Maker.Jeweler Profile: Brittany Nicole Brisson

I haven't done a profile in a long time and it's apt that I do one on my good friend Brittany Nicole Brisson.  Brittany is having her senior exhibition tomorrow night at Art Avenue and I'm just so proud of her, she's one of the hardest working students I know!

Isn't her poster fun? ECU Alumni and illustrator Alice Holleman designed it!

Brittany is not only a BFA candidate in metals but also Art Education, which is a hard juggling act.  Students getting a degree in Art Ed have a much heavier work load as well as get a dual degree in a specialized program, such as metal design.

Brittany and I became friends 2 years ago and she's helped me cast in the studio, assisted for the Aurelian Nights Fashion show and just hang out.  I truly admire and respect Brittany, she juggles work, school load and creating awesome pieces.  She's an innovator and loves to play with all kinds of materials.  Here are several of her pieces that do just that!

GeoJane Necklace

2013

Brass. Powder Coat.
Fabricated.

Bolo Tie for Joe Bova

2014

Sterling Silver. Copper. Enamel. Photo Decal.

"Don't Hug Me" Brooch

2014

Brass, Enamel, Beta Sand, Sterling Silver.
Die-pressed, Formed and Fabricated.

Sugar Skull for Theresa Holtz's Clothing Line for 2014 AIMO Fashion Show

2013

Necklace.
Steel. Enamel. Photo Decal. Powder Coat.

You can view more of her work here.  Thanks for reading!
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Artist profile Ken Bova

Artist Profile Ken Bova from Jed Watson on Vimeo.

This is such a great video of the how Ken thinks and his current body of work.  I love that you can also see the students and undergrad studio in the background.  

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World Champ(leve) Beltbuckle title

My very good friend DJ made the belt buckle for the World Championship belt buckle competition.  She won third place but I feel she should've won first, I mean this buckle means to kick ass and dominate!

Her short film is pretty kick ass too.  Hope you enjoy it!
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Autumn Brown demo at the ECU symposium

As I stated in my previous ecu metals symposium blog post, there were so many great demos and visiting artists, and I was really excited to see my good friend Autumn Brown demonstrate how she combines metal and enamel with porcelain (cone 6).  I wasn't able to take extensive notes but I'm going to borrow words from the ECU Ceramics guild blog: "She fires the porcelain with the metal in an enameling kiln at 1500-1535 degrees F for approximately 10 minutes.  The decorative porcelain pieces are then set into constructed metal frames with clutching prongs that hold the porcelain into the metal backing."

My favorite part of how Autumn combines metal with clay is the use of copper wire placed on the porcelain making cool shapes or images.  She showed us how you can use thin 22 gauge wire to make a saw frame on the porcelain.

Autumn is an MFA alumni of the metals program received her BFA from the University of Georgia.  She currently teaches several courses at Pitt Community College (here in Gvegas), works out of her studio at Dirty Lamm, AND contributes to Greenville's newest gallery and studios over at Art Avenue -whew, she's busy! I met Autumn when I first moved to Greenville and she is a great source of knowledge for me and advice; I'd say she's my big sister metalsmith!

Autumn getting her demo ready.

Autumn's eery  yet goregous samples and pieces.

Linda Darty enamel and silver cups

Felicia Szorad necklace (enamel, silver, felt).

Kathryn Osgood's delicate yet strong pierced enamel pieces.

Above are several shots I snapped, very quickly between workshops, of the Enamel Exhibition. 

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Cat Eyes

An homage to my fur babies, Squints and Stevie, I present my Cat Eye brooch.  Lately, over the past three years since finding Stevie, I've become cat crazy.  I love my cats and anything with cats on it...yes I'm sure one day I'll be an old cat lady. 

I made this brooch over the summer in an independent study course with Bob Ebendorf.  I was so excited about making this brooch because I got to use several techniques I love - enamel decals, powder coating and stone setting.  However it was challenging and definitely out of my comfort zone.

