Japan!

This news is a little bit late, but my Bow Cluster Brooches are currently way over the ocean in Japan. Japan! "Art of the Brooch" opened mid-October and includes a seriously incredible group of Penland affiliated metalsmiths: Lola Brooks, Angela Bubash, Raissa Bump, Daniel DiCaprio, Doug Harling, Arthur Hash, Mi-Sook Hur, Stacey Lane, Jeong Ju Lee, Sarah Loertscher, Barbara McFadyen, C. James Meyer, and myself. The show opened at C.A.J. Gallery in Kyoto and made an appearance at Kobe Design University in Kobe earlier in the month. It's always thrilling to have work exhibit in a foreign country and I am psyched to add Japan to my list. 

 Thanks for reading.

Projections

video still of light reflecting on a river in Asheville 

with blooming effects

I've been collecting videos for awhile now, recording two-minutes of visuals, light and movement using my point-and-shoot digital camera. Over the past few months I've been thinking about projecting these videos onto things like objects, trees, buildings and water, wondering what would happen and considering the video and the elements of the video as materials. I planned to create an installation while at Penland and thought I would build a space within an existing space. However, I couldn't stop thinking about projection and realized I had to take this opportunity to work with my videos and "sketch" in real time, in real scale and in public. I worked with my friend and fellow artist, Mark Boyd, and together we set up a projector at an angle and several feet above the edge of a pond. The video projected on the surface of the water and up into the trees, the trees reflected onto the water, and the rippling of the water itself reflected onto the trees. In addition, leaves and pine needles floating on the surface of the water added unusual details. Neither of us knew any of this would happen and were beyond excited to discover all the effects that occurred simultaneously. We also played Sigur Rós on a sound system and the music layered beautifully with the ambient noises of insects and tree frogs. It was an exciting hour and now I have even more information to work with. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos because it was too dark to capture everything but I will remedy this the next time...

the pond in daylight

practicing a few nights before by projecting on the trees near the metals studio

 the projector the evening of the installation

still from another video I projected that evening, water trickling along a glacier in iceland

A Complete Thought

class selfie on the last day

My Penland class "A Complete Thought" was a fantastic experience. My students worked hard and made some very thoughtful work, considering their pieces from all sides and paying close attention to the details. It really felt like everyone challenged themselves technically and aesthetically and I so appreciate that. I enjoyed working with them and wish we had another week together. Session 7 is an intense one with jammed-packed days of demos, discussion and work time. Plus, there are evening events and other activities around campus. There is never enough time so it seems, but I'm pleased with the work of my group of 12 and we had a lot of fun. Here are a few of the finished pieces...

necklace by Baba Barnett

brooch by Roxy Lentz

ring by Sarah Tector

bracelet by Jay Teilhet

brooch by Claire Buck

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Friday Final

Today is the last day of class and students have all day and all night to work. My students have challenged themselves in a big way so I imagine many of them burning the midnight oil this evening. It's exciting to see so many of them working at the edge of their skill set, pushing themselves to get it done and done well. I realized yesterday that one of the the best feelings is seeing a student do something awesome. I might get more excited than they do.

We began our day with a last walk along the fire road and then I gave a scoring and folding demo, which is my favorite technique to teach. Now everyone is quietly working, trying to get their pieces done by tomorrow's all-school show and tell at 11am.

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Working Away

A few images of student work in progress… in sterling silver, stones, twine, rusted steel wire, fabric, mica, felt, seed pods and more.

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Midweek Wonderful

Today marks the half-way point for my class "A Complete Thought" at the Penland School of Crafts. It's been a busy time in the metals studio with daily walks in the morning, two demonstrations a day, independent work time, one-on-one sessions with me and nightly artists talks. 

We began on Monday with a day devoted to process. We took a walk and observed and then looked at all sorts of sculptural jewelry in a PowerPoint. I lead the class through a thinking and writing exercise and a hands-on jewelry making project. In the afternoon we talked about the elements of sculptural design and the basic steps of artist process. Then for the rest of the day, students worked on ideas for the piece they want to make now and individually met with me to ask questions and review plans. 

Yesterday I demonstrated bezel setting and later talked about using alternative materials, showing them a number of easy low-tech methods. I also described how I use spray paint. My bezel demo was the most challenging demo I have ever given. Everything that could go wrong did and I struggled, but, as I explained to my students, I felt it was a good thing. It was very real. Anything can happen while making ones'  work and problems inevitably arise, even when you have a lot of experience. 

So, it's been a wonderful time already. I have a great bunch of hard-working and fun students and I am enjoying every minute of just being at Penland. Today we will be covering tab setting and pin stems and students will continue to work on their individual projects.

one-hour, sculptural necklace by one of my students

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Onward Ideas, A Complete Thought

Making thoroughly considered jewelry is the challenge of my upcoming class at the Penland School of Crafts. In a few weeks I'll head up the mountain to teach "A Complete Thought" during Session 7 and I'm busy putting the finishing touches on my lesson plans. I'm also busy developing a challenge for my own art practice: I would like to create something while I teach. I don't really make my own work while I'm teaching because it's hard for me to separate the making mindset from the teaching one. However, I do believe it's good for students to see their instructor work and I like the idea of talking about my process as I make something right in front of them. So, I'm thinking about creating an installation or series of installations using simple, predetermined parameters while students work independently. I would like to treat these pieces as large-scale, ephemeral sketches that echo and complement what is happening inside the classroom.

The class will happen August 24-30 and students will work on one piece of jewelry during that time. As they work, I will ask students to really consider the piece from all sides, placing equal importance on the front and back and creating jewelry that has a presence both on and off the body. Since my interests are leaning towards installation and sculpture, and I'm thinking about ideas so much, I'm looking forward to sharing fresh thoughts with my students as I lead them through the process of creating their own new works.

Thanks for reading.

Five Days

I just got back from a wonderful 5-day visit to the Penland School of Crafts. The reason for the trip was to be a visiting artist for current Fall concentration instructor, Adam Whitney. I spent two days with his class teaching chains and connections. I did a few demos and gave a presentation about chains and another one about my work. It was great to spend time in the studio. I enjoyed Adam's students and loved spending time with Adam, himself. He's a good friend and we hadn't seen each other in two and half years (!) because he was teaching in Malaysia. We had a lot of catching-up to do.

Adam demonstrating how to use the metal crimper

I also went to two different openings, one for the resident artists on Friday and the other for the Core Fellows on Saturday. Both shows were wonderful! The current residents are such a strong group and it's exciting for me to see as a former resident. They make me so proud! The Core Fellows are also making incredible work as they seem to get more sophisticated every year. The resident opening was in Asheville at the Asheville Area Arts Council Gallery and the Core Show happened in Northlight on the Penland campus. It was also my pleasure to serve the Core Fellows supper on Saturday before the opening. Core Show day is my favorite day of the Penland year and serving dinner to these lovely people feels very special. 

The rest of my time was filled with visits with friends, thoughtful discussions about art, and walks around the campus. I love every moment of my time at Penland and it always feels like coming home.

sculpture by resident artist, Tom Shields

Penland's Core Fellows

the view from the porch of the metals studio early one evening

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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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A Few Brooches by My Champs

Mary

For Brooch Week (Week Five) the assignment was to make a brooch at least 3" x 3" and incorporate a tab setting, large-format prong setting, or bezel setting or a hollow form. I also asked them to pay close attention to the back of the piece, adding thoughtful details and pin mechanism.

Rachel

Angie

Pamela

Pam

More on Flickr.

Thanks for reading.