Way More Photos of My Work
(on Picasa, which Google took over, and broke the links; I’m still trying to figure out how to link to the album collection there…)
Carol here! I am holding three Studio Open Houses this month (and have six other venues for your consideration too!).
Convergent Series Studio Shows (Upstairs, Room 204) Wilkins School Community Center 7604 Charleston Ave, Pitttsburgh, PA 15218 [412-244-8458]
1. Days and times that coincide with WSCC’s Holiday Market (that will be downstairs when I’ll be in my studio upstairs!) Saturday, December 2, 9 am – 5 pm Sunday, December 3, 12 Noon – 5 pm
2. Carol’s Second Chance Show, in my regular (mostly) Second (mostly) Sunday slot: Sunday, December 10, 1 – 5 pm Just come and shop then, or come back to see if you can still get something you passed on last week, or send someone who is shopping for a gift for you to pick up that piece you really wanted!
3. Other days & times by appointment! (Afternoons or early evenings tend to be best.)
I should, of course, be at all of the above myself. Here are some other places where you can find (and buy!) my creations. (These are basically listed in order. if you were to drive from south to north.)
First, note the dates on these limited-time, fairly-local, art shows and holiday markets:
North Hills Art Center Holiday Artisan Market: November 18 – December 9, 2023 3432 Babcock Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15237 [412-364-3622] Mondays thru Saturdays, 10 am – 3 pm’ Tuesday evenings, 7-9 pm
Mars Area Public Library Regional Art Show: mid-September 2023 – mid-March 2024 107 Grand Avenue, Mars, PA 16046 [724-625-9048] Mon-Thurs: 10am-7pm Friday: 10am-3pm Saturday: 9am-4pm
Cranberry Artists Network Holiday Show: November 17 – December 21, 2023 at the Bottlebrush: A Gallery for the Arts 539 Main Street, Harmony, Pa. 16037 [724.452.0539] Tue, Wed, Thu: 11 am – 4 pm Fri: 11 a m – 7 pm Sat: 11 am – 5 pm Sun: 12 noon – 4 pm
And, farther north, some shops that regularly carry my work!
Hoyt Art Center Gift Shop 124 East Leasure Ave., New Castle, PA 16101 [724-652-2882] Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday: 11 am – 8 pm Friday & Saturday: 11 am – 4 pm Closed Sunday & Monday
Glass Growers Gallery 10 E. 5th St. Erie, PA 16507 Holiday Season Hours Monday thru Saturday: 9 am – 6 pm Sunday: 11 am – 4 pm
Portage Hill Gallery 6439 South Portage Road, Westfield, NY 14787 [716-326-4478] Winter Hours Saturdays: 11 am – 5 pm other times by chance or appointment: call to check or to schedule
Whether in person or simply via this post, whether you’re actualIy shopping or simply browsing, I look forward to being able to offer you best wishes for the season and for the year to come!
I was eligible to submit up to two pieces to the Pittsburgh Society of Artists’ Annual show, so why not offer two and maybe get at least one in! So I was truly delighted when I got word that both of them had made it in. Here’s a little (perspective-distorted) panorama of the show at the 3rd Street Gallery in Carnegie, PA. You can locate (not actually see…) my two pieces, displayed in long white shadow boxes on the orange part of the wall to the left here, and then I’ll tell you a little about my entries.
I started thinking about making the pendant I’ve titled Enjoying Nature during a few local political discussions about proposed zoning variances to allow for a huge condominium building on a parcel that, while not officially in the large city park that surrounds it on three sides, is still zoned as a park area. Those who treasure the greenery and wildlife (well, except perhaps for the massive overabundance of just a few, select species…) have been trying to emphasize the value of that oasis amidst the urban neighborhoods that surround it. And I simply wanted to try to illustrate it.
Click this image to see it rotate in my hand!
I started the piece I’ve titled Circling Into Control way back last year, in 2022. But I kept debating with myself about how actually to finish up the mechanism that would allow it to hang so that the wearer would be able to spin it around if s/he wished to play with it that way. I had one main idea, and a handful of spin-offs from that. But, finally, I decided there was enough going on with the piece so I should keep the spin-mechanism under control (as shown here): I let the piece have the little black onyx trillion I’d set into it from he start, plus all its textures and loops and other embellishments. Then I just kept the top lightly decorated but otherwise as simple as possible.
All of that making and finishing happened while I was in the depths of this summer’s covid-exhaustion. I had to work in much shorter spurts than usual. I held myself together pretty well while doing that — because I like doing that kind of work — but I did simply run out of functional time for a real photography session. I did manage to catch these quick shots in the last few minutes before I had to head out the door to deliver them, set into their display boxes, for the show.
Does either of them inspire you in any way? If so, please let me know!
Now that Mitsubishi has discontinued their (wonderful!) “PMC” line of metal clays, I’ve been experimenting with some of the other brands that are available. I want to do a few more tests before I start writing about them but for now I’ll add this one quick note:
I can work just fine with any of them, myself. I think I may have identified a couple favorites for my own use. But I have yet to find one that doesn’t have some major setback or other for use in classes. (This is not a total surprise: my favorite type within the PMC-brand to use for classes was not my first choice for the one I would work with in my studio!).
But I still have a few more to test out before I make any final decision (and since I am now into peak garden-prep season, my art-time is a bit constrained…).
Still, the point of this post: I have some great new pieces out of my recent explorations with these new clays, and I’ve got them ready to send off to new homes at either of the two events I have in May (which can also be found on my Facebook Page or website for Convergent Series) are:
First Sunday, May 7, 1 to 5 pm (Moved a week earlier than in recent months to allow for shopping before Mothers Day.)
I’ve been reorganizing a lot of “behind the scenes” parts of my studio, which doesn’t seem to lend itself to interesting blog posts. But I’ve got work in three shows, so I ought to at least let folks know that much. I’ve included the address for each location, plus a link to a web page where you can verify the current information on hours.
Plumes and Celtic / Waves -plus- Dahlia / Fern and Paisleys North Hills Art Center Traveling Gallery Show Northland Public Library, 300 Cumberland Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237 January 6 – April 7, 2023
If you go up the stairs and turn right towards the non-fiction section, then go to the far wall and you’ll find my four pieces in two shadow boxes at the far-right of the show that wraps around two whole walls. Each piece is a reversible fine silver pendant (with a cubic zirconia on one side), hung on an 18″ sterling silver chain.
The first box, at the very start of the show, includes Plumes and Celtic / Waves. The second box is a mere two spaces over to the left, and holds Dahlia / Fern and Paisleys. An interesting fact about the second display box (shown here) is that the North Hills Art Center folks hung it just above an entry by LarryBrandstetter.
Larry and I are scheduled to have “solo” shows in adjoining locations in October, up in the Cranberry Township Municipal Center. He’ll have works in the Back Hall Gallery at the same time as I’ll have some in the central Glass Case. I am delighted to be paired with him: I think his doodles and my textures complement each other well. Stay tuned for news of at least one public event (and maybe even more) that we’ll hold together during that month!
Flower Play and Fern Botany Cranberry Artists Network Simply Spring Show Cranberry Township Municipal Center. 2525 Rochester Road , Cranberry Township, PA 16066 March 3 – April 20, 2023 Opening Reception: 6 to 8 pm on Wednesday, March 8
My pieces are among those in the big glass case in the lobby of the building, across from the library. The building hours don’t seem to be listed anywhere, but they match those of the library.
Fern Botany (both sides)
Each of my entries is a reversible, fine silver pendant (hung on an 18″ sterling silver chain). Because, in a display case, you can see only one of each piece’s two sides, I’ve displayed a QR code on the stands to an image showing both sides of each piece. (I’m not including that here because, while it now contains information specific to this show, I reuse it in different ways for different shows. Instead, I’ve just duplicated one of the images here!)
River Rocks, At a Bend in the River, and Ribbon Candy Community Art Show Mars Area Public Library 107 Grand Avenue, Mars, PA 16046 (approximate dates) March 15 – September 15, 2023
(I’ll try to update this with more specifics on dates and location once I get back up to see the whole show myself. But this library is much smaller than Northland, so I’m sure you can find them easily enough!)
River Rocks
River Rocks (shown) is a pendant with three fine silver hollow “rock” shapes hung between small snowflake obsidian beads (using Argentium silver wire, and then suspended from an 18″ sterling silver chain). There is no front or back to this piece: instead, all of the elements can rotate around the wire that connects them to the chain.
At a Bend in the River is a yellow bronze pendant with a green cubic zirconia on one side, and a simple texture on the other (hung on an 18″ brass chain).
Ribbon Candy is a reversible, iron bronze pendant with a brilliant bronze embellishment on one of its sides (hung on an 18″ steel chain).
