January challenge: Buried Treasure

Buried Treasure aka "Use your stash!"

Dig into the treasure you have been hoarding... 

We all have one. Call it a treasure, or a bead stash. Call it loot or inventory. It most likely does NOT look like this: 

Keeping your beads safe? Paranoid? 

It probably looks more like this: 

ONE of my 4 artist bead treasure boxes. Can you spot all the pieces by AJE team mates? LOL

What could be better than starting the year off right with new creative ideas? Using a treasures bead or component! Last year we started what may become a tradition here at Art Jewelry Elements - the "Use your Stash" challenge. (Granted, thats not a very poetic name, but it gets right to the point.)

Here is how it works: 

• Gather your beads and components by any and all of your favorite artisan bead makers. 
• Fondle. Think. Plan. Design. Dream. 
• Create! 
• Sign up here! Leave a comment with your name AND your blog address. 
• Blog! Buried treasure reveal date is January 31st 2016. 

**Please — only leave a comment if you can commit to creating a finished piece and blogging about it on the reveal date.
**Pull out those pieces you love from your stash and ENJOY them. What are you saving them for? 
** This Buried Treasure challenge is NOT limited to AJE artists - but we DO love you see what you create with our creations. 

Until then - Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! Happy Creating!

Big Magic - thoughts on the creative life

Big Magic quote by E. Gilbert

Are you familiar with Elizabeth Gilbert? You probably are... she is the author of the autobiographical "Eat, Pray, Love" and her recent novel "The Signature of all Things".  She is the proprietress of a fab import store called Two Buttons. And she has given a stellar TED talk on the nature of creativity. (TED talk video included at the end of this post. Watch it. You won't be sorry.) 

Big Magic

Eat Pray Love, TED talk, Two Buttons store 

Her newest book "Big Magic" was on my Kindle as soon as it was released. An author whom I respect and admire, writing about the magic of creativity and living a creative life? YES PLEASE.  I fully intended to read the book, and try a new technique or conquer a "fear" and share it here. 

I couldn't get deep into the book on my Kindle. I needed to underline and make margin notes on every other page. This book is so freaking fantastic. Her tone is conversational; making it a fun and easy read. Like sitting down to have a coffee with Liz. Then she will say something so profound, drop a truth bomb... and I need to take notes. I am 1/3 of the way through the book - 78 pages in and I have 6 flags and 5 dog eared pages. 

Her premise is that creative living is the hunt to discover and uncover the gems in each of us... to find moments of beauty and transcendence in our lives. Whether this is in actually creating art/music/poetry isn't the question. Its more along the lines of "Following your Bliss". The truth that  creativity takes courage. She talks about fleeting ideas, ideas acted upon, "multiple discovery" of ideas. She describes the slog of working hard at one's work, and the rare fleeting moments of pure inspiration like fairy dust. 

 Let me share a few quotes with you... 

"Trust me, your fear will always show up - especially when you are trying to be inventive or innovative. Your fear will always be triggered by your creativity, because creativity asks you to enter into realms of uncertain outcome, and fear hates uncertain outcome..." (Big Magic, p. 23) 

"You can dare to be pleased sometimes with what you have created... You can resist he the seductions of grandiosity, blame, and shame. You can support other people in their creative efforts, acknowledging the truth that there's plenty of room for everyone. You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes and failures... ( BM, p. 41)

And there are many more! The book is divided into sections: Courage, Enchantment, Permission, Persistence, Trust, Divinity. I think that gives hints at what else it may have to offer.  I'm sorry I hadn't finished it at this writing... but I want to savor it. I now own it in hardback and this will become a classic in my art/creativity library. Check it out. If you are a maker, designer, artist,  or not - it is proving to be an enlightening read. ( And here's her TED talk for free - see if you like her style and her message.) 

Until next time... be creative! 

Jenny 

The Journey - Part 3

This is the third in a series of posts titled "The Journey".  I've been sharing the artistic journeys of our AJE team members.

Pacific Crest Trail -  © 2015  by H. Landig

Many of of us have worked in other art mediums.  Some of have been artists our entire adult lives and others of us have come to this path later in life.  Just like you, all of us are continually growing, learning and evolving.

In Part One of the series, we took a look at Karen's, Jen's, Melissa's and Niky's art journeys. Part Two gave us a little history for Lesley, Sue and Rebekah.  Today's post will cover the remaining team members:  Francesca, Caroline, Kristen and myself  (Linda).

