the great wall

Its been a while since my last post, but that doesn't mean things haven't been happening in the studio...

Joe built me a wall to help divide my studio area from the rest of the garage.

The chair has been on hold while I've been working on a new project - a series of wall panels. Each panel is 12" by 12". I've completed four of the above design and am working on the design below. Once I've finished the panels and had them powder-coated (and find my camera cord) I will share more images.


I've also had a piece, Pattern Pillow #3 (pictured below), accepted into Art of the State: Pennsylvania 2007. The piece will be on view at the State Museum of Pennsylvania from June 9 to September 9.

no more waiting

I received a call today from one of the many shows I was wait-listed for, and will now be participating in the Patriot News Arts Fest in Harrisburg, PA. The show is May 26-28. I hope to see you there!

inspiration

When I dream about piles of pillows, this is what it looks like. (Of course, in my dreams they are all made out of wire.) (via imedagoze)


And speaking of pattern dreamin', have you seen the new anthro home catalog? I can't wait for mine to arrive in the mail.

apologies

I apologize for the neglect of this blog, but I've been posting lots of stuff on my other blog, so be sure to check that out.

18kt

Thanks to Marta of 18kt for the great post about my work and for the mention of the Jewelry. Metals. Objects. blog.

(Its been a good week for blog mentions. I'm so pleased that people are taking an interest in my work. Thanks to everyone!)

chair of the day

I've really been enjoying Design Hole's Chair of the Day posts.

And speaking of chair of the day, I've finally started working on a new chair. Its been over a year since I finished the last chair (below) so I'm excited and nervous to start a new one. It'll be a slow process (the last chair took me two months, and that was with consistent studio time), but I'll keep everyone posted as the chair progresses.

dear ada

Thanks to dear ada (quite possibly my new favorite blog) for the mention.

small pillow

I finished the pillow today (minus surface treatment). I love how much faster the smaller pillows are to make. (This one is about 19 1/2" x 8".) Tomorrow, its on to bigger things...

welding

A few action shots.

flower pillow earrings

I never know what to call these earrings. Sometimes they're flower earrings, sometimes they're pillow earrings, sometimes they're cage earrings. No matter what I call them, they're now just $80 in my etsy shop. (Medium and small sizes also available.)

etsy shop update

Welcome to the week of etsy! I've finally added items to my etsy shop, and will be adding more all week long. Happy shopping!

Above: Silver on Steel earrings, $45

the small envelope

Usually, the small envelope with your slides in it is never a good thing. But I received one today that actually contained good news. I was accepted into the Manayunk Arts Festival on June 23 and 24. I hope to see you there!

imogene

Thanks to Annie of imogene for the nice post about my work. I've heard nothing but good things about Annie since I got to Towson, so its a thrill to be included in her blog. (In fact, imogene was one of the first blogs I ever read.)

And be sure to shop imogene for great indie jewelry, accessories, paper goods, and more.

pattern, pattern everywhere

And some really big pillows. I was at Kinkos last night, enlarging patterns, and I realized I was planning on making some really large pillows. The first pillow I ever made was 12" x 14", and now I'm designing 21" and 24" pillows. I'm excited about these new patterns, but I think its time to think about some cute, little pillows, too.

quick little pillow

Its been a while since I worked in the studio, so today I headed out there to start work on what I hope will be a quick little pillow. (Its only 8" by 19" and I'm aiming to finish it in the next week.) Yes, its the same pattern as the square tufted pillow, but I've decided to work with the 4 or 5 patterns I already have and like, and apply them to different objects.

Oh, and I've added one more component to the work I've been doing with jewelers and web 2.0. (I posted about the presentation and wikispace the other day.) I've started a blog (yes, another blog) specifically designed to showcase jewelers and metalsmiths on the web.

updating

The cold weather turned my planned studio day into a computer day. But that gave me time to work on the pattern for my one of my next projects - another chair. I had originally planned on another pattern (see below) but decided it didn't have enough variation for me. While both patterns have variation in scale, the one above just feels more random. I'm sure the other pattern will pop up somewhere else though.