Update, April 10: As two of these shows close, I finally found time to replace here a couple of my first-pass images (used just to get the post up at all) with at least slightly better ones. While doing that, I also added a “tag” to the post itself to include Larry Brandstetter, because the in-line one I’d tried the first time didn’t seem to be working…
I’m hoping to get up to Mars so I can confirm more about that show shortly, but no promises as to when…
Happy New Year! With the holiday on a weekend, the way Facebook seems to suck up blog-posting energy, and my getting out of the routine during the pandemic, somehow I didn’t manage a blog-anniversary post this year. But I do have a little bit of news to share here!
As I’ve mentioned, I’m continuing to test out holding my (mostly) monthly Studio Session / Open House sessions on Sundays. The times will mostly be 1 to 5 pm but, as ever, I may have to make occasional adjustments to that plan. Also, though I’d like to have them on the afternoon of the second Sunday (making that easy to remember) this year’s calendar seems to be calling for a number of different tweaks…
Here’s my tentative schedule for the next few months. Anything that’s off the “normal” will be noted be noted in bold.
Sunday, January 15, 1 – 5 pm (This is the second non-holiday Sunday of the month..,.)
Sunday, February 12, 1-5 pm (The schedule I’d like to have all the time! In addition to being just a few hours before the Super Bowl, it falls just in time to shop for Valentine’s Day!)
Sunday, March 12, 2-5 pm (Note the slightly later start: Have you ever though of joining the Pittsburgh Society of Artists?! Consider signing up for their new member screening that will be held down on the lowest level of WSCC that day. I’ll head back upstairs as soon as that (and the post-screening board meeting) are finished.)
Sunday, April 2, 1-5 pm (I’m sorry about doing it on Palm Sunday, but there just happen to be many different holidays celebrated this month.)
Sunday, May 7, 1-5 pm (Well, the second Sunday, the 14th, is Mothers Day. I guess I could try to open up that day, but it seems better to let folks do down-to-the-last-week shopping on the 7th! I also plan to set aside a few specific evening times later the week of the 7th in case you come shopping, see something you’d like to request, and want to send someone over to get it for you…)
Sunday, June 11, 1-5 pm, tentative! (I think the others are likely to stick as stated here. Well, I may have to change one of them, but hoping not. But right now I’m just guessing about June, and will confirm that date and time once (a) the Three Rivers Arts Festival schedule has come out and (b) I sort out with several friends when we’ll jointly celebrate a number of Gemini birthdays!)
I will try to remember to update this post if/when I have to change any of those. But the latest information should always be available as an event on my public Facebook page. In the meantime, here’s a photo of one of the pieces I’ll have available at least through my January event. It’s just so cute, and the cubic zirconia in the middle adds a lovely little bit of sparkle!
Shoppers: Just show up at any time in the given range!
Students: I’m not yet announcing specific come-and-work-with-me schedules on these days (as I’d been doing pre-Covid…). But I’d love to have some of you come back to work on your own projects on my “spare” worktable during these sessions. If you’ve been looking forward to having those return, please just contact me directly and we’ll work something out!!!
Merry Christmas to you, or Happy whatever-other Holidays you may be celebrating this season! I’ve shifted to Second Sunday events this year, and it’s finally time for my Second Sunday Holiday Open House!
If you’re looking to shop for some art jewelry or other small adornments this month, whether to give as gifts or as a treat for yourself, come on over to my studio this Sunday, December 11, from 1 to 5 pm.
If you’re not one of my studio regulars, know that you can come find me upstairs, over the front door, at the Wilkins School Community Center (in Regent Square), 7604 Charleston Avenue, 15218.
Even farther “behind” that usual as I write this on Thursday, I haven’t even begun to turn my workspace into a sales venue, but somehow I’ll get that done by this Sunday…
If your schedule is crazy too now, and you can’t get there on Sunday afternoon, reach out to discuss what days / times after that would work for you. Alternatively, I’ve still got pieces in my usual retail shops: find those (with addresses and open hours) on my website.
For now, here’s a little peek at one of the many pieces I’ll have available in my studio. (This is the “other side” of the piece that was in the recent Pittsburgh Society of Artists Show.)
I am honored that two of my pieces are included in the Cranberry Artists Network’s annual Holiday Show, Give a Gift of Art, that runs from November 15 through December 15, 2022!
Flower Party Fine Silver Pendant (with cubic zirconia) on Sterling Silver Chain
Stream Shield Fine Silver Pendant (with lab-created pink sapphire) on Sterling Silver Chain
As with most CAN shows, it’s in the Cranberry Township Municipal Building at 2525 Rochester Road in Cranberry Township, PA.
There will be an Opening Reception on Tuesday, November 15, from 7-9 pm. (Correction! The time apparently is 6-8 pm, so I’m not sure I’ll make it to that. The application had said it’d be 7-9, and I’d thought I could get there by 7:30 or so and it’d still be ok. But since it’s 6-8, folks will be leaving by 7:30. With an almost two hour round trip for me, that drive gets hard to justify. I’m sorry I’ll miss the people! I hope you can still go!)
Update: Thanks to CAN member Jim Tobin, I found this photo of the glass case with the 3D entries, including my two, on black stands, third and second from the bottom right, respectively. There are many, many more 2D entries down the hallway: you’ll just have to go to see those yourself.
I’m delighted that my reversible, silver “lentil bead” necklace, Acanthus, was selected to be included in the Pittsburgh Society of Artists Guild‘s 56th Annual Exhibit!
What was most stunning to me was that, of the 71 artists who submitted pieces, I was one of only 22 whose work was selected, and this was the only 3D piece chosen! What an honor!
Oh, and if you know me, you probably expect that piece to be reversible … and it is! The other side is a similar sort of leaf design, with a somewhat subtle difference: more of an “outie” than this “innie” pattern in the center. I had originally made them separately, intending to do two different things with their respective “other” sides. But once these components were ready, they just sort of told me that they belonged together instead!
In addition to the two receptions for this show that are noted in the “postcard” photo, above, there are two additional events related to this show that seem worth mentioning:
Saturday evening, October 28, an Ekphrastic Reading. Free and open to the public. (I’ve been holding off making this post, awaiting time and other details (poet, artistic inspiration) for this event, but so far only the evening date has been made available. Do let me know if you want to attend that evening but don’t see details anywhere else and I forget to update this.)
Friday, November 4, from 4 to 8 pm. This is the shift during which I will be staffing the gallery! (It’d sure be great to have some folks I know stop by to see the show and visit with me a bit during that.)
And, since I’m writing, I just realized that while I mentioned this earlier event on Convergent Series’ Facebook page, I didn’t note here that I’d had two pieces accepted in July for the Cranberry Artists Network‘s annual Martinis with Monet show, that one of them (shown on the left in this picture) had won an award, and that both of them were purchased by one of my collectors!
What with all that from Martinis with Monet, my solo “glass-case” show for the month of September, and now getting into the PSA annual show, it really feels great to have hit the ground running (and not falling!) again, at last. (Though I still have to remember about posting such things!)
Here’s hoping that we all have a great autumn. And, as noted in my last post, I have two classes scheduled and filling (as I write this, a few seats do still remain) at Artsmiths soon too: might I see you there?
If you subscribe to my very-occasional newsletter, you have a clue as to why I’ve been quiet for a while. Overall, the reason isn’t important. What matters is that, beyond simple pandemic issues, I’m slowly getting back to business, with some new, upcoming events!
My First-Ever Solo Show!
Throughout September, 2022, I am so honored to be Cranberry Artists Network’s “Glass Case Artist”!
Cranberry Twp Municipal Center, 2525 Rochester Road, Cranberry Twp, PA.
While the show is running all month, I encourage local folks to join me for my Artist’s Reception. While you are welcome to just show up, it’d help me to have a clue if you’re planning to attend (since I’m trying to figure out how many light refreshment treats to bring!).
Tuesday, September 20, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Studio Sessions Return Next Month!
At the moment, I’m planning them as mostly-Second, now-mostly-Sunday events in my studio in the Wilkins School Community Center in Regent Square. These are times when I set up a little mini-show – I have only a handful of things on display but if there’s something in particular you’d like to see, let me know a day or two in advance and I can be sure to have that sort of thing to show you. I have one table set up so I can work on some chores, and students from my previous classes are welcome to come by and use my tools to do something of their own (as long as I have a couple days notice!). These are the dates I have set up so far:
Second Sunday, October 9, 1 to 5 pm (I’ll likely be cleaning up pieces I’ve brought back from the display case in Cranberry.)
Third Sunday, November 20, 1 to 5 pm (Can’t be the second one: see classes, below)
Second Sunday, December 11, 1 to 5 pm (I may well extend the time for this one as we get closer to the holidays!)