Francesca Watson-
Although Francesca is best known for her metalsmithing expertise, she started her jewelry journey with a focus on wire wrapping. I love the fanned out wire in the bail.

This is Francesca's first bezel set pendant. She says, "OMG. Let me count the things that are wrong with it...but I was sooo proud of it at the time!"

And these versatile earrings were Francesca's first attempt at sweat soldering.  She says she wore these all the time...till she lost one of them.  Don't you hate it when that happens!

Kristen Stevens
We all know Kristen for her prowess with seed beads, but from this early picture, you can see that she has tried her hand at a bit of straight forward bead stringing, as well.  The bracelet shown in the lower part of this picture is one of her earliest attempts at seed beading.  She claims she had very limited knowledge at the time she made this.  Uh-hum, wish I could do this, even now!

Caroline Dewison
Caroline started out wanting to do lampwork, but her children kept spending all her money - you know how that goes!  So she looked for other things to do in her kiln. She got herself a bag of clay and the rest is history! This is one of her first ceramic pieces from 2010.

And here's floral bead, also from 2010.  

This picture shows an early iteration of Caroline's wonderful sea urchin beads.

Jenny Davies-Reazor
Jenny was already making and selling beaded earrings, in a local shop, when she was in high school! But her real love became metal. Jenny says, "I found a receipt from my undergrad art school days- sterling was $5/oz! 
 Here are three of Jenny's early college pieces. She states. "The pendant on the right was first semester metals, sweat soldered. The ring, (ocean and phases of the moon), was made purely for me, for fun. I wore it every day for approximately 10+ years. The moonstone pendant was lost wax cast, (in my) third year metals (course). Also for me, not a specific assignment."

After college came full time teaching and concentrating on painting. Metals got left behind. And 20 years ago there weren't torches suitable for apartment use so Jenny turned her attention to ceramics.  Jenny feels that her study of design/metals has informed her work in both beads and mixed media. She adds, "I want to return to the roots and let the solder flow!"

Linda Landig 
I started making jewelry in my 20's during a stressful period in my life.  I wanted to do something fun for myself, to balance the negatives in my life at that time.  I started out metalsmithing.  I made this really ugly belt buckle for my brother, about 2 years later.  He probably gasped in horror when he received it.

When we had children, life became busy.  I eventually sold all my metalsmithing tools and machines (note to self: really bad decision!) and dabbled in some other crafts for awhile.  Around 1998 or so, I wandered into a bead store and was instantly addicted!  I made my mother-in-law a necklace for Christmas and have been hopelessly in love with beads ever since.  These earrings were made around 2002.

My latest gig is an infatuation with clay.  And in a way I feel I've come full circle.  My earliest childhood memory is of being 3 or 4 years old and sitting in, what seemed to me, to be a very high stool (probably a bar stool) in the clay studio of a friend of my mother's. I remember being given clay to play with and now here I am in my 60's playing with clay again.   The sculptor, Evelyn Raymond, was fairly well known in Minnesota in the 1950's.  I found this link to an old newspaper article about her work.
This photo was taken much later, in the 1980's, when my parents took a trip back to Minnesota.
That's Evelyn in the foreground, my mother in the back. 

One of my first stoneware pendants.

That concludes our series on the AJE team's evolution as jewelry artists.  I hope you have enjoyed the journey.

~Linda
Linda Landig Jewelry

 

Creative Diversification aka Variations on a theme...

The prototype: copper, enamel paint, and faux bone. Version 3.0: copper, enameled copper, and polymer. 

The lunar hare - a theme that has inspired me and continues to inspire me! (I know we just did hares in March... ) The lunar hare is an archetype that appears across the world in diverse cultures, regardless of time or language. Often associated with a lunar goddess, the hare represents fertility and creativity.

Version 2.0 sold at Sweet Melissa's Dream. 

The pieces above are my interpretations on a theme. The first piece was truly a prototype; the enamel paint easily scratches off the copper background. The first "real" version I made sold at a friends boutique - and another friend owns it! I decided that this motif was one I would revisit... even though I usually do one of a kind work. The composition of the piece echoes my ceramic tile and pendant. And it seemed cohesive in my body of work...

My lunar hare tile and pendant designs. 

But it was a few hours spent reading and drinking coffee in the airport that really blew this idea wide open. I was reading "Maker Magic" by Connie Fox. (see Francesca's review of the same.) I knew I was what Fox calls an "intellectual designer" as I am driven to have content/meaning/intention/narrative in my work. One tool she recommended was the "SCAMPER" technique. (Teachers world over may recognize this mnemonic... It rang bells with me.)

