Tagged

I was tagged by Annie of Imogene and as a result I have to provide five/weird random facts about myself. Okay okay, here goes…

1. I drink a tall glass of iced coffee every morning, even in the winter. Milk, no sugar. (I prefer it over hot coffee but will drink hot if that's all that's available.)

2.I put the toilet paper roll on over, never under.

3. I consider myself an agnostic.

4. I am a firm believer in please, thank you and other good manners. I can't stand it when I hold the door for a stranger and they don't say thank you.

5. When I misplace something, like a tool or whatever in my studio, I fantasize that a little elf/troll thing is playing a trick on me and hiding it, because then when I turn back around, it's right there in front of me and I have a hard time believing I could have missed seeing it. (Somehow it's easier for me to entertain the idea that a troll hid it and replaced it in one split second. Yes, I'm crazy.)

I tag:
miss dot
lynette andreason
corey ackelmire
camille young
catherine chandler

the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Baltimore ACC show!

I submitted a last minute application to the "New Wave Craft" call for entries at the American Craft Council show in Baltimore 2008 and… I GOT IN!!

Wow. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, but very pleased. I was chosen to participate along with 16 other artists from out of more than 90 applicants. It's a shared space designed and underwritten by the Council on the main floor with the other exhibitors. What an honor. It's amazing to think I once walked the aisles of the ACC Baltimore show as a lowly art student, awed, inspired and completely floored by the talent I was surrounded by… now, seven years after graduating, I'm going to be one of those talents on the floor of the Baltimore convention center! Man, I can't even describe how fantastic that feels. (as well as utterly terrifying) I haven't been back to B'more since I graduated. weird. It will be cool to see it all again.


Here's the dates:
The American Craft Show in Baltimore 2008, Baltimore Convention Center
Friday, February 22 (10 am - 9 pm)
Saturday, February 23 (10 am - 6 pm)
Sunday, February 24 (10 am - 5 pm)

www.craftcouncil.org for more info


Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to make all that work by then, where I'll stay down there, how I'll survive the anxiety, and all the other millions of details that will need sorting… oh man. No post-holidays resting after all… I guess I asked for it though.

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I'm upstate with Dave visiting our families, and looking forward to the big feast later today. For today's Thankful Thursday I thought I'd make a brief listing of some of the things I'm thankful for in my life, so here goes, in no particular order…

• good health
• cheese
• the internet
• my college education
• the genuine, sensitive, loving man in my life
• growing up on a 32 mile lake in the middle of the Adirondacks
• knowing how to swim
• being introduced to sushi
• my studio
• this american life radio show
  
• good eyesight
• flexibility
  
• ice cream
• my big sister Sam
• Smudge and Charlie (our cats)
• my red hair
• 28 years with my father
  
• the ability to sing
• bathtubs
• fresh air to breathe
• my genuine friends
  
• feminism
• being an artist
  
• affording life in nyc
• turkey and family on thanksgiving
  

Miller Gallery

The Miller Gallery certainly spared no expense with their mailer announcing Objects of Desire: the Toy Show opening Friday November 23rd in Cincinnati, Ohio. Wow, is it beautiful! The layout, the full color printing, the paper, they really go all out. It's a full fold-out style mailer, so large in fact I couldn't even scan the inside in its' entirety to share with you! My Hands Bracelet made the cover (as seen above) which I'm pretty darn happy about so I had to share. I'll also soon be receiving an email version of the mailer which will be sent to those on my mailing list.

What's that you say?! You're not ON my mailing list? Well then, hustle up and send me an email with the words "Add Me!" in the subject line and that problem will be solved ;-)

Phillip Toledano

A client I'm creating a custom piece for sent me the above photo. So haunting and intriguing. I did a bit of hunting around for info on the artist and discovered a fondness for much of Phillip Toledano's photography. Very cool stuff and right up my alley. Though it's not clear whether he actually made the costumes as well as shot the photos… I'm assuming so? [11.26 update: he DID make the suits… very impressive!]

Visit the artist's website for more of this and many other wonderful series of works.

COSMOgirl!

My pink 'Pinwheel Vintage Shoe Ring' is featured in this month's COSMOgirl! magazine on page 94 along with many other 'green finds' (including the book I was published in recently - Cool Green Stuff).

pretty cool.

Smile Bud Stick Pin now has resin! Very sweet. You can sort of see the translucence in this picture. I can't decide whether to give it my 'signature look' with the oxidization, or keep it as is? I feel like it's almost too sweet this way, if you know what I mean. I like that the darkening always seems to tone things down a bit…

…a perfect example of the toning down effect of the oxidization:

14 Giggles Bracelet (not to be confused with my 40 Giggles Bracelet from a couple years ago, hehe) I like this one even better actually. It's been sent to Miller Gallery in Cincinnati to be a part of an exhibition entitled "Objects of Desire - The Toy Show" opening Nov. 23rd.

I have two leftover "giggle cups" that I will try to find something to do with… the obvious choice might be earrings?

…and speaking of earrings, I bailed out on the stick pin idea and went with my initial design for these funny Ear bud Earrings. I am really pleased with how they turned out. Ears on your ears is just too silly and ironic not to take advantage of! (I'm a dork, what can I say)

[back side]

I began playing around this week with some eyes I had cut up very small and I'm thinking it might make a nice variation to see all of them, encased/submerged in clear resin for this ring.

