It's Been 10 Years, Part 6

one of my absolute favorite pictures from my original collections by Hank Drew, the Bamboo Necklace

One final 10-year post, and in this one, I want to say thanks to the people I consider part of my "team." My photographer, Hank Drew, my graphic designer, Brandon Dawley, my editor, Katey Schultz, and my mentor, Lori Talcott. I have worked with these wonderful people for years and I am grateful to them for their expertise, hard work, insight, and patience. Hank started taking pictures for me in 2004 with my production collections and is now taking beautiful images of my larger, more sculptural and installation-based work. I have known Brandon since high school and he's been creating logos, ads, banners, and posters for me for a long time. He also got my new website going. I met Katey at Penland in 1999 and recently she began editing for me from grad school essays to artist statements. Lori was one of my first teachers and continues to guide me today. In fact we had a long talk just a few days ago about grad school and, as always, she questioned, challenged, and supported me. These gifted, generous individuals know my work, they pay attention, they listen, they advise, and they communicate effectively and thoughtfully. There is a balanced, natural give-and-take that occurs between us and we work well together. I feel very fortunate to be able to work with them and consider each of them a friend, too. I hope you will take some time to visit the links included in this post and check out their incredible work.

 current installation shot by Hank Drew, 

Silently (I Saw a Robin Today)

the logo Brandon designed for my solo show I Live Here Now

Lori in her studio

Artist Statement

I am devoted to observing the world that surrounds me and questioning the human condition through the lens of my own life experience. Through a variety of traditional and exploratory multi-media techniques, I create jewelry, objects, and installations that hint at memory, time, loss, and the layered sense of self I believe we all carry. I intuitively select materials and forms to represent the intangible and to create abstract narratives. Using my own memory of people, places, and objects, I seek to communicate the duality of the human experience, convey emotion, and connect with others.

my most current artist statement written with help from Katey

Thanks for reading. 

It's Been 10 Years, Part 5

Paused Sentiment and Remembering Earrings, sale price $76.50

I began my Etsy shop, AmyTavernJewelry, in 2009 and I have enjoyed being a part of that awesome community. It's a fun and accessible way to connect with other my customers and other artists. I've been debating whether or not to close the shop once grad school begins and, although I haven't come to a definitive conclusion, I have decided to close the shop for now at the end of this month. I might reopen around the holidays, but that remains uncertain. So, to celebrate my 10 years, mark my next chapter, and say thanks to all of you for your constant support, I'm having a sale starting tomorrow. Everything will be 25% off, except sale items which will be an additional 10% off.  Everything pictured is in stock and orders will be shipped quickly. I am offering a limited selection at this time, but there are lots of lovely items in the mix and a few nice sale pieces. I will add a few one-of-a-kind necklaces and brooches, too. The sale will run through Sunday, August 30. Then my shop will go into vacation mode, indefinitely.

The sale will begin tomorrow at 9am Pacific time.

Large Circle and Arc Necklace, sale price $78

Small Pendants, Bright Palette, sale price $55.50

Three-Arc Cluster Earrings, sale price $81

Thanks for reading.

It's Been 10 Years, Part 4

2005, going full-time

I'm fortunate to have had many wonderful and varied experiences over the past ten years. My work has taken me around the U.S. and abroad and allowed me to meet incredible people along the way. While looking back, I challenged myself to choose a favorite moment from each year:

2005, going full-time

I moved to Portland, OR in 2005 and after "doing the math," I realized I could take the big leap into full-time studio work. As I said here on the blog back in May, it was an exciting, frightening, and necessary decision, and I have never thought twice about it.

2006, peak of production

In 2006 I was making a ton of production jewelry, selling it in shops around the U.S. and a few places abroad. I had seven collections then and was selling in about 25 places. Production jewelry allowed me to make work every day which remains one of the most important things to me. 