New Classes Coming!
Regular readers here will know I’ve been involved with The Artsmiths of Pittsburgh for years now. They sell a good share of my pieces for me, and I teach classes there on how to make pieces along the lines of many of the ones I offer. They moved from Mt Lebanon to Carnegie early in 2020 (what timing!) and if you haven’t made it over to check out the new facility, you should! Here are the workshops I have set up there for this fall:
Sunday, October 23, Noon to 3:30 pm Textured Reversible Silver (pendant or earrings) Register Here
Sunday, November 13, Noon to 3:30 pm Tiny Silver Pendants (make several: pendants-earring pieces-charms, for yourself and/or as gifts!) Register Here
Beyond These?
Who knows?! Let’s enjoy all of these for now, and see what happens next!
This is my own neighborhood but, given the last-minute notice I had about it and the drizzly weather forecast, I’m not setting up a display for this.
But I do plan to wander around and meet other artists (all within walking distance for me!), plus chat with others I encounter along the way. I’ll wear a fly fishing vest with lots of pockets, and plan to stuff them with samples of my art-jewelry (and, while I’m at it, a credit card reader too!).
Let me know if I should be looking for you too!
Chautauqua – Lake Erie Art Trail: Hub Crawl, Saturday, May 29 and Sunday, May 30, 10 am – 5 pm each day.
I sure wish I could just zip up for this tour too! If you’re too far north to make it down to my area for the Art Walk, above, then consider heading up for the Art Trail. If you stop at Hub 2, the Portage Hill Art Gallery, please tell artist-owner Audrey that I pointed you to this event (and ask to see some of my pieces that are available there).
And, wherever you may find yourself, have a memorable Memorial Day weekend!
The Wilkins School Community Center in Regent Square, where I have my studio, is still closed to the public. But the big paved area in front is open, outside, and this Saturday, May 15, from 8 am to around 1 pm, will be the site of WSCC’s annual Plant Sale and more! No book sale inside, and I can’t do a show up in my studio, but I will set up a simple sales spot outside among the gardeners and various information tables. I think they’re putting me on the driveway side, but can’t be sure until we set up.
Also at the same time is the annual Regent Square Community Yard Sale. If you’re not familiar with that, it’s typically a big event, with folks coming in from all over to stroll around the whole lovely neighborhood on that special morning seeking good deals. Street parking is first come first served, and please watch out for pedestrians!
Because yard-sale customers don’t come expecting to buy high-end jewelry, my spread this time will feature a lot of my most affordable pieces. Because I don’t do the thing where I mark my pieces up just so I can offer big sale-price discounts, the best I can do (for this show only) is to offer a bit of a deal for multiple purchases: 10% off second and subsequent items (after the first, highest price, one). If you want something I haven’t brought down, at the end of the show (once I’ve taken things back inside), I’ll be happy stay a bit longer so I can bring out some of my very special pieces for your consideration. (I sure look forward to the day when I can welcome visitors inside my studio again!)
Students, fellow artists, and others: If I have something of yours and we haven’t been able to connect while the building has been closed, do let me know. I have sone fired pieces, books, a stool, and more that I’ve saved for various folks! It’s probably worth letting me know in advance, so I can be sure to pull it out of whatever corner I stashed it into and set it someplace where it will be easy to grab and bring downstairs.
One final note: I rarely do outdoor shows, just indoor ones. I don’t have all the regular display materials and such for outdoors, so if the weather turns windy or rainy, I’ll have to bail out and haul everything back inside as fast as I can. Cool is fine, just not a lot of wind and/or rain! But predictions are for a lovely spring day, so I’m sure hoping that holds…
Merry Christmas to you, or Happy whatever-other Holidays you may be celebrating this season! If you’re looking to shop for some art jewelry, colorful glass ornaments, or miniature pottery this month, whether to give as gifts or as a treat for yourself, this post will list the times and places where you can find items I’ve created!
All of these events are have for a while been on my public events page, and on the “blogroll” down the right side of this blog (when viewed on a computer). But I thought I should also list them all together here, just in case you (or your mobile device) didn’t catch them in either of those places…
You should be able to find me in person with many of my creations on these three Saturdays:
Dec 7 from 9 am to 6 pm: Arts & Crafts Fair, C.C. Mellor Memorial Library, 1 Pennwood Avenue, 15218.
Dec 21 from (probably) 1 to 4 pm: Third Saturday Holiday-Extra Open House, WSCC, 7604 Charleston Avenue, 15218. (Note: If, at either of the first two events above, I get requests to change the time for this day, then I will. You can confirm any modifications to that schedule on my public events list a few days ahead of this one.)
Here are other places where you can find some of my creations, listed in order by end date.
Dec 6 – 8. Stop #41 on the Lawrenceville Joy of Cookies Tour, 3100 Penn Ave through 5600 Butler Street, Pittsburgh (10-5 Fri-Sa; 10-4 Su — the Steel City Craft Emporium* is the tour-stop closest to downtown!)
Dec 6 – 8: Portage Hill Gallery*Open House, 6439 Portage Rd, Westfield, NY 14787 (10 am – 5 pm on those days).
Nov 23 – Dec 14: Holiday Artisan Market at the North Hills Art Center, 3432 Babcock Blvd, 15237 (10-3 Mon-Sat plus 7-9 Tues).
Nov 8 – Dec 20: Season of Joy Show in the Cranberry Township Municipal Center, 2525 Rochester Road, 16066 (10-8 M-Th; at least 1-4 Fri-Sun). One enamel on copper show piece with bronze accent: It’s in the Middle of … Where?!!
Nov 23 – Dec 22: jewelry plus ornaments in the extended Holiday Collection at the Hoyt Center for the Arts*, 124 E Leasure Ave, New Castle, 16101 (11-8 Tu-Th; 11-4 Fri-Sat).
Nov 11 – Dec 23: Pop-up Shop of The Artsmiths** of Pittsburgh, 329 E Main St, Carnegie, 15106 (Fri-Sun, 11-4).
and through Dec 24: The Artsmiths of Pittsburgh, 1635 McFarland Road, Mt. Lebanon, 15216 (Mo-Sa 10-6; Su 12-4).
* My works will be available in the sites marked with this asterisk even after the “special event” noted in this list, although the open days and hours may vary at other times of the year. ** Artsmiths will be moving from Mt Lebanon to Carnegie early in 2020, and my creations will continue to be available there (daily!) after the move.
I hope I’ll get to see you in person at one or more of these events. (And while I’d be thrilled if you chose to make a purchase, there’s no pressure to do so. I’m always happy just to see familiar faces and catch up a bit!). But, even if I don’t see you, please know that I wish you all the best for 2020!
I was delighted to have two of my pieces accepted for the Cranberry Artists Network‘s Spring Show, Seeing in a New Light, that will be on display in the Cranberry Township Municipal Center at 2525 Rochester Road in Cranberry Twp, PA 16066 from March 4 through April 15, 2019.
The photo with this post shows CAN’s postcard announcing this show, annotated with little images of my two pieces:
Left: Seeing the Spirit in a Cube.Could a flat-sided cube hold the spirit of a few curves deep in its heart?!! This 18 x 22 x 23 mm sterling silver pendant with “puffy cube” black onyx bead (displayed here and in the show on an 18″ sterling silver snake chain) was made in August, 2016.
I’ll have to dig back through unfinished drafts: I really thought I’d at least started a post about it at the time, but can’t find it right now. I faced a number of serious challenges with that piece! If I can’t find a draft post to finish and publish here, I’ll try to recreate that story from my archived “troubleshooting notes” so I can tell that story here … eventually.
I did exhibit this Cube in one other show, the 2017 Annual Exhibition of the Pittsburgh Society of Artists. It did not find a new home at that show, and has been tucked away for safe-keeping ever since. And that’s not right: this cube with it’s puffy little center bead deserves to be out and about, decorating a new owner!
Right: What Is Behind Door #3 ?!!The answer to the question, shown in this little snapshot, is that you can find a moonstone back there, and it will be the owner’s choice whether to keep or to reveal that little secret when it’s worn! This 26 x 27 x 8 mm fine silver pendant with a 6 mm white moonstone cabochon (displayed in the show on an 18″ sterling silver rolo chain) was made in February, 2019, specifically to submit to be considered for this show.
This is yet another piece in my Doorways series, which I‘ve mentioned before. I made this one out of PMC Flex which in some ways is not the ideal silver metal clay formula to use for this specific layered construction. But I wanted to make a couple more of these, I had some “Flex” I’d opened for another project, and the amount left seemed like just about the right amount, so I went with it! And with a lot of wet-finishing, supplemented by some heat-fixing so the Flex would harden up enough to do just a bit of sanding in a few places, I’m happy with how it turned out.