A few updates...
The navigating the web 2.0 presentation for the Metals Guild of Maryland was last night. If you missed it, find the information on the wikispace here.
I heard back from two more shows - surprise - two more wait lists.
I finally managed to change the header of my blog, and I added a list of my favorite blogs on the right.

electroforming

Here are a few samples (made by Maria Phillips) from Maria's electroforming workshop. Sadly, I didn't get to make anything fun, but my students did. For more pictures, click here.

surf and shop (soon)

I've finally updated my website. There are a few things I need to add yet (like placing images within my page instead of redirecting to my flickr site), but it matches my current aesthetic much more now. (A note to firefox users - the site doesn't look good in firefox quite yet. View it in safari - it looks much better.)

And while you're on the site, you'll notice a link to shop. That's right, I've finally set up an etsy shop. Nothing for sale yet, but soon. I promise.

lazy sunday

Despite the fact that today was a lazy day (everyone deserves one now and then), I can happily say that I've sent out all 8 applications that were due by March 1st.

A few upcoming events at Towson University:
March 1st 7 PM- Maria Phillips lecture
March 2nd & 3rd - Maria Phillips electroforming workshop
March 6th 7 PM - Metals Guild of Maryland peer review - I will be presenting on navigating the web - blogs, flickr, etc.

pattern pillows

backup

I had a computer scare today, so I'm dutifully backing up everything onto an external hard drive. If the thought of losing your resume makes you want to cry, I suggest you do the same.

(The images are a new pillow design I'm thinking about. Probably not the next project, but something in the future.)

happy valentine's day

Nothing says love like a steel pillow...

Oh, and I've got a date with a powder-coater for 8 AM Saturday morning.

snow day = studio day

The weather made me not want to drive to Baltimore, so I canceled my classes. This gave me some much needed studio time since I've got six deadlines coming up before March 1st that I'm trying to make new work for. That's right, in the next 2 weeks, I'll be sending out applications for 3 craft shows, 2 solo shows, and and juried exhibition. Just another day in the life of an artist... (Above: the view from my studio.)

wallpaper

For someone whose artwork is about layering pattern, I'm certainly timid with pattern use in my own home. But that's about to change. I've just ordered this Orla Kiely wallpaper from Anthropologie to hang on the wall behind my bed. It will go under my patterned curtains, behind my striped bedding. And the best part... the wallpaper is easy-peel removal, so Joe can't really object. Get the wallpaper here.

Valentine's Day Sale

Be sure to stop by the Towson Metals & Jewelry Club Valentine's Day Sale - tomorrow and Tuesday 10-7 in the Center for the Arts atrium.

2007 Show Schedule

I've finally heard back from a few shows with positive results. You can find a complete list of all my 2007 shows on the right.

love/hate

The first week of classes kept me away from the studio (and this blog), but the last two days have been about some serious studio time.
Unfortunately, I'm experiencing a love/hate relationship with this pattern. Yesterday, I was excited about it. Today, not so much...
At least the first side is finished, now on to the second.

I'm feeling slightly better about the new pillow pattern (though I've resigned myself to the fact that it's not as strong as the last pillow.) But I do think that some of the parts will make nice brooches (if I scale them down a bit.) Unfortunately, the new semester starts tomorrow, so that's the end of my daily studio time. With some major entry deadlines fast approaching, I hope I don't lose momentum...

another day...