2007, assisting Raissa Bump at Penland

I assisted Raissa Bump during a Penland concentration in 2007. We didn't know each other but hit it off quickly and went on to have many excellent conversations. At one point early on, I told her I was feeling restless with my work. Raissa encouraged me to make art jewelry and helped me find a place to begin. She suggested that I simply look at what I was already making and respond to it. So I examined my production work, focused on the circle, and tried a gestural approach to construction and composition. The result was my Line Drawings series and an important change in direction.

2008, words of advice from my mom 

I was invited to present at the Professional Development Seminar at the Society of North American Goldsmiths Conference in Savannah, GA in 2008. I spent months preparing my talk and felt excited to have a chance to share my experience and help others in the field. About a week before the conference I became overwhelmed with stressed and I panicked. I called my mom and, as I paced in the hallway of my apartment, she gave me some truly sound advice. She asked me if I was prepared and I said yes. Then she said something like, "Amy, as long as you are prepared, you will be fine." My talk went really well and keeping my mom's words close helped me remain calm. I continue to carry those words with me and remind myself of them often. (This photo is a favorite of mine from a trip we took to Paris.) 

2009, Penland residency

I became a resident artist at Penland in January of 2009 and the following three years were huge for me. I had time to question, experiment, and learn, and my work grew and grew. I accomplished everything I wanted to and so much more. I found my aesthetic and began to discover the roots of my ideas. I started working with memory as well, the foundation of everything I have made since. I will always be grateful for that singular experience and Penland will always be one of my homes. 

2010, class with Helen Carnac

My second summer as a resident at Penland in 2010 I took an enameling class with Helen Carnac. I loved learning to enamel and spent my time just trying things and making samples. It was wonderful! But, more importantly, I began to identify key parts of my process. Helen introduced me to the power of walking and observing and I also started to recognize collecting and arranging in a serious way. (The picture above was taken while on a walk with Helen.) 

2011, Metalsmith Magazine and Velvet da Vinci solo show

2011 was a big year for me. My work was selected for Metalsmith's Exhibition in Print and was featured on the cover of the magazine and I had my first solo show at Velvet da Vinci. These two things were dreams come true. 

2012, traveling alone to Belgium

After my Penland residency ended in 2012, I wanted to go out and be a stranger in a strange land and I got the opportunity to have a solo show in Antwerp, Belgium. This marked my first solo traveling experience, too, and every bit of it was amazing. Traveling made me feel like my best self. I had to use every bit of me to find my way around and experience everything. I saw so many beautiful things and made good friends in my gallerist and her family. It was an honor to be able to travel to foreign country and make my work. I also realized how special it is to see things for the first time and discovered just how much I love seeing new things alone.

2013, Iceland

The two months I spent in Iceland is my most special time in the last ten years and I still have trouble finding the right words to describe exactly why. The phrase I often repeat is "this place gives me room," and it really does. It changed me and my work and I imagine the things I learned there in May and June will continue to affect me for years to come. 

2014, making I Live Here Now

The work I made for my most recent solo show at Four in Gothenburg, Sweden is my most personal work, and I believe my strongest work so far. This is the body of work in which I began to deliberately consider and present my concepts in other forms including 2D works, small installations and sculptures, and arrangements. I also very carefully chose metal and non-metal materials, thoughtfully using the material that best suited the idea. In making this work, I also realized I had the the power to find answers to my questions by making things and I knew when I began that I would most likely find what I was looking for when I was done. Those 13 pieces and their multiple parts defined what home means to me. 

2015, teaching process for three days at Pratt

As I wrote yesterday, process is very important to me. I have taught lots of short process workshops but finally got to teach for three full days at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, WA. I loved being able to present a variety of exercises to my students and have time to really get into things with them. I watched my students work really hard and at the end of the class each person had made some important discoveries. 

Thanks for reading. 

