Atlantis

Atlantis
Originally uploaded by mgypsy

What a captivating pendant. Mygypsy's work involves twisting various kinds of wire (brass/silver etc) around stones or by themselves.
I couldn't find much information about Mygypsy but you can buy her work on etsy. Although it looks like she's all sold out. Nonetheless you can also view her work on flickr.

Her work has this ancient quality that I'm drawn to. Very beautiful and excellent craftsmanship.

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ReadysetDC

It's funny how when you leave a city or anyplace, you begin to really miss some of things that you couldn't stand - like the metro! VA/DC metro area is where I moved from and it will always hold a special place in my heart/map of residences.

Nevertheless, I always appreciated the art movement/resurgence in DC and this creative enterprise is pretty awesome to showcase new artists!
Enjoy:

The ReadysetDC Manifesto from ReadysetDC on Vimeo.

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trades!

"I love you so much it hurts my head"

I've been wanting to trade with several of my art school friends/artists for awhile but didn't have anything that I felt I wanted to trade so with all the hearts I'd been making, the ECU Valentine's day Guild sale was the perfect opportunity.

I traded with a printmaking artist, Katerin Goold! She is SO very talented, I saw Sarah West, a fellow undergrad metalsmith, with this same poster and I fell in love instantly. And luckily she liked my heart pendant!

The oddity of the elephant's head on a woman's body is so, odd and perfect.

And lastily, I had to join Laura Wood's legion of followers with her paper/potato mold earrings. We traded and she was so excited to have one of my pendants, it's silly but made me feel good that she liked them.
Laura often sports these with one large earring and a smaller or none at all on the other lobe. Very cool. Laura is an ECU metals graduate student and she has an etsy shop that you can purchase her lovely jewelry and a blog.

You have to check her out.

And I just adore her packaging, it's so unique and her style.
Laura stitches pieces of doilies and other paper/fabric with a unique stitch.

I'm inspired to work on something more creative to display my work. Pin It

graphic design and branding

So one of my goals this year, more like the first half of this year, is to create a banner/logo for my production work specifically an etsy page.

I'm in this weird/odd artistic state as I'm slowly finding my aesthetic meanwhile attending art school has opened my eyes to all sorts of new and fun materials and methods. I'm trying to find a consistent look and pattern to my production work. Preparing for the Valentine's Day sale is definitely spurring me and I'm feeling comfortable with cranking out pieces along with my look.

However at the same time, I'm at a loss with describing and identifying what I want my work to convey.

My cousin, Lorena Carrasco, is a graphic designer and she's definitely helping me hone in on that. I've solicited her to develop my banner and logo. Lorena is very talented and I trust in her skills.

Of course, I naively thought she'd just conjure exactly what I was thinking... crazy, I know! She in turn sent me several questions probing me on what my target audience is, 3 words that describe my jewelry, etc. Jeez, I have SO much to learn.

I'm excited to see what she designs!

Oh here is a recent drawing I did for my figure drawing class.

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I heart hearts

Not really but it's what I'm working on right now for the ECU Metals Guild Valentine's day sale as well as preparing for selling at a local boutique, Moxie, in Greenville.

It's funny because the splattered/pierced heart design came out of simple doodling and sketching. But often that's when the best ideas blossom.

Anywho, I was a busy bee in the studio on this snowy/sleeting day and it was great because it was pretty empty!

I'm quite enjoying the production work and playing with enameling techniques.

Also here is a picture of my wooden spoons for my Design 2 class with Bob Ebendorf. It's quite fun, I've already pierced one of the spoons and will file and paint them on Monday.

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print resources

I recently received my issue of Lapidary Journal's Jewelry Artist and it's a really good issue.

It has an article on pricing jewelry; which I'm currently reading and one on how to sandcast a belt buckle in addition to an article on new stones. I always get excited when I get Jewelry Artist.

Which leads me to a discussion we had at the metal topics symposium at ECU. I've noticed that on most jewelry blogs artists primarily reference other artists and blogs (or any other topic) and don't often cite or discuss print materials. When I first came into jewelry I didn't have a formal teacher and when I made pieces I took advice from the projects in my print materials. They are invaluable resource to me. And they're getting better!

