Hi All!

I just wanted to let you all know about an event I will be participating in this weekend...the Holiday Art and Music Festival at Mesa Art Center! There will be lots of local and national artists selling wonderful things (great for gift giving!) There will also be lots of things to do for the family, music, childrens activities, food, demonstrations etc. Please see the attached flyers for more info. I would love to see you all there!

This weekend:
Mesa Holiday Art and Music Festival
Mesa Art Center
Saturday and Sunday 10am-5pm

Julia Harrison: Woodworking and Finishing Techniques for Jewelry Workshop at ASU

This past weekend, ASU Metals hosted a woodworking workshop with Seattle artist, Julia Harrison. This picture above makes me soooo happy! Everyone who participated had a great time and Julia was awesome! (You can see all the photos from the workshop here.)She taught us all sorts of texturing techniques, carving methods, and we all got to make samples and carve wood spoons from a solid block.Step 1: Make a top view template.Step 2: Make a side template. Step 3: Cut off the top side.Step 4: Start carving out the bowl.Step 5: Cut off the bottom and then cut out the profile.Step 6: Carve away!Step 7: Sand, sand, sand until finished! (I still have a long way to go...)I loved seeing wood chips all over the studio floor...it was so fun!Here are all the spoons we all created that day...all of which are still in the finishing process.

It was a great time! Hopefully I will post more pics soon of the jewelry stuff I made...

Cool New Tool

I just got this cool new tool. Its a clamp/holder for my flexshaft handpiece. I got it so I could use these router bits (which are also new!) I have been making small laser engraved wood pieces to go in jewelry and I am uncomfortable with the big router table they have here in the woodshop at school. The pieces I am making are so small its really scary to have my fingers that close to a big router bit. So, I got this setup to work smaller scale in my studio and so far it is perfect!

The clamp holds my flexshaft handpiece upright and has a small table for routing.

These are the bits I got.

Newly rounded edged wood pieces ready for laser engraving!!

Visiting Artist: Julia Harrison

Really excited about this:

The Metals Club at ASU will be hosting a guest artist, Julia Harrison, this Friday and Saturday! Julia specializes in woodcarving and finishing techniques for jewelry applications.

Join us this Friday for the Artist Lecture:
Friday, December 4th at 7:00 pm Art Building Rm 220.
Additionally to the lecture will be a workshop in woodcarving and finishing techniques for jewelry applications:
Friday, December 4th 9:30 am - 4:30 pm.
& Saturday, December 5th 9:00 am - 4:00 pm.
(Due to limited seating contact becky.mcdonah@asu.edu to reserve a bench for participation in the demo, we will be needing to use the flexshafts..)

*FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

Oh YES I DID

I forgot to tell you guys that I went to the midnight showing of New Moon. Oh yeah, I totally did. And I have great friends who came along just to laugh at me when I got all giddy. It was one great night! You may notice in this picture that one face is blurry. Thats because this person wishes to remain anonymous...and I promised I'd blur her. So I did. Oh, and you may notice that I am wearing a team Edward shirt, because mostly, I am on that team, but this movie, ALMOST made me switch to team Jacob. Almost.

Tell Me What You Think of These...

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I've been spending the weekend thoroughly enjoying having the studio to myself. ASU's studio is combined, grads and undergrads, which is usually great and I love it...just lately (as my thesis date is looming closer and closer) I have been really needing some silent alone working time in there! This weekend has been wonderful for that, although I still didn't get as much done as I would have liked. Here are some earrings I am playing around with. Tell me what you think...I can't decide if I think they are cheesy or not (I obviously don't want them to be, but if they are I want to know!) They are made from antique spoon handles on a children's silver spoon set. I like the idea of taking something that once belonged in a home, had a function, was associated with certain memories, and making it a new, wearable, re-invented heirloom. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

Mokume and Sterling Necklace with Pearls

A new piece in the series of jewelry pieces I am working on in my Patterned Metals Class this semester!

Sterling Silver, Mokume Gane of Nickel and Copper, Pearls
The links are all cold connected...only solder is on the tube settings for the pearls. Its also reversible.

Award and Upcoming Event!

I just found out that I was awarded one of the 2nd place jurors awards for the Holiday Music and Art Festival at Mesa Art Center! The festival is an arts and crafts fair that I have been participating in for 4 years now. I'm so excited to have won this award! And, one of my very best friends, Victoria Altepeter also won a 2nd place award! She is currently living at Arrowmont in Tennessee as an artist in residence but will be returning to AZ for the festival. Here are the details, make sure to come check out our booths, and also all the other wonderful artists that will be there! I will be sharing my booth with Katie Poterala (one of our new first year metals grads at ASU) this year, here are images of some of her jewelry:Holiday Art & Music Festival
When:Dec 12 - Dec 13, 2009
Where:Mesa Arts Center
Start time:10:00am
End time:5:00pm
Ticket Price:Free!

