Friday From the Bench, July 13

Okay ladies, line up.

If the Shoe Fits…

I completed this bracelet just this morning for an exhibition call for entry entitled The Perfect Fit – Shoes Tell Stories on exhibition at the Fuller Craft Museum from June 6, 2009 to January 3, 2010. Starting in February 2010, the exhibition will travel to exhibition venues around the country.

The shoes were originally cast from a vintage plastic Barbie doll shoe in sterling and then the the heels were extended via hand-fabrication techniques to enable a rivet ball head to connect each shoe link. The clasp is an extension hook off one of the heels.

Fingers crossed that I get in! I submitted a couple other pieces as well, but this was the only new piece.

Friday From the Bench

A messy overview of my epoxy table - custom works in progress.

Custom Shedding Tears necklace for a client, drying resin: first round.

Custom POP Smile necklace in progress, drying resin: first round.

This is a new POP smile necklace I started a while back, but the shape just isn't working yet. I need to play around with it some more this weekend and get it to look more "organic" (for lack of a better word.)

And I saved the best for last folks… I'm super excited about this little piece of plastic, can you tell what it is…?

…Ken's 6 Pack Abs! I have lots of ideas for designs using this body part, but first and foremost, a 6 Pack Cocktail Ring is definitely in order. Stay tuned :-)

yeah, I know it's not friday, I'm a little late…

I started a new flikr set to document all the amazing sky-scapes I see from my studio windows. This was taken in the early evening as a dark storm cloud was brewing over Manhattan.

My new bench is all set up! It's even better to work on than I imagined it would be… I love it! What a difference it makes to work at the proper height. I also bought a new stainless steel table top for my soldering station with adjustable legs from Ikea which has been great. Now I just need to hang my pegboard so I can unload my storage drawers, hang my hammers, tools and miscellaneous crap!

I wasn't sure if I would use all the little "bells and whistles" on the bench, such as the arm rests and this flat pull out work tray thingy but oh MAN, I love them! Who knew?

This is one of the custom pieces I'm working on these days. I'm building a brain! My client is a medical student getting her PhD in neuroscience. We worked together to come up with the perfect necklace designs for her. The first piece is a brain and mouth pendant with little decorative "synapses" that will fan out from it.

The second is a heart and hand with a blood coral drop. I'm really excited about these pieces and am curious to see this series develop further. An anatomical theme seems to be happening in continuation of my Like Breathing necklace with the lungs.

So that's the latest from my bench, sorry I'm a few days late! I'll try to be on time this week ;-)

The BIG reveal

I'm starting back up with my Friday From the Bench series again, where every Friday I'll be blogging about whatever is happening (or NOT happening) in my studio each week. This week's From the Bench is actually my big reveal you've all been patiently waiting for…

MY NEW STUDIO!!

This is VERY exciting for me because it's my first studio outside of my home and certainly my largest space to date. After almost a year of endless searching, I found the perfect work space in an artist's loft only five blocks from my apartment in Brooklyn! It has enormous windows with incredible light and city views, high ceilings, beautiful wood floors, slop sinks down the hall, etc. I don't think words can express how happy I am about this new step in my career.

The space is not entirely set up yet, (note the completely BARE walls and mountain of Barbie storage bins!) however I've been working in it nonetheless. This was the main reason for my delay in sharing… I wanted it to be all perfect and fully functioning before I posted photos. I finally decided that was silly because it will likely be in a constant state of flux for god knows how long! I recently purchased a new/used "Official" jeweler's bench (also a first for me) which is now in the space as well (but not in these pictures.) I'll share studio set-up pics as it progresses. And now for the best part…

The View:

Empire State building, the Chrysler building, UN headquarters, etc…

I am one lucky gal!

I have to admit, I am really excited about this piece. I mean really. excited. I ended up going with a Britney Spears doll smile instead of a classic Barbie grin. Aside from the obvious appeal, (ie: the incredibly exaggerated size of the teeth) it also just felt all too appropriate on a conceptual level to specifically choose to use that doll instead. The concept continues to refine itself in exciting ways.

The fresh water pearls I recently purchased on etsy are proving to be endlessly inspiring for me right now. (There's something so lovely and sweet about my Grandma Lange's old dish filled with tiny pearls on my bench… just had to share this image.)

The piece in the middle is a fun little spin-off "pearly white" necklace using the red lipstick grin I initially intended to use in the tooth piece. That one will probably end up for sale in my etsy shop soon.

You know what I love about creativity? It works odd hours, on call and ready to pull on its' boots to wrangle the fires of inspiration at a moments notice. OK, enough with the weak analogy…

I purchased some pearls recently for an idea I had based on the phrase "pearly-whites" which loosely involved small pearl beads contrasted with Barbie's bright red lipstick and painted white perma-grin. After mulling it over for a few days my concept finally came together this morning at 5:30am while laying in bed, eyes wide open. These are often the most rewarding moments for me as a maker. When an idea is so exciting that it actually compels me out of my nice warm bed in the middle of the night to draw it out.

So this Friday's from the bench comes to you in the form of a sketch inside my sketchbook…

This piece (or some incarnation there of) will be part of an exhibition entitled Materialistic that will be taking place during the 2008 Savannah, Georgia SNAG conference in March (I have to complete it by the end of the month for photo purposes).

"The curators are seeking innovative responses to the word MATERIAL and its relation to jewelry. The word material should be understood in the broadest of terms incorporating unexpected components, construction techniques and unique design approach."

What could be considered more materialistic than Barbie? I'll be sharing more details about the exhibition when the time comes. For now, stay tuned to see its' development!

monday monday monday

Even though it's Monday and I'm a slacker for skipping last Friday's From the Bench post, I thought I'd share a couple things that I've been working on in my studio. Better late than never?! (funny, that's the same phrase I keep using in reference to my holiday work sent out just today, FINALLY, to my galleries. ugh.) One of these years I will actually accomplish my goal of getting holiday work sent out early… like, October.

Barbie hanger snowflake ornament. It turned out very pretty and sweet I think! It was a lot of fun to make something different like this and without pressure. It will be part of Facéré Jewelry Art Gallery's annual holiday ornament giveaway event.

(hanging on the tree in our apartment - dramatic black and white)

I also finished a pair of custom order cufflinks for a client this weekend. Amazingly, these are the first pair of cufflinks I've ever made. I think they're really fun and have plans to make MANY more.

That's all for now… happy monday everyone!

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!