I'd like to reference this one memory I have of Metalsmith magazine, that I think is ironic. I was at my local Golds Gym searching for magazines to read on the elliptical and I came across Metalsmith and I thought, "uh, I should be reading this and why am I finding it at the gym?". Complete moment of destiny.

I found new artists and concepts, techniques I hadn't thought of as well as schools to look into and apply.

Ever since I've been a subscriber to Metalsmith and Jewelry Artist. I've also come to the conclusion that it's incredibly important, as metalsmiths and jewelers to support this organizations and materials. They keep the tradition alive. Pin It

line

I continue my art education with Design 2 and Figure Drawing. I'm truly appreciating the learning process; taking the time to study line, form and all the elements/foundations of design.

This year has already taught me so much and it's only January 26th! I am enjoying drawing much more than I did last semester. Despite my teacher being a bit dry, he is very good.

And my design class is with the very innovative and inventive, Bob Ebendorf. He has such wonderful and enthusiastic energy, a master teacher in the art of possiblities...why only use one material or why not use dirt from the ground or whatever?

I think that is what has become much of a revelation for me. Broadening my palette to include new materials, methods. First coming into jewelry/metals can bit a bit overwhelming because there is so much to absorb. In addition, to changing what I view as jewelry moreso adornment.

I could go on for awhile but here is a brush I made in Bob's workshop at the symposium 2 weeks ago. Pin It

eye candy

Oh dear....why don't I live in Europe, more like Barcelona?! I wish I could've attended this exhibition, " Joyas a la Carta" en Barcelona. I would've been in heaven, not that I was this past weekend at the symposium.

Some of my favorite artists (ex. Silvia Walz) were there and luckily I understood everyword of this video (speaking Spanish has so many benefits)!

Watching the interviews and seeing the jewelry displayed so creatively, makes me want to study abroad or apprentice somewhere in Spain. Perhaps one day... Pin It

process shots

First broken heart brooch. Suger-fired black enamel and tulle set in copper.
Second brooch, prior to setting.
Almost ready for being set.

I've begun my Valentine's day pieces.

The black suger-fired brooch came out relatively decent - I'm not very happy with the setting.
The second brooch...I did more piercing and also put the prongs close to them = bad idea.
I'm not going to be shy about posting my errors as well as sucesses. Forethought should be considered in all steps which I'm still learning! grrr. I am however very happy with the design and odd shape of these brooches.

I'm going to make more of an effort to seek out the advice of the metals faculty, I may not be taking metal classes but that doesn't mean I shouldn't take advantage of my resources! Pin It

ECU Materials Topic: New techniques in jewelry and metalsmithing

I do I describe this past weekend?

Provoking and enlightening.

I love to recall the time of when I listened to Laura Wood's idea for the symposium. Laura Wood is a graduate student in ECU's metals/jewelry program. We were at a potluck with new graduate students and I was fortunate enough to be invited. She talked about hosting a symposium where students and faculty from several universities would come together and share new methods, materials in the field in addition to attending workshops and panel discussions. A mini-SNAG Laura said.

I was all about this brilliant idea Laura had! I come from a background in organizing feminist conferences and community events - this is what I love about working with other like-minded individuals. However it is incredible undertaking.

Well, come 4 1/2 months later and the symposium was a very positive and wonderful success! It was incredibly enjoyable and eye-opening for everyone, I met some incredible people.

The symposium hosted faculty and students from: University of Georgia, Indiana University, Appalachian State University, Winthrop University and Virginia Commonwealth University.
In addition to some students from Savannah College of Art and Design along with others I can't remember!

Here are some pictures from this weekend:
The symposium poster...I was a complete dork and got mine signed by several of my favorite artists!
The symposium registration table.
Several ECU grad and undergrad students with metals professor Mis-Sook Hur.
Bob Ebendorf, ECU metals fellow faculty, discussing the variety and creativity of the brushes after his 'Brush of Creativity' demo. It was SO much fun. Bob stresses the importance of play time, to use anything as a sounding board for new methods and materials.
Liz Steiner checking out the brushes.

