The "Hiding Places: Memory in the Arts" exhibition at the John Michael Kohler Art Center is now open! There is also a catalog of the exhibition which I am sure will be available for purchase soon.
You can find me on pages 72 and 78. Click on the images to view larger.
Attending the SNAG conference this year was really different for me from the other years I have attended. Since I am co-chairing the conference here in Phoenix next year, I went to this years conference with an entirely different perspective. Looking at everything from the angle of planning it made me see everything in a different light. I also spent a lot of time in meetings, so I missed out on some events I wanted to attend, and really missed out on socializing/networking in between sessions and such. I'm not saying it wasn't a great year, just different from my past experiences. In some ways it was a lot better. The first year I went to the conference I was totally overwhelmed. There were so many people, and so many big names. I felt so tiny, insignificant, and kept asking myself what on earth I was thinking attending such an event. Afterward though, I realized how important the experience had been, even if I was shy and didn't fully take advantage of all that was available. I knew I wanted to go back the next year, and I did. Each year I've attended I've gotten more out of the experience. Learned more, absorbed more, observed more, met more people, come out of my shell more, and its been wonderful. I fully believe that attending these conferences is important. It's important to know the other people working in this field, important to make friendships, important to see the work in the exhibitions in person, important to listen to the talks and expose myself to what is contemporary metalsmithing. I always leave the conferences feeling totally invigorated and ready to get back into the studio!
Lola Brooks (above) was amazing. Her talk, "Love and Other Indoor Sports" was one of my favorite presentations at the conference. Hilarious, well spoken, engaging, shocking, intelligent...I was in awe and hung on every word. The lady has some serious hoarding tendencies, but she knows it and I have to say, her collections were pretty incredible! Also, prior to the conference I was very familiar with her work, but had no idea really what the context was, so it was wonderful to hear her talk about the ideas behind the objects.
I have always liked Masakos work (above and below), but had never had the opportunity to hear her speak about it. I love getting to hear from the artist what their work is about, and about their studio practice. I especially enjoyed hearing about her material choices and her research into Urushi Lacquer. 
John Grade (above and below) is an artists whose work I was not familiar with before the conference. The beauty of his images and his honest and open dialogue about how he goes about making the pieces and what influences him sucked me in right away. I am always totally in awe of these artists that undertake such huge projects that require dozens of people. My own world is a much tinier place! Also, the temporary nature of his work was really intriguing to me. I spend so much time focused on how to make my work last forever that making work to last only a short durations is a completely foreign idea to me.
That afternoon was the trunk show, which turned out to be a huge success! I had little to no expectations. This was the first year they held the trunk show, so really there was no precident. I didn't have time to make new work, so I took a lot of older stuff to sell. I didn't imagine I would sell much since pretty much all the conference attendees are jewelers, but I ended up doing really well. I sold more in 2 hours than I normally do in a 2 day art fair. Crazy! And it was really cool because I got to see my work go to people I knew, or knew of...its so nice knowing that my jewelry was going to good homes!
We are pretty excited about everything we have planned so far...SNAG 2011 was great, but SNAG 2012 is going to be one HOT conference!
We rented a car and drove through some really beautiful parts of Washington. We headed to the Olympic Peninsula and stopped at a beach along the way.
As a desert girl not used to seeing big huge trees or logs, I was totally fascinated by all the wood on the beach!
We also stopped and did a little nature walk through part of the Quinault Rain forest, which was amazing!
There was green everywhere!!
I couldn't get over the furry trees. So weird!
This was a gorgeous lake somewhere along the way.
And of course, we had to stop in Forks. HAD to.
Its so strange to me when I go to places that get that much water. Phoenix averages about 8 inches of rain per year. Per YEAR. I'm such a desert girl!
I had a great time at the SNAG conference in Seattle! The trunk show was a huge success, I'm so glad I participated! Here are a couple of pictures (sorry I didn't get better ones!) of the event. It was so crowded, it was awesome! Anyway, I did really well for a 2 hour show and found great homes for some of my favorite pieces of jewelry. I get so attached to things that it makes me really happy when my work goes to good homes!
Oh, and more posts from my Seattle trip coming soon as well:)
I just participated in another EtsyMetal Charm Swap. These are the charms I made (sterling silver, copper, freshwater pearls, etched, oxidized, riveted, fabricated). They are two sided so these pics show both front and back.
HidingPlaces 1 from John Michael on Vimeo.
Because memory is a broad and inclusive topic, it is divided into four thematic components: From Memory, Holding Memory, Forget Memory, and Shared Memory. The exhibition and accompanying book will delve deeply into each of the four areas. Artists involved in other programming areas—Performing Arts, Connecting Communities, and Education—will dovetail with the four components in various ways. The profusely illustrated book will include original writings by the exhibition’s curators and prominent scholars with expertise in savant syndrome, age and community, American culture, and art history.
Artists featured in this section call on their capacity to remember to make their art. They record the world with uncanny precision. Some are endowed with so-called photographic memory, while others feel compelled to explore the depths of memory without the aid of this particular mental facility. They share an impulse to catalog objects, people, and ideas in a visual manner, effectively releasing these thoughts from the mind so they may exist as external memory banks.
Intangible memories are captured in tangible objects in this section of the project. Objects have long been recognized as containers of memory, vessels that manifest the timeless importance of commemorating life.
Personally touched by the effects of memory loss, a number of artists confront the topic of dementia. In innovative and precedent-setting ways, they seek to maintain a connection with loved ones who no longer remember. This section of the exhibition features just two artists, both of whom will create expansive, site-specific, and multifaceted installations that mirror the complexities of the mind itself.
Each of us recalls events large and small with great clarity: a first movie at the theater; the championship game won or lost; or the precise moment of a national tragedy. Whether these events are experienced with family, community, amongst cultural groups, or as an entire nation, our personal memories become interwoven with those of others, creating a variegated but converging terrain of shared memory. This section of the exhibition explores this powerful, shifting, and emotional territory.
Just finished this new little blingy ring! Its made from sterling silver and an antique chandelier crystal. Measures about 3.5"x1"x.5". Thanks to my buddy Nathan for coming up with the title Lucem Ferre which according to him means:
Got my copy of the new "500 Silver Jewelry Designs" book in the mail the other day! It's loaded with some pretty awesome jewelry so be sure to check it out! I am so excited to be a part of this collection of contemporary silver work, I can't even tell you! 
That we found out we are having a girl?