I will openly admit, I'm not the best at layering pieces nor blind rivets but I think that's the beauty of it, tackling new approaches and techniques.

Can you guess what kind of paint the black is?? I'm not telling...

Oh and I decided to submit this brooch to the ECU Metals Symposium Tongue in Cheek Exhibition. Only 4 more days to apply...

2012, Cat Eye Brooch, front. Squints is the cat on the left
and Stevie is the cat on the right, though not caramel colored.

Cat Eye brooch, back.  I used a tin that had a cute kitty on it!

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Enamelist Society Student Exhibition

I'm so honored to be a part of the Enamelist Societies Student Exhibition.

The pieces featured in the online exhibition are quite impressive and beautiful.  I especially love Dru Patrick's wall piece, you can view the rest of the entries and winners in the link above.

My Heart on Fire brooch, below, was accepted into the exhibition. 

Heart on Fire,
Copper, sterling silver, powder coating, enamel, decal.

Thank you for stoppin' by.
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Alice in Wonderland inspired jewelry

I just love fantasy style jewelry. I want that enameled mushroom ring!
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Heart on Fire

I finished my Heart on Fire brooch a month ago but wasn't yet ready or perhaps feeling skeptical about posting it.

This brooch along with the Lady of Life and Death are my Mexican trip inspired pieces. It was really fun to use such bright colors and go a little crazy with layering metal and expressing my Catholic upbringing.

I definitely experienced some issues with putting all three pieces together and in the end had to create the silver rivet heads you see on it, instead of concealing how it was all attached.

Lisette Fee 2012 Enameled and powder coated copper,
steel and sterling silver rivets.
@Images not to be reproduced without permission.

Back of the brooch, 'cause you always have to look at it!
Enameled and powder coated copper,
steel and sterling silver rivets.
@Images not to be reproduced without permission.

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Cat crazy

Newly acquired cat decals...yes, I just had to get them!
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Art of Enamel Exhibition

ECU Metals Jewelry MFA Alumni Kathryn Osgood curated this show - featuring many ECU alumni and professors.

Here is the official release and invitation information:

The Art of Enamel exhibition opening reception will be held on Thursday March 8 from 5 - 7 pm at the COA Gallery in Manteo. “The Art of Enamel” is a national invitational show of contemporary enamelwork. This exhibition will celebrate the diversity in the field of contemporary enamels, featuring work by artists using a variety of techniques, from traditional to experimental processes.

The exhibition will take place in the COA Professional Arts Gallery at the Roanoke Island campus in Manteo, from March 8 to April 6, with an opening reception on Thursday March 8 from 5 to 7 pm. For more information contact Kathryn Osgood at 475-9248.

Artists include: Linda Darty, Robert Ebendorf, Marjorie Simon, Barbara Minor, Deborah Lozier, Jan Harrell, Mi-Sook Hur, Ken Bova, Marissa Saneholtz, Sandra McEwen, Kristin Mitsu Shiga, Charity Hall, Kristi Kloss, Liz Steiner, Felicia Szorad, Adrienne Grafton, Julie Brooks, Irene Schindler, Jane Wells Harrison, Ashley Gilreath.

Hope you can make it if you live in the Eastern NC area.
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2nd Update on Jessica Calderwood Penland workshop

Here is another update on the workshop I attended this past week at Penland School of Crafts, NC. For the second half of the workshop Jessica showed us how she incorporates ceramic decals and photo transfer paper to add images on enamel. It was really, really cool and many of us were excited by the possibilities of it's use.

The last day of our class we also had a 'sharing is caring' moment of displaying all our hardwork and discussing how we could take the techniques she showed us even further. It was alot of fun and also great to meet other people (that aren't university students) who are just as interested in jewelry processes.

I'll be posting more Penland updates, so stay tuned!

Jessica Calderwood with some of the students in class.

Fiona Mork's meticulous painted and drawn enamel wall piece.

Avery Luca's drawn hands. I love how it blends with her hands.

My ceramic and photo transfer decals.

