graffiti pins pro shots

i just got these from my photographer, hank drew. the top is my favorite.

thanks for reading.

the dog

david chatt and i collaborated on this ridiculously cute brooch for the mitchell county animal rescue fundraiser, "art for animals sake." david made the incredible beaded poodle and i made the tiny sterling silver leash, complete with fancy collar and tag with initial. we named him bernie so the tag sports a "B."

the sale will take place friday and saturday august 7 and 8 from 10-5 and sunday, august 9 from 12-5 at the carolina theater, lower street, spruce pine, nc.

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ring-a-day complete

i finished my ring-a-day yesterday and was correct in thinking all 7 would look really cool worn at once. popping them out was the first thing i did when i got to my studio everyday for the last 7 days - a fun little daily ritual.

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exhibitions and openings

tonight is the opening reception for delicate beauty at the penland gallery from 7-8:30. i am really excite to attend - it's a beautiful show.

the stimulus project at sienna gallery is now online. you can see all 80 artists' work including mine at the sienna gallery website.

thanks to arthur hash for the great picture of my work in one of the tool chest displays. you can see more images of the show here.

thanks for reading.

500 plastic jewelry designs

i just got my complimentary copy of 500 plastic jewelry designs, juried by susan kasson sloan. this is my first time in the lark books 500 series and i have two pieces published. i am psyched! i flipped through the book last night and it looks fantastic - the 500 books are always so inspiring. it will be my treat to sit with it over the weekend and really look.

thanks for reading.

ring-a-day, pop out jewelry revisited

i recently got myself a ring-a-day, a super cool design by alissia melka-teichroew - BY:AMT. the piece includes 7 different pop-out rings and comes complete with a file to soften the burr left behind after the rings are popped. each ring is a silhouette of a familiar ring style, like the classic engagement ring. the frames can also be worn on a chain or hung on the wall, so no waste. clever! alissia's other designs are pretty excellent, too. smart and good-looking.
it will be fun to pop these out one by one over the coming week. i think they will look fantastic worn all at once.

thanks for reading.

show installation

yesterday i helped kathryn gremley install "delicate beauty," an upcoming group exhibition at the penland gallery. one of my jobs before i was a full time jeweler was as a jewelry merchandiser and years before that i worked as a gallery assistant. it was really fun for me to do something different and great to use my experience in these areas again. when i arrived kathryn was off to a good start with the case layout and a few dress forms which she had created tissue paper garments for. we decided to play off the paper and use more for the props inside the display cases. then we grouped the artists' work together in complementary pairings and put the work in the cases. it was a fun challenge to figure out what jewelry should go together and i really enjoyed working with kathryn. i plan to swing by later to see her progress. the show opens this friday, july 24 from 7-8:30.

participating artists:

yuyen chang, sarah loertscher, bob ebendorf, douglas harling, jana brevik, lola brooks, mary chuduk, jeong ju lee, paige davis, rob jackson, pat flynn, judith hoyt,
sayumi youkuchi, charity hall, angela bubash, sarah warner, c. james meyer, susin chin, april franklin, joanna gollberg, raissa bump, marcia macdonald, aran galligan, stacey lane, lisa colby,
deb karash, mary mcbride, matt willig, mary ann sherr, david butler, mary kanda, tom mccarthy, amy tavern

thanks for reading.

new borderlines

some more new stuff, this time in the borderlines series. i sorted my scraps the other day and pulled out any usable pieces of sheet i could find. i thinned some of them with my rolling mill and then trimmed all of them with the table top shear. i now have quite a selection of shapes to choose from. to make these little pieces, i tried to work quickly and kept it fun. my favorite piece is the earring at the top. i would like to continue with that form - maybe a big necklace with lots of those corner elements.

thanks for reading.

stitched pins

new work continues with more stitched pins with colonial knots. i like adding embroidery in this way, but want it to be more than just knots in a rather random pattern. i have a few ideas, so more to come...

thanks for reading.

graffiti pins

more new work...graffiti pins. i love graffiti and layers of aged, peeling paint. i've been spray painting copper and then scratching away at the layers after the paint dries. it's been a fun experiment and i love the results.

thanks for reading.

new work week

i made a lot of new things lately so i thought i would make this week "new work week." i will post photos of my new pieces each day. i wanted to start yesterday but got caught up in making something new and didn't take any time for anything else.

i just turned these two pieces (necklace and earrings) into the penland gallery for the upcoming "delicate beauty" exhibition. it opens next friday, july 24. for this show, i decided to make my pieces using some 18k yellow gold i had stored away in a plastic bag. it's been in there for 3 years and i thought i should just use it. i melted it down, poured ingots, and milled them out into nearly 9 feet of 18 gauge wire. then i challenged myself to use as much of it as i could. i ended up using all but 8 inches.
i struggled with these pieces, which is pretty much the norm these days. i left the studio late last night feeling disappointed. then this morning i took a chance and added the sterling pieces. the necklace just needed something more and i think these add the right extra element. the earrings followed...
in the end i am happy with the work. i think they fit the theme of the show and i loved working with the gold. they do feel a little foreign to me, though, and i'm not quite sure why. i guess because of the material and the overall look. the gold makes them feel "fancy" to me and i don't usually associate that word with my jewelry.

