teaching at penland

i am teaching at penland next summer - 7th session, august 29-september 4, 2010. the class is called "it's the little things" and it will focus on surface design and details. we will cover all sorts of surface design techniques and designing/making complementary findings. we will discuss the importance of detail, however subtle or elaborate, and there will be lots of sample making and some fun projects. i've been thinking about this class for about two years and i am excited to both have an opportunity to make it happen and to teach again at penland. more details to follow.

if you would like to see a complete list penland summer 2010 classes, please visit the penland website.

thanks for reading.

object fetish holiday show

my gold and oxidized sterling silver necklace is part of the holiday show at object fetish...i recently spent some time looking at the work of each participating artist - minimal to more elaborate aesthetics, inexpensive to high-end, plastic to high karat gold. we were all asked to include an image of the inspiration for the piece as well as some text about the work. (mine is an image of the ingots i poured when i melted down my scraps.) my favorites include nils schmalenbach, sarah loertscher, and karolo torkos.
thanks for reading.

the sale is on!

my annual holiday sale and my 5 year anniversary celebration has begun! all collection jewelry is 25% off and shipping is free. plus, if you order $75 or more you will get a free plastic egg necklace in the color of your choice while supplies last. (when i email you order confirmation i will ask for your color preference.) additionally, i have pulled lots of items out of retirement from all of my collections including my signature collection (like my original signature piece "ratio times one" above). you will find these pieces listed in my current preface, egg & bean, and steel + gold collections with each retired item listed at the top. and finally, i just listed some unique pieces at my etsy shop – mostly things i made fresh out of college, little experiments, and some one-of-a-kind rings. these pieces are all on sale and can be found alongside my remaining jewelry of the month pieces on etsy.

the sale and celebration will last through january and end on the 31^st. at that time my collections on my website, along with my etsy and supermarket shops, will disappear and i will begin my break from production jewelry. i will introduce brand new collections in the future, although i don’t know exactly when. you will of course get a newsletter when it’s time.

please email me at amy@amytavern.com if you have any questions!

thanks for reading.

alterknits felt + small preface earrings

a few days ago i got an email from a friend telling me how as she flipped through leigh radford's book "alterknits felt" she was pleasantly surprised to find my small preface earrings on view. i had no idea! the book looks really good - great projects and photography - and sure enough there on page 76 are my earrings on a model. nice.

thanks for reading.

sale reminder

my annual holiday sale begins on monday, nov 23rd. as usual all collection jewelry will be 25%* off. this year also marks the 5th year of my website and to celebrate i am also offering free shipping on all orders and a free plastic egg necklace (color of your choice, while supplies last) with any purchase of $75 or more. in addition, i am pulling some older items out of retirement. these will be on sale at deeper discounts. you will be able to find them spread out among my three collections with all of them listed at the top of the page. and one more thing, i am going to add some older, but fun and interesting work to my etsy site. these pieces are mostly little things i made in college or just after i graduated as well as some one-of-a-kind rings. these will be on sale, too.

i should also mention that this sale marks the end of my collections for now. as of january 31 i will retire everything completely and will take a break from production/collection work for awhile, maybe a year. it's time for me to really focus on my residency work and i think it's important to have a clean slate. i will return to production jewelry in the future but it will be all new and most likely very different from my current collections. i still have a lot of work to do to prep the site for the sale and i must say i am really eager to get this one started. 5 years...very cool.

*sale does not include very thin gold rings, studio jewelry, wedding rings, wholesale orders, or custom designs.

thanks for reading.

45th annual craft and design show

some pieces from my preface collection will be part of the quirk gallery booth at the 45th annual craft and design show in richmond, va. the show benefits the visual arts center of richmond. i oxidized the pieces i sent and love the new feel they now have.

nov 21 from 10-6
nov 22 from 11-5
science museum of virginia
2500 west broad st, richmond, va
free parking

admission:
public $12
vis arts members $10
weekend pass $15

you can see a list of participating artists at the vis arts website, including my friend and former studiomate, geoff giles.

thanks for reading.

klimt02 update

my klimt02 page was recently updated with new pictures and some resume additions. i really like being a part of the klimt02 community (so many great jewelers and lots of useful information) and am excited to have my new regal graffiti images there.
thanks for reading.

skateboard jewelry

while at quirk gallery last week i discovered the work of claire mcdermott. it immediately caught my eye because of the material - old, beat up skateboards. i love the distressed wood and laminate, a very nice use of found objects - reminds me of my love of graffiti, chipped paint, and rust.
thanks for reading.

opening reception

my work alongside the work of sharon massey

i drove to richmond, va on thursday to attend the sparkle plenty 5 opening reception. the show looks fantastic - beautiful work that was incredibly complementary and displayed perfectly from artist to artist. i especially liked seeing the drawings each artist sent. (we were all asked to send a few sketches.) these were displayed in frames on the walls or alongside the work itself inside the cases.

caitie sellers' intricate steel structures (with sketchbook)

lori talcott

joanna gollberg

the show was a lot of fun - i loved meeting the quirk staff and seeing the gallery - it really is a great space. my friend and fellow sparkle artists joanna gollberg and caitie sellers were there, too.

more pics on flickr.

thanks to the quirk staff for a great show!

thanks for reading.

sparkle plenty 5, lori talcott

"sorrowing chain"

as one of the artists invited to participate in sparkle plenty 5 i had the honor of inviting an artist whom i admire - i chose lori talcott. i was able to get a few images of the work lori made for the show to share here. this body of work was inspired by lori's interest in "the 2 major preoccupations of humans: illness and death, love and fertility."

"gauging"

i am leaving for richmond shortly to attend the opening. again, if you are in the area please stop by.

thanks for reading.

artist talk, anika smulovitz

yesterday i went to hear anika smulovitz talk about her work. she is a visiting artist in the metals class at penland this week. i enjoyed the lecture - she started with her first metals endeavors and then on to graduate and post graduate work. what i was most interested in was her ideas and where they come from. i think of myself as a formalist not a conceptualist so i am often fascinated by work that is content based. she also talked about the non-neutrality of materials, which to me means materials have meaning and should be chosen carefully. i'm still contemplating this...afterward she gave a talk about the art metals program at boise state university where she is the professor.

i met anika over the summer when she was taking a class in the wood studio at penland. we had a chance to talk about our work then and i walked away with some fresh ideas. we are planning another session to continue the conversation for before she heads home. more on that to follow.

all images by ariella bos

thanks for reading.