...another wait list. Plus, I'm fighting a cold, the temperature in my studio has reached an all time low, and I'm not loving the new pillow pattern.

no rest for the weary

These are the designs for the next pillow. I had planned to start something bigger after finishing the last pillow, but I've decided to apply to some of the bigger craft shows (ACE, Philly, etc.) with my pillows, and I want one more for the application.
Looking at the designs, I think it's strange that I usually like my pencil drawings of the pattern, then hate the pen designs that I manipulate in Photoshop (I blame my poor tracing skills), but ultimately like the pattern again once I make it in wire.
This pillow will be approximately 16", with a band separating the two panels (more like a cushion).

flickr

I've finally set up my flickr site. Go here to see it.
The most exciting part might be that you can now see all my steel jewelry in one place.

finished

The new pillow is finished (except for the surface treatment). I apologize for the bad picture - its not worth shooting right until the surface is finished.
I'm feeling a bit conflicted because I think I've exhausted this series conceptually, but not visually. I still have so many more ideas for pillows, chairs, etc. I'm hoping this is a normal, post grad-school dilemma - and, hey, at least I'm making work.

waiting

I just got a response from my first craft show of 2007 - wait listed. For an uber-planner such as myself, this might be worse than a rejection.

the backstory: from vision to reality

Be sure to stop by the Towson Commons Gallery tomorrow from 6-9 for The Backstory: From Vision to Reality - an exhibition featuring jewelry, hollowware, and sculpture by Towson University undergraduate and graduate jewelry and metalsmithing students and alumni. Sponsored by the Towson University Metals & Jewelry Club.

a little short

I didn't quite make my goal of finishing the pillow today, but I'm only slightly bummed, because I'm happy with the way its turning out. Plus, I couldn't be more excited about my new studio music... The Complete Million Dollar Quartet. Elvis featured prominently in my undergrad metals studio (nothing fixes a bad day like Heartbreak Hotel), so I was thrilled to get this album of a 1956 jam session with Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash. I highly recommend it for your studio enjoyment.

art by committee

As I near completion on the latest pillow (I'm hoping tomorrow at the latest), I can't help but think... I miss grad school. In grad school, we practiced art by committee - meaning if you had a problem or needed to make a critical decision, you asked for feedback from the other people in the room.

I'm trying to determine the surface treatment for this latest pillow, and I'm totally stuck. The first pillows - made from copper - had an oil painted surface. I liked this at the time, but I'm not sure it matches the more modern quality of the new patterns, plus, it doesn't protect the steel from rust.



My thesis pieces were powder coated - which protects them from rust - but then I'm forced to make some color decisions. (I have 100 lbs of hot pink powder sitting around, but I'm not sure how I feel about that. I've also got some brick red, and this nice matte brown - but I'm not sure how I feel about those in my current b&w phase.)



And of course all my current jewelry is bare steel that's been sealed with Johnson's paste wax. But with a larger area such as the pillow, its hard to get a consistent surface finish.



Plus, then there are other choices... powder-coating matte black to look like bare steel, powder-coating then oil painting, etc... I really miss grad school.

toothbrushes

Despite the cold, the second pillow panel is almost finished. Since that process looks almost exactly like the first pillow panel, I'll treat you instead to an image of these great toothbrush sculptures - part of Corey Ackelmire's graduate thesis. (Corey and I went to grad school together.) If you're in Kent, OH in April, you should stop and see the show at the Downtown Gallery.

one down

I've completed the first panel for the pillow. After a little break from the cold, its back into the studio to start the second.

craft shows

An endless stream of paperwork. Three applications submitted last week. Three more in the mail today. Let's just hope I actually get in to a few...

progress...

...though not quite as far as I would have liked. So it's back into the (cold) studio after dinner.

pattern pillow - in progress

Today was, unfortunately, a short studio day. Here's what I got done on the pattern pillow today. Tomorrow I'm hoping to complete the other three sections of this panel.

a fresh start...

A clean workspace so I can begin a new piece - in this case a new pattern pillow. I start with a line drawing of the pattern - I'll make each side flat before forming and putting the piece together.

new work

as promised, here are a few images of what I've been working on in my studio the last few days.



layered steel hoop earrings - 2" in diameter

earrings

earrings with steel links and sterling ear wires - 3" to 4" long

necklace

5" long pendant on 16" cable

studio marathon

Because I'm incapable of relaxing, I spent the better part of the last 4 days in my studio. (I can't think of a better way to end the year or kick off a new one.) The result: several new pairs of earrings and a few pendants. Pictures forthcoming.