guest star friday #39...biba schutz

4+1 stonehedge brooch

i have admired the work of biba schutz for years. my first metalsmithing teacher, barbara crocker, gave me a few metalsmith magazines and asked me to mark what i liked. biba's work was among my favorites. i got to meet biba at acc over the weekend which was a pretty exciting moment for me. we had a great conversation, i got to look at all of her work very closely, and i walked away feeling really good. she later came to the searchlight section to look at my work which was also very exciting. the whole transaction was definitely a highlight of the event. biba's work is interesting to me because of its simplicity and its focus on lines and space. she has mastered a gestural quality that makes her work seem effortless. i also love her asymmetrical compositions and their graphic feel.

brooch

earrings

you can see many examples of her work at sienna gallery, gallery loupe, and velvet de vinci.

thanks for reading.

sienna gallery

i am very, very excited to announce that sienna gallery is going to represent my work this summer! sienna is one of my favorite contemporary studio jewelry galleries and represents many of my jewelry heros. sienna will be showing my current studio jewelry series, line drawings. i will be able to make new work in this series which will be my top priority when i return from greece. what a fantastic task to come home to!

raissa bump

jimena rios

lina peterson

susie ganch

melanie bilenker

esther knobel

biba schutz

thanks for reading.

american craft exposition, part 2

judith kinghorn

for me, one of the best parts of doing shows like the american craft exposition is the people i meet. this time around i was most excited to meet sandra enterline, pat flynn, mark hartung and gretchen goss, and reiko ishiyama. i admire their work and it was great to talk with them and see their work in person. some new people i met who's work i was not so familiar with include judith kinghorn and deborah faye adler. in addition i was psyched to spend some time with biba schutz and todd reed, two of my favorites!

sandra enterline

deborah faye adler

in the emerging section i was happy to meet grace chin and genevieve yang who both make beautiful work. it was fun to meet them and talk about our work and businesses.

grace chin's display

these are just a few of the incredible group of jewelry artists at this show. to see a full list, please visit the ACE website.

thanks for reading.

sparkle plenty

i don't think i've written about sparkle plenty yet...SP is an invitational group exhibtion at quirk gallery in richmond, va. the show was curated by susie ganch. susie chose several jewelers and we were asked to invite another jeweler whom we admire. i chose lori talcott, my friend and mentor. here's a list of the other artists (among them you will see many of my favorites so i am pretty psyched to be in this show):

joanna gollberg
caitie sellers
marlene true
sharon massey
blanka sperkova
biba schutz
sandra enterline
amy tavern
lori talcott

i have been working on spray painted pieces for the show, taking my little graffiti pin concept a bit farther by layering paint and by adding inscribed lines and marks. the look of the jewelry is based on medieval, renaissance, and victorian pieces that i've been reading about. i thought it might be interesting to combine something traditional with something unconventional. here are pictures of my process so far including taping the pieces down to protect the connections from getting covered by paint, my spray paint booth with ventilation, and the jewelry with the first layer of paint.

more images soon...

thanks for reading

acc. ok.

i've been back from acc baltimore for about a week now and i'm feeling good about the show and my experience there. i feel much the same way i did when i returned from the august buyers market show. i learned a lot, was fascinated by the scene, and was excited about the people i met...all ditto for acc. i arrived on thursday, march 26 and spent the day setting up with fellow jewelers, maya kini, jennaca davies, and stacey webber. things weren't quite ready for us when we got there so there was some waiting at first, but then we got started and the booth just unfolded. it was fun to work with maya, jennaca, and stacey and it was fantastic to see their work in person. i posted more images on my flickr.
the show opened the next morning and i was astonished by the droves of people. there was constant action for the first couple of hours. over the next three days i met so many people - customers, show attendees, fellow artist participants, colleagues....and, as i mentioned on friday, one of the highlights for me was meeting biba schutz.

as for the other searchlighters...what an amazing group of artists. i was psyched to be included among such great work. i think we presented a very strong show and i was really impressed by the work. you can see images on flickr at searchlight 2009. you can also read more about searchlight at acc's site and at greenjeans brooklyn, the blog of amy shaw, who designed this year's show.

