Quote of the Week

Just stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, grasping,…Stop it and just DO!…

Don’t worry about cool, make your own uncool. Make your own, your own world. If you fear, make it work for you – draw & paint your fear and anxiety…

You must practice being stupid, dumb, unthinking, empty. Then you will be able to DO!…

Try to do some BAD work – the worst you can think of and see what happens but mainly relax and let everything go to hell – you are not responsible for the world – you are only responsible for your work – so DO IT. And don’t think that your work has to conform to any preconceived form, idea or flavor. It can be anything you want it to be…

I know that you (or anyone) can only work so much and the rest of the time you are left with your thoughts. But when you work or before your work you have to empty you [sic] mind and concentrate on what you are doing. After you do something it is done and that’s that. After a while you can see some are better than others but also you can see what direction you are going. I’m sure you know all that. You also must know that you don’t have to justify your work – not even to yourself.

excerpted from a letter from Sol Lewitt to Eva Hesse

Via Keri Smith, author of Wreck This Journal and others.

Pondering. . .

Trying to get myself back on track. . . . .

Quote of the Week

"The more I work, the more I see things differently, that is, everything gains in grandeur everyday, becomes more and more unknown, more and more beautiful. The closer I come, the grander it is, the more remote it is."

~Giacometti

Process Shots of the Week

Pages for my stiff leaf binding project and "Gray Prayer", complete.

Finally got some decent images of my work. Working on putting them all on my flickr site

Felsic/Mafic

The vessel is meant to be held in the hands while the neckpiece is being worn.

Prints

This is about a semester's worth of prints. Minus a few still on the drying rack, a few at home and a few that I misplaced/gave away. It seems like a lot on the one hand, but on the other hand it doesn't. I feel like there's so much more to explore in these. Not to mention the mezzotint I didn't finish. In the future: printing plates on top of one another, more chin colle, and more soft ground.

What I'm Up to

Kyanite Color




Rutilated Quartz For Champleve



Since Annie asked so nicely!

Thoughts

I know, I know, you're probably waiting for some process shots of the multitude of things I'm working on, but I'd like to blog about some thoughts I have concerning my work. In seminar yesterday we discussed issues of wearability/non-wearability and what that meant for our own individual work. Here's some thing that I've figured out:

- Jewelry can be wearable, unwearable or wearable but impractical

- My jewelry has always tended to be impractical (I was always aware of my wearability issues, I just now have a better term for it.)

- My current work is wearable, but impractical.

- In order to wear my work, one has to think about what they're wearing with it, where they're wearing it to, and what they will be doing as they wear it. It takes a little bit of thought to wear these pieces, which I like.

- People want to wear my current work.

- I want to be able to make the work I want to make, and have the work look like I want it to look without having to worry about the same wearability issues that have to be considered when designing a production line.

- If the string breaks, it can simply be re-knotted, which ties into not only bad puns, but the concepts of time and change and a recording of time (knot calenders). Also, if the enamel chips, cracks, flakes, that also can relate to issues of time, change and erosion.

-Materials to investigate: kevlar thread, and abrasive cords

"These God Made Things."

Today I critiqued with Simon Cottrell. One of the first things he said about my work was that making rocks was almost like an act of God. Not saying that I'm god like, or even anything spectacular, but referring to the fact that I make these naturally occurring objects with some degree of realism. It brought to mind a phrase someone else used to describe my work; speaking of my bits and pieces and replica rocks as "these god made things."

After kicking these things around in my head I began to wonder if there is a more spiritual side to these things that I make. I wonder if on some deeper, almost sub-conscious level making this type of work is my way of paying homage to whatever power put these magnificent things here in the first place.

But I also wonder if this is a level of the work that I even need to understand. I think it certainly plays a part, but it's not my main aim for the work (Although I think one of my aims is to get people to see rocks/geology with the same amazement and reverence and curiosity that I do.) I just wonder how many levels of meaning a work has to have before it's deemed "good" or even "well thought out"? And how many of these levels of meaning does the artist have to think through or consider? Especially since the viewer will bring their own levels of meaning to the piece no matter how clear the artist thinks they're being.

I don't know. Maybe this is an attempt at looking at the work through a different lense. Maybe it fits, maybe it doesn't. Maybe this is just an attempt to sound smarter than I really am.

Blobs

Old School Process Shot

So here's what I have going on so far for the the "Old School" Show at Uppercase Gallery. I have to admit I'm freaking out a bit, because I'm in a bit of a creative slump and I don't have much confidence in this piece. But this is an amazing opportunity and I want to put my best foot forward. I just feel like my best isn't at it's best right now and my deadline is so soon!
I wouldn't be as freaked out if I wasn't going away for a few days. But, the opportunity came up to spend some time at the beach with some awesome people I don't get to see that often, so I'm taking it! Surely I can't be faulted that much?

Review Preview

!!!

Sorry if the posting has been lame or infrequent lately, but we're rapidly approaching the end of the semester (I have final review on Tuesday!!!) and my brain and body know it. I'm exhausted and I can't focus. It feels like someone had been stuffing cotton in though my ear cannal at night, so that it gets stuck in my brain. Right in front. Ugh.
It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have SO much to do. I feel moderatly ok, about review (I finally have work I love!!!), but once that's over, I have a whole new set of things to deal with. The main one being making work for FOUR exhibitions. (I'm not trying to brag, I actually never thought I'd be able to say that I have to make work for four shows.) My first deadline is for a show that my proffessor, Jan Baum, is putting together at the DCCA. (More on this next week.) Work for this is due the 27th! A week after my review!
Next up are the Old School Exhibiton (see below if you missed it) and "Printed Matter", a show curated by the fantastic Allison Long, where some of us at Towson U. are exhibiting prints at the University of Deleware, and later at LSU.
I will also be showing work with the rest of Towson's fabulous MFA students at a show in Florida sometime in the fall.
I'm also bound and determined to set up an etsy shop, something I've been putting off for over a year. Since I do both paper goods and jewelry, I'm thinking about setting up separate sites. If anyone can offer any suggestions about selling on etsy, I would greatly appriciate it!!!
Thanks for reading!

Process Shot of the Week

Neckpiece of prints tinted with gouache, stitched together with enameled electroforms.

Process Shot of the Week (preview)

A sneak peak at what I've been working on, just because I'm so in love with these rock guys. Tomorrow's agenda: rings and neckpieces.

Thoughts. . .

Oolitic Limestone (look familiar?)
History/ Determining the past/Inferring the past
Identity/Identification
Time/Geologic Time
Weathering/Erosion = Passage of Time
Relationship of mineral grains indicates formation of rock
Relationship of chemical elements determines mineral type
Our (human) relationship to the earth? To time? To adorment? To the things we wear (dare I say fashion?!)
Collection. Collecting as means to identify/investigate
Collecting as human nature
Stability/Near permanent
The beginning of everything, the end of everything
More later. . . .

Process Shot of the Week

Check out some better pics on flickr. I'd love some feedback.

Giveaway! Winners!!!

Due to underwhemling response to my giveaway I've decided that everyone who responded (all four of them!) will get something special!
Laura wins the grand prize because a) she' the only person who participated that doesn't actually own any of my work, and b) I love reading her blog and checking out fresh pears everyday.
Kim and Jessica, I'll have to scrounge around for something you don't already have. . .
Rebecca, I'll let you pick whatever you want (just what you need! More crap!)
Congrats everyone, and thanks for your support! It means the world to me.

Flickr Update

So, I finally got my undergraduate work uploaded to my Flickr site, if you're interested. Check out the set "Older Work", to view the photos in a slightly more coheasive order.