For those of you not in the silver loop…the price of silver just went up A LOT!  This makes me sad on many levels, but mostly because I have an awesome design for a head piece that requires a ton of silver…and now I ‘ know if I will be able to make it.  I have been wanting to do a more involved piece for a while now, and came up with a design and concept that I like but perhaps it is not to be.

On another note IU has this amazing program to study in Venice, Italy in the summer that I have applied to.   Unfortunately not very many people have applied and I have heard that this may be the last year they will do this wonderful program.  I hope that I get to do it!  I wont know for another few weeks if I got in or not, but the lack of applicants makes my chances  a lot better!  Then all I have to do is come up with a ton of money!

I found this pic online today…hope I get to see it in person!

Hi all! I want to start by apologizing for not posting in the past month. I was in CA over break and forgot to take my wireless card so my internet time was severely limited. Have no fear though, Im back and hopefully better than ever.

I just uploaded new pictures in the gallery.  Some of them are of old work that needed better pictures, and some are of new work.  I also reorganized the gallery some so hopefully you can find what you want to see better!  I have a ton of ideas for things to work on this semester so Im looking forward to getting started.  Unfortunately I just found out that the price of silver just went up alot!  This may limit how much silver work I may be able to do which is disappointing but a girls got to do what a girls got to do.

One of the projects we are doing this semester in the metals program is a piece inspired by a faculty member of the school of fine arts.  I chose a prof I had for a book arts class a few years ago.  I totally fell in love with book arts and really enjoyed the prof, so Im looking forward to getting started on that.  We are having a show Feb. 22 at Fuller in the McCulla building on 10th and Indiana so I hope you can all come!  I will post more about this as I have the info.

   Im going to leave you with one of the new photos I just posted…please take a look at the rest!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and lots of great food.

This will be quick as Im swamped with work I have to finish in the next week but I just posted some more of my watercolors (some of which I actually like) and my artist’s statement.

Earlier this week I had my first critique as a BFA and I was very nervous, but it was great. I got alot of really great feed back and am looking forward to using some of the input I got in my work. Im going to spend the next few days scrambling to get all of my pieces finished, do about 7 more watercolors, and study for my math final…so much fun!

Well I probably will not post in the next week or so…unless I use it to procrastinate (like now) so Ill talk to you after this insanity is over and I have recovered!

Fall is in full swing here in Indiana and everywhere you look the trees are the most beautiful colors from a bright yellow gold to deep purple. I love this time of year, its as if the beauty of the world around us erupts into explosions of color that can not be ignored. I grew up in the middle of the woods about 40 minutes from here and spring and fall are my favorite times of year just because of the amazing color that surround you. It is truley an inspiring thing to see.

I have been hard at work on my tea projects, and I am loving the results even though I am having alot of problems with air bubbles in the resin. I was right about now beautiful the tea looks encased in resin. I cant wait to get them all finished! I will post pics as soon as I have them.

We are quickly aproaching the end of the semester…and that means I will be very busy so I may not be posting much in the next three weeks. Then again I may use this as an excuse to procrastonate…so I may write novels on these pages…only time will tell! Also I have been working on my artist’s statement (which is one of the things I have to get done in the next few weeks) so I will be posting that on the pages link at some point soon.

Thats all for now folks! If Im not back before thanksgiving have a great holiday!

I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather so Ive been sticking close to home, i.e. not going to the studio like I should. However that has given me time to work on my final project for my watercolor class which is a series of flower paintings. I think Im going to incorporate shadow into all of them as well. November 2nd was also my anniversary with my boyfriend and he sent me a beautiful bouquet of orchids which some of my favorite flowers. Ive done three paintings so far from the flowers and greenery and plan on doing several more this weekend.

I finally got the supplies I have been waiting for to work on my new jewelry desingns a few hours ago and hope to get working on that tomarrow. Im so excited to see how that turns out!

I also joined Etsy today but have yet to list anything. Im hopeing to get listed on the EtsyMetal site as I think that makes it easier for customers to look for hand made jewelry.

