I Left My Jewelry in San Francisco, 2013 Edition

I just returned from a week-long trip to the Bay Area, spending the first two days at the California College of the Arts in Oakland as a visiting artist. Wednesday night I enjoyed the company of the metals faculty and students at a potluck at Deb Lozier's house--such great people! The next day I began my visit at the school by meeting with senior metals students. We spent several hours talking as they fired questions at me about my business, my production jewelry, and my one-of-a-kind work. Then I did a bunch of six-minute one-on-one crits complete with timer. This was intense but really fun. Immediately following, I gave a 45-minute lecture about my work and career to a small crowd of students, faculty, and members of the public. Next I met with the "Color on Metal" class. I started the class with a short presentation about how I use color in my work and why I use spray paint specifically. Then I demonstrated how I apply spray paint to metal and how I use files, a scribe, and sand paper to reveal the layers of paint and to add detail and texture. Students got copper samples to try painting and I spent time with students individually to answer more questions. It was such a good day and I left feeling really good. I also left with some sweet Ccac Metals schwag in the form of a hoodie AND a tshirt. (Thanks, Tony!)

Thanks to Deb Lozier, Marilyn de Silva, Curtis Arima, Tony Esola, and all the wonderful students!

After class I hopped on BART and headed to the San Francisco to stay with dear friends and kick it in one of my favorite cities ever. Here's a taste of what I did...

Rock crystal chandelier from 1730 at the Legion of Honor

I loved seeing this so much that if it had been the only thing I saw at the museum that day, the $20 ticket would have been totally worth it.

Lucretia by Joos van Cleve at the Legion of Honor

I was very happy to see this painting due to my current interest in the saints and my love of this style of painting...so many wonderful things about this piece: her gesture and expression, the lush fur, her jewelry, and the ghostly haze around her head. 

Gold wreath, Greek, 4th-3rd century BC at the Legion of Honor

delicate, rich color, beautifully preserved

Necklace of opals and gold, Faberge, 1890's at the Legion of Honor

A lovely set, but what I found most interesting are the mismatched earring backs. They make the piece accessible and show us that the earrings were indeed worn and probably loved.

 Graffiti I stumbled upon as I wandered around the Mission. This one shows jewelry!

Girl with the Pearl Earring by Vermeer at the de Young

Such a treat to see in person. Absolutely exquisite.

some of my work at Velvet da Vinci
I went to Velvet to see the current exhibition "Ferrous" and to visit with my gallerist, Elizabeth Shypertt. Excellent show, excellent gallerist!

My latest tattoo, which I'm posting because it's awesome, but really because it's (partially) 

related to my work. It was done by Katie Sellergren at Blackheart Tattoo. Her work is incredible and she is super-awesome to spend time with!

Please visit my Flickr to see more pictures here.

Thanks for reading.

Also Very Interesting...Winter Reading 2013

Around this time of the year, in addition to my favorite online stuff, I also like to share my winter reading list and this marks my third installment. This year I'm revisiting two books I've read before and a few new ones...

The top title, Tone Vigeland, was loaned to me by my first metalsmithing teacher, Barbara Crocker, during a recent visit. Barbara loves her work and wanted to share this book with me. I'm thinking a lot about multiples and repetition in my work right now so it's a perfect book to absorb.

I read this the summer of 2012 and finally have a copy of my own. As I reread it over Christmas break, I realized how Sophie Calle has gotten under my skin and how her work has affected my own work and my process. She is a fascinating artist.

I read Blink years ago and feel it's time to read it again because I realize how important observation as a concept is in my work.

My quest for full sleeves and my recent collection "History Repeats" inspired this one... and since I love to read about the history of jewelry and costume it makes perfect sense to expand to the 

history of tattoos, another form of body adornment and self-expression.

This book is basically the catalogue of the jewelry collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, my favorite museum and the jewelry collection that brought me to tears.

 The last two titles are about the saints, a subject I became interested in while I was in Belgium. I visited so many cathedrals I couldn't help but become intrigued by the stories of these remarkable figures. 

Now let's see how all of this finds its way into my work...

See what I read last winter here.

See what I read the winter before that here.

Thanks for reading.

Home...Part 2

early work by Sol LeWitt, a favorite artist, at Mass MOCA

I visited three museums while I was home: The Fenimore in Cooperstown, NY, Mass MOCA in North Adams, MA, and The Valentine Museum in Richmond, VA. I saw a lot at each one, but in an effort to keep this post relatively short, I posted photos of the highlights. I was pretty psyched with each visit, especially Mass MOCA. It's probably the best contemporary art museum I've been to in the U.S. and I liked all of the exhibits. All of them! (This does not usually happen.) In brief, I got to see many of my favorite things: historical clothing and jewelry, tattoos, an artist studio, some creepy stuff, and the work a few favorite artists. I posted all my pictures on Flickr so you can see more more more...

hemline of an evening gown from 1824 at the Valentine

tattoo portrait exhibition at the Valentine

posthumous memorial of a baby at the studio of Edward V. Valentine at the Valentine

Civil War era dress at the Fenimore

detail of a sculpture by Lee Bul at Mass MOCA

tiger-skin rug made of 500,000 cigarettes by Xu Bing at Mass MOCA

Thanks for reading.