Saturday, June 23, 2012

Family Matters - Opening Tonight!

 I know I already told you guys about this show, but I wanted to remind you of the opening reception tonight, and I was excited that my work got featured on the postcard.

Family Matters
June 23- August 25, 2012
Tempe Center for the Arts
Opening Reception Saturday, June 23rd, 6-9pm
Free and open to the public

Hope to see you there.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Recent Press

Just wanted to share a recent article/interview about my work in the East Valley Tribune.  The article can be read here.  Its so great to have some publicity for the eleMEnTAL show.  I promise I will be posting installation pics soon!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Nunome Zogan: Damascene

A couple of weeks ago I took a Damascene, or Nunome Zogan, workshop down in Tucson with Fred Zweig.  Damascene is a technique of inlaying fine silver and gold into a steel background.  I had seen the technique demonstrated by Bruce Clark while I was in college, but never actually tried it out.  The workshop was a nice opportunity to see the technique again and actually try it out myself this time.  I had a great time and can't wait to use this technique in a new piece!
You can see a short youtube video from the class here.
The first thing we did was finish off some chisels that Fred made for us.  They were made from a relatively small sized tool steel.  See Fred below showing us the proper angle for the shape of the chisel.



Then we began chiseling the texture into our steel plates.  Above you can see I am just getting started, and below I am about halfway through my third round of chisel marks. 
This is the start of my sample, just inlaying some fine silver scrolls.
Fred has an amazing (and HUGE!!) collection of damascene pieces from both Japan and Spain.  He was nice enough to let us all touch and photograph his collection!





This piece (above and below) was pretty cool because it was actually marriage of metals rather than damascene, so the design could be seen from both the inside and the outside.

This was a copper box with silver and shibuichi inlaid.


This case was also marriage of metals, rather than damascene.





Coolest matchbox I have ever seen (above)




We used small paper punches to cut out our foil designs for inlaying. 
Here are my samples in progress.

And this piece below was something I actually picked up while I was in Japan a couple of years ago.  I love it, and now its even more special to me because I understand the time and practice that goes into creating these beautiful damascene pieces!

Like I said, the workshop was great and I can't wait to work the technique into a new piece!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

SNAG Happened

As many of you know, I was a co-chair (along with Tedd and Becky McDonah) for this years Society of North American Goldsmiths conference in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona.  Our theme for the conference was "The Heat Is On", and in my opinion, the conference was definitely HOT!!!  In every good sense of the word!  Our presenter lineup was amazing, and they all did a fantastic job!  Thanks so much to each of them for their sizzling talks!  For more info click here.


Spotlight On Artists:
Andrew Hayes

Panelists: 
Michael Sturtz, The Crucible, Oakland, CA
Jay Whaley, Whaley Studios, San Diego, CA
Johanna Ingram, Harold Studio, Phoenix, AZ

Also, we had a great exhibition lineup that I think really blew people away.  There was some great metalwork to be seen in Phoenix this year (and many of the shows are still up so be sure to check them out!!!)  More info here

“Hot Under the Collar:  A Survey of Contemporary Necklaces”
May 25-May 27, 2012
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts,* SCPA Atrium
7380 E 2nd St, Scottsdale, AZ

“Humor in Metal”
May 25-May 27, 2012
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts,* SCPA Atrium
7380 E 2nd St, Scottsdale, AZ

“Heat Exchange: A Cross-Continental Survey of Enamel”
Shemer Art Center & Museum
5005 East Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ
Heat Exchange Blog

“Cu / 29: Contemporary Work in Copper”
April 6-August 12, 2012
Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Main Gallery
 Mesa Arts Center, 1 East Main Street, Mesa, AZ

“Crucible: 10 Years of Metals at Mesa Arts Center” – Exhibition of Work by Mesa Arts Center Metals and Jewelry Instructors, Artist-In-Residence, Past and Present Workshop Artists and Visiting Artists
April 20-August 12, 2012
Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, South Gallery
Mesa Arts Center, 1 East Main Street, Mesa, AZ

“Offerings–Gifts for the Muse: Work by Jan Arthur Harrell”
April 6-August 12, 2012
Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Project Room
Mesa Arts Center, 1 East Main Street, Mesa, AZ

“eleMEnTAL: Becky Chader McDonah – Tedd R McDonah – Lynette Andreasen”
May 25-August 12, 2012
Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, North Gallery
Mesa Arts Center, 1 East Main Street, Mesa, AZ

“Presidential: The Art of Leadership”
May 18-August 12, 2012
Mesa Arts Center, 1 East Main Street, Mesa, AZ

“SNAG Showcase: 2012 Conference Presenters”
May 25-August 12, 2012
Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Main Gallery
Mesa Arts Center, 1 East Main Street, Mesa, AZ

“All That Glitters: American Indian Gold Jewelry”
December 10, 2011-August 5, 2012
Heard Museum North
32633 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ  85262

“Exhibition in Motion”
May 24, 2012, 7-9pm
The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa 

SNAG’s Annual Juried Student Exhibition: “Fusion”
May 23-May 26, 2012
The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa (Trailblazer’s Ballroom)

“Metals & More:  A Juried Exhibition of ADC and Arizona SNAG Metalsmiths
February 24-September 30, 2012
Phoenix Airport Museum, Phoenix Sky Harbor (Terminal 3, level 2, in three built-in display cases)

“ASUMetals Alumni Exhibition” and ”Current Metals Graduate Students Exhibition”
May 4 (opening reception)–May 27, 2012
Night Gallery, 2000 E. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe Marketplace, Tempe, AZ

Beverly Penn/Kim Cridler
May 3-June 30, 2012
Special SNAG opening: Friday, May 25, 7-9pm
Lisa Sette Gallery, 4142 North Marshall Way, Scottsdale, AZ


There is so much more I should say about the conference this year, but I don't know where to start so I will just say this:  It was wonderful, I am thankful for the opportunity I had to help plan it, I'm thankful to all who helped make it successful, and I will see you all in Toronto next year!