dogs

i'm still laughing over these pictures.
thank you pete for leaving this link in your away message. it made my day a bit more sunny.





(that kid above looks like eric lutz (for you ihs grads))

interiors

very cute plates




books sorted by color coding the spines.

Metals show!

well i have new photos to put up and share.

(ignore the quality of these photographs)
(i wish someone could've known/seen the pain in uploading all these photos on this old computer connected by dial-up. i also accidently deleted many of them and had to re-upload them. garh!)

first i have shots from the metals senior show reception. i have a few of allison's work and one of heather's. but the ones i took of caitlins did not come out very well since they were under glass.

i am so in love with these pieces allison created. the day i left to come to kent i was watching some show on pbs about the mutter museum (which she has described to me several times and knows it inside and out.) and i was blown away by the three siamese skeletons above (one sharing a fused skull/ribcage, sharing ribcage and sharing a pelvis with three legs) and while i was watching the tv show i fell in love with these figures because of thier complexity and the sadness surrounding irregularities and it's freak show quality (that i've been slightly obsessed with since my own research on the disfigured). so when i got to the show i knew i would be excited to see what she completed. but the sensitivity to everything about these tiny memorialized figures was impeccable. there was a tenderness to the first one shown above that was very moving and it is by far my favorite. she explored these personal characteristics that a twin would have and made these kind of memorials to them in a precious time withstanding material and put them on display. i loved it.

i can't say enough good things about it.

also i wish i had gotten pictures before they were put on these models, because you might be able to see them better. but here are the 3 bustles that heather made. very impressive, i knew these would turn out amazing. really intricate copper stock forged and formed to the body. and the way these accentuate the body are right on. the middle one especially cups her hips and has these bright large flower forms to bring even more attention and volume to that area. beautiful! also the purple lily one on the right is very graceful as it comes up around her upperback and appears to be this collar. very nice.

i wish i had pictures of caitin's because i really admire her work and think that she has a great sense of color, line and texture. and her ability to make jewelry that can be jewelry and still be art without making it too theatrical/bold/outrageous is something i wish i could do. i wish i could use restraint and make things more wearable/approachable the way she does.

also, i finally took pictures of my painting/small metals studio space. i wish i had more tools and everything, but i'll only be using it for maybe another 6 weeks. it works!

weavings i've been working on to satisfy my need for repetative behaviors. i'll post more later.

mario, silverware, corey.

first i wanted to put up illustrations that my sister-in-law's brother mario does.

i laugh alot when i see these illustrations. usually each is for a newspaper, magazine, ad kind of thing. sometimes i wish i could read the corresponding article. check out his work.

what else.

i've been talking endlessly to people about how i want design and make an entire serving set (basically just for myself) that have perfectly weighted forks/spoons and silver serving creamer/bowls and also perfectly thrown/glazed ceramic plates/dishes. and hand blown glass drinking cups and everything.

i'm sick of mass produced dishes and utensils that i use everyday. none of them are perfect. the weight is always off and everyday you should use something really special. so my goal this summer might be to make a set of silverware. or maybe i could just buy some from corey's beautifully hand forged spoons. like the one below:

friday is the kent state jewelry/metals senior project show. if you're in that area, you should attend and support them! i'll be there.

movies

this makes me feel nice:

this makes me laugh:

love michael:

love parker:

i almost forgot about this. and i don't ever want to:

someday i will make my top movie picks, that would be a hard decision to make.

today i showed my studio off to my old friend ryan. i got to show him all my metal peices and my little studio space. it was nice getting to share it with someone, even for a bit. i got to pull out old jewelry that i hadn't seen in awhile that is just jammed in a box. it made me very happy. enjoy those pictures.

what i saw at kent state

this weekend i went to the art of communication show which was the vcd senior portfolio show for graphic design at kent. i 90% went to see natalie speck and everything wonderful she's been working on. but i did want to see the other work too. it was all really nice and i thought alot about how i wished (even if only a tiny bit of me did) that i went to school for graphic design. or at least took some classes. i've always loved the idea of designing packaging and organizing websites and layouts of things. but in reality, the whole computer savviness thing really deterred me.
but the show was great. and carli had her portfolio in the show as well, which i had never seen her work (or any of thier work) and i've known her for what, 3 years? anywho. i totally loved these little paper fries and hamburgers she designed (and i'm still trying to find a picture)

also i got to help break in emily roetzel's studio space! i finally made it out there. she's got a great little nook (that fits 3 people!) with an enameling kiln, acetylene torch, stakes/hammers, and an assortment of handtools. yay!
i made a handful of production jewelry for the kent co-op sale the first full week of may (5-9th)
also i attempted to wetpack these huge anitclastic hoop earrings and as i finished and stood up, i dropped them and splattered the enamel on the floor. oops.
so maybe next time i go there i will have the patience to retry those.