SCAMPER is a mnemonic that stands for: 

• Substitute.
• Combine.
• Adapt.
• Modify.
• Put to another use.
• Eliminate.
• Reverse.

You use the tool by asking questions about existing products, using each of the seven prompts above. These questions help you come up with creative ideas for developing new products, and for improving current ones. (Mindtools.com)

Initial sketches to SUBSTITUTE in my lunar hare design

Heavens! Animal silhouettes! Enameled backgrounds, polymer backgrounds! So many possibilities and I had gone exactly 1 letter into the "SCAMPER" tool! And there were definitely influences from my fellow team mates: Caroline's blog on silk screening features these animal silhouettes. And Karen's leaf and branch would pair so well with the fox - its referenced in my sketch!

Influences and inspiration: Karen and Caroline

Today I FINALLY got to sit down to think on this again:

Reference photos researched online. Sketches drawn by hand, to scale; only the greyhound is a smidgen over 2". Transferred to copper - let the wild sawing frenzy begin!

The original and the reference photos. 

Sketched out to scale. 

Transfered to copper! 

I am not sure how these will all be integrated into work. Some will follow the original plan for sure. But I had a flash vision in my head of a small hare on an enameled full moon... and I so want to run with that idea as well.

I am constantly grateful for this team's camaraderie and inspiration - Look for more along those lines in the near future. For now - I have brewed afternoon coffee. I am going to saw!
Later!

Jenny

A week in the life... or the frantic behind the scenes mayhem!

I am thrilled to be teaching at Bead Fest this Spring. In fact - as you read this I am there! I tend to think of myself as the "mixed media girl" as that's when I am happiest - putting materials together! Sure I love clay... but polymer allows me to tap into my painter/collage artist alter egos simultaneously...

Polymer. resin. color. image. text.

I'm teaching a mixed media class - mold making, polymer focal, paint finished, and collage with resin inside. If they look familiar, its because these "Word mojo" pieces debuted here as the COM in January 2014. I hope my students are as happy with them as the team made me...  Getting ready to teach a class is a bit different from prepping for a show. The show prep I do so often, I can go on autopilot. But to be prepared for any and all questions, to anticipate additional materials we might need... samples, hand outs... Last week it was all calm and civilized: email the students, make a few Xerox copies of images, and start the class samples.

Now its crunch time. This is the week OF class. I leave on Wednesday evening. If you are reading this, on Friday, we can assume all is well!

Monday:

• Drink the coffee. 
• Work on your taxes. &^!#%&^!@%#^&@!%
• Shop for miscellaneous materials. Baby Wipes, paper towels, toothbrushes... I forgot the wax paper! 
• Panic because you think you have to prep and teach a bookbinding class tomorrow. (Then you realize after you call the library, that you are teaching that class NEXT week. When you should. be. sane. again.) 
• Finish first stage of class samples. 
• Start to gather the class supplies. 
• Mistaken think its Tuesday already and freak out. 
• Drink more coffee. 

Class samples: cured and waiting.

The start of the supplies. I think we need a bigger boat... I mean chair.

An hour or so of messy creative therapy.

Class samples stage one complete.

Tuesday:

• Drink the coffee
• Finish the samples. 
• Make more piles of supplies. 
• Assemble the student kits for class. 
• Start writing the class handout. 
• Laundry. Because what am I wearing to teach?!
• Drink more coffee
• Get distracted by Facebook
• Run last minute errands to post office and hardware store. 
• Drink more coffee
• Check to see if resin is cured. Get sticky fingers; resist the urge to touch again. 

More piles of stuff.

Make the student kits. note ever present coffee.

Always have a mold - or 5 ready for excess resin.

Wednesday: 

• Drink the coffee
• Take dogs to daycare.
• Fondle cured resin. 
• Pack tools and last minute additional things you decide you should take. 
• Proof and print the handout. 
• Proof and publish this post! 
• Drink the coffee. 
• Drive to Bead Fest. Check in. Set up classroom. 
• Hotel. Collapse. (Hmm - maybe a side trip to Wegmans for dinner...

Thursday: 

• Up early. Mix of nervous and excited. 
• Drink the coffee. Hit the Starbucks. 
• TEACH CLASS
• HAVE FUN
• GET MESSY

Friday: 

• Drink the coffee. 
• Shop for the beads. 
• Shop for gems. 
• Chat with friends. 
• Drink the coffee. 
• Relax. 
• Buy more beads. And gems. 
• Drink more coffee. 
• Go home. Flying is optional but possible due to coffee consumption. 

