walker shop - jewelry mart

this is the email that the walker has sent out to all of its members/interested parties regarding a local jewelry mart that they are having in just over 1 week. i will be there with a collection of goodies (and colors) not before seen at the walker. it should be fun! if you are in town, come on down and tell your friends!

Saturday, May 3 10 am - 3 pm Walker Skyline Room

Jewelry by nearly a dozen artists and designers will be on sale at the Walker Art Center Shop’s Local Jewelry Artist Mart. Meet Michelle Barlow, Karin Jacobson, Tia Salmela Keobounpheng, Ruth Mikos, Felicia Parsons, Danny Saathoff, Sarah Michaela Sitarz, Helen Wang, Brenda Weber, Maran Wolston, and others who will set up shop to display and sell their unique bracelets, necklaces, earrings and more. Gallery admission is free that day for Free First Saturday. Featured items at the Local Jewelry Artist Mart incorporate a wide variety of materials, including sterling silver, Argentium sterling silver, copper, and salvaged auto body metal; woods, including wenge, walnut, and reclaimed pieces; semi-precious and lab-grown stones; resin, acrylic, and glass; and recycled components from computers and typewriters. Walker members save 10% on all purchases.

my presentation at the ACC show in st. paul went smoothly. i'm starting to trust my instincts more and am proud of the fact that i prepared adequately for the event, without over-preparing. my natural tendancy to over-prepare has, in the past, left me feeling disappointed and often with an extra amount of product left over or too much time invested in an activity. in my life, i have always been the practical-sort who takes "special" days in stride, because - they are still just one day. that does not mean that i don't revel in the "special-ness" of the little things that lead to or make up big days. anyway - i have been trying to bring some of the practicality to my making and my work. i have been trying to balance what things MEAN.... a big show with big exposure and a big turnout, for example -- what does that mean for me? i suppose it is like anything - there are quantitative and qualitative values to everything. some things you can count and tally and then in other instances a connection that leads to something else and something else and something else over a period of time is of immeasuable value.

so anyway - a highlight from the show was seeing my name on such an official board at the show and some photos that my 2 1/2 year old son took of the event (on their way...) -- the turn out was low (but not out of line from what i expected) and it got me out, gave me an opportunity to talk, out loud, about my process, inspiration and the implications of technology in my work -- and that process alone, has already given back. (the earrings i made since the show ... and have been wearing for the past several days ... a product of getting my mind going...)

head down - preparations.....

i have been busy catching-up with architecture work and trying to find the appropriate balance between my making and my work/job and motherhood and taking care of myself. i suppose all women strive for this balance - it is an on-going process.

i've also been preparing for an artist demo/talk at the American Craft Council show in St. Paul this weekend. it is the only ACC show not on a coast, and while it is not as big as the one in Baltimore - i am quite honored to have been asked to take part in the show in my home-town's twin-city. For those of you in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area who plan to attend the show, please stop by for my presenation. i will be there on saturday - april 19th - from 3:00pm-4:00pm. wish me luck!

poor jewelry

this article at designboom is just one of many things that have been inspiring me lately. my days have been getting more and more busy: hosting baby showers and getting architecture work done, making a master-plan for house projects as well as making a similar-plan for marketing my jewelry. i'll touch more on that a little later. must go to sleep now. because sleep is so very important! good night.

ralph rapson

this past saturday, architect ralph rapson died at theage of 93. (martha has posted a lovely farewell to him here.) he was a legendary fixture in the architecture community, an inspiration to generations of architecture students, and has been celebrated by architects in minneapolis for years. he will be missed!

i met him several times as a student and at any number of architecture events since finishing school in 2000. it was always exciting to talk to him - almost like you were talking to celebrity (only he never acted that way.) ... it is hard to find words to explain the added "pride" that minnesotans feel because he lived here - almost like we could claim him as "ours" ....

in that vain, he was "mine" for a day back in 2003. while managing the old redlurered Thought/Design/Shop, i was lucky enough to co-currate a re-launch party and exhibit on the Rapson Rapid Rocker. i worked with andy balster and casey renner to design the space and currate the content & layout of the show. ralph made some special drawings of people sitting in the rocker that would accompany the chairs that were purchased at the show, but hadn't seen the (plan for) physical exhibit until the night of the event. he arrived early on that night and very thoughtfully walked through the exhibit - engaging and absorbing the story we told about the history of his chair. there was a great turn-out for the show - and i must say it felt good to be a part of celebrating and promoting him after being inspired by him for sveral years. (that show is certainly on my list of "cool things i've done in my life.")

........ i've found myself thinking about ralph a lot this week - thinking about the fact that he continued to go to his office to work right up until the very last day, just as he had hoped he would. he embodied an ideal that is found in the most creative of people - their work = their passion. he couldn't help but engage his work .... because it is what fufilled him. that is how i will remember him ... committed and in love with what he did. we were all lucky enough to observe and learn from it....

for fun ...

last week i decided to do something fun....i sent off a little package to wendy over at dozi. she had inquired many many months ago about ordering a pair of earrings and i had just sent my entire stock to the walker. she has been waiting so patiently (since before christmas!) and now since i finally "have my act together" i decided i'd just send her a pair...as a little surprise.

i've learned that she received the package safely and has even posted some pictures here. i must admit, i love sending packages and it is almost more exciting for me to see her wearing my earrings half-way across the country.... thank you wendy, for reading my blog, for liking my earrings, for being so patient ... and for being a blog-friend! so much fun.........

