Shout Outs!

I've been so self absorbed about my thesis for so long, that it didn't even occur to me that other people were paying attention to what I was doing. But, friends Amy Tavern (current resident artist at Penland) and Lisette Fee (current ECU undergrad) both did some lovely blog posts which I was in.

Amy Tavern featured several Metals MFAs graduating from schools around the country. It was great for me to see what my peers at other universities were up to, and really sweet of her to feature all of us on her blog. I gotta say, I'm really excited about the future of our field. You can read Amy's post here.

Lisette just put up an excellent post showcasing all the ECU grads that are currently up in Gray Gallery. Like I've said before, there's a BUNCH of us. You can read her post here, complete with pictures of all the artist's work.

Happy Weekend!!!

Installation Shots

Here are some quick snapshots of the work installed in the gallery. I had four walls, spaced out to create a little cubicle type deal. I wanted the space to be visually quite, and to evoke, a sacred, reverent feeling, like a cathedral. Everything cam together pretty much how I imagined it. I wound up using 175 brooches, because that's what fit on the wall without being too crowded. I had about 20 extra that I didn't use. And yes, I pounded each and every nail into that wall myself.

More pics of the gallery on Flickr.

Thesis Pics Part I

Flow Like Water
Stillness is Required (detail)
Prayer Beads: Becoming
Save Me From Myself

Here's a few shots of the thesis work that haven't been seen on the blog before. You can see images of all the thesis work on my Flickr site. Pics of the installation to come.

Quote of the Week

"The silence is all there is. It is the alpha and the omega. It is God brooding over the face of the waters; it is the blended note of the ten thousand things, the whine of wings. You take a step in the right direction to pray to this silence, and even to address the prayer to 'World.' Distinctions blur. Quit your tents. Pray without ceasing."

~Anne Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk

Well here we are.

It's all over. I spent the week between my last post and this installing my show, adding images to my document, completing my oral defense, spending over three hours just on page numbers, submitting my paper electronically, and gathering all my signatures. My parents came into town Thursday night and left this morning; my brother and his girlfriend came in Friday afternoon and left Saturday morning. A dear, dear, friend of mine from Towson came down too, and stayed with me. We hadn't seen each other since I'd moved down here so it was great to catch up on her life, her thesis experience and what was going on with some other good friends I left behind in Maryland.

The show looks amazing. I couldn't be happier with how my work looks, or how the entire gallery looks. I think we were all a little apprehensive with so many of us in the gallery, but everyone filled the space and it all went together incredibly well. The opening went great as well; there was a steady stream of people almost the entire time! Some of the faculty have been saying that this is one of the best MFA shows they've seen. I could not be graduating with more talented people.

But people are asking "What next?" In the immediate sense, we still have a couple weeks of school left, and while I do have very few obligations, I do still have a few obligations. I have work to make for friends and colleagues, work I'd like to make for myself, job hunting and applications to begin working on in earnest, grad assistantship hours I need to keep showing up for. In the more long term sense, as in where am I going to go, and what am I going to do after graduation, well, that's a little trickier. I got a summer studio assistantship at Arrowmont starting the end of June and running through the end of July. I couldn't be more excited about this opportunity, and I'm hoping that by the end of my time there, I'll have the next place to go. And as much as I hate moving, I realize that this is how my life is going to be for the next few years. There are too many things I want to do, all over the country, for me to pick a permanent spot right now.

The future seems scary and exciting all at once. Even this blog is going to undergo some changes I expect. I would stick around for the ride, if I were you. I have a feeling it's gonna be good.

To Do. . . .

I posted a week ago that my show goes up today. I don't think I'm actually going to get into the gallery until tomorrow; today I'm finishing up displays and photographs. Over the weekend I'll be putting all my images into my thesis document and tightening up the last few details on that. I've gotten a lot done this week (with LOTS of help), but there's more work on the horizon (luckily I have more help on the way!)