Adding the moonstone on the back was not part of my original design but, as I worked on it, propping its little door open, the question “and what is behind that door?” kept popping into my head. I may have to explore other ways to “answer” that question in my next few Doorway pieces. But whoever ends up taking this one home will have the piece that sparked that exploration!
This Saturday, February 2, brings us the opening reception and awards celebration for the 2019 Mid-Winter Hues show at the North Hills Art Center from 7 to 9 pm. The show runs through March 1 and, after the opening night, can be viewed on weekdays (M-F) from 10 am to 3 pm, plus Monday evenings from 7 to 9 pm.
The juror for this show was Katie Koenig, a local artist (and very new mom!) whose realistic acrylic paintings of everyday objects I just love! So I’m particularly interested to hear what she’ll have to say at the opening / awards event about various pieces in the show.
Apparently there are a total of 106 entries (wow!), and I’m delighted to report that the two pieces shown in this post, both of which I made late last winter, will be among them!
Spring Thoughts on a Gray Day is an enamel-on-steel pendant. Mid-winter days here in this “rust-belt steel-town” are often rather gray…. We remember that brightly colored skies, hillsides, gardens, and more will return. Cars will have snow and salt washed off them, and those with bright colors will reappear. People will take off their heavy, dark coats and again sport bright colors. But in the cold, dark, gray of mid-winter, pastel tones may be the brightest colors imaginable on some days….
But then there are days when the sun does come out and various bits of sparkle do brighten things up for a while. I tried to capture that idea via the lavender cubic zirconia and selective polishing in the reversible sterling (.960) silver pendant I’ve titled Serendipity Wave, while the textures on each side of this piece remind me of various kinds of tracks in the snow … or perhaps dreams of tracks in the sand dunes of an escape to warmer climates!
I’ve seen some preview pictures of a couple walls of paintings (probably about a third of the total Mid-Winter Hues show) and the thing that impressed me was how many seemed to be attempting to banish the grays of winter with bright colors! So I’m looking forward to seeing the whole collection on Saturday. And to seeing some friendly faces at the opening. Oh, and after having spent that afternoon in my studio, to suddenly trying to fit in a little stop at the Mt. Nebo Pat Catan’s (did you see my last post?!) on my way there.
Even though I haven’t been able to post much here lately, these are the major events I have planned for December!
Where you can find me in person:
Arts & Crafts Fair, Saturday, December 8, 9 am to 6 pm, curated by the C. C. Mellor Library in Edgewood, PA. Find me and dozens of other local artists in the festive Edgewood Community House adjacent to the library.
Studio Open House: Saturday & Sunday, December 15 & 16, Noon to 6 pm on Saturday (probably more like 1 to 5:30 on Sunday), in my studio at the Wilkins School Community Center (WSCC) in Regent Square. Since this is where I make my creations, this is the place to see the widest selection of my offerings! Please note that my Saturday event runs right up until WSCC’s Sustainable Neighborhood Holiday Potluck, and you’re welcome to stay and join in on that too!
UPDATE — A (very rare) SALE! In my studio (Dec 15-16 only), select class-demo pieces will be 10% off! I don’t mark my prices up just so I can later offer them at a discount… But in classes, I often make smaller, simpler pieces to illustrate a technique or concept, or to answer a question, ones that I later finish and offer for sale. This will be your chance to purchase a few of those at a discount!
Second-round Studio Shopping, by appointment only, again in my studio at WSCC. For those who come at one of the above times, and someone you’re with expresses interest in something, and you’d like to come back without them to see if it’s still available for you to purchase as a gift, but can’t get there at another official event-time … I’m still happy to try to help you out! Schedule an appointment for Dec 17, 18, or 19 at a time that will work for both of us!
Other places where my art jewelry, colorful ornaments, and more are currently available for purchase:
The Holiday Artisan Market at the North Hills Art Center in Ross Township (Nov 17 – Dec 8).
The Gift Shop at the Hoyt Center for the Arts in New Castle, PA, ongoing. (Consider combining that with a trip for their 7 pm Holiday Concert with the Pittsburgh Cello Quartet on Dec 6.)
Private / Semi-private lessons. If you want to make something special yourself, the only times I still have open for the remainder of this year are the afternoons of Dec 17, 18, or 19 (Mon thru Weds). Contact me for details.
(mostly) Second (mostly) Saturday Studio Sessions will resume on Saturday, January 12, 2019. These are for students who want to come and use my tools and equipement while I hold my monthly mini open house and / or work on my own projects. (I’ll answer questions but don’t hold formal lessons during these times.) It’s first-come / first-served, so just let me know if you want me to hold a space for you (or put you on my waiting list) for that date.
My next workshops will be in 2019. The first one I have scheduled for next year will be on Friday, January 18, from 6 to 9 pm, at the North Hills Art Center. Petite on Posts will involve a fine silver project where you’ll learn how to make a pair of post earrings (or, if you prefer, small lapel pins). Registration should open on their website by the start of January (maybe late December) and I’ll (try to remember to) update the above link then. I’ll post news about other 2019 classes early in the new year too.
Several years ago, I made a small series of “doorway” pendants. I have no clue why I don’t seem to have stopped to photograph and write about them: I must have been busy with something else at the same time and devoted my social media time to that instead.
Digging back through photos now, the only one I can find is a rather blurry snapshot of the last one from that series. But the funny thing is how that piece, Ancient Doorway, is the basis for this post!
Ancient Doorway had been bought by one of my regular customers. She comes by at least once a year, usually with her mother and/or occasionally with a sister, often with children and/or spouses in tow too, and they entertain me for a while as they explore my offerings, provide interesting critiques, and debate which to buy for themselves or each other. They are very enthusiastic, and thus a lot fun to have as customers. And I remember the time she bought that piece because, as she walked in the door her eyes landed on that one first and sparkled! She headed straight to it, picked it up, turned it over, checked the price, set it back down, looked at several other pendants, came back to it and made a few comments, looked around some more, returned to it again and held it up in front of a mirror, looked at some earrings, and finally declared something to the effect that it was definitely her favorite of all the new pieces I had that day.
The funny thing about that is this: I knew from the moment she first headed for it that it was the last piece left from that older series, adapted from a project in one of Hadar Jacobson’s great books (and being the last one is probably why I got at least a quick shot of it). And she had to have been shopping at least two previous times when it was there. So I stood there trying to remember if she’d expressed interest in it earlier, and didn’t think she had. But she was definitely intrigued that day. I was happy to have the sale, but I was also very happy that it made her happy even if that had taken a while.
Except when she came in earlier this summer, she was sad. I could have a few of the details wrong here, but I remember her saying that she usually doesn’t take jewelry with her when she goes on vacation with her family, but she liked that one so much she wanted to have it with her when they took the kids to DisneyWorld. She clearly remembered seeing it on the bathroom counter the last morning when she went to take a shower, but realized on the trip home that she wasn’t wearing it, and didn’t remember putting it back on as they rushed to get everyone out the door that morning. As soon as possible, they called the hotel to ask if it had been found, and were told no. She was disappointed in herself for having lost it: could I make another one?
Of course I said, “Of course. Yes!” I did add that I’d never be able to recreate it exactly, but was it OK if I made something similar. Sure. I said that I was in the middle of some other projects, so it wouldn’t be right away. Was that OK, or did she want it asap? She said that as long as she knew it’d be coming, that was fine. I said that what I’d do would be to make several, give her first choice, and then just put the rest up for sale to others. She liked that idea.
Through the Arches || Into the Vault
So I started out by making two more, shown above. With the old series I remember trying to make them two different ways, and I couldn’t remember which way I’d ended up preferring So, for those first two, I made one each way:
starting from the back and working towards the front, and
starting at the front and working backwards.
The techniques to make it work are a bit different and, in some ways, I now think that “easiness” may be a toss-up. It is far easier to control the design with the approach I used with the former (Through the Arches), but far easier to get great, smooth side-edges using the techniques I applied to the latter (Into the Vault). So I guess I’ll just have to make a couple more!
Just as I finished those two, I looked at my calendar and realized that I needed several entries for two upcoming art shows, so each of the new doorways went to one of those!
Through the Arches (left) will be on display (and available for purchase) at the North Hills Art Center in Ross Twp, PA, from September 8 through October 5, (along with a second piece, a quilt-design piece with a cubic zirconia).
Into the Vault (right) will be on display (and available for purchase) at the Arts on the Riverwalk art competition, sponsored by the Hoyt Art Center at the Confluence Cafe in New Castle, PA, from September 8 through November 1 (along with a second piece, a shamrock design that incorporates dichroic glass).
