Lady of Life and Death

I'm so pleased to post photos of a new brooch I completed for an upcoming exhibition at Equinox Gallery, where my good friend and ECU metals MFA alumni, Laura Wood works at.

Lady of Life and Death brooch, 2011

Chased and repoussed coppper, powder coated copper,

spray paint, plexiglass, hand drawing of Catrina.

(Images not to be reproduced without consent of artist).

Lady of Life and Death brooch, 2011 - sideview.

Up close shot

Back of brooch, the roughness of the back

is in correspondence with death and decay of

what La Catrina represents.

Lady of Life and Death brooch was inspired by my trip to Mexico and the devotion and amusement of Mexicans for the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe and La Catrina (a symbol of death during the celebration of Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead).

Traveling through Mexico there is a church on almost every corner and the Virgin Mary charm or prayer hanging from almost every cab dashboard. When I researched references for my brooch I came upon a quote by Octavio Paz (Mexican thinker, writer and Nobel prize recipient) that had a lasting impression on me "When Mexicans no longer believe in anything, they will hold fast to their belief in two things: the National Lottery and the Virgin of Guadalupe. In this I think they will do well. For both have been known to work, even for those of us who believe in nothing."

I'll be shipping my brooch off soon - here is a brief description of the exhibition and idea behind it:

“The inspiration for La Noche del Broche came from an idea of having one night to commemorate the brooch and its art form in a festive atmosphere where Spanish Music and Dancers would collaborate to create an atmosphere of Celebration!!! Models would be colorful and adorned with brooches celebrating the human spirit. This exhibition is an opportunity for artists to honor and celebrate the art form of the brooch. For this vision to be appropriately achieved, we would need a large collective of brooches each one expressing the multiplicity and individuality of the creative essence. Equinox Gallery serves as a meeting place to showcase Jewelry and metalwork in San Antonio. Our Mission is to exhibit and educate the community by providing a Platform for the diversity in the field of Metalsmithing.” -Alejandro Sifuentes

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new goodies

Since yesterday was my day off (pool and lounging - it was SO sweet!); today was my work day. And I got quite alot done. I was motivated by a G-chat convo with a fellow metalsmith - I couldn't be out done and not get into the studio myself - as he was going to work in his studio early in the morning.

Anywho, I continue to work with deer antler, now having a bit of more innocent fun and play. Below are new earrings with black coral twigs.

And some other fun projects below; my gold nugget no-solder tab set deer antlers. I made these for two purposes; to show my students how to make a small pin using tabs and easy mechanisms.

These were quick photos I took before leaving the studio. I'll have upclose shots of the earrings tomorrow.

Deer antler earrings and black coral

Another shot.

Tube rivet sample for the beginning metals I teach at Emerge.

Golden nugget no-solder brooches. $15 each - soon to be uploaded on my Etsy site.

Another shot.

Backs of my no-solder brooches.
(Roller printed lace on the back for an extra touch).

These lil' nuggets will be on sale this Wednesday at the Umbrella Market in the Downtown G-Vegas area.

Hope you had a great weekend and thanks for reading!

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Visiting artist: Jesse Bert

Jesse Bert and his studio

Our Lady, brooch

Hair Comb

Hablando

This weekend the ECU metals guild hosted alumni Jesse Bert. Jesse was formally invited to be a visiting artist by Bob Ebendorf, Belk Distinguished Professor at ECU.

Jesse graduated from the ECU masters program in 2006 and since then has been living and working as a professional jewerly artist and instructor in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

You can see the Mexican influence in his work, such as in the Our Lady brooch above. Jesse uses found objects, like ivory piano keys, wood, paper, amber, steel and all other sorts of fascinating materials. Jesse's beautiful and detailed chasing and rivets (along with the found objects) really make his work distinctive and unique.

I'm really drawn to Jesse's work because he incorporates his found objects in such an unusual manner. For the Hablando pendant, Jesse uses the latice piecercing already in the ivory as a beautiful backdrop for the swirl pattern of the wood in the shape of a talking symbol he drew from Aztec ideograms. Or his Sole pendant, Jesse used a piece of dryed up rubber sole that mimics some of the stamping/chasing he does on the center silver piece.

Jesse works out of his home studio but also travels across Mexico and the U.S. teaching mini-workshops and one on one sessions. It was wonderful to have him visit and learn of his journey as a metalsmith and how he is able to make an income; for many of us students he is an example of how we can make that same journey and be successful.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed viewing Jesse's work.

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my students work

Above is a coral ring Lindsey made, her first ring. I really like it, this is the first ring Lindsey made and she did a prong setting which was a challenge but she did a great job.
And above is Molly's skull pendant. She riveted the skull to a patina back piece and added the flower. I really like how she thought about the layout and colors. I'm so proud!

I think most of my students in this class are going to sign up for the winter session; which I'm very excited about because I really enjoy their presence. Pin It