while in ohio i got to see the final steps of caitlin clary, allison dickey and heather smotzer's senior jewelry/metals projects. those girls blew me away. i was thrilled to see each of thier pieces because they were all three very different in style, technique and presentation. and i love that about our studio. everyone has thier interests and view on metalsmithing.
caitlin is finishing up toy jewelry that includes a kaliedoscope ring and top earrings and a marble game locket each are beautifully embossed and pierced and powdercoated.
allison was finishing her skeleton sculptures. she raised tiny copper skulls and welded and formed tiny copper bones that are impressively intricate. each little skeleton is of a siamese twin and/or deformed body.
and heather is making these striking bussells out of forged copper floral patterns welded together and formed to the body. each are powder coated, spray painted and/or flocked with tap and die floral pieces atop.

i can't wait to see them in the gallery. (the thing about student work that is infurating is that you can never find photos of the work online!!!! i wish i could show you!)

susan & april

i just wanted to comment about how i love this ring:

"Knoll" by susan skoczen, who was a visiting teacher last year. i however did not have her for a class at kent, but would see her and her work occasionally.
it's oxidized silver with flocking. i wish i had experimented with flocking on jewelry. i had a blast making that mannequin. and this piece has such a fun and carefree texture. i am a person of order, but i appreciate that funky green growth.

and (i know this may not be the clearest photo) but i really love these enameled pendants by april higashi. i've been admiring her work for maybe a year. as someone who is visually enthralled by repeating lines and patterns, i've been slightly obsessed with these enamels. plus they're so rich with layers and yet subtle: perfect.

it makes me desperately want to be enameling right now.

also, i know its hard to tell, but the color and is terrffic on this bracelet. very simple and yet wearable. i just love it (plus that i adore it's little box)

this weekend

i had the strangest dreams last night. including me having involuntary plastic surgery to look like angelina jolie, which was unwelcomed and made me look unrecognizable. and i saw old friends who had no idea who i was, perhaps due to the new face. tidal waves, which seem to appear in every nightmare and i even said to myself (which i've been increasingly able to do): "i can feel the water on my toes, this cannot be a dream." and i challenged myself "but they're always dreams" and i seemed to disregard that and went running along the rehoboth boardwalk until i got to my dance class. (?) also i had a strange encounter with this person who's confined to a bed.
i kept waking up and falling back asleep letting myself chose the endings and relive other parts of the dreams.
i'm pretty sure you shouldn't be able to do this. but i have been for a few years now.

i've been feeling very unorganized lately. so i'm come to making this new blog and connecting to others through websites and emails. i've come back to spending more time online than i'd like. i used to be so busy. that is what kills me: i've gone from the most hectic, spontaneous, interesting time of my life thus far and i'm now in the most predictible, monotonous and reduntant phase where creativity is quickly falling to the wayside. i hate this.
i hate hate hate this.

so thursday on a whim i walked over the the house next door that's been abandoned (owned by my parents) and started cleaning out a room. moving 6 beds, boxes, planks of wood, old bi-fold doors and all sorts of junk. i scrubbed all the surfaces: walls, doors, baseboards, windows, sinks, everything. then i hauled in (by my lonesome) an old kitchen table, a large dresser, couch, posters/paintings and a few other tables. i grabbed my easel, paint, and my hoodie (no heat) and started painting and virtually haven't stopped since 430 this afternoon.
also i pulled out all my metalsmithing boxes and got a little bench ready. (and started on this amazingly cool pair of earrings that i'm going to enamel at emily's this weekend)

i will put up pictures tomorrow.
i even cut daffodils and put them in vase next to my other plants.
cute.

now i can be alone to work on whatever comes into my mind.
i've been aching to work on some weavings (yet i have no loom) so i've been weaving paper strips and painting as if i'm weaving.
perhaps this month i will be able to buy a torch and some small tools.
but i've got to save in order to move in september.

mies van der rohe's barcelona pavillion.

i just wanted myself to remember this building.

jacqueline ryan and arthur hash

here are the most inspirational things i've seen in a long long time:

first and foremost jacqueline ryan. her aesthetic knocks me out everytime i see her work.

the color and simplicity/complexity is really one of a kind.

the hand made quality and her obsession with doing every part of it by hand with attention and care. it's important for me to remember that in world of easy production work, quick fixes and reproduction, most craftsmen really want to spend the time to make the best possible work.














blue enamel/gold brooch











gold ring. this great rose gold ring with tiny leaves is such a simple idea and yet is remarkably complex and delightful. i got to hold this ring!

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also her sketchbooks. we got to see these first hand in florence last summer. never have i been more impressed with a sketchbook of ideas and works in progress.

she explained that often her paper models take more time and care than her finished metal pieces due to thier complexity and problemsolving beforehand. beautiful.

also, lately i've been stumbling upon arthur hash's work. i saw him at baltimore last year as a featured artist and quickly took note about how i adored his aesthetic. since then i've just come across his work as links on people's websites, in metalsmith and at the society of contemporary craft to name a few.


i love this piece. i wish i could wear it.

it's a cast polyurathne bracelet

and the tiny pink chainsaws. how can you not think that is the most wearable thing?