10x10 Benefit Show

On October 10, 2009, there will be a benefit show at the Mesa Art Center. At the show they will have 10"x10" works for show and sale by 110 Arizona Artists. Each piece will be for sale for $100.00. First come, first pick and doors open at 6pm. All proceeds will benefit the Mesa Contemporary Arts Exhibitions and educational programs.

-$10 entrance fee at the door

-refreshments

-cash bar

I will be participating in this show and would love to see you all there. I LOVE the Mesa Art Center and think it is a great organization/facility to support. Hopefully I will finish my piece soon so I can post an image of it here.

Save the date! 10-10-09!!!

Sounds Like...

In case you ever wondered what my studio sounds like...if often sounds like this:

In which case the voice in my mind sounds like this:

AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

:)

WHAT are you DOING?!!

Sometimes (okay, often) I wake up in the middle of the night, sit straight up in bed, turn on the light and start furiously scribbling something on the notepad I keep on my nightstand (for just such occasions). When this happens my husband will roll over and groggily grunt, "WHAT are you DOING?!!!!" The answer?? Sketching an idea! I've made the mistake too many times of thinking that I will remember the fabulous jewelry design that comes to me in my sleep in the morning. Do I ever remember in the morning? No. So, I have do draw it out right when I think of it, asleep or not. Often in the morning my sketches are almost entirely illegible (due to the fact that I am half asleep and drawing by the dim light of my cell phone) but usually I can glean something of what seemed like the best idea ever in the middle of the night (although often not so fabulous looking in the morning). Last night, there was this one...which I'm pretty excited about. And, since I have a deadline on Friday, this little epiphany may have come just in time (or a tad late). Lets hope it looks as good in real life as it did in my dreams last night! Oh, and isnt this little notepad awesome? Its called "Where rainbows come from" by nut and bee. They gave tons of really cute paper goods, check 'em out.

Craftsmanship

Just wanted to let you all know about an upcoming show that I will have 4 pieces in. The show is titled, "Craftsmanship" and is a juried exhibition of work by members of the group, Arizona Designer Craftsmen. The show was juried by fiber artist Carol Eckert.

Here are the details:

Show Dates: September 21st-October 2nd, 2009

Opening Reception: Monday, September 21st from 7-9

Awards will be announced during the opening reception at 8pm.

Location: Gallery 100, Tempe Center, Southeast corner of Mill and University, Tempe, AZ

More info here.

And, since my professor is the curator of the exhibition, I got to design the postcard and the poster, so enjoy!

Playing with Spoons

Not sure what will come of these, but I've been playing with some old antique spoons lately. Lots more to play with...

Makers Mark

Look what my mom bought me. Im so excited! I finally have my own custom stamp to sign my work with. Watch out...Im about to become a stamping fiend with this thing. Thanks mom! I love it, its soooo tiny, and look how nice it stamps my name (the little brass circle is about the size of a dime)!

Twenty Minutes Well Spent

What a great message...check it out if you haven't already (its not just for kids):

Patterned Metals

This semester I am taking a patterned metals class with Tedd McDonah (a piece of his mokume work pictured above). We are learning how to make mokume gane and Damascus steel. On Wednesday half the class fired their billets. My turn is next Wednesday. After I fire my billet I will do a more detailed post on the process and take you through the whole thing. For now, here are some teaser photos. Oh, and just in case you didn't know...100 degrees outside and a 2000 degree forge makes for one very hot night!!

The picture above is of the metal stacked in alternating layers in the torque plates ready for firing. We did billets in combos of copper, nickel silver, and brass.Putting the billet in the forge.Heating up the billet until bonding of the metals takes place. The metal sweat beads above are evidence that the layers have bonded. Removing the billet from the forge.Clamping in a vice to remove torque plates.The billet after being removed from the forge.Hot forging the billet down to a thinner gauge.

The billet after it has been hot forged. The next step will be to roll it down in the rolling mill to a workable size and then pattern it and roll it out even more. Stay tuned for a more thorough post on the process!

Crafthaus

This week I was chosen to be one of the featured artists on Crafthaus. If you are an artist of any type, you should be on crafthaus!! Its a great place to network and see other peoples artwork. The other featured artists this week were:Victoria AltepeterVirginia SchotchiePhillip MannNathan DubeStevie B.

Toni Mayner