Goodies from Santa Fe....

I finally had the energy to take some pictures tonight. The last three days were a blurrrrr. I had a fever and every time I put my head down...the room would spin. Today I went into work for 5 hours and then just gave up and came home.

But I am feeling a bit better so I took some pics. I really didn't buy a lot at the show. I did find some brass beads from Cameroon that were worn by the Kirdi. Mixed in are some glass beads from Joanne Zekowski.


Cris gave me one of her enameled hearts.


I also bought a big-ass Peddinghaus chasing hammer. A girl just can't have enough hammers.

I hate colds!!!

Of course I'm sure nobody has ever said they love having a cold. I thought I was getting better on Friday and then Saturday showed up and bitch-slapped me back into bed. It feels like someone has hit me in the head with a hammer...and keeps hitting me. My nose and lungs are raw....pretty picture...huh. What I thought was going to be a good weekend to get things done has turned into a total waste of 48 hours. I'm having a hard time doing things....because I get dizzy moving around. This SUCKS!!! I hate it, hate it, hate it.

I lifted this pic from Karen's blog. Cris and I in Santa Fe at the La Fonda. We managed to take over the fireplace almost every night.

Bella Art Bench....very cool

I had a chance to talk to two very cool girls....Rosie Wendel and Bev Perina in one of my classes at Santa Fe (a class that never happened...but that's another story). They came into the room and whipped out these art benches. Being a tool whore...they instantly had my attention.

It unfolds like a gameboard. It includes a powerstrip that hooks onto the bench in the upper right hand corner, a magnetic strip in the upper left hand corner with metal containers, a 12" metal ruler which is also held to the bench with magnets, and a tool rack which can be placed on either the right or left hand side. We've all experience the flimsy convention center tables that bounce up and down when you try to do any type of hammering. This bench provides a nice solid work surface. It's also good at home if you work on the dining room table...like I do at times. You can pick it up and move it....easy peasy.

If you're interested, they retail for $89.50. You can get yours by contacting the girls at bellarosestudio@gmail.com

Home Sweet Home....

We had sooo much fun in Santa Fe but it is good to be home. Missed Lou, missed the cats. Here are some pics...stories later...maybe :)

The weather went from warm and sunny on Thursday to snowy over the weekend. But Santa Fe is beautiful in the snow.

A great big bronze bear scuplture all nestled in snow.


A lone snow covered bench on the way to the convention center


Giant black swans covered in snow.


After walking in the snow...there's nothing better than a plate of spicy hot New Mexican food.


And the major reason for going to Santa Fe was to spend time with friends. Cris and Karen at their artisan tables.



It was a weekend of good food, good shopping (pics later), a fun class, and great friends. We spent a few nights in front of the fireplace at La Fonda just talking and laughing.

Stacy, Karen and Cris....I miss you already!!

Headed to Santa Fe

I'm off to Santa Fe on Thursday to BeadFest. I have a couple of fun classes but mostly it's just to hang out with the girls. I haven't seen most of them since June so it will be good to catch up.

I've decided not to take the laptop since I have to take tools. Too much to lug around. I hate baggage.

I'll be back on line Tuesday with pictures

Call For Entries...Metal Clay Welcome

METAL Inclinations2 International Juried Exhibition 2010-11 will include selections of the most exemplary fine metal art jewelry created by metalsmiths, silversmiths, goldsmiths and jewelers all over the world.

DEADLINE: June 30, 2010
METAL Inclinations2 will debut on the Internet
October 31, 2010- and run until October 31, 2011

Go to: www.metalinclinations.org/enter.htm to download a prospectus

JURORS:
Jamie Bennett, Bio and art: www.newpaltz.edu/metal/people.cfm#Jamie
Klaus Burgel, Bio and art: www.klausburgel.com
John Cogswell, Bio and art: www.newpaltz.edu/metal/people.cfm#John
Sydney Lynch, Bio and art: www.sydneylynch.com

AWARDS:
$2,000 First place award sponsored by the Society for Midwest Metalsmiths.
$1,000 Second place award, sponsored by Hauser and Miller.
$500 Third place award gift certificate, by Rio Grande.
$200 Award of merit gift certificate, by Pasternak Findings.
$100 Three awards of merit gift certificates by Pasternak Findings.