Anyways, here's a list of things I'm going to do AFTER my thesis is over:

- Sleep!
- Spend an entire day watching movies!
- Read a book just for fun (any suggestions?)
- Go to the beach!
- Go to the beach!
- Make books!
- Enamel something blue (Ooooooo!)
- Clean my apartment!
- Bake bread!
- Update my Etsy shops!
- Sleep!

I think it's a pretty good list. I'm really looking forward to it. Happy Thursday!

Final Countdown

So, my show goes up in a week. Things have rapidly degenerated. I've taken to eating peanut butter straight out of the jar and wearing the same sweater on nearly a daily basis. The perpetual nausea seems to be back as well. Awesome.

After I talked to Bob a couple weeks ago, I decided to use a couple more older pieces of work. I decided to just have people model the four pieces made before these past two semesters, and install the eight new neckpieces and the brooches in the gallery. I selected two more older works I wanted to use, and even though I'm re-making one (the original is currently in an exhibition), I felt like I had a new lease on life by not making myself come up with 2 more new pieces!

But this only lasted a few days. And now I'm having serious doubts. I mean, I've made all this work over the past few years, and I'm only going to show 8 pieces and a big ass installation? That's it? Maybe I should show all 12 neckpieces in the gallery. But I already asked people to model and I'm also afraid things will look too crowed in my space. ARG!!!! I keep bouncing back and forth in my head, and I'm pretty sure it all comes down to me trying to prove something I don't need to prove to anyone but myself. I've made the decision, and for better or worse, I'm sticking to it.

So here's the final line up:

On models:

Rock Necklace
Slate Necklace II: Greenville
Gray Prayer
Lightness of Being

On the Wall

Sacra Sancta
Gray Grief: Potato Rock
Salt in the Soul
Flow Like Water
Pilgrimage: Slate, Sand, Shore
Stillness is Required
Prayer Beads: Becoming
Save Me From Myself
Meditations

And the Winner is. . . .

. . . . . Laura!!!! This is great for me, since it means I don't have to go to the post office. Congrats Laura! I'll be leaving a small surprise on your bench!

Thank you all for for you comments and input! In the end I decided to go with one card with the Pilgrimage detail, and one with the Sacra Sancta detail. Both Sacra Sancta images had the same number of votes, but I decided to go with the detail shot, since it showed off the enameling better. The Gray Grief detail is actually on the back of the Pilgimage card.

I got my cards ordered yesterday and they should be here by the end of the week! If you'd like me to mail you one, make sure I have you address!

Thanks again!

Postcard Problems

So I need to order postcards, like yesterday, but I'm having a hard time choosing an image (or 2). So here's my top five. I'm leaning towards the Pilgrimage Detail, and one of Sacra Santa, but I can decide between the full view or the detail.

Sacra Sancta


Sacra Sancta Detail


Pilgrimage Detail


Meditation Green and White


Meditation Red


Gray Grief Detail

What do you think? Leave me a comment telling me your favorite or favorites by 5pm tomorrow and I'll select one person at random and send them something cool. I'm not sure what, but it'll be cool.

Happy Thursday!

Quote of the Week

People keep asking me if I have to have 12 neckpieces and an installation and I always answer yes. And here's why:

"The number thirteen is the number of transformation and rebirth. . . Thirteen is the number of getting out of the field of the bounds of twelve into the transcendent."

~Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

So, entirely self imposed, but just as much a requirement as anything set forth by the graduate school. Maybe more so. If I don't make it, I don't make it, and I think I'll be ok. But if I do make it, it will make my thesis that much more connected.

Progress Report

With Pictures! I got a new camera a few weeks ago, but I've been without one for so long, I'm out of the habit of taking pictures. I keep forgetting I have a sweet new camera.

I finally finished Flow Like Water, and I've got another piece Save Me From Myself, ready to be put together. I think I know what I'm doing for the next one, but I don't feel confident about it for some reason. I don't feel super great about Save Me From Myself either, but I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm just getting burnt out. I've gotten most of the thesis paper down, and I'm waiting for edits, and as for the wall brooches, I've been banging them out over the past couple days, and I only need 34 more. Cake.

