I'm a dork and boring!

Reading my last post, I realized how little I actually have to say about my life. Sigh.... Pancakes.

To make up for it, here's a little bit of current work-things that actually mean something to me.



These are some of my favorite pieces from the Ventanas Series that I started at Penland and can't stop. I mailed the two bracelets to New Jersey on Friday for a show titled "Decorative Resurgence."

“Decorative Resurgence”, is a juried exhibition focused on contemporary metalwork
and jewelry inspired by historical ornamentation and decoration. Artists are
encouraged to submit work that references historical decorative metalwork, jewelry,
functional and non-functional objects, architecture, textile patterns, and/or processes.

The exhibition was juried by Jill Baker Gower and Jessica Calderwood, and will be held at the Rowan University Gallery in Glassboro, NJ, in conjunction with the Society of North American Goldsmith's Conference, April 20th-May 29th.



I made these two stands last week to display the jewelry while in the gallery. I wanted to include some of the architectural inspirations I draw upon for the furniture, but I'm afraid it gets muddy when it's all put together. Any suggestions? I realize it's too late for Decorative Resurgence, but I'm not done making these pieces yet. Onward!



My very first pair of Window Bar Earrings! Sterling Silver and Steel. The fleur de lis are polished for a little bit of sparkle. I'm loving the small hoop attachments, be prepared to see more of this kind of connection from me.

Lastly:


A different idea than the others so far. This pendant depicts a scene, just a peep, of a city landscape in Xela. It is a mix of silver and steel, with some parts polished for impact. The chain, which I haven't even finished yet, is handmade of different sized links of steel.

I feel that this is a step forward in my one of a kind work. The window bars speak of protection and safety, something that preoccupied me at all times while in Central America. This scene, and the ones I plan to make in the future, will say more about life and my personal interaction with the landscape.

In other news, I'm enjoying both of my jobs, and Hugh now is also employed, so we can feel like functioning members of society again. Maybe we'll even be able to afford internet and Netflix! He's also (enthusiastically!) taken on my bookkeeping as a new challenge. Knowing the way he does things, it may become his new hobby. My baby so smart! It's given me relief to have a number on my expenditures, or losses... as it may be. It's also relieving to have that not take away from my studio or relaxing time, what a good sport Hugh is!

Montana Stuff

I'm here at the hotel, blogging between phone calls. I just had a woman call me from Georgia asking me how long it takes to get here from Missoula.. I didn't have much good info, since I'm probably more familiar with her state than I am with my own.

Otherwise, Friday was an exciting day at the flower shop. Saturday was the high school's prom, so I got to make 8 or 9 corsages. It seems that most people here are not interested in being traditional, which is kind of an understatement. I am incredibly impressed by the whole Montana mindset. They'll really just let you do what you want, it's not hurting anybody! They reward ingenuity with genuine interest and even the occasional trade of services if you're lucky. Here's a picture of the corsage I had the most fun with, for Simone.



This is a picture of the most perfect pancake ever made. The history books were re-written this day, March 23rd... Somewhere around lunch, Mountain Time.





And THIS, my friends, is why vegetarians are not allowed in Montana. This is the hotel I work at. You can't even pay for a room unless you love taxidermy.


Yes, you can do what you want here, but you're totally weird if you don't eat meat.

Flower Shop Stuff

Yo dudes. Here's a picture of the flower shop I work at. My friend Kathleen Danger Kennedy suggested I make a flower arrangement in one of the toilets (this is a flower and plumbing supply shop combined) so I took her up on it. I think it makes the toilet look.... fresh... I love that my boss thinks this is a good idea.



This is an arrangement I made yesterday for the front cooler. I also love that my boss will leave me in charge for a day with instructions saying "Make an arrangement for the front with a dozen roses, do whatever you like." Ah, creative freedom.

I sent off some jewelry to the casters to the tune, I expect, of my entire tax return. I hope it doesn't take long.

Later gators.

Passing time

Hey world, hope you're doing well. And by world I mean dad, because this blog is so widely read.

Anyway, the bottom picture is the product of a couple hours of good ol' focused work, which doesn't seem to happen often, and the top picture is what happens next. I really like the open, light, and delicate look of the thin lines in these pieces. I try to contrast the impossibly fragile appearance of the wire with as many connections as possible, making it sturdier than it seems. The picture of the ring is driving me crazy, though, there's a piece of lint on the wire and it's killing me! I need photoshop!

The last two days I've been working nights at the hotel and days in the studio. I actually really love the arrangement. I put together some earrings inspired by Guatemalan window bars, but they need some more thinking. These ideas are my favorites, but they are incredibly time consuming and at the moment I have no intention of selling them, so I can't spend as much time on them as I'd like.