It's Been 10 Years, Part 3

working on Bruised, Once Broken in my Penland studio

photo by Dana Moore

An important and unexpected part of the last ten years is my fascination with artist process. When I began my Penland residency in 2009 I planned to figure out the details of how and why I make my work. I remember writing in my sketchbook a list of all the ways I might try to figure some stuff out. It included daily drawing, reading about jewelry, writing about my work, and various hands-on, exploratory exercises. I'm not sure where this all came from but I feel like I composed the list by thinking about what I dreamed of doing in the studio and never had time for. Then I started to tackle my plan in a very deliberate way.

One winter in particular, I structured my day with a variety of tasks and followed a routine. I made one-hour pieces and did other time-based exercises. I read books on the history of jewelry and studied the work of contemporary jewelers. I thought about my work and I wrote it all down. I did the same round of activities nearly every day and by the end of the winter and I had tons of information at my finger tips. Then I realized I could use this information to my advantage. I was beginning to discover where my ideas were coming from and why, I understood the basic steps I took each time I made a new piece, and I knew what to do when I felt stuck.

Then process became my "thing." I wrote a memoir-style essay for a magazine about how I began to discover my process and lead Penland's Core Fellows through eight weeks of process during their core seminar. I went on to teach workshops at a number of places from Seattle, WA to Certaldo, Italy. In turn, I realized how much I love seeing how other artists work and truly enjoy helping people discover their own methods. Process has come to have its own identity in my work, too. It is often part of my concept as a ritual or some integral component that I choose to leave exposed.

Every artist has their own unique process, but I believe there are some universal basics. I share my personal experience as a way to guide others and I encourage my students to be open and to try everything. I also tell them some parts will be easy and some will be a struggle. I usually discover more about my own process every time I lead my 3D-sketching exercise or have my students make a list of 50 things that inspire them. I love digging deep and questioning and doing so only serves to make me better at what I do. Thinking back now, I am so excited about all of this and I know that what I found in the last ten years is just the beginning.

paper model for the piece

the completed piece

There are tons of pictures of process on my Flickr page and here are links to process images from I Live Here Now and In Between, my most recent work.

Thanks for reading.

It's Been 10 Years, Part 2

Line Drawing Necklace No. 7, 2007, Line Drawings

My work has changed a lot over the years. I began with simple production collections in sterling, steel, and gold. Then I started my Line Drawings as a way to expand my ideas of line, shape, and visual movement. Next I moved into working with solid, geometric forms and negative space in my Borderlines series. Later I experimented with spray paint and historical jewelry in Regal Graffiti followed by clustering teardrops and bows to create voluminous Bow Clusters. This is also when I began using my memories to add meaning and depth to each piece. 

 Brooch No. 4, 2009, Borderlines

Necklace, 2009, Regal Graffiti

Bow Cluster Brooch with Teardrop, 2010, Bow Clusters

I was able to make specific bodies of work for solo shows in 2012 and 2013 including This is How I Remember It and Observation/Translation. For both exhibitions I used jewelry to illustrate my memories and observations using metal and non-metal materials. In 2014 I began to shift my focus to include non-jewelry forms in I Live Here Now, a solo exhibition of jewelry, small-scale installations, and two-dimensional works for the wall. Most recently, I made In Between, my first large-scale installation inside a two-story utility elevator. 

 Oak Leaf Brooch, 2011, This is How I Remember It, 
Fabricated Memory: Jewelry Box, 1980

Family, 2012, Observation/Translation

Since 1882, Since 1976, 2014, I Live Here Now

In Between, 2014

Since 2005 my skills and confidence have gotten stronger. I know myself better and have a deeper understanding of what I do and why. My work has become more complex, detailed, and personal and there is still so much to learn and make. Please visit my recently updated website to see all my different bodies of work as well as works-in-progress, collaborative projects, wedding rings, and photography. 

Thanks for reading.