If you are coming to Bead Fest Spring - I hope you have a marvelous time - I know I will. Its amazing how so many weeks, or action packed days of preparation go into preparing for an event... but the event flies by in a blink. Until later... 

What Neil Gaiman, Studying for Finals, Art, and the New Year have in Common

Have you started looking forward to 2015 yet? 

Photo by Volkova Irina

My Facebook feed is filled with so many wonderful and varied artists and I've noticed some of them making statements about things they will do in the new year. 

After all, 2015 is only a little over 3 weeks away....

Personally, I'm having a bit of a self-induced crisis. 

Because I decided to go back to school this fall and finally complete a Bachelors degree. I mean, I have enough credits to be considered a senior with all the starts and stops and transfers and changes over the years. 

What to study? I chose what made the most logical sense.

I freaking hate it. 

So today, as I'm studying for finals in classes I'm getting nearly perfect scores, but are crushing my soul (sorry for the dramatic flair...), 

I thought about Neil Gaiman. 

Weird, right? 

He did a speech a couple years ago that I refer to when I'm feeling lost or confused or like I'm trying to make things more difficult than they need to be. And I thought I would share it will all of you. I own the speech in a little book. But you can watch it below. 

"Life is sometimes hard. 

Things go wrong, in life and in love 

and business and in friendship

and in health and in all the other ways

that life can go wrong.

And when things get tough,

this is what you should do. 

Make Good Art.

Husband runs off with a politician?

Make Good Art

Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor?

Make Good Art

IRS on your trail?

Make Good Art

Cat exploded?

Make Good Art

Somebody on the Internet thinks what you do is stupid or evil or it's all been done before?

Make Good Art..."

                -Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman Addresses the University of the Arts Class of 2012 

from The University of the Arts (Phl) 

Mr. Gaiman is full of words of wisdom. He tells the audience to make mistakes. To write and draw and dance and live and play as only you can. 

But the thing that stands out for me, on this particular day, is this: 

"Something that worked for me 

was imagining where I wanted to be-

(an author, primarily of fiction, making good books, 

making good comics, and supporting myself though  my words)

-was a mountain

A distant mountain.

My goal. 

And I knew that as long as I kept walking towards the mountain, I would be alright. 

And when I truly was not sure what to do, I could stop, and think about whether it was taking me towards or away from the mountain...."

    -Neil Gaiman

I think I have strayed far from my mountain in the last several months and it's time to get turned back in the correct direction. 

What, if anything, are you planning for 2015? What kinds of goals and dreams have you come up with? How will you stay on track? Please share in the comments below!

Freeform Friday: Friends, fairies, and inspiration...

So last weekend was FaerieCon. Where else can you surround yourself with your creative tribe of artists and authors and musicians, frolic with the Fae folk for the weekend, sell, shop, and be merry? 

I have posted about this magical weekend before, and Diana showcased some of the exceptional artist/vendors in her Monday post. Today's post is brought to you by: 

 INSPIRATION

This mythic and magical community draws inspiration from myriad sources. Fairy tales. Folklore. Myths.  Fantasy. Dreams. Fairies, djinn, dryads, ogres, unicorns, nixies, fauns, goblins all roam the halls. We draw on the same sparks of inspiration yet fan the flames into our own unique interpretations. Our Muses speak the same language... Its so pleasant when there is room for a variety of offerings, with a similar theme - and no competition, but camaraderie instead! There is a joy in shared and yet diverse inspiration. It's a supportive community, creatives encouraging each other in artistic endeavors. It's a precious and refreshing thing of late. 

SJ Tucker, Kem OM Crampton and me. 

SJ Tucker is a bard. A singer/songwriter, magic maker. A pixie, a firebird, a pirate girl, a force of nature. We have become friends as our paths crossed many times, over many years. I was thrilled to see and hear her at FaerieCon. And I needed to ask her a question...

The first track on her Mischief cd has me thinking. Titled "Ravens in the library"... I want to do a series of tiles - the ravens and their antics in the library. One of a kind, detailed, and I was hoping to use her lyrics in the borders. ( I have her permission, and can go ahead!)

Did I NEED permission? Not to be inspired by her work, not to take that spark and go sculpt.  But as independent artist/musicians doing one's own marketing? As members of the same community? I WANTED to be able to make the connection and give her the credit for having inspired me. And I can credit her on the back of each tile and perhaps send new fans her way...

