A little something extra....

When I first started working in bronze, I hung the pendants from simple chains.  About 2 years ago I started mixing different sizes of chain and adding little beads here and there.  A little something to catch the eye. 

I spent the last 6 weeks prepping for an art show.  And during that time I saw my necklace designs evolve.  I no longer liked a little something....I found myself drawn to necklaces that had a lot more to them.  Probably because I have all these beads hanging on my wall that are just screaming to be included in a design.

Here are some of the pendants and necklaces I made over the last 6 weeks.  I made good use of all those beads. 

 

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Beaded Shoes....

An awesome pair of beaded shoes by Christian Louboutin.  No idea how much they cost but I'm sure I can't afford them.  And even if I could I wouldn't be able to walk in them without falling over. 

I like the next two better...especially the brown pair...with the Indian mirror embroidery... called Shisha.  I'd like some of that fabric for a purse.  I've been fascinated with making purses since the last Project Accessory. 

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Good Theft vs. Bad Theft

Theft is never a good thing.  In the context that Austin Kleon uses the words "theft" and "steal"... they are more like hipster terms for where/how you find your inspiration and creativity. Austin is really interesting.  I've been following his Tumblr feed and I'm looking forward to his book "Steal Like an Artist". 

People ask me where my inspiration comes from.  I think it comes from the sum total of everything I see, hear, smell, feel, read, love, etc.  It all goes into my brain and percolates somewhere in the dark cob-webbed corners and then comes tumbling out again when I sit down to create. 

Sometimes it's good, sometimes it bad.  We all strive for the good...for originality.
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The Cure for Black Friday...Salvation Army Saturday???

Getting pepper sprayed over discontinued toys.....rioting over $2 waffle irons....REALLY.  I find the whole phenomena of Black Friday disgusting.  Holiday shopping the day after Thanksgiving is nothing new, but the "Jerry Springer" mentality that a good portion of this country has....has brought it to new lows.  I mean really people....how many of you are going to make waffles once you have that waffle iron.  Or are you more the type to pop an Eggo into the toaster.  The panic that occurs on Black Friday is something that is created by retailers, usually over stuff that nobody really needs. But we've been brought up on greed....he who has the most toys wins.  So masses of people go out to push, fight, pepper spray, and shoot our way through the crowds.  Not exactly what celebrating Thanksgiving is all about.   

I spent Black Friday cleaning out my closet. We all need to clean out our closets now and then.  I needed to get rid of clothes that no longer fit...but I usually clean it out once a year anyway.  So today I'm on my way to Savation Army to give away 5 bags of clothes.

What would happen in this country if we all cleaned out the "things" we no longer need or use and give them to a charity that could use them or resell them??  Or if you must go shopping.....how about giving an equal donation to charity??  I know, I know....my bleeding heart is showing. 

But think about it....think about the change we could make in our country if we all just remembered that Thanksgiving is about family, giving thanks for what we have, and helping others who may not have anything. 

I'm loading the car up and I'm off to Salvation Army.  See you later.
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Repousse Class

A few weekends back I took a repousse class with Hollly Gage.  Great class.  The technique is something that I've been wanting to try on the coin pendants that I have been creating.  Here is the result.

The first one came out OK.  It was the result of just learning the process and getting a feel for how much pressure is needed on the mold to get a good impression.

This second one is much better.  I had a better feel for how to do it to get a good impression and I put more work into the surface texture to give it a hand hammered look.

It was a fun class and Holly is a great teacher!!  I really want to see her come back to Cleveland to teach her pod class.  And bring Chris....his gourmet lunches were gooooood!!
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It's all fun and games until someone gets poked in the eye....

I ended up in the emergency eye clinic this week.  I took a hit in the eye with the hook of a bungee cord while setting up for the show.  I was having some symptoms of a detached retina so I decided not to take any chances....and after many friends yelled at me....I went to the eye clinic. 

Interesting procedure to examine the retina....she had to put pressure on the eye and look at it under a bright light with a opthalmascope.  She took two long cotton tipped swabs and pushed on my eye from various sides....oh that was so much fun.  The good news is that she couldn't see any rips or tears.  The bad news is that I now have a large floater in that eye.  It's annoying but I guess I can get used to it.  Hopefully it will dissipate with time. 