I just came across this web site and thought I would share it. It is a collection of photographs taken by children who live in the Moqattam Hills of Cairo. The photographs are a beautiful but sometimes sad look into the lives of the very poor families of Cairo. I was especially touched by the pictures taken by Kyrollos a 12 year old boy. This was part of the Kids with Cameras and to read more about the kids and the project click here.

One of the things that I loved about Cairo was how beautiful it was. I know that sounds strange when you see some of these photographs as Cairo is a very dirty falling down place, but there is beauty in that. One of the things I love to do in my work is to take the every day often overlooked things (like tea or acorns) and create an environment to make their beauty and value shine for all to see. I think that is one of the reasons I love Cairo, a city packed to overflowing with life and all the vibrancy that goes along with it. In the craziness of the city so much is overlooked, and I love finding the beauty in the overlooked things.

Hi again!

Things are rather dull here…I am waiting for my supplies to arrive so I can start work on some of my new projects one of which is a series of bracelets and rings with tea. Im really excited about that project in particular as tea has been a treat and indulgence of mine for all of my life. Im excited to use its beauty, so often hidden inside an infuser or bag, to create beautiful (I hope) jewelry!

On another note I had a wonderful Halloween! We had trick or treaters and they were just to cute for words. I grew up in the middle of the woods so we never had any trick or treaters and I greatly enjoyed it. I dressed up as Medusa and am posting a photo of me in my costume sitting at my drawing table while I waited for the little goblins and princesses to arrive.

Wow its been a busy few weeks since my last post! I’m sorry to be so long in reporting on the Field of Vision symposium but I was very busy with that and all that I put on hold while it was going on. Have no fear though! I am here to report all the fun that happened during the symposium.

The first event was a lecture and then the opening of the Marjorie Schick exhibit at the IU art museum (this exhibit will be up until December so I highly recommend going to see it!). Marjorie Schick is and alumni of Indiana University and was a student of the much revered Alma Eikerma and has gone on to create quite a name for herself. Her lecture showed the evolution of her work from her time here at IU until now. She has explored such a variety of mediums as papermache and wood to metal and glass, usually done in beautiful and bold colors.

There were other lectures from visiting artists from Australia. Robert Baines is a professor at RMIT in Melbourne which happens to be where one of my professors met him while studying there. Baines is an amazing fountain of knowledge and has specialized in ancient Etruscan gold work. Another Aussie in town for the symposium was the talented Julie Blyfield who creates vessels and jewelry that resemble plants through chasing and repouse. I had the great pleasure of being in her workshop to learn this process. I enjoyed it so much and hope to use the knowledge I gained in some of my new pieces.

The main event of the symposium was the exhibition in the SoFA Gallery which was dedicated to Alma Eikerman and featured many of her former student’s work as well as other graduates of IU and the guests from Australia. There was a gallery talk on the last day of the symposium where Helen Shirk (who’s work I adore and who I had a wonderful time getting to know), Tom Muir, and Billie Jean Theide talked about their work and their time at IU. Many of the pieces in the exhibit I have seen in books and it was wonderful to see them in the round and in person.

After all of these wonderful events I can say that my creative batteries are fully charged and I am excited to get working on some new ideas!

I just wanted everyone to know about an exciting symposium coming up! Field of Vision is an event featuring international metalsmiths and will truly be something not to miss! To find out more please visit the website, Field of Vision.

It is taking place from October 5 to November 2 at Indiana University.

Also I will have my sun/starburst brooch in the Field of Vision exhibition in the SOFA gallery that opens on October 12th at 7pm, I hope some of you will come!

I finally got some beautiful photos of my work and am SO excited to share them with everyone! I have been horrible at keeping this up but I am going to work on that…Im going to try for at least one post a week…even if its short.

I been working on several new projects and working with resin a lot. I grew up with such a strong metals background it has been kind of fun to get away from that while still incorporating silver into my pieces. When I have these things finished hopefully I will be able to get more wonderful photos to show them off!