Painful Lessons at Fashion Camp

 Reliving one's childhood through one's child, has to be one of the most painful experiences. Fi was in a fashion camp this week. The group was comprised of 14 girls (ages 11-14). Why did I not see the writing on the wall...? There was one wonderful teacher, and two very sweet, but unskilled helpers. So, they were quickly reassigned to another room, and I was ushered in to take their place; big mistake. The first day went fine, all getting to know each other, and all equally frustrated at the awful sewing machines, which began to die one by one. After the second day, we were down to four machines for 14 kids.

Next nail in the coffin; we start on our model sketches. Fi decided to make her model into a sugar skull. Ugh, most all the girls immediately started to make fun of her and her picture. Talk about peer pressure and conforming to the norm. I found this all very interesting, since they all idolize Lady GaGa, yet exhibited the antithesis of everything she stands for. The isolation of my child had moved into full force, mainly lead by one girl. I'm not sure why she hated my daughter so, but I feared it had to do with the fact that I was in the room. By the end of the week, Fi was totally alone. I finally lost it with two of the girls, and that only made it worse. Fi was crushed, yet she was able to create a wonderful outfit, one of the most complicated in the room. Her dip-dye t-shirt matched her paneled skirt and bag. I was so proud.

Melting...

 

It's been a while since I posted. Mac finished her first year in the big house; 95 & 96 GPAs for the year. Not bad for a un-socialized "homeschooler". Fi is not far behind. Not sure how much longer she will put up with staying home, though witnessing some of her sister's less than stellar experiences this year, has at least cooled her excitement about giving up the learning at home experience.

It's once again summer here in the south. I've been here since 1978, and I'm over it. Sure, there are some lovely things about the south, but the summer weather is not one of them. Even my flowers are tired. Hopefully my frustration will get my creative juices going again. I need to get back into the studio and bang out my angst on some metal!

Etsymetal's Blog Carnival, for February 2011

This month's topic: what crafts besides working with jewelry and metalsmithing, do you do? What other mediums do you explore? How often do I get to play, and does this other work relate or inspire my metalwork and jewelry design?

 I love all forms of art. I can't remember a time when art was not a part of my daily life -  whether making it or just admiring the works of others. Since both my parents are artists, (very talented ones), I fight a constant battle with finding my own path. I can draw and paint, but I have always frustrated by those mediums. Later I gravitated towards clay. I've dabbled in hand-building, sculpture, and wheel. Unfortunately, I had to give up throwing a few years ago due to a bad back. I still love to work in clay, but now focus on free forms and incorporating clay (via plastic clay) into my jewelry/metal work. 

 I also found fabric arts, while on my journey. I like quilting, again free-form and story quilts from old scraps of fabric. I need more hours in the day! So, instead of trying to make full size quilts, I've switched to making small pieces, often making them into gift bags. I also knit, usually in the winter. That along with bead weaving, have become my waiting in the car, while the kids are in class activities.

Last but not least is photography. Again, I wish I had more time to explore my love of this art form. I do get to do it often, taking pictures of my work, but I don't have the time to truly explore just taking pictures for fun. I love candid photography; capturing people, nature, and life without pretense. There's something about capturing a moment in time, that is magic. 

I've also recently started playing with paper making with my youngest. We took a mini intro class and ever since I've been thinking about how to fit yet another medium into my bag. I'd love to make my own journals with metal accents. So little time, so much I want to do.

 So, do all these other interests relate to or inspire my metal work and jewelry design? YES! All my interest always relate to each other, and I see a common thread through most of them. The real question is, do others see it too?

Check out these other Etsymetal members to see what they have to say about the subject.

Kate Jones - http://www.katejonesdesign.blogspot.com 
Kathryn Cole - http://www.kathryncolejewelry.blogspot.com
2Roses - http://www.JewelryTutorial.blogspot.com
Twigs and Heather - http://www.twigsandheather.blogspot.com
Erin Austin - http://www.metalmusing.blogspot.com
Thomasin Durgin - http://metalriot.blogspot.com
Nodeform - http://nodeform.blogspot.com
Beth Cyr - http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com
Stacey hansen - http://wildflowerdesigns.blogspot.com
Nina Gibson - http://ninagibsondesigns.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth scott - http://esdesignsjewelry.com/blog
Evelyn Markasky - http://markasky.blogspot.com
Amanda Conley - http://amandaconley.blogspot.com

Winter Bones...

Red Brass, Sterling Silver, Polymer Clay & Labradorite Beads.

3rd Annual Spruill Student & Instructor Jewelry Market

Third Annual
Student & Instructor
Jewelry Market
Sunday, February 27, 2011
11:00am – 5:00pm
at
Spruill Center for the Arts-Education Center
5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road
Atlanta, GA 30338
Please join us for this exciting fundraising event
showcasing beginning to professional level jewelry
artists who will sell their unique handcrafted
jewelry to the public.
Selections will include diverse jewelry styles in
precious metals, glass, beads, gemstones, and
more at prices to fit every budget.
Admission is Free!
For directions please visit www.spruillarts.org

A January Snow...

Resolutions...

This month's Etsymetal Blog Carnival is about New Year's resolutions.  2011 is a blank slate. This will be a year of great change for my family, of which I have no control nor, at this time, know exactly what that change will be. If I have any resolutions, the first is to be open to whatever happens, not fight nor fear, but look for the positive in the motions, in the experience. I've spent my life being a planner, and for the first time I have no plans, no trajectory... In some ways it's extremely freeing, and in others, terrifying.