And I’m delighted to report that I just learned this great news:Into the Vault
has earned a Merit Award … and was the only 3-D piece to win an award!
You may notice that both of those shows open on September 8. In order to get to both of them (and accept the award in New Castle), I’m moving my usually-Second and usually-Saturday Studio Session & Open House one week later, to September 15. I hope I’ll see some familiar faces at the shows this weekend, and in my studio next weekend … though of course I also look forward to meeting new folks too!
There was an announcement for a Quilt Show at a local venue. (Which one may slip out elsewhere but, for the purposes of this post, I don’t intend to name it… Though I had a few moments of frustration, this is not meant as a rant against them; it is simply intended to describe some aspects of the life of a working artist…)
Here’s something you need to know about that Quilt Show from the start: it was announced as being non-juried opportunity! Entries would be juried for awards, but not to get into the show in the first place. The call for artists said that they’d accept entries all day each day for a week, as long as they still had room to exhibit them.
So I started to design a quilt to enter. My “medium” these days is more often metal than fabric, and my “scale” is typically jewelry-size. I decided to make a quilt-pendant out of fine silver, using the process of sintering powdered metal (aka “metal clay”). I would “piece” samples from a selection of different textures for one side. The other side would be textured with a floral pattern that I would accent by setting a small, yellow CZ into the center of one of the flowers. The pendant would hang by the use of an integral bail: a sort of woven-fiber pattern shaped into a “tube” much as could be used for a fabric quilt displayed as a wall hanging. And, yes, all those elements were deliberately designed as a nod to more traditional quilting!
I hoped that a quilter, or quilt-lover, or quilter-lover would appreciate it during the show and decide to buy it… I also wanted to make a piece that, while it did incorporate a number of elements, wouldn’t be an exceptionally complicated piece to make: I didn’t have a lot of spare time to work on it but, even more importantly, I wanted to keep it to something that could be sold at an “affordable” price! I started it several weeks before the entry-week but, with one thing and another going on, hadn’t finished it as the deadline approached. With a lot of other things on my schedule for every day leading up to the opening of the drop-off time, my only option was to use the one and only day I’d been holding open as a “day to play” for at least a few hours. Instead, I spent all of that time, and more, playing with ways to complete the creation of my quilt piece, then firing it, polishing it, adding a patina, finding a chain that I thought would work well with it, taking a couple photographs, deciding how best to display it, giving it a name, filling out the entry-paperwork, etc. It ended up being a rather long day.
But, eventually, my Yellow Flower Birthday Quilt pendant was finished and ready to go on display!
First thing the next morning I packed it into a carrier bag and drove off to the Quilt Show venue. I looked around for a couple minutes, taking in pieces from the previous show that were coming down and noting that already a few entries were there for the new one. When the person handling all that was ready for me, she greeted me with a cheerful, “Oh, I didn’t know you made quilts too!”
I pulled the quilt-pendant out of my bag, smiled, and said, “I know this isn’t a traditional quilt, but I read the prospectus carefully, and it does not specify fabric. I hope you’ll take this silver quilt.”
“What? It doesn’t say anything?! That’s a lovely pendant, but please hold on.” She went to get a copy of the prospectus, and came back saying, “You’re right. We never thought to specify fiber as the medium because I don’t think we ever imagined anyone would enter any other kind of quilt.”
“Well,” I replied, “when you’re dealing with creative people, don’t you expect to be surprised? She laughed, with “Personally, I’d be happy to have it in the show, but I think I’d better check.”
The person she went off to check with wasn’t available. She sighed and said, “If you’re willing, you could just leave it with me, and I’ll let you know the final decision as soon as I can.” I said that was fine, we chatted for a moment about logisitics, and then she got a call. No, they wouldn’t accept my quilt. She was sorry but wanted to assure me that before they presented another quilt show, they’d take care to be more specific about their requirements…
The show is now on. Because I’m not naming them, I can’t promote it for them either. In this case, I figure that’s fair enough. I’ve been back, have seen the show, and am impressed with a number of the entries. I did also note that the showroom still has in place several of their usual display pedestals–empty–where it would have been easy to exhibit my quilt-piece on any one of them. But that’s all water under the bridge, as it were.
But … the story doesn’t end there!
This past Sunday was drop-off day for this summer’s Artists Choice show by the Pittsburgh Society of Artists (PSA). Technically, that is a non-juried show too, but one big difference is that this one is not open to everyone, just to artists who have already been juried into the PSA Guild in the first place. It’s always an interesting show. Entries may be from highly prolific artists who are always looking for show possibilities to those who only make a few pieces and seldom enter any shows other than this one. They may be new, experimental works that an artist is just putting out there to see the reaction, or pieces that just did not fit into the “guidelines” for some other show. Now do you see where this is going?!
Yes, my Quilt Show piece has been renamed as Help Me Get Over the Quilt Show Rejection “because It’s Silver, not Fiber”! and entered in the PSA show at the Brew House Association (at the corner of 21st and Mary Streets in Pittsburgh’s South Side flats area). That one runs from July 6 through August 3, 2018.
And I’m still hoping that a quilter, or quilt-lover, or quilter-lover will find it there and want to take it home!
If you’re in the area, please join me at the Opening Reception from 6 to 9 pm on Friday, July 6. (At this point, I’m also hoping to head over to the Closing Reception, same time & place, on August 3, but who knows what may change in my schedule over the next month!)
Regardless of where you’re reading this from, feel free to comment: Do you enter art shows? Why or why not? How do you handle it when a piece doesn’t get accepted? Or gets accepted but doesn’t sell there (especially if you let the announced theme of that show serve as a part of your inspiration for the piece!)?
I wrote about Kepler’s Dream on Thursday. On Friday, I learned that Spring Thoughts on a Gray Day had been accepted into a second Cranberry Artists Network event, their 2018 Spring Show this year with the theme of Drip, Drizzle & Splash (DDS).
Now, to be honest, I’d wanted to submit both these pieces for consideration for DDS. Except I was in California for the second half of February. How is that relevant? The invitation to submit one piece for the International Womens Show arrived while I was in the air on my way there: ’twas the first message I saw when I turned off “airplane mode” on my phone upon landing. And that is when I saw that the deadline for submission would be the day before I’d return. So, um, I was going to have to submit for that something I’d have ready before heading home! So, as I described in my March 8 post, I decided to enter Kepler’s Dream for that show.
I could still hold onto Spring Thoughts on a Gray Day for Drip, Drizzle & Splash! (And another big “thanks!” to Hadar Jacobson for the recent workshop and also for this photo.)
The prospectus for Drip, Drizzle & Splash, which allowed us to submit two pieces for consideration, had encouraged us to consider “the emergence of new beginnings and the way our weather and environment makes this happen.” While I didn’t have another piece ready that complemented Spring Thoughts, I did have a shamrock piece from my Urban Flowers series that I’d just made in December that seemed to fit the theme. So that was my second entry. And I was delighted to learn that my Metropolitan Shamrock has also been accepted! That show will be hung on the night of March 12 and officially open on March 13.
Metropolitan Shamrock
Both shows will be on display through April 5, 2018. There will be a public reception for both of them from 6 to 8 pm on the evening of March 22. If you’re in the area, I’d love to see you there!
Folks on my mailing list should know about all this already, but here’s what I have happening the rest of this month:
Where you can find me in person:
Studio Open House: Saturday & Sunday, December 9 & 10, 10 am to 4 pm, in my studio at the WSCC in Regent Square. Please come upstairs and let me know what you think of my new designs! I will, of course, also have plenty of old favorites too! (Also in WSCC that day, downstairs from me, La Dolce Vita Boutique will have all sorts of Italian imports for sale. And just up the street, the Environmental Charter School will be holding their Fair Trade Market!)
Guest Artists Show, Saturday, December 16, 10 am to 6 pm, at The Artsmiths of Pittsburgh in Mt. Lebanon. (I’m thrilled to be one of several Artsmiths Artists invited to bring a larger variety of items than we normally have in the shop. If you know me only from there, do come see what else I’ll bring! Or, if you’ve not yet been to Artsmiths, use this as a reason to check out the whole shop + gallery + classroom facility!)
My last workshop of 2017 will be at a new location for me! In my class on Tuesday, December 12, at the Appalachian Rock Shop & Jewelry Emporium up in Harmony, PA, we will be making reversible, hollow, “lentil” style fine silver pendants or beads! (If it’s too late for you to sign up for that aone, I’ll be back there again in March of 2018 with a Woven Silver workshop!)
Other places where my art jewelry, colorful ornaments, and more are currently available:
The Pittsburgh Society of Artists 52nd Annual Exhibition, in the underground gallery at the Artsmiths of Pittsburgh through January 12, 2018. (Rounding out this list back at Artsmiths, I’m thrilled to be one of the artists to have had a piece juried into this show, PSA’s first time showing work here.)
