Guest Star #114...Mary Lee Hu

Today's Guest Star, Mary Lee Hu, was my professor at the University of Washington when I was working on my BFA from 2000-2002. We have kept in touch over the years and I recently saw her at the Yuma Art Symposium. She introduced me before my lecture and it was quite an honor. It also got me thinking about her work. As I look back I see her influence in my own jewelry--especially my interest in line, shape, and visual movement. Her pieces are intricately woven using very thin high-karat gold wire. The technique is labor-intensive, but meditative. I like the repetitive texture and voluminous quality of the resulting pieces. In addition to her curvilinear forms, I also included one of her geometric chains. The chain is in the forefront of my mind as I prepare to teach my chains class several times this year and as I create on new body of work (more on that soon, promise). This particular chain is very appealing to me because of its graduated and dense design. Mary's work is exquisite in pictures and in person and I feel fortunate to have studied with her.

Thanks for reading.

I Was in the Desert

I got home late last night after a week away in the desert of Arizona and California. The trip was absolutely awesome! The Yuma Art Symposium was so much fun and my lecture went very, very well. I think it might be the best one I've given so far. It felt conversational and relaxed. There was a good order and flow to the images and story and my conclusion was better. (I always struggle with the conclusion.) It did start off with some technical issues that were quickly remedied by Andy Cooperman. This was the second time he's helped me out like this. This first time was SNAG 2007 and he held my computer for me while I gave my presentation! Thanks, again, Andy! The other extremely cool thing that happened was that my teacher at the University of Washington, Mary Lee Hu, introduced me and said some really lovely things. It was such an honor and totally unexpected. I didn't know she was going to introduce me until I got to the symposium. The rest of the event was great--I met tons of wonderful artists and spent quality time with dear friends. My favorite presentation was by photographer, Deborah Ford. Her narrative work blends photographs of landscape with map imagery.

I also ate some of the best Mexican food I've ever had.

thanks to Rachel Shimpock for the iPhoto pic!

Deborah Ford

Ring by Kaiya Rainbolt - it was part of the Yuma student show and my favorite piece there 

Next I hopped in a car and took a little road trip to Long Beach, CA with my friend and colleague, Kristin Beeler. We drove through the desert of southern California and visited some truly unique and unusual places: the Imperial Sand Dunes, Salvation Mountain, and the Salton Sea. We also went to a huge date farm for date shakes and then stopped near Palm Springs to take pictures of the hundreds of windmills that line the valley.

Imperial Sand Dunes

 Salvation Mountain

Salton Sea

On Tuesday I did two back-to-back lectures, one at Long Beach City College where Kristin teaches and another one I added during the Yuma Symposium (thanks Kaiya!) at Cal State University Long Beach. Both talks detailed my career, followed by question and answer time and then some one-on-ones with students. Both lectures were great and I loved talking with everyone afterward. That's definitely my favorite part. Thanks to Kristin at LBCC and Susanna Spears and Elise at CSULB for inviting me.

And, I managed to squeeze in two awesome tattoos, one in Yuma and one in Long Beach.

Alligator by Eric Jones

It was a very exciting and inspiring six days.

I posted lots of pics on Flickr.

Thanks for reading.

studio visitors

i've been really lucky to have had some amazing guests in my studio over the past few weeks since the penland summer sessions began. we've had some interesting conversations about jewelry and art, penland happenings, and they were also kind enough to talk about my work and my residency plans. i'm won't go into detail; there is just too much and i might bore you, but i will say these conversations gave me lots to think about and have made me even more excited to make my work. i want to say thanks to all of these wonderful people for sharing their precious and valuable time with me. the above photo is in my studio before one of these visits. i usually set up my table with things i've been working on so my guests can see what i've been up to. in brief...

leslie noell, a mixed media artist - we talked about my new life at penland and how i am adjusting to my surroundings, the busy/unpredictable/strange schedule, and the multitudes of new people i meet. we also talked about drawing or making marks on paper, something i am very interested in. leslie suggested some exercises to get my ideas going and advised me to start by working with what i know.
mary lee hu, my former jewelry professor from the university of washington - we talked about what "one-0f-a-kind" means because i am having a hard time defining it within my work. she suggested going bigger, for one. she also noted i need to find my "thing" and run with it.
anika smulovitz - this was my first time meeting anika and i really enjoyed getting to know her. we talked about things we are struggling with in our work and traded suggestions on pushing through, motivation, and idea generation.
bob ebendorf and jim meyer - we talked about trends or themes in jewelry and the overlap that can occur among artists. we discussed how important it is to know who's making what and the pros and cons of keeping up with what others are doing versus not looking at others' work to steer clear of overlap. it's tricky...
most recently susie ganch and christina miller were here teaching radical jewelry makeover. we talked about making jewelry, susie's experience as a penland resident (i met susie as a resident in 1999), and radical jewelry makeover. these two are some of my favorite people and i loved spending time with them!

thanks for reading.

21st century jewelry opens!

21st century jewelry, an exhibition of contemporary jewelry by former students of mary lee hu, opens today at bainbridge arts and crafts on bainbridge island, wa. i have 9 pieces in the show, including the ring pictured above. all of my work in this show is part of my new series of line drawings. other artists include flora book, jana brevick, phil carrizzi, jan mandel, frederick miller, gina pankowski, maria phillips, vina rust, and lori talcott. the work of the show's curator, mary lee hu, will also be on display. the opening is tonight, friday, april 4 from 6-8 pm, followed by a curator’s gallery talk with mary lee hu on saturday, april 12 at 2 pm. the show runs from april 4-29.

thanks for reading.

upcoming exhibition

i will participate in a group exhibition at bainbridge arts and crafts in washington this april. the show, "twenty-first century jewelry," was curated by mary lee hu, the former professor of metal design at the university of washington in seattle. all the artists, including myself, were students of mary's. the participants include:

lori talcott
jana brevik
fred miller
phil carizzi
vina rust
maria phillips
jan mandel
gina pankowski
and mary lee hu

i am pretty stoked. these people are all amazing jewelers and metalsmiths. i am good friends with many of them, went to school with fred, vina, and phil, and have studied with lori and maria. i feel honored to be a part of this group.

what will i make...? so excited about that! i will keep working with the line drawing series i started last fall. (the above necklace, "line drawing no. 3," is one of the necklaces from this series.) only now i want make the work more 3d. such a challenge for me. my work tends to be pretty flat.

show details:

twenty-first century jewelry
april 4-29, 2008
bainbridge arts and crafts
151 winslow way east
bainbridge island, wa 98110

thanks for reading.