It's Been 10 Years, Part 1

Ratio/Signature Collection

Months ago I announced that 2015 marks my ten-year anniversary of being a full-time artist and metalsmith. I also said I was going to do a series of posts reflecting on the past decade. Then I made a decision about grad school and began the cross-country moving process. There was just too much going on for me to wrap my head about anything retrospective, until now. For the next few days I will finally share some favorites from the past, starting today with a look back at the kind of work I was making then. At that time, my focus was production jewelry and I had five to seven collections depending on the year. I began with my Ratio Collection, and over time added Egg & Bean, Steel + Gold, and a Men's Collection, plus others. The work focused on simplicity, layers, and interesting shapes and lines. I used mostly sterling silver, but did add some non-precious materials and gold. My production work helped me to grow my business and name, and, most importantly, allowed me to make jewelry every day. Here are a few of my production collection favorites:

Egg & Bean Collection

Steel + Gold Collection

Preface Collection

Layered Collection

Tiny Collection

Men's Collection

Diskis Collection

See more original collection images on Flickr.

Thanks for reading.

It's Been 10 Years

sitting at my bench in my studio in Portland, OR in 2005

I have been a full time artist and jeweler for ten years now. Ten years! In 2005 I took the big leap forward from part time to all-the-time and I have never looked back. It was an exciting, frightening, and necessary decision. I had just moved to Portland, OR from Seattle and after doing the math, I realized I was making enough money to support myself with my jewelry alone. I knew I didn't have to find a part time job to supplement my income. What a moment! In the coming weeks I'm going to take a look back and share some thoughts and favorites with you, my wonderful audience. You have been such a big part of all of this, obviously, and I want to share my celebration with you. It's also a poignant time because I'm going to start a brand new chapter in the fall when I begin graduate school. This is a big time for me in so many ways and I think it's really important for me to pause and reflect.

Thanks for reading.

2 years old

my blogged turned two recently and i forgot to mention it. i even had it on my calendar and i planned to write this very post then - the exact date is january 13, 2008. after two years, i'm still enjoying it and i feel like i'm better at it. i love how my blog is a chronicle of my career in metalsmithing and i am grateful that it helps me to keep track of the things i do. it's also a wonderful forum for sharing the work of other jewelers which in turn allows me to stay current with what's going on in the field. thank you, my blog.

and, thanks to all of you who are reading.

sale update

just a few bits about the sale...

the last day to order for guaranteed holiday shipping is tuesday, december 15. i will be closing my studio for my own holiday break at that time. any orders received after december 15 will be filled when i return to my studio on january 4.

i forgot to mention the sweet letterpress cards that currently come with orders. when i lived in portland, or rachel wiecking of matador press made these for me. then maybe last year she sent me a box of extras she found in her studio. i've been hanging on to them, waiting for a special occasion to give them away - my holiday sale and 5 year anniversary seemed like an excellent time.
and finally, the new boxes. dark lavender. i love the way this color looks with my signature turquoise.

thanks for reading.

happy blogiversary to me

my blog turned one recently and i have to say it's been really fun and a great challenge for me to write my posts over the past year. i remember thinking i would never have a blog, but now i am so glad i do. i've learned a lot about my work and the work of others, why i make jewelry, and why i love it all so much, just from writing about it regularly.

to celebrate and mark the occasion i pulled together a list of my absolute favorite jewelry sites i found over the last 365 days to share with all of you. this list includes 25 of my favorite jewelers, jewelry designers, galleries, blogs, and shopping sites. i like them for a variety of reasons, the work mostly, but also the design and functionality of the site itself...here they are:

22 design studio
edith bellod
gallery loupe
erie basin
ela bauer
fingers gallery
anna lorich
rachel weatherall
jane yarborough jewelry
marianne anderson
kathryn bentley jewelry
klaus burgel
tony duquette
iggy & lou lou
barking irons
papa stour
erica weiner
jacqueline ryan
nutre arayavanish
caroline gore
katy hackney
lina peterson
christine kaltoft
aesthetic outburst
grijs

i also want to mention something new i will begin with my sophomore effort this year and that's to write about a favorite artist each month who is not a jeweler. i don't think i'll have a set time for this new feature. i'll just choose someone and write when i'm ready.

thanks for reading over the past year.