Big, Part 4

So with all that big stuff happening, and coming, I find myself wanting a more low-key schedule. I tend to plan my year nearly a year out and I tend to fill it up with all kinds of interesting things: exhibitions, teaching, lectures, travel... Now I'm doing the opposite and working hard at keeping my schedule as open as possible. I've been saying "no" a lot, a delicate, challenging and often scary thing to do. I'm just trying to create space for myself to figure out the shift I described yesterday, space in my mind and in my schedule. I'm making room. I also want to keep things as simple as possible because I don't know what will happen when I move home to help take care of my dad. This all feels very good and right. And, with that said, I do have a few things planned:

My Etsy Holiday Sale is happening again this year but will be much-abbreviated because of my upcoming move. This year the sale will begin the Monday before Thanksgiving, November 25 and will end on Saturday, November 30. As always everything will be 25% off and shipping in the U.S. will be free. On December 1 I will close my studio to prepare for my move and will not return to my bench until January.

I'm teaching and lecturing at Munson Williams Procter Arts Institute/Pratt MWP in Utica, NY in February. The lecture will be February 6 and my workshops will run February 8 and 9 and March 1. Utica is not far from Richfield Springs and I took some classes at MWPAI years ago (drawing and ceramics). I'm excited to return there as an instructor and speaker. More details soon. 

I will be return to Penland to teach next summer during session 7, August 24-30. The class, titled “The Whole Jewel," will focus on creating one-of-a-kind pieces. I developed it when I thought I was going to teach in Australia a few years ago so I'm excited to finally have a chance to see it through.  

Here's the description:

"In this class students will be challenged to think beyond traditional jewelry design to create a singular piece of jewelry that is both sculptural and wearable. We will look to other sources for inspiration such as fashion, sculpture, or installation. Through demonstrations, discussions, one-on-one sessions with Amy, and plenty of independent work time, students will create a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry that is beautifully made and thoughtfully designed from all sides. We will focus on the details that make jewelry stronger and more interesting, as well as unique and personal. Technical demonstrations will include surface design, cold connections, bezel and tab setting, pin mechanisms and the use of alternative materials."

Finally, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading this week and for your incredible response. These posts were challenging to write--sorting thoughts out and then getting them onto "paper" in a way that makes sense. It felt important to do and also important to share. The response I have received via Facebook "likes," comments and private messages as well as comments on my blog and emails have truly blown me away. Everyone has been so supportive and encouraging and many of you made me cry (in a good way!). I never anticipated the response I got and I am just grateful and humbled and honored. It's always wonderful to share big news with all of you and I thank you for your continued interest and support. I think it's amazing. You are all the best and I mean that. Sincerely.

Thanks for reading.

Big, Part 3

Island of 14,264 Days

My time in Iceland was huge and I am now, four months after leaving, beginning to realize just how huge. Those 70 days serve as a turning point for me composed of many singular moments bearing weight and lightness simultaneously. I started processing my trip in September when I finally had some space to think. Thoughts started coming to me in a sort-of rush and it was difficult to get words out of my mouth because they were in a jumble in my mind. Since then I have told a few people who are dear to me and through these conversations my thoughts have become clearer.

I will begin by saying a big shift for my work is stirring in me, a shift away from jewelry toward something else, possibly sculpture and installation. Iceland and my "Island" showed me I am capable of expressing myself successfully in techniques and materials outside of jewelry. They also showed me I am interested in expressing myself in other ways, too. I see now, first and foremost, that I am an artist, a title I have been uncomfortable with until recently. My "Island" is the best piece I have ever made and it's fascinating to me that it's non-functional and not jewelry. I think this is telling and I am trying to pay attention.  

I also realized in Iceland that my main goal as an artist is to communicate and connect. I wish to make things that reach a wider audience and are perhaps made in collaboration with people I care about and admire. I do not want to be limited by materials, technique, or scale.

 

a dreamlike first view out my bus window as I left for  

Skagaströnd and the Nes Artist Residency

 
I'm not sure of much else right now simply because it's all so fresh and I want to add that I'm not giving up jewelry entirely. I can say I want to take some time off to explore this shift, give it room to develop and make itself apparent to me. I want to go back to Iceland to do this and I am working on ways to get myself there in the spring. I might do another residency or I might just live in Reykjavík, creating a self-structured residency in an apartment. Either way I will take time to read, research, think, and write about my work and allow this shift, whatever it may be, to happen. 

My friend, Rebeca Mendez, took this picture the day I left Nes. 

The lava fields are perhaps my most-treasured place in Iceland.

And Iceland feels like the perfect place to explore this. I have never felt more at home anywhere and it felt like I was coming home when I stepped off the plane. I was incredibly excited but also sensed tremendous calm. I love Iceland and I miss it every single day. The vast landscape gives my mind and spirit space and is so beautiful and so unusual that it's still near impossible for me to describe. It is a work of opposites, too, something that resonates with me intimately, and I find myself increasingly drawn to it with each passing day. I feel kindred with it and I am absolutely compelled to go back.

Ache, an installation made before I went to Iceland

After my show opens in Sweden I will go to Iceland and live there until July.

Thanks for reading.