Enter METAL Inclinations2 directly by using the Juried Art Services website: http://www.juriedartservices.com/index.php?content=event_info&event_id=221

METAL Inclinations2 is sponsored by Hauser & Miller and produced and presented by The Society for Midwest Metalsmiths. SMM is a not-for-profit organization of volunteer metalsmiths. The Society's goal is to promote, develop, educate, and encourage individuals who are interested in metalsmithing

Sneak Peek.....

I received an advanced copy of Mary Hettmansperger's new book....Mixed Metal Jewelry Workshop.

And if the cover makes you drool....wait until you see the inside. It's beautiful.

Mary gives all the details you need to choose your materials / tools and instructions on how to work with them. The book has 20 projects that use sheet metal, metal clay (silver, bronze, and copper) wire, mesh, screws and my favorite.....galvanized wire grid.

Some of the projects use sheet metal to capture found objects...like ancient coins, driftwood, and metal clay, while other projects use metal clay to capture sheet metal. There's weaving and stitching and extruding....Oh My.

This is definetely one for your library. Mary also has two other books...Fabulous Woven Jewelry and Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet. A great triology of jewelry techniques.

PS....you might be asking yourself how I got an advanced copy....a picture of one of my pendants is in the book. Thanks Mary!!!!

I could use another weekend.....

It's been a hectic couple of weeks. Mom had a knee replacement 12 days ago and is now home. My brother went into the hospital this week and is now home. I spent the last two weeks working and visiting hospital rooms. I'm glad that they can now recouperate at home.

It's amazing how well my Mom is getting around. She really went through the operation well and is zipping around with her walker. My sister is in from Georgia for the next month to stay with her.

Yesterday we got replacement windows put in upstairs. It took most the day. The house was/is a total wreck becasue we had to move things away from the windows to give them room to work. While they worked upstairs, I cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom so at least one room was clean. Once the crew went outside I cleaned up the main bedroom. Today Lou and I worked on our individual rooms. So it's coming along.

I have a confession to make. I hadn't cleaned the upstairs windows in years...like maybe 20 years :) Being old (the windows, not me) they didn't tilt in to clean and I (being scared) wasn't about to get up on a ladder and climb along the roof to clean them. So the only way to have clean windows was to replace them. It just took a long time to do it.

Houses suck the money out of you. When we first moved in 20+ years ago, we had to remove 3 very old, very large trees in the front yard because they were dying. Then a few years later we had to take out an even bigger tree in the back yard because it was hollow half-way up. Last year we had to take out another giant in the backyard because it kept dropping large branches and damaging our house and the neighbors. It got to the point the neighbors asked us if we were going to take it out...hint, hint. Because of their size and precarious locations, it cost $2-3K per tree....so we haven't done much with the house until recently...when the rest of it started falling apart.

In the last 3 years we've had to put on a new roof, had to install a new furnace (and I insisted on finally having a house with air conditioning), sided it and put in replacement windows. This next year I want to finally put some time and energy into the inside. My kitchen has to be 30-40 years old. It has formica countertops...I'm not kidding... and they are staring to come loose. So a kitchen re-do is in our future.

So I could really do with another weekend. It's going to take another couple days to pull the house together, finish the laundry, finish my taxes. I take off for Santa Fe on Thursday for a long weekend at Bead Fest. I'm taking a few fun classes...no new techniques, just fun. It will be nice to just work with metal for a couple days and visit with friends.

Needless to say I don't have any new work to talk about...and probably won't for a week or so. I will have pics from Santa Fe....and I have an advanced copy of a new book that you will all love. I'll blog about that next.

Au Revoir, Bye-Bye

Yikes...