This is a Barbie hanger configuration I created years ago, taped together, and never did anything with. Every year Facéré Jewelry Art Gallery has an 'Ornament Giveaway Event', requesting 1 ornament from each jeweler they represent. I'm thinking this might be perfect for that this year. Kind of snow-flake like, no? Still working out the construction, but I love the pink and the little filagree details. That's all for this week… have a great weekend!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for…
My mama!


Oh man, where do I even begin with this one! There's too many reasons to be thankful for my mom, and I could obviously never cover ALL of them, so for the purpose of this blog, I'll focus on just one memory in regards to her helping me along the path of my career…

The year after I graduated college, my parents helped me set up my metalsmithing studio in the basement of their house. I created a series of work around the holidays that year of what I like to refer to as my "easy, everyday, wearable type of jewelry," simple sterling and stone earrings, bracelets, etc. - not my barbie work in other words - to try to make a little extra cash for the holidays. My mom works as a secretary in the main office at the local high school and offered to take in a batch of my work to school to sell to the teachers, aides and various staff members. It was the perfect plan! She's located at the social hub of it all, and as a result, The 'What's Everybody Looking At?!' effect took over her desk and most of the female population there wanted to buy some of my jewelry. However, it turned out to be A LOT of hard work on my mom's part. On top of acting as cashier, coordinating the exchange of money from all the on-site purchases, she also was taking custom orders left and right. She kept track of all the names, quantities, and sizes, essentially acting as my own personal jewelry sales rep on the front lines, all the while trying to do her own job.

My mom owns quite a few 'margaux lange originals' and never hesitates to brag "my daughter made it!" when wearing one of them. She believes in me, and her efforts to help me succeed that Xmas meant the world to me. I made what, at the time, felt like of a lot of money for a fresh-outta-college grad! She even offered to do it again the following Xmas, which I gladly took her up on ;-) And my bet is, that if I asked her to do it again this year, she would still say yes!

Thank you Mama, I love you with all my heart.
xo

Camille Young

I have a major art crush on jewelery artist Camille Young right now… I can't stop flipping through the images of her work and marveling not only at the astounding craftsmanship but also the rich colors, inventive shapes and bold compositions. Her command of the materials, specifically her work with Lumina clay, is just incredible and makes me really want to play with it myself and see what happens.

The artist writes:

"These pins are made with a rather remarkable clay that has become my new favorite. It's flexible, waterproof, air dries, and is fairly durable. The clay takes on the look and feel of plastic after it dries, allowing for thin, delicate designs."

The realistic flower brooches are obviously amazing, but it's her more stylized, expressive pieces that I find particularly appealing. She has a unique, fresh vision. I haven't ever seen anything quite like it. Here are a couple necklaces that recently popped up on her website (new work I think?) LOVING this direction…


Check out more of her incredible work here. She also has some process pics/descriptions on her flickr site which are cool to check out as well as an etsy store, (can you tell I'm crushin' or what?!) but currently there is nothing listed for sale. I can't wait until there is!

new works on etsy

New for sale in the shop!

go buy stuff!

(current projects overview)

This is the heart from last week. I brought it to the caster to have a mold made of it, only to be told the metal was much too thin. (I know so little about casting) Waste not! I made it into a pendant. It's nearly finished… I think this one's going on etsy.

The Smile Bud Stick Pin is almost finished. I made some changes to the design from last week, curling the interiors in on themselves a little for interest. Now for the translucent pink resin and then patina…

Green Eye Clover Pendant… complete! Makes much more sense than as a bracelet.

Arm necklace with laboradite faceted drops… complete! This one's definitely going on etsy.

(detail)

This is a variation on the original 40 Giggles Bracelet. Next week it will be sent to the Miller Gallery in Cincinnati for: Objects of Desire - The Toy Show opening Friday November 23rd.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thankful Thursday

*A revived, mini-series of Thankful Thursday is back through the month of November, in honor of Thanksgiving :-)

I am thankful for…
My friend Leslie Capizzi

I was living in Boulder at the time of the 2002 SNAG conference in Denver, Colorado and decided it was the perfect opportunity to experience my first conference since I could commute daily to and from Denver fairly easily. Even though it was an unforgettable learning experience for me, I met and talked with very few people at that conference as I was too shy to make much of a concerted effort to introduce myself. However, there was a woman sitting in front of me during one of the lectures who boldly turned around during a break and struck up a conversation by complimenting me on my necklace (the first 'hand necklace' I ever made) …that woman was Leslie Capizzi.

Leslie and I became fast friends after the conference. She lived in nearby Longmont, and we got together for frequent lunches and gallery outings, talking shop about jewelry making, etc. We had much in common, particularly our love of thrift stores. We shared many thrifting adventures, her and I. She was right there with me as I rummaged the toy aisle, accumulating mass amounts of discarded Barbie and Ken dolls. Since my move back to NY in 2004, I often pine for Colorado's amazing thrift stores, but it's those outings with Leslie which I've truly missed.

An incredibly talented jewelry artist herself (coupled with top notch sales experience and people skills) Leslie continues to build her business beautifully. Her recent work has an edgy "cityscape" feel to it that I'm really diggin'…

© Leslie Capizzi

Leslie still thrifts (though insists it's not as fun without me ;-) and has become an expert long distance 'Barbie Scavenger' sending me HUGE boxes full of dolls at least twice a year! She knows exactly what to look for and always sends perfectly salvaged Barbies. Results from her latest care package, received just last week:

(All incoming packages subject to search by kitty homeland security.)

(Passed inspection.)

Thank you Leslie! For the dolls, for always believing in me and my work, for YOU.