Winter Reading List

I gave myself a book list for the winter and I am steadily reading my way through it. Here are the titles I am in the middle of, planning to read, or have finished since December:

Evocative Objects (above) edited by Sherry Turkle includes essays from artists, scientists, and humanists about the importance and meaning of favorite objects.

The Artist's Guide: How to Make a Living Doing What You Love by Jackie Battenfield details information for creating and keeping a successful career in the arts.

Dorothea Pruhl: Colliers edited by Florian Hufnagl with text by Renate Luckner-Bien describes the necklaces of one of my favorite jewelers, accompanied by lots of huge, beautiful pictures.

Bernd and Hilla Becher: Life and Work by Susanne Lange discusses the life and work of the Bechers who photographed an industrial landscape including water towers, factories, and grain elevators.

Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail by Avril Hart and Susan North offers an almost scientific view of costume details like darts, draping, and pinking.

The Language of Ornament by James Trilling discusses the history and meaning of ornament.

Do you have a title you think I might like? Please send me an email (amy@amytavern.com) and share your recommendation. I am always on the look out for good books!

Thanks for reading.

From the Forge, Cheshire Forge

I hired my friend Jon Shearin to make me a custom stake with a long, round mandrel on one end and a narrow, flat anvil surface on the other. I used a similar tool in college to make forms for my BFA thesis on chatelaines and then revisited it last year when I made work for Spectrum. I love what I can make with this tool and want to continue with other hollow forms this year and beyond. Having a custom stake made by a friend makes it even better. (And he'll make one for you, too.)

one of my first chatelaines, made using a similar stake

Sculpture in steel by Jon Shearin

Be sure to check out Jon's work on Etsy, too, like this enameled
steel belt buckle.

Thanks for reading.

Surprises in the Mail

I love getting good mail, meaning letters and packages from friends. When I got home from my Christmas break there was a stack of mail waiting for me and it included a few surprises. First there was the acid-etched thank you from Mary Hallam Pearse and the metals students at UGA who visited my studio in the fall. I think this brass postcard is one of the best uses of acid-etching I've seen so far. I also got these incredible wee tools from my friend and fellow metalsmith, Kate Schroeder. I have a penchant for the small and these little guys really made my day.

Thanks for reading.

Guest Star #70...Marzia Rossi

Today's Guest Star is Marzia Rossi from Italy. What I like so much about Marzia's work is the map-like geography, especially from her "Stones" and "Home" series. These pieces look like aerial views or satellite images of specific, yet unknown places. I like the simplicity of design, the mixed textures and patinas, and the quiet, abstract quality of each piece.


You can see her mica series at Sienna Gallery.

Thanks for reading.

More Embroidery

Another embroidery I was thinking about the other day is this one, based on a drawing from my sketchbook. Here are images of both the embroidery and the sketch so you can see where the idea came from and what it became. The sketch itself was just me drawing away, repeating the same shape over and over. Then filling in the space in between so the negative space became positive space and vice~versa. The embroidery is the sketch translated into hundreds and hundreds of colonial knots, my favorite stitched knot.

Thanks for reading.

The Lost Embroideries

I've been in review mode since the beginning of the year--thinking, writing, organizing, archiving. I spent some time with my embroidery samples from last winter the other day and realized I never photographed or posted several pieces. Here are a few for you to see now with more on flickr.

Thanks for reading.

Snow Show!

I worked with my most unusual material yet when I made 25 brooches out of snow for the recent "Snow Show" at Penland. Core fellows Ian Henderson and Leah Frost made a giant igloo and hosted a special exhibition featuring art inspired by, or in my case made with, snow. The snow-themed art was inside the igloo and included work by core fellows, studio coordinators, and other community members.

Snow is not an easy material to work with! I had to work quickly and with gloves on. Once the pieces were done I spritzed them with water and froze them for several hours before the opening. The first 25 people at the show got to wear and keep one. (Process pics on flickr.)

steel pins with white tool dip by Daniel Beck

tissue paper light by Rosina Saqib

I posted lots more images on Flickr. You can also visit the Penland School of Crafts Facebook page to see more pictures.

Thanks for reading.