So, once I finish all these things up, that leaves me with 3 more neck pieces to complete. The problem is, I don't know what they are. It's freakin' me out!!! I've got some pieces/parts, including some crystalline looking electroforms from some wax I carved. I'm really happy with these, but again, I don't know what to do with them yet. I keep telling myself that I'm wound too tight, and that if I just relax, it'll come to me. But I'm running out of time. . .

I still need to order postcards and insect pins, write about the pieces I haven't made yet, decide how I'm going to attach the neckpieces to the wall and find a dress to wear to my opening! Yikes!

Thanks for reading!

Progress Report

Wow, February is coming to a RAPID close, which give me only about another 6 weeks until D-Day. My thesis paper has to be submitted by April 15th, which is also the same say as the opening for my exhibition. I am running out of time.

I feel like I had a fairly productive week, despite feeling a bit under the weather. But there's always tons more to be done. Here's my "To Do" list for the weekend:

- Finish Flows Like Water
- Finish Save Me from Myself
- Finish first draft of thesis paper
- Empty dishwasher
- Fold Laundry
- Cook an actual meal
- Take some pictures with my new camera
- Update my Etsy Sites
- Spend some time outside
- Get wicked drunk (by "get wicked drunk", I mean have one beer and fall asleep)
- Watch the Oscars

A tall order, but I think it can be done. Happy weekend!

Thesis People

I mentioned yesterday that there's 11 MFA's showing in the Gray Gallery this spring. Since we all felt that the show cards the gallery puts out have been kinda lame in the past, we decided to try something a little different. I blame Laura Wood; she's such a mover and a shaker. The first idea was something with our faces, or a group shot like this one. And while I'm very opposed to having my face on anything, it is kind of nice to have a shot of the people I'm graduating with (minus the two who unfortunately couldn't make the meeting).

Our second idea was to have everyone bring a tool, and then take some images of those. I like these much better, and I hope we go with one of those. I'm going to be ordering postcards of my own, and I think I have my image picked out. I plan on ordering them in a couple weeks, so if you'd like one in the mail, let me know your mailing address and I'll be sure to send you one!

Numbers

There's about 13 MFA's graduating from the ECU School of Art this semester, and 11 of us are showing in the school's main gallery, the Gray Gallery. It's a fairly large gallery, but with eleven people, space is a little tight. Especially with three sculptors, a textile artist, a wood artist, a painter, two ceramists, and three metals grads. Two of us work larger than your typical metalsmith, and the third is displaying her work on vintage furniture.

Well, we had a meeting this morning to divide up the gallery and pick spots. It actually went rather smoothly, and everyone seems pleased with the floor plan we came up with. I'm getting the enclosed space that I want, those who need floor space have it, those who need walls have walls.

So now that I have a better idea of the space I actually have, I can figure out how much work I need to make. I'd still like to have 12 neckpieces (I currently have 7.5) but I wanted to know just exactly how many wall brooches I need to have by April. I did the math and played around with spacing and came up with 190 to fill the one wall that I have. I'm going to round up to 200 because a few always seem to fall apart when I pull them out of the box, and this way I can cull out some of the weaker ones when I go to install.

It feels good to have a more defined goal. Although I am still near panicking about the amount of work left to do. I have started my thesis paper, but it is going s-l-o-w-l-y. I've started putting together neckpiece #7 and I have #8 designed and the parts made, but not finished.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Meditations

Quote of the Week

The impetus for Sacra Sancta:

"In India, I have seen a red ring put around a stone, and then the stone becomes regarded as an incarnation of the mystery. Usually you think of things in practical terms, but you could think of anything in terms of its mystery. . . .That is the point of what is called consecration."

~Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

Progress Report

I feel like I've been fairly productive lately. That being said, I'm not really sure what I've produced. I did a lot of geology this week and a little thesis reading. I made some quick production pieces for the upcoming holiday sale and I've done A LOT of baking the past couple weeks. Today it was for the Metals Guild Charm/Bake Sale. I made a bunch of prints over the weekend, and a couple today, and I sewed a purse. I just have to finish the handles.