thanks for reading.

the stimulus project at sienna gallery

i am one of 80 artists exhibiting in the stimulus project at sienna gallery. the show features all one-of-a-kind work under $500. (find me third row from bottom, second image from right)

the stimulus project
june 26 - august 25
opening reception june 27, 6-9pm
online exhibition starting july 1

here's the list of participating artists:

Efharis Alepedis Jon Anzalone Suzanne Beautyman Jamie Bennett Harriete Estel Berman Thyra Bessette Danika Bevirt Melanie Bilenker Kristin Bolhuis Allyson Bone Melissa Borrell Jana Brevick Lola Brooks Doug Bucci Raissa Bump Sarah Kate Burgess Tzu-Ju Chen Sharon Church Petra Class Alexia Cohen Erin Daily Leslie Dickerson Noam Elyashiv Ashley Ernest Pat Flynn Steven Ford David Forlano Susie Ganch Erin Gardner Grace Gerfen Caroline Gore Rebecca Hannon Arthur Hash Amy Haskins Anna Hinkes Reiko Ishiyama Dan Jocz Yevgeniya Kaganovich Lauren Kalman Anya Kivarkis Shoko Kozu Seung-Hea Lee Anna Lorich Sharon Massey Paul McClure Bruce Metcalf Myra Mimlitsch-Gray Seth Papac Joan Parcher Mary Pearse Hilary Pfeifer Maria Phillips Natalya Pinchuk Robin Quigley Tina Rath Alexandra Rivera Shella Robinson Vina Rust Biba Schutz Barbara Seidenath Sondra Sherman Leslie Shershow Sakurako Shimizu Marjorie Simon Kiff Slemmons Barbara Smith Tracy Steepy Rebecca Strzelec Kristin Sword Hisano Takei Anthony Tammaro Amy Tavern Islay Taylor Amelia Toelke Jenn Trask Sarah Troper Julia Turner Johan Van Aswegen Veleta Vancza Jonathan Wahl Stacey Webber Brian Weissman Heather White Joe Wood Sayumi Yokouchi

the work i sent is part of a new series called "awkward" which is how i've been feeling lately as i make new work. here are a few images:


thanks for reading.

Guest Star #109...Sofia Calderwood

So who was I looking at in jewelry and metalsmithing ten years ago? In addition to Susie Ganch, Lori Talcott, and Biba Schutz, I loved the work of Sofia Calderwood. I remember reading about her in Metalsmith and wrote a paper about her for my History of Body Adornment class while I was in school. I even got to talk with her about her work at that time. That was an exciting moment for me. Sofia's work combines traditional metalsmithing techniques and unconventional materials. I remember being drawn to her clever use of earplugs and chenille and even tried using fiber in my own work. I also liked the tiny scale of her hollowforms and her attention to detail, like graduated chain links and hammer marks.

Thanks for reading.

american craft exposition

i leave for the american craft exposition next tuesday. i've been working on one-of-a-kind pieces for this show, both line drawings and borderlines. the above picture is a new brooch which i am really excited about. i think a big necklace needs to happen next.
i will be one of 12 different emerging artists at the show. we will be grouped together much like at the acc searchlight show i did back in february. the other emerging jewelers are grace chin (first image below) and genevieve yang (second image below). the list of other jewelers is pretty incredible (biba schutz, sandra enterline, pat flynn to name a few) and i am excited to see their work in person.

the show takes place in evanston, il, near chicago. i've never been to chicago before and i am looking forward to spending some time there. i here the museums and food are excellent!


show details:
ameican craft exposition
henry crown sports pavilion, northwestern university
2311 n. campus drive, at lincoln street and the lakefront
evanston, il
friday, aug 28 10am-8pm
saturday, aug 29 10am-6pm
sunday, aug 30 11am-5pm

tickets are $12 advance, $15 at the door and are good for all 3 days

thanks for reading.

sparkle plenty promos

(biba schutz, me, caitie sellers, joanna gollberg)

i got a package of sparkle plenty 5 postcards and foldouts yesterday. they look really great! i was also pretty psyched to find my image on the quirk website.

(that's lori talcott's work on the front.)

thanks for reading.