The week flew by and the weekend went even faster. Mom had a knee replacement on Tuesday so the entire week was spent running between my office and her room. Luckily the surgery was at my hospital. Lucky for two reasons...we have some of the best doctors and all I had to do was walk across the street to see her. On Friday they transferred her to the rehab hospital in Lakewood. She is doing really really well. She's suppose to be in for two weeks but they are now talking about only keeping her a week.

Went to the auto show this weekend. I am looking for something a bit larger than the car to carry art show stuff. I'm having a hard time moving to an SUV. I'm a car girl. I love to drive and I love cars...sporty, fast cars. But I need one vehicle that I will enjoy driving and be able to carry everything. I am seriously looking at the Ford Edge. The back seats lay down as well as the passenger seat in the front. It has a huge amount of room and still gets 25 mpg on the highway. I am going to wait to buy until the 2011's come out. Then they will want to deal on the 2010's.

Lou dropped a bomb on me this weekend. He has been offered a full time position in.....Abu Dhabi...Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emerate. The first thing out of my mouth as the uber supportive wife that I am...."I'm not moving to Abu Dhabi". They already asked Lou what I do and wondered if they could find a job for me too. But there is no research at the hospital in Abu Dhabi so they don't have a position for me....which is a good thing because..."I'm not moving to Abu Dhabi".

Yikes....He will end up going...he wants to go....whether it is full time or part-time we haven't figured that out. It's going to suck to be alone. I don't mind being alone occassionaly...I even like it. But for extended periods of time...it's going to suck. Maybe it will only end up being a few weeks at a time. Who knows.

L.H.O.O.Q

I'm still hashing over this idea of originality and authenticity.

Originality.....At what point does the piece that inspired you....become yours. Never...it wasn't yours to start with....after you've changed it 10%... 25%... 50%??

Marcel Duchamp took the Mona Lisa....put a mustache and goatee on her and gave it the title L.H.O.O.Q. (a reference to ML having a "fire down below") and created a piece that is used in law schools as an example of a derivative work. Not a copy...but a work consisting of modifications which, as a whole, represent an original work of authorship.


The changes were minor. The transformation of the original from an iconic piece of artwork into a parody (and incensing the entire popultion of France) is what made it a derivative work and an original in it's own sense.

Using the photo in the previous post as inspiration, I've transformed it into the images below. Are they transformed enough to be considered derivative or original? Whose to say? Not me.

Authenticity...if authenticity as defined by Jim Jarmusch is something that speaks to the soul, then they are authentic. And being authentic is good thing.

Originality...Authenticity....Creativity

I stumbled on this about a month ago and Catherine posted it on Facebook.....

"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to."
— Jim Jarmusch

It's an interesting quote and one I would certainly like to see discussed at length....originality, authenticity, and creativity. .

I'm not sure I agree that nothing is original. Sometimes I see art work that blows me away and wonder.....where in the world did the artist come up with that idea. Were they inspired by something or did the idea just come to them. I once saw Yanni in concert....yes...I saw Yanni. During the concert he stopped and took questions from the audience. Someone asked how he composed his music. His answer stunned me. He said that the music would just come to him....complete. He could play it forwards and backwards in his head. Truely a gift....a gift that 99% of us don't have.

Me....I slog through the creative process and that's where I identify with the quote. There are things that make my little heart go pitty pat....ancient cultures, tribal cultures, iron work, rivets (oh the Eiffel Tower has 2.5 million rivets), industrial salvage ...and the list goes on. So I visit museums, read books, drive through Cleveland looking at old buildings and churches. Inspiration doesn't hit me like a thunderbolt but seeps in. Sometimes I have to take an piece or a technique and work it over and over again before it moves in a new direction. SLOG

So, here is an inspirational piece that I found in the Louvre...for the life of me I can't remember what it is but I liked the shape of it.


and turned it into this.....which I will use as texture for a tribal pendant.

Twisted Nursery Rhymes

These can in my e-mail at work today......Not quite like I remember them..... Simple Simon is my favorite.