I hope I’ll see local folks at one or more of those! If I don’t see you, no matter where you’re from, please know that I’m wishing you all the best for this holiday season and beyond!
~~~~~
p.s., Sorry for the big gap in posting! I have a slew of articles started, in draft form, but for one reason or another (e.g., I may not have photos to illustrate what I’m trying to say; or I have photos but haven’t written the words yet…) I just haven’t managed to get any of them finished and posted. Most of them should still appear eventually!
And the first one is a birthday party this Saturday!
What with a lot of travel, gardening, garden-related travel, and more this summer, it’s been way too long since I’ve invited folks over to my studio at the Wilkins School Community Center (WSCC) in Regent Square. But I’m eager to make up for that: I already have three free events lined up there in the next few weeks.
Lots of groups and instructors are offering demos and free lessons in all the various rooms, rotating each hour, starting at 9 am, and ending at 1 pm.
In my studio, I plan to offer a mix of brief demos and explanations of how I created various pieces, also from 9 to 1. (My very tentative schedule is at the "celebrating" link above.)
I’ll also have lots of items for sale.
At 1 pm, we’ll gather downstairs to offer a toast to the building, celebrate with cake, and explore its new mural!
After that party, I’ll head back upstairs for about another hour, to try to get my demo table back to a space I can work on next week. If you can’t get here before 1, this will be another time for you to come and shop. As long as folks are around and interested, I can stay open until about 3.
Saturday, Oct 14, 4 to 6:30 pm
The Regent Square Civic Association’s (RSCA) inaugural Second Saturday in the Square kicks of at WSCC that afternoon!
Food trucks, craft beer, live music, children’s activities, and more!
So of course, I’ll open my studio for another show then!
The RSCA’s event actually runs from 4 to 7 pm. Due to prior commitments both before and after that time, it’s going to be a challenge for me to fit this in. But I will!!! I’ll likely arrive right at 4, and will have to leave no later than 6:30. So please be sure to catch me while I am there that day.
I’m not an official IKS vendor: my studio just happens to be right in the middle of their wonderful show, so I’ll have my “shop” open then too.
Sometimes, but not always, I offer button-making workshops at IKS. I’m not doing that with this one, but I will offer two (one each in silver and bronze) at the North Hills Art Center in October. If you’re interested, please sign up for one or both of those!
If you can’t make it to one of the above three events, just get in touch and let’s arrange another time that will work for both of us!
(I just realized the photo I added to this post
shows my studio from over three years ago:
I need to get a more up-to-date one!)
I’m delighted to report that I have three pieces in the current Members Show at the North Hills Art Center! The pieces were hung as they were accepted last week, but the official “opening” of the show is Saturday, September 9, from 7 to 9 pm, and runs through October 6.
As usual for NHAC, the majority of the entries are paintings. But when I dropped off my art jewelry, I did see fiber art, pottery, mixed media assemblages, and more too! A lot of the pieces were made by students of the center so, if you’re curious about that, this show can also give you an idea of what you might be able to learn in the classes there. If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll stop by to check it out! It would, of course, be great to see you at the opening on Saturday but, if you can’t make it then, do go whenever you can.
I’ve already said a few things about each of my entries, separately, in earlier blog or Facebook posts, but I thought I’d assemble a few thoughts on each of them together here. They are all available for purchase at the show.
GWV!
If you look closely, you may notice that the flowers in this “rose bronze” bracelet are Green (nephrite jade), White (cubic zirconia), and Violet (amethyst). Embellishments in those colors were a code in Edwardian / Art Nouveau times for Give Women the Vote!
This piece was made before either of my other two in this show, but since then I’ve been holding on to it myself. This is the first time I’ve ever really considered putting it up for sale!
Night Moon
As one of the earlier pieces I made with EZ960 after its introduction in 2016, this was made as a class sample, to illustrate the draping/folding process. But it’s notable to me because it’s the first piece I made using only “scraps” from earlier projects. Obviously, that test was successful!
In draping, sometimes the material tells me the shape it wants to form, and that was definitely the case here! The title of Night Moon comes from how, once the piece was completely finished, it suddenly struck me how much it evoked thoughts of a particular night in June of 1988 (a truly wonderful summer!), when I was climbing (well, at that point, descending) Emeishan, one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China.
Keystone Wildflower
Yes, this is yet another piece from my Urban Flowers series! Like the earlier ones, this pendant was made using sterling (.960) silver for most of the piece, for strength, and in a separate step the dichroic glass cabochon was attached with fine (.999) silver because that form plays better with glass. It hangs on a sterling (.925) silver chain.
The dichro in this piece is a cabochon made by local glass artist, Elise McVeigh. It is also one of the priciest pieces I’ve had in a show in a good while: that is because, at something like 75 mm across, it is one of the largest pieces I’ve made in a good while too! And big uses a lot of silver, so the price simply reflects that. But Elise’s lovely glass is noticeably different from the other dichro cabs I’ve added to my earlier urban flowers, and I just thought it deserved to go into a “statement” piece! I hope it will find a new home with someone who agrees with me.
Well, I managed to get three posts up last month as I traipsed up and down the west coast, even though I got little jewelry made and did very little teaching. (The few exceptions will get their own posts eventually!)
Right now, I’m putting together my fall teaching and show (sales) schedules for September through December. I’ll post full details once I’m sure of all the dates various but, since several folks have asked for updates, the general plan goes something like this:
Multi-Session Classes: one series using precious metals (four meetings using either sterling or fine silver; Sept – Oct) and another series using base metals (five meetings using mostly bronzes, possibly accented with some copper or steel; Oct – Nov) at the North Hills Art Center;
An Open House (with both demos and pieces for sale) in my studio during the community center‘s big fall open house day, and another Open House to coincide with Indie Knit & Spin (aka IKS).
Because of the IKS-day Open House, I don’t plan to hold either type of button-making class at that event this year. But for those wishing to make buttons, I will be offering two separate classes on that at NHAC this fall.
There will, of course, be pieces out for sale at all my “usual” locations, Artsmiths, the Hoyt, and Portage Hill.
And I’m hoping to have pieces out for sale at various other market-places, though most of that may be more in the Thanksgiving to Christmas range … with details to follow!
Then in the new year, I may try to tweak the plan a bit for winter into spring, swapping some multi-session classes into Artsmiths and my studio; and then offering some single session ones at NHAC.
But in addition to just offering a heads-up about what’s to come, there’s another reason for this post. I have a one-day Easy Earring Extravaganza project scheduled for next week, on August 16, and the deadline for you to register is looming!
Although I promote it as being a chance to make several pairs of earrings, what is an earring but an charm or a small pendant or other such element, where the maker may have just put the hole in a different place! Most of my other sessions go into depth on a particular technique applied to one specific design, but the Earring Extravaganza is different: with that one the goal is to help you go a bit more free-form for quantity, where you produce a number of simple pieces, whether that’d be to give yourself a little treat or to grab a chance to get started on holiday-season gifts.
Now, officially, the deadline is a week before the start of the first class, which is a week from the day I’m posting this! So if you want to join in on that one, please register right away!!! Technically, registration should close at the end of the day on Wednesday, August 9, but I think they’ll hold off closing it until early on Thursday morning. As long as I have the count by 10 am on Thursday, I can still get my order for materials in by that vendor’s 11 am cut-off for shipping, and we’ll be fine. Should you happen to try to register later today, or very early tomorrow, before I have to place the order, and for some reason you can’t get the form to work, please just call or email me on Thursday morning (best time would be between 9 and 10 am), and I’ll be glad to help you!
I seem to be talking about a lot of events in Pittsburgh’s North Hills lately. And now that summer is really here, it seems well past any reasonable point to continue procrastinating about another event up that way which started in mid-spring.
The delay: I can find photos of only two (of the four) relevant pieces. I remember taking photos of the other two, but for some reason now can’t find them, haven’t found the time to really look everywhere both possible and impossible, so let’s just go with what we have!
Four of my pieces are (and have been since mid-spring, thus the selections & their titles) in a “traveling show” that is on display at the Northland Public Library through the end of August!
Two (shown here) are pendants from my Urban Flowers collection. Neither one turned out the way I’d originally intended. Both pieces ended up, instead, telling me what they wanted to be!
Early Spring Bud
(aka Rainbow Bud with Pollen)
She Loved Seeing the Flower
Spring from the Pavement
I’d imagined the the larger, pastel-rainbow piece of glass going into a large flower. What with one technical issue after another, minor ones individually but still one after another of them, it ended up insisting it didn’t want to be overwhelmed by a lot a silver but, instead, to clearly be the focal point on a bud, just beginning to open, with a little bit of pollen just starting to appear. I’m OK with that.