Another shot of my bench.

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Jessica Calderwood Penland workshop

This week has been quite amazing, it's like a wrinkle in time, where you get lost in the moment and several minutes later realize the magic of it. Do I sound cheesy or what? But it really is like that.

Here is one of my first posts on Penland...there will be more, I guarantee it!

Just one of the beautiful views at Penland

The view from my bench. Pretty sweet.

Our class getting ready for a demo from
Jessica Calderwood on painting with enamels.

One of Jessica's larger pieces. It's electroformed
as well as drawn, painted and decaled enamels.

Jessica's awesome double sided enameled brooch and other pieces.

Just many of Jessica's sample pieces.

Larger enameled vessels.

My drawn and then painted enamel earrings and pendant set.

My Lady Cat Cat piece that didn't fire well.
This was pre-fire...I'm bummed 'cause it's so cute and corny!

I'm still in the studio here, working on more samples. For now I give you this post, it's been so wonderful and good for my artistic soul to be in space that nurtures experimentation and play. And not having to stress about a grade or a critique.

Not only am I learning so much about enameling but all the other mediums, printmaking, rglass, fiber, sculpture and ceramics. I want to try it all!

Anywho, hope you enjoyed reading.

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Featured Artist: Marissa Saneholtz

Okay, so I will preface this post by saying, that ECU metalsmiths and artists in general get first dibs as featured artists on my blog because, well, I know them and they are ridiculously talented.

Anywho, so this week's featured artist is Marissa Saneholtz, a very recent graduate from the MFA metals program. Marissa is a ball of energy around the studio and she is so, so, so crafty and skilled in her work, I always get blown away by her amazing technical skills!

There are many reasons why I enjoy Marissa's work but I think the best part about her work is the irreverent and tongue-in-cheek commentary on traditional womens' role in society. She tells a story of the traditional 1950's woman that has had it with being the one to cook and clean, the feminine mystique, if you will. Oh and if you ever see her work up close...the details are truly amazing, universal joints and all kinds of hidden settings and magical ways of displaying her work.

She Had No Intention of Listening to Her Biological clock, brooch

She Excelled in Situations Like These, brooch

How Would Anyone Ever Resist Him, brooch

He Would Have to Fight Them off With a Stick, brooch

Revelation, tea infuser

The Idea of a White Picket Fence Terrified Her, necklace

The Trophy Necklace

The Trophy necklace detail shot

A Lady's Pocket Knife, Damascus steel
(Sooooo badass!)

I hope you enjoyed viewing her work, you can see more on Marissa's crafthaus site and the fun titles, they are perfect descriptions. Thank you for reading!

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Featured Artist: Tara Locklear

Tara herself, in Italy last summer.

If you follow my blog or have read older posts, you'll recognize the name Tara Locklear.

Tara is also an undergraduate student in the metals program at ECU and a friend of mine. We work well together in the undergrad studio; from running the metals guild (Tara is the treasurer), maintaining the studio to coming up with ways to boost income for the guild and students.

Not only is she an awesome guild treasurer but a very talented metalsmith. It's been inspiring watching her work evolve and progress. Her work challenges me to rethink the material and have fun with it. You can see both an elegant lady but also a punk-rock chick wearing her pieces.

Tara loves experimenting with new materials and putting a modern spin on them - especially the look of gemstones, whether it's cast in silver or concrete.

Unbridled Royalty, 2010
(Tara has won several awards for this amazing necklace)

The Lighter Side of Status, 2011

Close up of center pendant.

Pile of Rocks ring, 2011

Cocktail Overload bracelet, 2010

Too Many Coctails ring, 2010

Rings on Deck, I & II (the ring on the left is mine and on the right is Kat Cole's) - from a trade)

Cast in Stone, 20111

From the pieces Tara's turned out within the past 2 years - I can foresee Tara going to some high places.

Stay tuned for details on our combined trunk show along with Sarah West this summer...it'll be kick-ass!

Thank you for reading and Happy Eostre!

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