I had a strong sneaking suspicion that SJ would take kindly to this idea. Her most recent album "Wonders" is inspired by the work of her friend, the author Catherynne M. Valente.
" Is it the Wonders that you're after?
S. J.'s 2013 release is inspired, from start to finish, by Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland novel, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making! Get ready for a wild ride on the back of a big red Wyverary, or a Wild Velocipede, or a Glashtyn-powered ferry, across such majestic vistas as the Worsted Wood, the Barleybroom River, and the Perverse and Perilous Sea! It is our fondest hope that you will return from these adventures better than when you left." 
( from SJtucker.com)
These amazing women have worked on many collaborations in the past, and I was thrilled to hear them do a reading/singing at FaerieCon. What an opportunity! The words, read by the author, followed by the songs, sang by the songwriter...

And I have a necklace in my head. Fully formed. Designed itself really... a tribute to Key, a character in C. Valente's book.

1. 'Fairyland...' by C. Valente. 2.  "Wonders" by SJ Tucjer. Cover art by Chaz Kemp. 
3. Panel reading with Heath Miller - pix credit C. Orapello

Now - its not about needing ideas, being blocked, or looking for something to do next. It's about being seized and shaken and excited. It's a lightbulb moment, that makes you want to drop it all and dash to the studio. right. now. I have ideas percolating in my head  like an old fashioned coffee pot at all times. Some bubble up faster than others. And its a shared love for the art, the lore, the subject. Its making connections, mutual admiration, magic. 

I am thankful for this tribe, this community and the creativity we nurture in each other. I leave you with a quote by Charles DeLint - in response to my necklace inspired by his story... 

"I like to think of art as a conversation that we're all having with one another. It's especially nice because we can have those conversations across space and time.

That story was originally for an anthology to celebrate Tolkien so I borrowed a shadow of Tom Bombadil, kept Tolkien's essay "Tree & Leaf" firmly in mind... And now you've taken the inky scratches on paper and made a three-dimensional hello out of them. Which is how it's supposed to be. Now perhaps somebody will see "Whispered Tales" and write a song about it..." ( CDL comment on my blog) 

Charles Vess, me, Charles DeLint at Spoutwood. My piece "Whispered Tales" inspired by Charles' story  "The Conjure Man" from Dreams Underfoot. 

Wishing you magic...
Jenny

For further reading: 

Inspired by Music/Frenchy and the Punk 

Inspired by Literature/Charles deLint

Musings on Creativity

Lately I've been working on a series of Bird Totems. I'm really loving this idea and each time I approach the subject, I continue to expand on the idea and improve it. Watching it evolve is a lot of fun.

Here are some of my pieces...

Here are some newer pieces, in clay (not yet fired)... one of the images shows my hand carved stamps used to create the belly symbols. I am playing with the idea of the Bird Totem as symbolic of the Bird  as Messenger - who brings us insights, messages, and gifts of inspiration from the inner workings of our soul / consciousness, and from the connection we have with sources outside of ourselves and our everyday world.

About Creativity and How Art Happens... 

As artists, we sometimes play with ideas, not really knowing where the underlying sources of inspiration come from. Upon seeing my bird totems, a friend pointed out that they reminded him of native american art, especially that of Pacific Northwest nations. Fascinated, I looked up some of the art of these sources and was immediately excited. I love the idea of art as a dialogue with our our selves, our culture, other artists, and historical - often ancient - sources. Art is not created in a vacuum, but rather, works as a kind of PLAY on themes both old and new. I emphasize the word "Play" because it is critical to step outside of one's routine and get into a state of absolute flow. One must not worry or fuss about the particulars (such as planning what to make, how to make it) of a particular meme or idea, but rather, continue to play with it, riffing on it with each iteration. The particulars happen as part of the flow. This flow must not be interrupted by our logical reasoning daytime brain. Moreover, it is important to sometimes "sleep on ideas" - when one is stuck or tired, just allow it to rest, go to bed and approach it anew.

Here are some of the native american pieces that I find absolutely fascinating and inspiring. I was not consciously aware of this body of work prior to making my bird totems, but when I reflect back I clearly see a line of evolution... (these are all images from the Shaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY.

Thoughts about Creativity from John Cleese...

Finally, I would like to share a lecture by John Cleese, about how we create. I think you will find this enlightening... particularly about the notion of how our unconsciousness contributes to the creative process...  I invite you to watch and learn...