The bezel around the red glass is exactly as I’d planned, and I was thinking I might use it on one of my other pieces inspired by Hepatica flowers. But I guess I hadn’t paid close-enough attention, because the flower-base I’d planned to use shrank just a tiny bit more than what would work with that piece of glass. It would have been relatively easy to “adjust” things to force all the pieces to fit. But I set the glass and bezel down for a moment to think about the best way to approach that fix and, when I looked up, I saw this flower next to them! Though I’d had other plans for it, I set the center-piece down and it fit in its space so perfectly that I said, “OK, if that’s where you want to go, that’s where you’ll go!”
The other two entry pieces on display (the ones with their pics missing) are movement-earrings: not the ones with layered elements that I call spinners that rotate around a horizontal axis, but the ones I sometimes also call spinners but also refer to as having movement that will rotate around a vertical axis.n Those links don’t go to photos of the pieces in the Northland show but, instead, the second one links to a different pair from several years ago with a comparable mechanism.
It’s been so much fun making all of those (and more in those series) that the seasons have seemed to be speeding by! What about you this year? Please let me know in the comments! Should any of my (local) readers find themselves in that area, please do check out the show and let me know that too!
Now the Community Days outdoor festivities will be on July 13, 14, and 15.
But that all kicks off with a special evening on Wednesday, July 12, with the opening reception for the art show, Martinis with Monet. From July 13 through August 10, admission to the show will be free. But the opening reception serves as a fund-raiser for CCTC, and a limited number of tickets are available in advance for $10 through their web site or at the Municipal Building Service Center (with just under a week now left), or for $15 at the door that evening.
And I’m thrilled to have had two pieces accepted for this year’s show!
One of them is another piece from my latest round of Three Rivers pendants. I didn’t make this one specifically for this show but I had been thinking what I might enter during a discussion of the movement and light in Monet’s art. My original design for this piece did include the movement of rivers with the sparkly light of the faceted ruby. But it was the surprising gift from my kiln, of the dappled surface-coloring hinting at sunshine and passing clouds on the ruby-side, that made this piece seem an obvious choice for this show! Because of this side, I’ve titled it, When the Sun Breaks Through the Clouds.
More colors from that kiln-gift are shown in the small, plain photo of the “other” side of that piece. Bronze firings can yield a wide range of surprises: sometimes the results cry out to be polished to a gorgeous, high shine everywhere, while other times they yield a stunning range of colors in random patterns (like this, with an upside-down rainbow in the midst of a crimson field). Though some people report that they find that unpredictability to be off-putting, for me it is part of what makes bronzes so addictive to work with!
The colors in the other piece I had accepted for this show come not so much from the firing, but from the underlying colors of various metals, stones, and glass of the piece.
I made the focal bead, the one that generated The Artist’s Impression of Warm Blankets as the title of this necklace (Monet –> impressionism: get it?!), several years ago. It’s a large, hollow bead, with layers of copper wrapped around rose bronze wrapped around yellow bronze, all with various woven textures. It was originally made as part of a series of exercises exploring the various shrinkage rates of different metal formulas in the construction of hollow structures. As I built it, I was thinking far more about those issues that about its actual design but, as soon as I pulled it out of the kiln, I saw myself pulling a (tiny…) bundle of freshly-washed blankets out of the dryer!
Most of the focal beads I made remain just that, the focus of attention, with little to nothing else to distract the viewer’s eye from them. I strung this one on some beading wire, added a clasp, and wore it myself a few times, thinking it needed something else and waiting for it to tell me what it wanted. At a recent bead show, I saw both the stones and the chain, and they immediately reminded me of the features at a cabin I shared years ago with friends on a series of late-autumn trips, where warm blankets were much appreciated as the temperatures dropped at night, and that was it: I’d found what I needed to complete this piece.
I sure hope that one or both of these pieces will find someone else’s heart to warm now too!
I am really looking forward to the way the North Hills Art Center will celebrate the Summer Solstice tonight … with the opening of their Summer Artisan Market and a Raku Party!
I still have a couple dozen pieces left of the huge batch of Raku pottery I made at IGMA: the video above shows details on a random sample of a dozen from that lot.
Several weeks ago I made a bakers-dozen new pottery pieces out of raku-friendly clay. They’ve since been bisque-fired, so they’ll be ready to put through the Raku-firing process at the party tonight! None of those are like ones in the video: I didn’t want to assume that the set-up there would be appropriate for that particular kind of piece (if you didn’t catch the video when I posted a link to it last summer, check it out now to see what I mean!), so the ones I’ll be firing tonight are items for use in my studio, as I do my own work or by students during classes: a mix of dohgu oki (for tool holders as I work, though these are a bit larger than the hashi oki I typically repurpose that way) and small vases (for tool storage, between sessions). This may well be a round of “no two alike” pieces, where I take advantage of the opportunity to explore the range of new-to-me glazes that will be available tonight.
If you have never participated in a raku-firing before, know this: Most of the time, when potters or metal clay artists talk about firing something, they refer to loading up a kiln and then going off and doing something else until it finishes. But Raku is not like that! There is a brief period of waiting but, mostly:
Raku reminds me in some ways of torch-firing a piece of metal clay, with smoke and fire, and lots of fun things to observe, and ooohs and aaahs as you get your first glimpse of the firing results, and even more fun once each piece has been brushed / cleaned up.
And, yes, if you’re hesitant, you can observe the smoke and fire parts from a distance. Me, though, I want to be close to the action!
Oh, and there will be lots of action in addition to the Raku-firings. The opening reception for the Summer Artisan Market means there will be snacks and beverages for folks to enjoy while checking out a range of great hand-made products from local artisans. Those wheel-thrown pottery pieces of mine that I mentioned at the top of this post –– on a scale suitable for a doll house or faerie garden –– will be available, along with lots of regular-size pottery from others.
A few of my Urban Flowers and Three Rivers pendants (another new one of the latter is shown with this post), and many more of my styles of neck- and ear-wares will be available. (I really need to remember to take photos after I’ve completely finished assembling my pieces: they do come hung and all ready to wear!)
So will dozens of my colorful glass card-holder ornaments! I sell those at the holidays as pieces that can be hung on a tree but, of the ones I’ve kept for myself, I never put them away at the end of that season. Since I’ve decorated then in a whole range of different, bright colors, I weight them down a bit (filling them with rice or lentils), stick little notes, reminders, instructions, or photos in the double-loops on top, and use them to spread bits of cheer around all through the year..
For my local readers, I sure hope I’ll be able to celebrate the Summer Solstice with some of you tonight! If you’re not able to make it for all that fun, but would like to shop at the Summer Artisan Market, it will be open when the center is open through July 8.
I’d had a lot of fun, back in the spring and summer of 2014, when I made a whole series of “Three Rivers” pendants. I started in the spring, figuring out how to make them. Although they all had the same basic idea, with Pittsburgh’s “three rivers” flowing across them, no two were alike. The pieces were different shapes; the “land” and “rivers” were made from different metals textured with different patterns; the rivers might be recessed, inlaid, or overlaid; and some had an extra element, a triangular stone (rounded or pointed, cabochon or faceted) set at the place that locals know as “The Point” (where, in Pittsburgh, the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers come together to form the Ohio River, which flows down into the Mississippi and, eventually, into the Gulf of Mexico). I sold some of those at the Three Rivers Arts Festival that year. I had two (ones with fewer ‘burgh-specific features) accepted into The Confluence show sponsored by The Hoyt at The Confluence Cafe in New Castle later that summer. (The piece shown, next, left, even earned a Merit Award there!) And I kept selling the rest off in various other shows and shops throughout the rest of that year and the next.
Now, I meant it when I said that I had a lot of fun making them. But some of that “fun” involved facing and overcoming a lot of challenges, doing a lot of problem-solving. I was mixing metals: various bronze formulas along with copper and a couple different steels. And, because those all have different shrinkage rates (and those with stones had extra stresses because the stones do not shrink), there is a certain “failure rate” in the process. What’s a failure? Well, sometimes little cracks appear that are readily fixed, though that results in another whole round of firing, in which there is yet another chance of failure. Other times, however, the cracks are so significant that it’d take more time to fix them than to just make a whole new piece. While I do enjoy the challenge of getting everything to ‘play nice” together, there’s a limit to how much one can add to the “overhead” price of pieces to cover all the time and materials that go into both “research and development” and “unavoidable losses” while keeping the pieces reasonably affordable. So, after a half-year binge, I moved on to other design challenges.
But I kept thinking I wanted to make more, and the PSA theme was just the push I needed. Of course, it’s never simple. Since the last time I made them, I’d been working more with some different metal formulas, so another round of “R&D” was required! Oh, and while I was at it, I had decided to try to develop yet another approach to distinguishing the rivers from the land.