I could go on and on about the historic moments, new information, discussions and people but I crave sleep after the 3-day weekend. Pin It

caught by the hair

cameo2 detail
Originally uploaded by borderlinebarbie

Isn't this cameo brooch fascinating? It's made by Barbara Smith, a first year graduate student at SUNY-New Paltz in the metals program. On the back it has a momento of someone's hair, which people used to do back in the middle ages and probably earlier than that.
I found Barbara's work on flickr and many of her pieces contain of some sort of hair.

The tooth in this brooch is especially cool to me!

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in my dreams

I would travel, travel and travel! Then spend my free time making jewelry and promoting it.

Hopefully, I'll do this when I retire. And when I do travel, one of the countries that make my list is New Zealand. The terrain is so varied and beautiful, I must experience it and not only that, visit the artist and jewelers in New Zealand and Australia. I've come to notice that they have such a different and fascinating aesthetic, the way they arrange materials and use them is distinct and I always enjoy finding new artists.

Pieces of Eight is a gallery in Melbourne that represents some of the artists I find in intriguing. They also have a blog which I read on occasion.

I'm really digging Justin Austen's geometrical jewelry.
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Maison Martin Margiela

whoa...

Maison Martin Margiela : Atelier Artisanal from Materialiste Paris on Vimeo.

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Pachanga

I'm in LOVE with the images of Belen Mana's Pachanga book. If only I could afford it! She took photos of moths in the Central American rainforest inspiring her team to create this book of nature's patterns.

PS - sorry for the crappy copy of a photo.

Interesting that Pachanga means party! Pin It

It's business time

No not that kind of business time (reference to Flight of the Concords episode) which is very hilarious but more of craft business and learning more about how to create a sound and smart business plan.

That's one of my many goals this year. I recently purchased the business planner book, Craft Inc., which is incredibly awesome for the way it organizes all of the tools a crafter/artist needs to make it in the business.

With the free time I have this semester and summer, since I'm going to school part time I'm investing more of my free time to creating smaller and lower priced work to sell in addition to creating an etsy shop.

I have to credit Megan Auman and her several websites, she has a great business mind and model that I admire. She most recently released her craftMBA business blog several days ago and I'm already learning from it, check it out: www.craftMBA.com. Pin It

gifts with thought and made with love

I've always had an appreciation and love for hand crafted goods and being in art school has definitely increased my desire to make more gifts not just jewelry.

So this season and in the future I am making more handmade gifts, and I know the people in my life will enjoy them even more. I made potpurri scents for friends, cloves and oranges. And for my family, mini-terrariums, of which I got the idea from Design*Sponge (they have an awesome DYI section).

I would estimate that it cost me less than $15 to make 6 terrariums and 12 clove oranges.

oh and here is a cute picture of my cat Squints napping in one of my bags. She is rarely NOT cute. Pin It

senior shows

I've just discovered another fun and wonderful way to connect and learn from other artists.

Senior shows! As you may infer, graduating seniors (both BFA and MFA) exhibit their work at a local gallery, bar, restaurant. They represent themselves, print postcards and gain an understanding of showing their work. This past month I've been to several; metals, painting, sculpture and fiber.

It's gratifying to celebrate others artwork; to congratulate and share with them the wonder of art. This past weekend I went to a painting/sculpture show (combining shows saves money and energy). And it was so much fun, many of my fellow metalsmith students came as well as other department students. There was great music, even painting for yourself and food!

Here are some pictures.

1. Jon Graham painting

2. Myself, Laura Wood and Kat Cole Pin It

quote of the day

"you know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams"

dr. seuss Pin It

preparing for the next sale!

ECU's School of Art and Design just had our Holiday sale and most of the grad students made bank! So I'm on a mission to crank up my own productivity, I sold several pieces but not enough to leave a big cushion in my bank account. Not only that, I really need and want to push myself in creating my brand, style and look.

So I got started last night preparing my first hydraulic press dye for my shattered heart pendants and other jewelry.

Here are several shots from my bench and sketch book. Pin It

lichen

a little lichen on my porch, where little worms like to crawl. Pin It