples of her work at sienna gallery, gallery loupe, and velvet de vinci.

thanks for reading.

acc real quick

i got back from the acc searchlight show in baltimore monday night and hit the ground running the next morning. there is so much business to catch up on, including some complicated tax-related stuff like physical inventory. yikes! i will post all about the show soon after i've had some time to contemplate it all. for now i need to get my act together.

above is a an image from the show showing my work and some of stacey lee webber's pieces. i posted a bunch of pictures to my flickr account last night including more from acc, pictures of my preparations for the show, and some studio silliness - a series of shadow puppets i made the evening before i left for the show. i was feeling a bit crazy at that point. enjoy!

thanks for reading.

march jewelry of the month

for march's jewelry of the month i created a group of earrings i fondly call "the wee earring trio." wee is my favorite word for small and was definitely my starting point this month. i've had a lot on my plate lately and march arrived too quickly. a few weeks ago i had to design and make march's jewelry of the month on the fly. i began by keeping things simple and small. really small. wee. i've also been thinking about value in these current economic times and a modestly priced trio seemed like a great way to get your money's worth. i made 3 different pairs of sterling silver earrings perfect for everyday wear. they are simple, sweet, delicate, modern, and wee, of course.

my wee earring trio is priced at $54 and i will make up to 10 sets. these tiny earrings measure about 2mm for the facets, 3mm for the cushions, and 7 mm for the circles. as always, each trio comes with a numbered and signed card.

you can read more about jewelry of the month here.

to join my mailing list to received advance notice and buying power, please visit my website here to sign up.

thanks for reading.