ASU Metals Club Jewelry Sale!

The ASU Metals Club Jewelry Sale is this week! Tomorrow in front of the art building between 10 and 5, and Thursday on Hayden Lawn from 10-5. There is lots of great handmade metalwork and jewelry, great for holiday gift giving, or for keeping yourself!

See you there!!

Nick Cave at SMOCA

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a performance by Nick Cave at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Nick also came to ASU to talk about his career to students. He talked a lot about how he got to where he is now...basically giving students the advice to be fearless, trust in yourself and go with your instincts. Nick is currently a professor at the Art Institute of Chicago in the fashion department. I really like his work, I love all the found objects (big surprise), the color, and all the cultural references. I didn't necessarily like how he talked about his process and career...Im pretty sure I never want to get to the point where I have 10 assistants working for me, or to where my work leaves the studio the second it is completed. I dont think I ever want to be that detached (although I probably wont ever have to worry about getting to that point anyway!) I loved the scale of the work, and the sheer amount of it, so I guess it is necessary for him to have people working for him, but the way he talked about it just seemed like he wasn't completely involved in all the creative decision making. Anyway, the exhibition was great and if you ever get a chance to see his work in person I would highly recommend it. Here are some images of nicks work.

Mokume Brooch

This is a brooch I just finished using mokume gane that I made this semester in the patterned metals class I am taking. I know I promised a technical post about the process, but it will have to wait!
The materials are sterling silver, mokume gane of nickel and copper, pearls and silk. It measures about 1"5 round and about .5" high.I like the back the best.
(You can click on the images to get a larger view)

Studio Safety

...is really important. I got to wear this awful moonboot for over 2 weeks because I got too comfortable in the studio and decided it was okay to wear flip flops. One bad idea and a bracelet mandrel later, I had a really painful accident and crushed all the soft tissue in my ankle/foot. Moral of the story: Don't be stupid.

Creating a New Craft Culture

I've had intentions of doing a post about my trip to the American Craft Council Conference for weeks now, and have finally realized that I just don't have time (my thesis is 4 months away, every minute counts right now!) to write the quality of post I was hoping for. So, instead of telling you all about the conference, I will just tell you briefly my feelings on the event. If you want a great in depth run through of conference events head on over to Harriete Estel Bermans blog, she has done a great job posting on all of the conference ins and outs. Emiko Oye also wrote about the conference on her blog.
I am SO glad I had the opportunity to attend this years conference in Minneapolis (despite it being WAY past my cold temperature tolerance level!) I'm grateful to ACC for the scholarship they awarded me to attend the conference. Thank you!
The conference was SO packed full of lectures, each one so full of information I feel like I have months of research ahead of me, just to soak in and absorb all I saw and heard. My favorite talks were,

"Meat Fabrication", by owner of a local butcher store, Kristin Tombers of Clancy’s Meat & Fish

Natalie Chanin - “Marketplace and the Personal – A Story of Thread”

Faythe Levine - “A Handmade Nation”

and Garth Clark - "Palace and Cottage"

Overall the programing at the entire conference was great...I felt enriched after leaving, and a bit overwhelmed at the responsibility I felt to follow up on all I learned about. The only thing I wanted more of was lectures by makers. I would have liked to see/hear more talks by actual working artists about their work.
Something that came up A LOT at the conference was the tired, art vs. craft argument, as well as the issue (some) craftspeople have with DIYers. The question "Will DIYers be the downfall of craft?" came up repeatedly. Seriously??? Come ON! Honestly, I rolled my eyes every time these subjects came up because it seemed like such a waste of time to argue about these things, but it sure was a hot topic. I liked Garth Clarks response to those with that attitude, basically he said you should be embracing anyone that shares your values (craft, the handmade object, etc.) Yes, there is a lot of crap on Etsy, but there is also a lot of amazing work by established well known artists. He called ACC out on their elitist attitude and questioned their general attitude towards the indie craft culture. Basically he said, get over it. His talk was a little scary, but definitely the most memorable and probably the most meaningful. Anyway, I wish I had time to elaborate but I don't, so head on over to Harriete and Emikos blogs to hear what they had to say. ACC also posted lots of notes about each event at the conference on their website.
I had a great time and loved being able to share in the experience with friends!