And I found out I have a cataract in the other eye.  Woo Hoo...I'm getting old!!!!

You don't see stuff like this at Michael's.....

We all have stories of comments that are made to us or that we've overheard while doing a show.  I remember two years ago at Cain Park I overheard some guy wondering about the price for a booth because he wanted to sell his old t-shirts.

Well....this show was no different.  It went something like this....

Lady: Where to you get the pieces to make your jewelry?  I can't find anything like this at Michael's

Me:  That's probably because these are all handmade by me out of bronze.  Most of the embellishments on the necklaces are artifacts from Africa.

Lady:  Ohhhhh.  Well you just don't see stuff like this at Michael's.

Would "No Shit, Sherlock" have been an inappropriate response??  I just smiled and laughed.... politely.
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By Hand Show...Success

The show is over.  It was a good one for me.  Good thing since I'm only doing two shows this year.  It's a lot of work and I don't know how some of the artist do 30+ shows a year.  But set-up and take-down become routine.  Although this year I almost had a CSI moment.  It got hit in the eye with the hook on a bungee cord when I was setting up.  It hurt like crazy and my vision in that eye is a little blurred now.  I think I have a visit to the eye doctor in my future.

Talking with the other artists is a high point for me.  I was across from Paul for the 2nd year...he's does amazing encaustic paintings.  I was fortunate to have this as my view across the aisle for 3 days.

I was also able to catch up with Tim and Marsha from Studio by Ski and Joanne and Dave from Wren Works.  

There was a fantastic carving of an amoured horse on exhibit.  The artist, Joe Leonard, carved 17 different armoured horses for the carousel at Euro Disney.

Another huge piece was a dinosaur made by Roland Paronish.

Brandon Holschuh was there.  He has some amazing new work...gemstones in metal geodes.  They are really cool and he's making stands that go with the jewlery that make them sculptural pieces when you aren't wearing them.

It was an intense 6-weeks getting ready for this show but it really hit me how my work evolved over that time period.  I realize that I have to spend time each week in the studio to keep my work moving forward. 

My next show is December 17th at The Screw Factory in Lakewood.  I have so much stock that I don't think I will need to make more before the show but I will...because I still have a pile of bronze pendants just calling to me.

au revoir...bye bye
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Photo Essay....Fail

I was going to put up a photo essay of my booth construction.  I thought it might be fun to see it take shape.  I got two photos into it and my battery went dead.  Here's what I have....

So here's a picture from last year.  The booth looks essentially the same.

Come see me at the IX Center in Cleveland.  10-7 Friday and Saturday.  10-6 Sunday. 

And Monday I will be sleeping in!!!
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Off the Grid

I have really been off the grid lately.  I am exhibiting at the By Hand Show at the IX Center next weekend.  The show runs November 11-13th. 

This has been my schedule for the last 6 weeks.

Wake up
Shower
Get dressed
Feed the cats
Go to work
Come home
Feed the cats
Eat
Go into the studio and work, work, work
Sleep
Rinse
Repeat

Occasionally I see Lou.  The other night he came into the studio and said he will be glad when this show is over.....he misses me....AAWWW!!  I miss normal life....but I have put together quite a few pieces.  100 earrings and about 90 necklaces....not that I will sell all this at the show....wouldn't that be nice.  But I have another show on December 17th and I will be re-stocking the Etsy shop once this weekend is over.

Talk to you later.
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Tribal Bells....

I have an entire huge strand of bells from the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria.  I'm using them to make necklaces just in time fo the holidays.... Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells!!

This started out as a drawer pull.  I picked up the master in Tucson.  This one is made from bronze and hammered for a dappled texture.

The writing on this pendant is from a tablet in the Louvre.  I hand drew the tablet from a photo that I took and etched a copper sheet that I use for texture in the bronze clay.  I started cutting windows out....I have no idea why...but it reminds me of the windows in a high rise building.  It has both an ancient and modern look.

This bad boy is an Aja Vaz bead....so cool .  I have 2 more....I think I need to make one of these for me!!!

Close-up of the necklace.  It has bronze pieces, turquoise (which is actually the brown bead), Roman glass, Dogon glass donuts from Mali, some teeny-tiny ceramic beads and a wood bead inlaid with silver and copper spirals.
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More work...with beads

There is something that feels so right about putting beads in with my bronze work.  I've said it before...it's like coming home to me since I started stringing beads.  THEY...COMPLETE....ME....sniff....sniff. 