I found a jewelry caster in PA that I'm going to use to fill out my jewelry line for the show. Now I just have to scrap together the money to give him... This just feels like a bottomless pit right now, and I'm selling my rose line for so cheap I can hardly believe I'm doing it. I just desperately want it to sell! All this business crap just sucks the fun right out of it.

Color Photo from 1900

Just thought this was beautiful.

"The Photographers:

Charles Corbet
Paul Sano
Alfonse Van Besten
Remi Verstreken

From the website:

Around 1890 a number of amateur photographers were dissatisfied with the mere technical merits of photography. They wished to use photography for reproducing beauty and expressing their inner feelings and thoughts. Their vision had been opposed by painters and art critics, who were of the opinion that photography, being the product of a technical device, did not belong in a museum. The invention of a “fuzzy rendering process”, and the introduction of the manipulated image moved photography closer to the contemporary art movements in painting. Previous objections, to allow photography into the holy sanctuaries of museums, gradually disappeared.

In 1895 the Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis in Brussels started collecting international art photography. Among the foremost Belgian pictorialists from around 1900 were Hector Collard, Alexandre, Edmond Sacré, Gustave Marissiaux, Léonard Misonne and Edouard Hannon. Like genuine impressionists they were captivated by light, atmosphere and colour. (From the exposition catalogue “De fotografie in België 1839 – 1940” at the Provinciaal Museum voor Kunstambachten, Deurne, 1970).

It was not until 1907 that colour photography, thanks to the autochrome process, came within the reach of photographers. But from among the above mentioned Belgian photographers, it was only Gustave Marissiaux who fully started to make use of the new technique. Whether his fellow pictorialists have ever applied the autochrome process is uncertain: were they disappointed by the fact that the new technique, in contrast to other known photographic techniques, was impossible to manipulate?"

What happens when you boil citripickle for 8 hours?

Black bubbly tar that turns crunchy and brittle after it dries. And an acrid stink that eventually dissipates to something along the lines of wet dog. I'm an idiot. I can only say I'm glad I did something that stupid in my own studio. I also managed to explode a hollow form, luckily it was just a thin walled tubing earring hoop that only popped and got shot into the shag, never to return again. Bad luck today.

Current news with the jewelry line is a display in the flower shop I work in. I'll make some more for a display in the clothing/accessories store a few blocks down. It would get more tourist traffic and more people actually looking for jewelry. I sold an earring/necklace set to my boss! I put a classified ad in the local paper "JEWELRY SERVICES AND REPAIR, FREE ESTIMATES." I bought a bracelet mandrel on tuesday, so that's another priority tool I can mark off my list. $25 on Ebay! Now I am working on a different line of designs, inspired by Guatemala. I need to find a casting company and get some molds done as soon as possible. Things seem to be lining up nicely for my booth at the craft show-Duane at the flower shop has all sorts of displays and decorations I can use.

Job news: Along with continuing to get my studio in running order, designing my first lines of production jewelry ever, marketing them, and preparing for my first craft show ever, I also work full time at two other jobs. One is the flower shop, obviously my favorite, the other is a hotel where I am a receptionist. It's regular hours and they pay me relatively well. The manager recently offered me more hours, which would mean less fun at the flower shop. I need the money! So I took the hours and I'm only doing the flowers one day a week. It sucks. I need the money.




Jewelry designs! (or tattoos!) If you live in New York City and you look hard enough, you'll see 3 of these guys inked on some rad gals. For my purposes, though, they are soon to be brooches.

Between Richmond, VA, Guatemala, and Montana, I think the only thing the last three places I've lived have in common are pigeons.

Dear Universe,

Please bestow upon me Photoshop Software. I swear I'll never take your name in vain again.
Love,
Caitie

New Stuff!

Hey People!
The store is officially open for business! Above is one of my favorites from my new and limited jewelry line, all inspired by roses. I am working as a florist these days after all. These earrings and others are all for sale at Etsy.com. PLEASE check it out! (I need the money but more the affirmation!)


In other news my new studio at 420 Main Ave is nothing short of delightful. I love being in there, I love my tools, I love that space, I love the light, I love the air, I love everything but the shag carpet! I think I'm going to have to name it and start making ritual sacrifices to it, because it's eating my earrings.

We've also ripped out the orange shag in the living room (pictured in a previous post) and found GORGEOUS wood floors under there, so there are some dudes refinishing those as we speak! I can't wait to see them!

Enough for now, thanks for reading!

Cat Punting

BEFORE




AFTER