Another great workshop

Powdercoating is getting super popular this summer!

This workshop will be held towards the end of the month at Pullen Arts Center in Raleigh, NC. 

Hope you can participate - and please share if you're a fellow jeweler.

Stay lovely! xoxo
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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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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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Powder coating with Michael Dale Bernard

Gotta love MDB - he really makes powder coating easy to learn and understandable.


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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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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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Powder coating with Michael Dale Bernard

As I'd stated in my previous post on the 2nd ECU metal symposium, there was a wonderful dynamic of old and new guard metalsmiths.

In my opinion, Michael Dale Bernard represents some of the new guard metalsmiths. His work is edgy and urban but still holds true to the values of metalsmithing. I thoroughly enjoyed his lecture and demo on powder coating.

Powder coating (definition via finishing.com) "is the technique of applying dry paint to a part. The final cured coating is the same as a 2-pack wet paint. In normal wet painting such as house paints, the solids are in suspension in a liquid carrier, which must evaporate before the solid paint coating is produced."
Here you can see Michael using the powder coating gun.

Some samples and car parts Michael brought in.
More samples. Ashley Brodie shows off some pieces Tara Locklear brought with her to have coated.

Powder coating is a much faster and more inexpensive way of coloring metal (versus using enamel). Of course enamel has it's own wonderful properties but I find myself really digging powder coating. It has this wonderful pop of color that is more slick.

Several of the grad students at ECU have been implementing powder coating in their work such as Marissa Saneholtz, Laritza Garcia, and Laura Wood. And powder coating is a fairly inexpensive process as compared to others (casting and enameling), for that reason the ECU metals guild has decided to purchase a powder coating set up (primarily a powder coating gun, the colored powder, a toaster oven and ventilation system).

I haven't yet decided how I'd like to utilize powdering coating in my own work but I have a feeling I'll definitely use it!
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