In my first few firings, the successes all had the most simple designs; ones that failed had the more complex (and thus more interesting) mixes, and those all failed in ways that I considered beyond repair. Ah, the challenge: I will make this project work!
Oh, and I’d also decided to make these on the larger side. Not huge but, since I was working with base metals (various bronzes, not silver or gold) I could afford to risk pieces that started out around two inches in diameter. (After shrinking during firing, those would end up about 1.75″ across.) I also made some oval pieces, ones that started out at 1.5 by 2.0 inches, and shrank to around 1.3 by 1.75 inches.
Of course, making them that big then limited the number of pieces I could fire in a single load…. Each load does add a small amount to the time I spend, but the real issue is having pieces stack up just waiting to be fired. Since I make one-of-a-kind pieces, and rarely do real production / volume work, I don’t consider that a major issue. It’s not meant as a complaint, but I mention it to explain to some readers why testing that, in a production environment, might be measured in weeks ends up taking me months….
I’m going to keep experimenting with these over the summer, and hope to eventually report on a few more here. In the meantime, though, I’m now presenting the first one that will appear in public, having been accepted the PSA show that opens tomorrow, Friday, June 9! For the piece I submitted to the da burgh jury I decided that, rather than worry about going complex, I’d stick to a simple design and go for a double-hit at the theme:
The design is a basic, overhead view of Pittsburgh and its Three Rivers, AND
The black spinel trillion cabochon set atop the golden bronze metal show the same black & gold of Pittsburgh’s major professional sports teams!
I added a small image of it to my version of PSA’s postcard, above, but here’s a bigger look at it. This is just my basic inventory shot because, silly me, I forgot to take a picture as it appears in the show, hung on a really nice necklace that alternates large loops with short chain segments. To see that, come to the FrameHouse & Jask Gallery this month!
May 20: Once again, it’s the great, big Regent Square Community Yard Sale … so that’s the day Wilkins School Community Center will have its annual fund-raiser, which this year features “Books, Beer, Plants, and Dogs” … and I’ll have my studio open from around 10 am until at least 2 pm.
Jewelry will be available (at regular prices) plus I’ll be featuring lots of little, potted aloe plants too, and those will be available at yard-sale prices.
I’m at WSCC, upstairs, in Room #25. Please come on over!
As I mentioned last October, I’ve been experimenting with different ways of incorporating glass into some of my pendants, while also trying to ensure that the process I use for converting (sintering) the clay-like substance I work with into a proper all-metal construction will yield results that are as strong as possible.
I’ve been having a lot of fun doing that: designing pieces, redesigning them when tests don’t work out as planned, and coming up with more ideas for continued explorations. And, now that spring is approaching, I’m delighted to be able to report that two of my experimental blooms will be allowed to sprout (i.e., have been accepted for display in) two upcoming art shows.
The Cranberry Artist Network’s late-winter show actually opened last week, but the meet-the-artists reception will be tomorrow, March 8, from 6 to 8 pm. If you’re in the neighborhood, do stop by to see my five-petal flower (along the lines of a “cinquefoil”) with a silvery-blue glittery dicrhoic glass cabochon in the center.
On this particular piece, I decided to not try to emphasize the texures on the petals by adding a darker patina. They will darken with age slowly over time but, for this From Dark to Light show, I thought I’d let viewers consider the strong contrast between the darkness of the glass in the center and the bright-light color of the metal that surrounds it. The presentation of any sort of flower also fits the theme, as plants of various sorts begin to emerge in reaction to the increasing duration of light each day. Finally, the addition of a few little silver balls represent a flower’s pollen to remind us of the importance of pollinators for so much of what we appreciate being grown, whether for sustenance or simply for beauty.
A sort of companion to that is my “double shamrock” piece. It will be on display in a sort of companion show, called One Night Stand (take note: it runs for one night only!), at the Mars Area Public Library on (no joke!) April 1 at a special evening event that will run from 6 to 9 pm. They had in mind that their “art show” would include paintings, but I’m not the only one who submitted other media that was accepted so I’ll be interested to see what all makes it into the displays. I am a big believer in local libraries, so I really hope this show will be a success for them!
I chose to try to enter this piece because of the “companionships” I mentioned above. As with all my Urban Flowers, I know that this one does not accurately represent a shamrock. But when I looked at that lovely green and gold glass, I wanted to make something appropirately green for it. And, having just finished the “cinquefoil” I wanted to try a different mechanism for holding the glass in place … without making yet another cinquefoil. I was fairly happy with how it turned out. (Actually, I was very happy, except that I had to add a four-leaf clover design to the back to get everything as secure as I wanted, which looks great but increased the materials cost, and thus the price, a little more than I’d wanted.) I did add a bit of patina to this one, to help bring out the veining in the petals.
Given what I learned with these two, I’ve got several more in the works now. The latest ones have long, thin petals. Maybe I can get them out on display over the summer…!
Whew, what a day. Today, Saturday, started out with all news outlets stating, “If you don’t absolutely have to be somewhere this morning, please stay home. Don’t even try to go anywhere for several hours and, if you can wait, then please do wait until late afternoon or even tomorrow.”
Well, I was out the door before 9 am, heading over to The Artsmiths of Pittsburgh to finish setting up for my Trunk Show that started when the place opened at 10 am. And I sure do want to thank everyone who did venture out to Artsmiths today! All the ‘Smiths Shop artists, and especially those of us holding Trunk Shows downstairs, really, really do appreciate your support.
Four of us have decided that we will go back again on Sunday, in case folks whose schedules were mangled by this weather would appreciate a second chance. We’re already all set up, so why not?! Several of the others who were there today already had different plans for Sunday and have already left, but Paula Nettleship, Samantha Bower, Larissa Graudins, and I will all be there. Since Sunday wasn’t actually advertized as a Trunk Show day, if people don’t come down to see us, we may decide to leave a little early. Artsmiths is open from 12 Noon to 5 pm on Sunday, though some or all of us might start packing up a bit early. So, if you’d like to come find us, I’d suggest you try to make it to Artsmiths betwen 12 Noon and 3 pm. If you want to come later (i.e., after 3 pm, until about 4:45 … to allow at least a little time for shopping until 5), then please just contact one or more of us (or Artsmiths itself) to let us know you’re coming. Any or all of us will be happy to stay as late as the upstairs is open, as long as we know you’ll be coming to join us!
For now, I include one very quick photo of one of the last pieces I finished up last night, a super-simple design but in my usual make-reversible-designs approach, what looks like the top of a lock from this side, actually shows as a heart on the other! It’s still out at Artsmiths so you could hold it in your very own hands tomorrow…and maybe give it as a gift to someone you hold dear in your heart later in the week?
Yes, we have a whole month left! The title of this post contains a bad pun … but I’m hoping you’ll wrap up some of my creations as gifts, or receive one wrapped up for you!
Here are places where you can find my art jewelry this December (and you can find me—in person, with extra treats—at those with an asterisk):
Holiday Sparkle Art & Craft Market at the North Hills Art Center, now through December 10
Studio Open House *, in my studio at the Wilkins School Community Center, December 2 (6-9 pm) and December 3-4 (10 am – 5 pm) I’m not promising to be back in my studio all day the following weekend (Dec 10-11) but I’m likely to be there for a few hours at some point. If that’s the only time you can make it, please let me know so we can agree on a time to meet there!
Trunk Show *, The Artsmiths of Pittsburgh, December 17 (Officially I’ll be there myself just that day, but check with me if you’d like to come out on either Friday (16th) or Sunday (18th) as I may be there part of those days too. And I have a smaller, but still great, selection in the ‘Smiths Shop year-round!)
And, finally, I’m honored that, as a member of the Pittsburgh Society of Artists, I was able to have one of my pieces selected for display (and for sale) in The New Collective show at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. The show runs from November 18, 2016, through February 26, 2017, and I sure hope you’ll be able to get over to see all the wonderful artwork that’s been included. To find my entry, first head upstairs and then turn right, and right again, and then head down the last gallery on the right. My Bronze Bead Shelf is at the end of that, on the left. Since it’s framed for display in the show, so you can see only one side there, here’s what it looks like on both sides:
I hope to see you, or to at least have you see my work, at one or another of those events. If I don’t see you in person, there or somewhere, please know how much I appreciate your interest and support, and that I’m wishing you all the best!
Artsmiths of Pittsburgh
Hoyt Center for the Arts, New Castle, PA
Portage Hill Gallery, Westfield, NY
_Open Houses in my Studio
_Or…contact me about hosting a private party!
And the first one is a birthday party this Saturday!
Convergent Series 