photography credits

i am fortunate to have married the quirky and talented photographer Robert Allyn Hall. he has really risen to the difficulties intrinsic in photographing jewelry. the photo shown is of a spur ring mechanism. i love the way he shot it on glass, capturing a detailed reflection. if a photo from this blog looks good, you can bet it was shot by him.

a note on titles

i have difficulty with titles. often when a piece is narrative, i can determine a title reasonably well. i have a naming strategy now where i attempt to figure out what remind me of the piece so specifically that i can't help but remember it. it often requires several name changes before i get it right, so as i refer back to older work names have often been 'settled into' somewhat.

the image here is a forged and fabricated sterling silver choker style necklace. it has nothing to do with this discussion but i thought an image would be nice to break up the space. the series is called vertebrae.

personal mythology

there are a number of different series that i jump back and forth between at any given time. this one is currently "titled" Personal Mythologies. it was originally conceived in a moment when i asked a friend of mine for a cigarette and on a whim offered 1/11th of my soul in exchange. the box is inspired by kodansu boxes, with their very compact design and wunderkammer, curiosity cabinets. one of the compartments contains a cigarette, referring the first of the fragments. each fragment is a story, symbol or memory alluding to some part of my personality or soul. it is a few fragments shy of eleven, but due to space and deadline concessions, a few of the fragments didn't make the cut. fragment titles:

-Sand Through A Hole in the Sky
-The Nose Knows
-Chiono's Bucket
-Forgotten Numbers
-The Cigarette
-Music
-Phinious Phinch
-The Golden Maggot

Fragments not included in the box and other personal mythology pieces:

-Charm a Bird on a Rusty Nail (mixed media wall assemblage)
-Scenes from the Puppet Theater (act 1) no. 1 (belt buckle)
-Sensate no. 1 (ring)
-Bird Wing Brooch (mixed media brooch and stand)
-Reliquary for a Sainted Mouse (mixed media chalice)

my personal mythology develops continuously, so i intend there to be many more pieces. i love to work on these sort of projects, i am filled with a childlike sense of glee and i feel that it is reflected in the end results.

my work at the eXtremities show

i am not very good with self-promotion. i have to credit rob jackson for encouraging me to enter this show in the first place... i refer to applying for exhibitions as "paying for the privilege of being declined". but i was very fortunate that the theme of the show matched up with my BFA exit work very nicely. i received a call from the show coordinator, David Gooding, that went something to this effect:

David: well, you'll be very pleased to know that yours is the featured work.

Me: really? um. wow. i didn't expect... wow.

he continued with relevant info and all i could do was say "um" and "wow" like a fool. i was in complete shock. i still am in shock, actually, because when i look at the names on the list, some of them are actually known to me and, yep, my work is on display next to theirs. i thought i was immune to hero worship, but i must admit to feeling a little bit star-struck and somewhat unworthy.

paused mid selection

well, i got my much anticipated gem shipment and now i'm not satisfied with what i ordered. my own fault, really, i just got the scale off. so i am about to embark on a redesign. in the meantime, i have come up with an idea for some initial charms that i think will turn out nicely. i read a guide to running a jewelry business, and it suggested that it is a good idea to offer some sort of initial as a low end sale and i thought, why not, i like working with script and type anyhow.

i got a little bit, ehem, "overzealous" in my soldering, but i'm still relatively satisfied with the concept.

my plan is to come up with a production line that is light and playful in time for the athens indiecraftstravaganza this spring. this design will fit the bill, i think, and i may design my cards around it as well.

the question is, will i make enough in time for the show... perhaps that's what i should be doing instead of working on this blog.

i love to make a tool

which is basically what i spend much of my precious studio time doing today. it's just a series of soldered circles in various sizes with tags stating the size. it's a design tool, so i can grab it and determine what size of circle i need for something. it's in 1 inch increments, from 2 to 9, with little brass tags and chased numbers. it was a lot of fun to do, actually. i risked waking up the baby to do the chasing, and i'm glad i did because now i know that the sound of me chasing at night isn't going to bother her.

i have been very inhibited when it comes to using my anvil. it rings beautifully, but the sound really carries. since i'm usually getting my studio time in while the baby is asleep, well you see my dilemma.

the bracelets from yesterday are ready for tumbling, i came up with an idea for another pair of earrings and started work on a bracelet. a lot of stuff is still waiting on gems. i am getting eager to get going on that, so i am really counting the days.

playing around with design ideas

i am headed in a tangent, but i'm very happy with some of the things i've made today. i'm nearly finished on a pair of bracelets of a very minimal design, and those have lead me to a necklace i'd like to finish tomorrow. since i'm at it, i'll probably do a few earrings as well and finish the set.

lots of pieces are on hold awaiting more materials. it will be exciting to see the array of them when i finally get them all assembled and polished.

i really need to deepen my study of metallurgy; i find myself wondering about the alloy of the solder i am using. i would like to solder entirely in gold. there is something very intriguing to me about privileging the usually concealed seams in my fabrication. as jewelers, we spend so much effort scraping, filing and sanding away excess solder. i think i would like to move in the other direction, toward even larger, luxuriant solder seams in gold. i don't know enough about gold to know which karat would be the best for this task, or whether or not i could make my own solder alloy out of scrap.

this blog may or may not continue, but for the time being it is feeling useful to sit down and organize my thinking with regard to my making.