We introduced our final project in the Enameling class this week, and I'm super excited about the assignment Ken and I came up with. We're doing champleve, and the assignment is to create a piece based on a favorite song or piece of music. How cool is that?! I'm so excited about this project, that I decided to make a piece for it too. (Thesis? What thesis?) My song is "The Rabbit, the Bat and the Reindeer" by Dr. Dog, so I've been working on champleve rabbits this week. Hey, I had to demo on something, right? I only wish my students were more pumped about this project, 'cause most of them aren't.

I've also been chipping away at Salt in the Soul. I'm getting closer to getting the results I want. I have to plug the holes with wax, and I think I'm going to enamel these forms, instead of using the liver of sulfer. It just doesn't hold up to the salt water the way I want it too. Plus, I might try submerging them, to get them good and crusty.

Progress Report

I'm having one of those rare moments today where I actually feel ok about where I'm at in terms of the work. After I finished my first two pieces the other week, I immediately stuck them in a box and didn't look at them again until yesterday when I had a conversation with Bob about them. I always enjoy talking with Bob, and he definitely said some things that I needed to hear. He confirmed my own feelings that there's something not quite right with Sacra Sancta, and we talked about some possible solutions. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, and I'm going to talk to Ken about it later this week, but it won't be anything too drastic.

I'm stripped all the salt off my pieces for Salt in the Soul, and also realized that I need to drill some holes in my forms if I have any hope of stringing them. So I'm not so upset about the back tracking. Since I kind of have to conform to the salt's time line, I'm not real worried about finishing this piece right away, but it should be done by the end of the semester.

I've made a lot of progress on the wall brooches, up to 93 now, and I've made a little progress on Flow Like Water, which is going to be my main focus next. I finished the Upanishads, started the first book of Rumi's Masnavi, and a different translation of the Baghavad Gita. But, I think my reading is going to shift towards the resources for my geology paper until I get that done. Back to a more art and science flavor and less theology/philosophy/spirituality.

I also decided that Gray Prayer and Lightness of Being are going to go in the show. At first I wasn't going to use any old work, because I wanted to prove some kind of point. I'm not exactly sure what point, but I'm pretty sure it's something I thought I had to prove to myself. But I woke up Sunday morning and decided that these two pieces should be in the show, and it feels right.

Anyways, that's where I'm at on this gray Wednesday. Thanks for reading.

Fall Break

So we're on Fall Break this weekend, and I've been trying to make the most of a few days off. I gotten nearly everything accomplished that I wanted to. I finished two thesis pieces, did some cleaning and laundry, some cooking and baking and some hard core bookmaking. The only things I haven't done that I really wanted to were spend some time down in printmaking, finish reading the Upanishads and make some brooches. All on the slate for today, as classes start again tomorrow. *Sad Face*

Here's some shots of Gray Grief: Potato/Rock being strung up yesterday. Only because Mike Moore asked for them.

Process Shots

I know what I said about process shots, but these were just too sexy not to post.

Happy Weekend!

Progress Report

So I think my "Process Shots of the Week" are morphing into "Progress Reports of the Week." Or maybe every other week, depending on how much I have to report.

So, I'm getting close to finishing my first thesis piece, Sacra Sancta. Like I mentioned before, one of the original rocks I made for this piece was too small, and I had to make another. The smaller rock has found a home in a different piece. The second rock came out of the bath this morning, and oh my god, it's surface is PERFECT. I'm a little sad that it's going to get covered up with enamel.

I've got another little detail of the piece to nail down, and then I'll be ready to string it up. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to do this yet, since even my longest needle is too short and I'm almost positive I'm going to have to splice threads together. This is one of those pieces that's going to be trickier to pull off than the final product will look.

I made ten more wall brooches last night, and added the "Brooch Counter" off to the right this morning. This is just a rough estimate, I need to go through and nail down my exact numbers.

Have I mentioned that my thesis title is Lithic Fragments?