Obsessive in a good way

Susan has such an easy manner of explaining her methods and techniques.  Though her jewelry style is one I'd typically wear, I truly admire and wonder how she does such intricate work.  She is a bit obsessive with the repeated design but it works for her.

Hope you enjoy this great (but dated) video.
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Featured Artist/Jeweler: Amir Friedman

When you're at Penland you meet so many talented artists and people and it's so stimulating and invigorating to the artistic soul.  In my class was one such artist and jeweler, Amir Friedman, he was one of the scholarship students from Israel.  Amir was also in Jana Brevick's Melt class and we got along so great.  I learned alot from him.  

Amir is one of those artists that never rests!  And you can see it in the work he makes, meticulous and very detailed.  Amir brought along his display case of his rings; I was so enamored with them, specifically the one below that I'm wearing...we are currently working on a deal for me to get it.  I couldn't stop trying it on.    

Amir loves to cast and play with tools, and he's innovative in how he casts.  He actually casted a ring embedded black crystal quartz!  Visit his website to see it and more of his pieces.  

Oh and psst...we may be teaching a class together at Penland next year...I'll be his studio assistant if all works out.  

Detail view of Amir's ring.  He specifically left the imprint of the CAD design. 

Amir's beautiful ring collection.  I want a case like that!

Craftophilia Show book. 

Continuation of the cover design, very clever.

My ring! I don't have it yet but he plans on sending me one.

Here it is again, I'm a bit obsessed with it...

Close up of a ring in resin.

His rings in resin orbs.  LOVE this concept.  Kinda reminds me of the orbs David Bowie twirls in Labryinth.

And watch this very cool video of Amir's 'Can it' machine: 


Thanks for visiting and reading!

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Penland: Melt Class Post 2

Last week Jana showed us how to pour ingots and then make alloys of copper and fine silver.  As you know, I am a bit of a fan of melting metal and I truly enjoyed being a 'mad scientist' and creating my range of 7 alloy (some did samples from 9 parts pure silver/1 part copper and to the other end of the spectrum 1 part silver and 9 parts copper).

It's been very interesting watching the process of how the metal responds to forming, drawing out to wire etc.  What I've noticed is that the alloys at the higher end of the spectrum are more malleable and the ones in the middle, say 30/70 and 40/60 are more brittle.

This week we're finishing some pieces we made in class and also experimenting with gold alloys - which is so very exciting.  That'll be my next post and I'll share with you some stories about my classmates.

below are photos of Jana in action.

Thank you for reading!

Jana melting her metals (in kooky outfit - Jana's style)

The red hot ingot.

Pouring a sheet of pure silver ingot.

Jana showing us how to repair flashings from the ingot.

 

And Jana's wedding ring.  Lori Talcot made it for her...I'm a bit obsessed with it!

Silver and Copper alloys ranging from 10 % silver/90% copper to 90% silver/10% copper.

Some of our alloyed samples drawn into wire or flattened.

Iron and gold alloy...not sure what can be done with this, it's too hard!

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Eilisain jewelry now sold at Lawrence Miller and Company

Another great gallery I'm now selling my jewelry at, Lawrence Miller and Co. located in the great shopping district of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C.

I've known Tim and Lawrence for quite awhile now, I worked there four years ago before I came to Greenville to attend ECU and I learned SO much.  We met taking a metal raising and forming class at the Art League.  

These guys are masters at repairing silverware and jewelry, and I'm really honored to be selling in their gallery.

Tim and Lawrence (make a great duo)

As I always do, I recommend that if you are in their neighborhood visit them, they can fix almost anything and they're quite entertaining to be around!

Here's a preview of what they'll have on sale:

Silver double owl talon earrings.  Love these.

One of a kind petrified wood and oxidized sterling silver.

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New items in my Eilisain Etsy shop

Been working fast and furious these past several days, trying to catch up with work in the studio.  The large faux gauge talon earrings are a custom order and I'm quite pleased with them.  These larger earrings are definitely heavier than the small gauge earrings but they still work and are definitely fierce!

 Since I was casting in silver I thought, why not make the double owl talon earrings as well?   It's funny how I now respond to silver since working in bronze, they both have unique properties.  Silver in it's liquid form is so much more fluid and melts fast in contrast to manganese bronze which takes longer to melt and is more volatile. 

Large faux gauge (8mm) owl talon earrings.

Finally cast double owl talon earrings in silver!

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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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Mexico Post part 3

My posts about my Mexico trip are still coming in, there was so much beautiful and rich art to drink in - I couldn't help take photos of everything!

The second day Laritza and I were in Mexico we visited several museums, one of them had a very extensive exhibit on the history of Mexican art, from all mediums - textiles, clay, metalwork, sculptural and murals. The artwork spanned decades of traditional mexican art, such as masks (the ones you see here), murals, ceramic wear, textiles, jewelry - much of the work is around the fascinating and evolving religion. I've always been drawn to how humans and cultures manifest their belief system in art work - essentially cultural anthropology (my first degree).

The mixture of indigenous groups, such as Mayans with Spanish and European influences is so visually appealing. My main love affair is with the intense love affair with the Dead and spirit world. I could go on and on but here I will allow the photos to explain themselves.

Enjoy - and have a great weekend!

A ceramic Catrina doll. Craft is ridiculous!

Virgin Mary Catrina.

beautiful, the hand has such a morbid but cool aesthetic.

Mermaid skeleton - love it!

Lil' old Abuelita (Grandma)
dead and still smoking - kinda like the secretary in Beetlejuice!

Flying devil/trickster.
The interpretation of nighmares and evil spirits into
the devil and his faeries - not so uncommon around the world.

My brother would love these masks (he collects them).

Laritza absorbing this beautifully painted mural.

Gorgeously repoussed silver crown and cups.

These pendants remind me of replicas my Abuelita has.

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Old world Mexican jewelry

The first full day Laritza Garcia and I had in Mexico we spent most of the day visiting museums, the Franz Mayer museum and the National Art Museum, where we saw the old world jewelry below.

It's quite detailed and beautiful. During my entire trip through Mexico all I could think was - how the artists were able to craft such amazing pieces out of very basic yet multi-use tools whereas nowadays we have tools for very basic things...we are so spoiled!

I apologize I don't have names/dates for the jewelry, there was so much to drink in but I hope you like what you see as much as I did!

Thanks for visiting.





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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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