Alchemy Exhibition

I wanted to share a couple of my favourite pieces that are currently in the exhibition "Alchemy - Transformation in Contemporary Enamels". I received the exhibition catalogue in the mail a couple of months back and danced around with excitement while looking through it. My Wedding Cake Ring is included in this exhibit and is in the company of some amazing enamelists!

The Alchemy Exhibition is put on by The Enamelist Society. Averill B. Shepps the President of the Enamelist Society opens the catalogue stating "The exhibitions are integral to the Society's principal purpose to promote and encourage enameling because they represent much of the best work that was done in the medium in the last two years. The Board recognizes the importance of producing the catalog because it represents a permanent record of current work in enameling in any given year."

Alicia Boswell - USA
Ossify
Brooch
Champleve. copper, enamel, sapphire, paint, stainless steel


Jessica Calderwood - USA
Conceal
Wall Panel
Limoges. enamel, copper, laser-cut steel, brass, resin


The Alchemy Exhibition Schedule:

• September 9 - October 29, 2011 at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN.
  
• November 14, 2011 to January 13, 2012 at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN
  
• March 9 to June 3, 2012 at the Metals Museum, Memphis, TN

You can feel the past in precious metal......

Jewelry has a history. It has a past. It has experienced love and hope. It has experienced heartbreak and painful endings.

I often have people asking me if I can make something old into something new. I get it. We have jewelry that once was and now is not. We have jewelry that just sits somewhere dusty.

I appreciate the desire to turn it into something we actually want to wear. But I also appreciate the history of a piece of jewelry. You can feel the past in precious metal, it has an energy. Even the pieces that ended in heartbreak once experienced the energy of great love. And heartbreak also has a painful honest pure energy that is beautiful.

So, I'm mixed about turning our history in jewels into new pieces.......

Here are two pieces of my history in jewels. These are my two earliest memories of jewelry. They were both given to me by my Nana and Grandpa, who lived in Australia. The brooch was the first piece of jewelry I ever got. It is hand engraved. It is not perfect, which makes me love it that much more. The bird necklace is enameled, some of the blue enamel in the middle of the bird has chipped off, but I would never try to fix it because that chip is part of my history.

If you have something to say.........

I've been playing this song on repeat these days. that's what I do when i don't know what to do. i find a song that reaches me and play it over and over again. there is something soothing about it, like rocking in a rocking chair.

A Ring A Week Exhibition This Weekend!!!!!!!

5 Artists
28 Weeks
140 One of a Kind Rings

The Onion Studio Building 1103 Union Street

On exhibit and for sale at this weekend's Eastside Culture Crawl.

Friday November 18th 5-10
Saturday November 19th 11-6
Sunday November 20th 11-6

Crackerjack and Eastside Culture Crawl

This is the time of year where I put my head down and get ready for my shows and for the Christmas season. So much to do.....so little time. I was talking to my Mom on the the phone the other night telling her how much work I had to do and she said, "You'll get it all done, you always do"....I said "No, Mother you don't understand, this might just be the year where I don't get it all done!!!!"

So - You are all invited to my shows to find out if I do manage to get it all done! If you come to these and don't see me it means I'm hiding in my bed under my covers until the end of the season and you should probably call my Mother and let her know.

One of Those Days

It's just one of those days.

I've been listening to this song over and over again.......

Moving Me Forward in The Right Direction - Two Collaborative One of a Kind Necklaces

Sometimes things enter your life when you need them. Part of getting ready for September Shop was doing some collaboration projects with the other artist's involved. Out of this experience bloomed some pretty amazing things for me.

In the spring I started twisting wire. I had a roll of thin steel wire sitting on a table in my apartment for months. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it. One day I picked it up and started to look at it differently. I started twisting it. I twisted through the loss I’ve experienced in this past year of my life……and I twisted into what was blooming around me……

For me art often takes me out of someplace in my head or my heart where I've been stuck. Being stuck isn't very fun. But sometimes I need to tread water in a murky place for a while before I know how to get out of it. Many of my pieces are connected to a bigger story and they often take me from one place in my life to the next. Artistic expression has a way of doing this for me. Writing, drawing, moving metal - creating something that connects itself to my heart has the ability to pull me out of something, to show me what is next, to open my eyes, to dig deeper, to love stronger, to not miss out on something amazing.

Not long after I started twisting wire, Jen Pleadwell of twofolds textiles gave me a handful of her sweet feminine silk flowers in stunning bright colours. I sat with my roll of dark steel wire and these soft vibrant flowers and something incredible started to bloom. Two One of a Kind Necklaces that are completely new for me, completely different, completely unexpected.

A beautiful surprise that moves me forward in the right direction..........



Both of these one of a kind pieces are available at September Shop. September Shop is a pop up shop for the month of September and will close on September 28th, so get there soon.

September Shop is located at 196 Kingsway, the corner of Kingsway and 10th.