Order Out of Chaos

My workbench turns into such chaos when I'm working.  I was thinking that I needed a bunch of small containers to hold all the little pieces parts and then I remembered I had something that would work.  I was cleaning out an empty lab a few months back and found these tiny petri dishes.  They were headed for the dumpster so I brought some home.  I knew I would find a use for them.

A few pieces that came out of the studio this week.

And what bench would be complete without some phallic beads?

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Steal Like an Artist

A while ago I stumbled on Austin Kleon's blog and a post called How to Steal Like an Artist.  A number of his points resonated with me. Nothing is original.  What we create is a distillation of the things we have been exposed to, the things that we are drawn to and the things that we collect.

When looking for inspiration, grab that thing that sets you on fire...that thing that Jim Jarmusch refered to as "speaking directly to your soul" and run with it.  Or as Twyla Tharp put it...."run like hell".  Use it, refine it, revise it, riff on it until you are sick of it and then move on to your next inspiration.

Austin recently gave a talk at The Economist's Human Potential Summit.  I thought I would share it.

New Lickables....Beads That Is.....

I mentioned before that I'm throwing non-metal beads into the mix when I'm designing.  And with all the beads that I have in the house you would think that I could find some that would work.  But my beads are all sparkly and shiny and colorful.  My current work is matte and earthy. 

So I blew out of work and rushed to my FAVORITE bead store....Bead Paradise ... before they closed.  I picked up some new lickables.  Ruth showed me some fantastic strands of rare antique brass beads from the Ivory Coast. The were so amazing.  I would have licked them but she probably would have thrown me out of the store...LOL.  Unfortunately, I will have to love them from afar since they were way out of my price range...for now.  I borrowed a picture from her.  Here is one of the strands.  You can see more on her website under Baulle Metal Beads.

So I bought a stash of very earthy beads to design with.....

and a few metal beads as well....I have no self-control....it's just sad...

These babies are bronze and awesome!!!

I've been in the studio for about 2 weeks straight.  I took a break the last two nights.  With this new stash I will be back into the studio for another couple weeks and should be ready for my November show. 

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Is it true you are DEAD??

Sometimes I just love spam e-mail.  I got this one today....

Re: Payment Notification:

We are writhing to know if it's true that you are DEAD. Because we received a notification from one Mr. Bob Chantler of USA stating that you are DEAD and that you have giving him the right to claim your US$ 5.5M funds. He stated you died on a CAR accident last week. He has been calling us regarding this issue, but we cannot proceed with him until we confirmed this by not hearing from you after 3 working days. Be advised that we have made all arrangements for you to receive your funds of US$ 5.5M without anymore stress, and without any further delays.

Kindly reconfirm the below information’s if you are not dead and also get back to this Office for immediate delivery of your fund at your home address.

1. Your house address
2. Your Full name
3. Phone Number,
4. Age
5. Male/Female
6. Occupation
7) A copy of your ID

All we need to confirm now is your been DEAD or still Alive. Because this Man messaged brought shock to our minds. And we just can't proceed with him until we confirmed if this is a reality OR not but if it happened we did not hear from you after 3 days, and then we say: MAY YOUR SOUL REST IN PERFECT PEACE"

YOU'R JOY AND SUCCESS REMAINS OUR GOAL. May the peace of the Lord be with you wherever you may be now?

Yours faithfully,
Rev Father Augustan Goodluck.


I never answer these but I couldn't resist this one.  I answered....

YES, I am DEAD.  Now let me Rest In Peace!!
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New Shows, New Work

I've just listed two shows that I have coming up.  In November I will be at the By Hand Show at the IX center and in December I'm at the Last Minute Market.  So I've been busy designing pieces.  Every night after work I'm in the studio.  All weekend long I am in the studio. 

Mostly I'm designing the finished pieces but every now and then I hop over to the metal clay bench to make a few extra accent beads.  The kiln is firing right now with pieces parts. 

I'm really liking the things I'm designing right now...that's sounds funny.  For about a week I was blocked....artistically speaking.  I sat in the studio and just stared at things.  But then it started to flow.  I had to pull all the beads down off the wall and start mixing and matching.  The pieces are really coming together nicely.

Here are a few pieces from this week.