Studio Visits

Angela Bubash

We recently visited three local jewelers in their studios: Angela Bubash, Deb Karash, and Stacey Lane. I think it's good for students to see where and how artists work. Angela's studio is in her home, Deb's studio is located away from her home, and Stacey's studio is in a small building in her backyard. Each woman had great things to say about being a working jeweler, they explained their processes, and talked about juggling busy schedules and their work.

Deb Karash

Stacey Lane

P.S. As an extra treat Stacey read one of her favorite books to us: Thirteen by Remy Charlip and Jerry Joyner.  A truly lovely story...

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Shifting Traditions

Tomorrow I am off to Greenville, NC with friend, fellow jeweler, and traveling companion Angela Bubash, to attend the ECU Metals Symposium, "Material Topics: Shifting Traditions." The symposium, now in its second year, is packed with lectures and workshops. The lectures will be presented by Nicole Jacquard, Caroline Gore, Tom Muir, and Michael Dale Bernard, while workshops will be led by Dan Dicaprio, Lisa Johnson, Ken Bova, Tom Muir, Mi-Sook Hur, and Michael Dale Bernard. Rounding out the weekend are panel discussions, break-out sessions, and exhibitions. Angela and I will lead one of the break-outs to talk with attendees about our residencies.

In the fall I went to ECU to speak at the "Making a Living/Making a Life" conference and had an exceptionally good time. I am excited to have another opportunity to visit ECU metals and to see all the great people out there.

"Inheritance," brooch in silver and blackwood by
Dan DiCaprio

"Box Earrings, Green," in 18K gold, silk, and thread by
Caroline Gore

"R Sampler Brooch," in sterling silver, fine silver, and silk thread by
Nicole Jacquard

Check out the schedule here.

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3D sketching at ASU

i taught a 3-dimensional sketching workshop yesterday at appalachian state university in the metals department. i do 3D sketching as part of my own studio practice and thought it might be interesting to introduce the concept to students. we began with all kinds of common inexpensive materials. each student choose things they wanted to work with and then spent two hours creating two or three pieces of wearable jewelry. i also asked them to incorporate a personal object into each piece. i was impressed with how quickly they got to work and how intent they became. it was pretty quiet the entire time and i loved watching their hands move. at the end of the two hours they presented their pieces to me and their classmates and we spent almost an hour talking about them. it was interesting to hear how they felt about working this way (quickly, gesturally, no metalworking) and what they thought of their finished pieces. i think everyone enjoyed it, although i know it was challenging for those who like to plan things out (i can relate!). i was impressed with the work they made. they accomplished the assignment and made some great things - the work was imaginative, clever, and thoughtful. next we ate pizza and i created a wall installation in the lobby. sadly, my camera battery died by then, but i did borrow a student's camera so once i get those pictures back from her, i will post them. i ended the day with a lecture about my work and how i built my business.

thanks, again, to margaret yaukey and angela bubash for inviting me.

more on flickr.

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p.s. more on my 3D sketching soon.

UGA studio visit

on saturday mary hallam pearse and a group of metals students from the university of georgia at athens came to visit me in my studio. i gave an hour long talk and did some question and answer. it was great to meet them and share my experience with them. it's always good for me to talk to groups - it gets a little bit easier with every experience and i find i'm learning to organize my thoughts better and hone my comments. my studio was one of several during the visit - they also went to see angela bubash, joanna gollberg, hoss haley, and adam whitney, who also showed them around the penland campus.

neckpiece in sterling silver by mary hallam pearse

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auction diversion

marissa saneholtz - "he would have to fight them off with a stick."

copper, enamel, sterling silver, stainless pin wire, powder coat, tie fabric

a week before the auction i went over to adam whitney's house with angela bubash for a wonderful diversion - a powder coating demonstration by marissa saneholtz, the studio assistant for marlene true 5th session. marlene, deb karash (instructor 5th session) and her assistant, jessica benzaquen, and elizabeth brim were also there and we had a hilarious time together watching the demo and then trying it for ourselves. i really had no concept of what powder coating is all about but now after marissa's demo, the technique is demystified. i tried scratching my sample and then layering color, treating the material like my spray painted pieces. it works similarly except i had to put more elbow into it to remove color.


more images on flickr.

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in less than 24 hours

last thursday angela bubash and i drove to rock hill, sc to lecture and lead a critique at winthrop university. the lectures went really well. i was nervous as per usual, but also as per usual i was prepared and being prepared always helps me to battle the nerves. i had written brief notes on 3 x 5 cards, but only used them for the first few minutes. i would talk about a few images, realize i wasn't using the cards, and then pause to advance in the deck. this was a bit awkward so i took a leap and put them aside. i remembered most everything i wanted to say and, although the nerves lingered, it felt natural to talk. all in all, for the little experience i have speaking about my work in this way, i think it went really well with room for improvement. angela's talk was great. i've heard her speak before as a penland resident, but those presentations are only 5 minutes long. this was the extended version and i loved hearing more information and details. i think our talks complemented each other nicely - our work is quite different, but we are interested in similar things.

the next day we lead a critique for a group of senior art students whose bfa exhibition opened that day. we met at 11am and talked about each students' work, ranging from painting and sculpture to jewelry and ceramics. i was impressed with the work. the ideas were thoughtful and well-executed.

other highlights from the quick trip include spending time with courtney starrett and michael gayk - after the lecture we made a fire and sat outside chatting and eating pizza at their house - and earlier in the day we visited gallery up and checked out a local patrick dougherty installation.

thanks for reading.

"Making in the Real World"

this thursday angela bubash and i will be lecturing at winthrop university in rock hill, sc as part of the school's "making in the real world" lecture series. we will both talk for about 30 minutes each. the next day we will lead a critique for the senior bfa students - their undergraduate exhibition will be in the gallery at that time.


"making in the real world" lecture series
rutledge 119/rutledge building
thursday, april 22 at 8pm

for directions click here.

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guest star friday #59...angela bubash

fin #6

today's guest star is angela bubash. angela is a fantastic jeweler, a former penland resident artist, an instructor at appalachian state university, and a good friend of mine. usually i try to find guest stars i'm not familiar with or know only a little about, but i love angela's new work and feel compelled to share it with you. angela has always made beautiful jewelry that is impeccably crafted. in fact, her intricate fabrication and attention to detail often blows me away. her new pieces are no exception. they also have a duality to them that i find most appealing - they are contemporary with a definite nod to the past. angela perfectly balances clean lines and asymmetry with an antique design sensibility. i also like the way she creates dimension, depth, and movement with her "fin" elements.

fin #10

cluster portrait #3

cirque #1

thanks for reading.