thanks for reading.

jewelry "club"

i started a jewelry club for local jewelers a few months ago. the penland area and surrounding communities are loaded with artists and there are a bunch of great jewelers among them. with the help of stacey lane, once of those great local jewelers, i compiled a list and sent an email invitation. we meet monthly and july marks our 5th one. the first two meetings were at my studio and subsequent meetings have been hosted by other members, like marvin jensen and adam whitney. we started with a "show and tell" of our work and had our first critique in june. other meeting ideas include our upcoming "studio tips and tricks" (in which members will swap helpful ideas and solutions), teaching and workshop ideas, business practices, artists talks, studio tours, and guest artists. we are also planning quarterly critiques. i am pretty excited about the response to this venture. we've had consistent attendance and everyone seems really enthusiastic.

the picture above includes from left lisa bruns, john lara, david trophia, deb karash, matt willig, adam whitney, and stacey lane.

other members include:
angela bubash
lilith neilander
paige davis
john renick
day dotson
marvin jensen
jim charneski

thanks for reading.

studio upgrade...comfort

i finally got a sofa for my studio. now my little think space is just the way i want it to be.
i also got this sweet velvet ottoman at a local thrift store for $10. it looks so much like jonathan adler's x-bench, which i love - jonathan adler is a favorite of mine. i've had upholstered legs in the back of my mind ever since he introduced his new furniture and was shocked to find this vintage version myself.

thanks for reading.

new belt buckle

another fabulous visit was with erica gordon of steel toe studios. erica and i go way back to seattle and we recently reconnected at acc baltimore. then a few weeks ago, she was here as a visiting artist in the iron class. it was great to see her again! we met at the coffee shop the morning before she left and we mostly talked business - what works for us/what isn't working, marketing, shows, plans, etc. it was so good to talk through some of this stuff and connect in that way with another maker. we completed our visit with a trade - i got one of her amazing belt buckles (pebbles) and she got a couple pairs of earrings. i am so psyched to have one of her buckles, finally! i've been wanting one for years...

thanks, erica!

thanks for reading.

studio visitors

i've been really lucky to have had some amazing guests in my studio over the past few weeks since the penland summer sessions began. we've had some interesting conversations about jewelry and art, penland happenings, and they were also kind enough to talk about my work and my residency plans. i'm won't go into detail; there is just too much and i might bore you, but i will say these conversations gave me lots to think about and have made me even more excited to make my work. i want to say thanks to all of these wonderful people for sharing their precious and valuable time with me. the above photo is in my studio before one of these visits. i usually set up my table with things i've been working on so my guests can see what i've been up to. in brief...

leslie noell, a mixed media artist - we talked about my new life at penland and how i am adjusting to my surroundings, the busy/unpredictable/strange schedule, and the multitudes of new people i meet. we also talked about drawing or making marks on paper, something i am very interested in. leslie suggested some exercises to get my ideas going and advised me to start by working with what i know.
mary lee hu, my former jewelry professor from the university of washington - we talked about what "one-0f-a-kind" means because i am having a hard time defining it within my work. she suggested going bigger, for one. she also noted i need to find my "thing" and run with it.
anika smulovitz - this was my first time meeting anika and i really enjoyed getting to know her. we talked about things we are struggling with in our work and traded suggestions on pushing through, motivation, and idea generation.
bob ebendorf and jim meyer - we talked about trends or themes in jewelry and the overlap that can occur among artists. we discussed how important it is to know who's making what and the pros and cons of keeping up with what others are doing versus not looking at others' work to steer clear of overlap. it's tricky...
most recently susie ganch and christina miller were here teaching radical jewelry makeover. we talked about making jewelry, susie's experience as a penland resident (i met susie as a resident in 1999), and radical jewelry makeover. these two are some of my favorite people and i loved spending time with them!

thanks for reading.

radical jewelry makeover part 4

here's the brooch i bought at yesterday's radical jewelry makeover sale. it was made by stephanie voegele, a grad student at the university of georgia at athens. i just love this piece!

stephanie is doing some great stuff at uga, please be sure to check out her work on flickr.

thanks for reading.

radical jewelry makeover part 3

i just got back from the radical jewelry makeover show. it was got busy in there right away and much of the work has sold already! i bought a brooch which i do not have a photo of yet. i'll post an image soon.

thanks for reading.

radical jewelry makeover part 2

i made two pieces for the radical jewelry makeover exhibition and sale between monday and tuesday. i enjoyed being in the metals studio working alongside the RJM students and loved the challenge of creating new work from old jewelry. i would have liked to spend more time in there and to make more pieces but i just couldn't because i had to tend to my own studio.
last night i helped susie ganch and christina miller, the RJM instructors, price all the work. i was impressed with the pieces they made and how many they were able to crank out in less than two weeks. when i left at 11:30 the class was busy installing the show. i am looking forward to the show today and plan to be there early to choose the piece i will take home. i donated some old jewelry so i have a coupon to redeem.

the exhibition and sale is today from 10am-7:15pm in the printmaking studio at the penland school of crafts.

thanks for reading.