i've been trying to find the best way to photograph my earrings...in my make-shift photography studio that is my dining room. for these shots i used the 3' table-top version of our "trendy tannebaum" modern christmas tree. the shots are still not as simple as i'd like them to be, but they are an improvement ....

in the lull

i've been slightly over-whelmed with reading others' blogs, following their links and investigating the makers and designers and crafters that they follow. martha has a nice list here...and here. and of course i have already mentioned megan's series of posts from savanah. and then there is margaux's recent recap of the ACC show, which goes into many details that i failed to articulate - and brings another layer of memories to my own recollections.

i don't know about you, but when i start thinking too much it begins to paralyze me. "i think i think too much" i go through waves though - sometimes i just move and grow and act and make without thinking - intuitive progress. that usually gets me to a point where i need to stop and reflect on things - adapt and adjust the details to more adequately articulate an idea or perfect a function. this is all fine and good.


right now, i seem to be swimming in a different place though - the one where i become numb to myself - second-guessing and insecure. it is a dreadful feeling --- but i've also learned that it comes when i am at an integral point (a crossroads) - it comes when i realize that i must make some important decisions about how i am going to move forward, when i know that the decision i ulitmately make will have great impact on me, my family and the way my work (my business) will grow .....

i don't know if it is harder to go out on a limb for something or to sit back and not attempt it. it would seem easier to sit back, to not put yourself on the line -- but in my life, in my mind, in my heart it is always harder for me to hold back, to not put it all out there. that's not to say i haven't gotten hurt by doing so, but man, those lessons run deep and the experiences are vivid. as i grow older, the debate has been less about whether or not to do it (although maybe it should be) but rather about the best way to go about doing it. and for a designer, who is meant to determine all the possible ways, it sure gets confusing at times. i've also learned that it helps to talk to other people and to get alternative views -- but ultimately i already know what i need to do. i already know the path to be taken ... it is there, under the distractions and worries and superficialities (word??) it is always there, waiting for me.


so, in the meantime.......

this is a necklace that i whipped-up from remnants - to wear as an everyday sort of necklace. i've been wearing it for a week and admit i love wearing it and have had good responses from random people around town. i may need to do some more playing around.

going round in circles....

hmmmmmm where to begin with all the thoughts circling in my head. i just finished catching-up on some blog posts which always leads to links to other blogs and new information and new work and new inspiration .. which results in thoughts circling in my head.

megan auman has been posting from the SNAG (society of north american goldsmiths) conference. this is an organization i had never heard of before meeting megan at the ACC show or before reading her blog. she provides links to some amazing work!! but the thing that really has my mind spinning is the link to annie's blog and her post that touches on the undercurrent of mixed feelings that i mentioned experiencing at the ACC show regarding the "old" crafters and the "new wave" or "indie" or "alt" crafters. -- it is all quite fascinating, and yet i must admit i feel somewhat disconnected from the whole thing - almost like i have no right to even have an opinion because i am so new to the scene and also because i am coming at it from an entirely different background.

IT also makes me think about my run the other morning. i was running around one of the many lakes that are nestled into the city of minneapolis and during the span of a few minutes, i would see 2 airplanes decending towards the airport, coming in at slightly different angles and probably 20-30 seconds apart. at the same time, i could see another plane off in the distance making its circle, in line to make its own decent. a minute or two later that distant plane was suddenly one of the 2 decending planes and the cycle continued .. on and on - probably all day. for some reason this struck me. it was a glimpse and an illustration of the many many networks and systems and mini-worlds that exist simultaneously every minute of every day. happening in contrast or in relation to or entirely oblivious of something else. i realize that my city is small in comparison to other cities in the world, and it is large in comparrison to others - but i sometimes can't get my mind around the fact that this world is so HUGE.

THERE are so many people, so many things, so many ways of doing and being and making. so many ideas .... so many ideas. some that are fresh, but mostly those that recycle, resee, and reuse snipits of other ideas. it is daunting and yet it is also welcoming ... particularly when thinking about making things. i approach making things from a design background - which (for me) is a problem-solving exercise made up of a series of decisions. there are endless ways and endless solutions, but it is one's own series of decisions that leads them to their end result. it is their skill-set and accumulated life experience and education that enables them to execute their decisions - it is their own path and process that enables them to execute their design and define their craft. i don't know how that fits into the craft world - or where that puts me in struggle between old and new/trained and alternative ... i don't know what it means for me or my work or where it will fit best in the marketplace -- but it is my approach and that is what i have to work with.

finally - some updates

i thought i would start this post honoring the "best seller" of ACC show ... the DOUBLE PAPYRUS necklace (that i whipped-up last minute and almost didn't take with me - go figure!)





it has taken a little bit of time to settle back into things at home. i must admit that i still don't feel entirely "with-it" or back to a routine - partly because i am needing to create a new routine that strikes a healthy balance of doing "real" work and organizing my plan to take my jewelry forward, while somehow managing to get my running back in the schedule - i'm getting closer.... i haven't been entirely unproductive in the process though, because i have finally been able to get some more jewelry in my shop. i need to take more photos of some pieces before posting them, but there is a selection of DOUBLE PAPYRUS, PAPYRUS SINGLE, Rolling-TOPO, SOLID, and POMMEGRANATE necklaces online. More will be posted shortly......thanks for checking them out!