Check out what other Etsymetal artists have to say about their New Years's resolutions...

http://www.inbarbareket.net/
http://esdesignsjewelry.com/blog
http://nodeform.blogspot.com/
http://annhartleystudio.blogspot.com/
http://www.catherinechandler.blogspot.com/
http://metalriot.blogspot.com

Christmas 2010...

Some Xmas Eve sights around the abode...

Feeling rather plastic these days.

 

Or maybe it's just what I'm surrounded by...

Etsymetal Nov 2010 Blog Carnival...

Etsymetal's Blog Carnival topic for this month is;  Business Success Secrets!

Success, not one of my favorite subjects. I got into the business end of jewelry, so I could afford to continue to learn, create and explore as a 3D artist. It's a love/hate kinda of thing. So, I'm not sure at this stage of my journey, as an artist, that I even feel comfortable talking about success, let alone business side of success; oh heck,  here goes...

What does it mean to you to be "successful" in business as an artist? At this fledgling stage, I would say positive feedback means as much to me as a sale. Anyone can buy a pair of earrings, but for that person to take the time to engage me in conversation, to share how a piece of mine makes them feel, that's a total high. Long term success means, to me, the financial freedom to continue my metalsmithing education, to have access to better tools, to other artists, and more time to create.

How do you walk the line between creativity and profitability? Not sure I've found that line yet. I know I'm often caught-up in the trap of trying to make what I think others will like or buy, so much so, that I don't follow my creative voice. Working on a very tight budget is a double edge sword; at times it can be that push, one needs, to think outside the box, for trying something new, and at other times it serves as a suffocating force, leaving me frozen in a box of self-doubt.

 What is the best thing you've done for your business? I think I truly need a few more years to figure that out. 


Check out what other Etsymetal artists think about what success means to them.

stacey http://wildflowerdesigns.blogspot.com
victoria takahashi / experimetal http://vtakahashi.blogspot.com/
2Roses http://jewelrytutorial.blogspot.com
Beth Cyr: http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com
Heather: http://www.twigsandheather.blogspot.com
Purified: http://purifiedart.blogspot.com/
Nina Gibson ~ http://ninagibsondesigns.blogspot.com/  
Nodeform: http://nodeform.blogspot.com/
Gaby / India y a la Luna: http://indiaylaluna.blogspot.com/ 
Norsola: http://norsolajohnson.blogspot.com/ 

A wonderful Day of the Dead Giveaway!

 If you love Mexican Folk Art as much as I do, you will want to check out this amazing giveaway at Lorena Angulo's blog. She is wonderful artist and teacher. Spend some time looking through her posts, and enjoy! Here's the link...


dia-de-muertos-giveaway.html

Gecko J is having a sale!

In celebration of Etsymetal's 4th anniversary I'm having a sale (20% off everything in my Gecko J Etsy shop), and Etsymetal is having $50 gift certificate giveaways the last 4 Fridays of October; there two Fridays left to win. Just click on the Etsymetal name above for more details.

Is a picture worth a thousand words?

I love to take pictures... So why is it I feel so stressed taking pictures of my own work? Maybe with time and practice I will grow accustom to this whole self-marketing thing. I've never been good at it.

Drama project...

Mac's first drama tech class project. They were to pick one small slice of theater history; she picked Kabuki makeup. She made this video to go along with her power-point presentation. I thought it was pretty cool, and wanted to share.

Goin' back to school?

Each month, members of the Etsymetal are asked a question, and then they are requested to blog about it simultaneously. This month's question is: Back To School


Where did you go to school? Are you still a student? What kind of student were/are you? If you had the opportunity to go back to school, would you? Where and what would you study?

I wonder, does this question refer to my formative years, or later? I guess I'll stick with the more recent (well ~20 years ago). The above chairs are from my Alma Mater, Georgia State Universty. It was an odd kind of college experience. After being adrift, in what I like to call my lost years, at a crappy north Atlanta high school, I found myself among like-minded individuals, on what locals call the "Concrete Campus".

Doing what freedom-loving folks tend to do, we skipped class, hung out in Little Five Points, went to clubs, and got little-to-no studying done. Age, maturity, or just a general lack of funds soon brought me back down to earth, and I finally hit the books. After wasting a year, then taking another off to travel to England, I finally finished my studies, and graduated with a B.S. in psychology.

But, WAIT, what was that...? Richard Mafong was at GSU, while I was wasting my time studying the brain! I could have been awash in ecstasy, as a student in the metalsmithing program... Talk about missing the train/boat/plain/etc.

So, now 20 years later, I find myself a student again. Though not enrolled at a university, I study along with my kids, as they learn all I've forgotten, and I spend as much time as I can as a student and assistant in the metals program, at the Spruill Center for the Arts.

I'd love the opportunity to go back and get a BA in Metals. I dream of attending UW's School of Art in Seattle, or even just to have more time and money to travel to the local area folk schools for classes, as well as take more at Spruill.

Hopefully, with time and patience I will be able to continue this life long journey, one filled with learning, always learning.



Please read the replies of other Etsymetal members. Follow the links to their blogs:





Victoria Takahashi

Caitlyn Davey

Thomasin Durgin

Danielle Miller

Stacey - Wildflower Designs

Ann Hartley

Konstanze

Beth Cyr

Kathryn Cole 

Off She Goes...

Today was Mac's first day at a real brick & mortar school; something she's not experienced in eight years. It was a mixed bag, some good and some... well you know. This will be an interesting experiment. I almost want to log data, marking each day, each subject, and compare teaching methodologies. Already, on her first day, Mac had a pop quiz, saw a few kids booted from class, and learned to dash to the restroom in five seconds flat. This odd microcosm is now where she will spend much of her time, for the next four years.

Last Week of Spruill Camp... More Treasures For the Eyes!