Mary had a little pig,
She kept it fat and plastered;
And when the price of pork went up,
She shot the little bastard.

Mary had a little lamb.
Her father shot it dead.
Now it goes to school with her,
Between two hunks of bread.

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To have a little fun.
Stupid Jill forgot the pill
And now they have a son.

Simple Simon met a pie man going to the fair.
Said Simple Simon to the pie man,
'What have you got there?'
Said the pie man unto Simon,
'Pies, you dumb ass' !!

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the kings' horses,
And all the kings' men.
Had scrambled eggs,
For breakfast again.

Hey diddle, diddle, the cat took a piddle, All over the bedside clock.
The little dog laughed to see such fun.
Then died of electric shock.

Georgie Porgy pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
And when the boys came out to play,
He kissed them too 'cause he was gay.

There was a little girl who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very, very good.
But when she was bad........
She got a fur coat, jewels, a waterfront condo, and a sports car.

ARGH.............

Toilet seats. I know it's not what you tune into my blog to read about...but I'm frustrated with our toilet seat. We have been in the house for 20 some years and some things just never seem to get done. We are just too busy and let other things take priority. So it's time to change out the toilet seat...not that it's 20 years old...but time to change it. Even though the nuts are nylon, the still won't come off the rust bolts. The bolt heads are corroded and won't hold a screw driver so I've been trying to work from underneath using two sets of pliers. No luck....just alot of WD40 all over the toilet, the floor and me. The bolts are a little loose but not loose enough to get a hacksaw underneath them. I could just scream.

My plan was to do somthing small each night after work so the house doesn't seem like such an overwhelming task. So much for plans. HGTV....where are you when I need you....come over and fix my house.

Really....the weekend's over already

Where did it go?? I worked on Saturday...on multiple fronts....cleaning, cooking, and getting some time in the studio in-between chores. Had a family dinner today at Mom's house to celebrate my brother's birthday. He's old...LOL. I can say that...I'm the baby of the family.

Mom's having surgery soon and she's scared so I think this was also a time to be surrounded by her family. It's hard to be courageous going into something that scares you. There are a lot of quotes about courage to the effect that courage comes after you go through the think that you fear...the ability to be scared but do what you need to do anyway. I wish we could take away her fear but the best we can do is be there for her.

And tonight I am making Jambalaya for a pot luck lunch tomorrow. So I have to cut up veggies and meat and throw it all in the slow cooker over night. Luckily it is an easy recipe. I love slow cookers....cutting up veggies at 11pm....not so much.

So, here's to next weekend....hope it gets here soon.

It's Etsy Time

I've been busy putting jewelry on Etsy. My plan was to do this back in.....August. I'm just a few months late. This one will go up tomorrow. Then another round of photography and I can put up more.


I'm torn about doing shows in 2010. I relish the thought of a year of nothing but designing for me...but I have a concern that if I don't do shows this year, I won't be able to get into them next year. I think I will apply for a few and make the decision later. I got a promotion at work so there is an expectation that I will increase the level of effort I give there. It's always a balancing act. Where is a rich man when I need him....I just had to marry for love.....silly, silly girl (just kidding honey).

Red

The color of Valentine's Day.....and other things.....

Ring a Ding Ding

Earrings!!! Yum...some great colors on these. Every woman and handsome pirate needs a good pair of earrings.

More Jewelry Pics

Not stuff from the kiln...but pics of finished jewelry I'm taking for Etsy. It's such a long process. I take high res pictures, crop them, and then resize them. I want to save the high res pics so I end up with two sizes of each pic. Then over to Etsy to write a description, assign tags, upload pictures. There has to be an easier way...I suppose it's doing shows but that also has its drawbacks. It's amazing how much time an artist spends doing things other than creating art.

What do you think of the background?? I picked up a small matte black shelf at Target. It fits inside my light tent. As much as I love the old beat up piece of farm door that I have been using (it came from the milk house on the farm where I grew up) ...I think this makes the jewelry pop.