January happenings

Melissa and I have been teaching an afternoon and evening ring making workshop. It feels nice to have our own space to conduct the class. 

We assembled our own table for the class. It is such a great table. 

I wish my camera was able to capture the entire studio space. So many cool additions to the space.
Melissa's spot is coming together really well. Her progress below. 

Lately I have been on Pinterest a lot, gathering my visual inspiration. I joined this site a few months ago, but have only begun to really spend of time on it the last two weeks. If you are not on this site, I highly recommend it. It is a place to search for or collect all your virtual inspiration- you can select images from the web or the site itself, and organize it by boards. You can then share those images with your followers, friends and family. The great thing for me is the format of the site, all the images laid out side by side, making it easier to connect all my interests together. You can also have a group board where two or more people can add to the board. That is what Melissa and I had done when we were beginning to brainstorm how our studio space would come together- adding images of tools we liked and spaces we found inspiring. I like my new collection of images on all my boards. I can't wait to experiment into my next series of jewelry. 

If you join Pinterest, let me know. I want to see what you're pinning!

RISD Holiday Art Sale 2011

For the second consecutive year, Melissa J Tyson and I went up to Providence to participate in the RISD Holiday Art Sale at the Rhode Island Convention Center. The night before the event, we went to the convention center to set up our own table and display boards. It was so nice to have her company throughout the weekend to reduce all the stress. Melissa put on a great show as usual. If you haven't checked out Melissa's cool compositional brooches and pendants yet, I strongly suggest you do so now. Simply, the holiday shopping event was wonderful. It really is the place to find special gifts for loved ones. There were so many people who attended the sale to do major shopping. Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by my table and to everyone who made purchases. I made more sales than last year, a sign of a better economy which is great. Hooray! The RISD Alumni Relations does such a great job in making the event run smoothly.

I wasn't able to tour all the booths because I had to interact with customers at my station the entire time. Sometimes, I really wish I had an extra hand! I only took pictures of my booth at the beginning of the day before the doors opened. Nevertheless, the day was fantastic; I couldn't ask for more.

A bit of the process behind all the work building up to this event can be seen in the videos below. I recorded the last two days in studio before I went up to Providence. The time was spent on finalizing pieces and building my display. Enjoy!

This Is How I Work- November 30, 2011

This Is How I Work- December 1, 2011


Thanks again to all those who stopped by my booth! You made my trip to Providence so worth it.

pendants

I finished this set of pendants yesterday. 

I had a special stamp tool made with my logo engraved. My necklaces now have these KY tags that add a nice detail to the simplicity of the piece. They are all ready for the RISD Holiday Alumni Show this Saturday, December 3rd. So excited!

This Is How I Work

What goes on in a working studio?
This question has been more on my mind since I started working on The Bloomfield School. A great distinction about The Bloomfield School is that anyone who takes a class will actually work and learn where the artist works, which naturally allows them to encounter unique tools, machines and processes related to the artists' skills. As an instructor, being transparent with how I work,what I know and what I do is important. I am eager to share this with not just students but anyone who is curious. But if you were not in New York to take a class, then the opportunity to see inside Brooklyn's artist studios would be limited.
The internet gives us the opportunity to share things all over the world. May the next best option to being in a studio is viewing it on a screen? Well, the making of videos started when my sister's boyfriend,Donald, showed me his time-lapse videos. I was impressed with them and thought how fun it would be to make a video myself. With this blog, I can share how I work on the internet to anyone who is interested in seeing the process of jewelry making. So with the help of Donald's knowledge, here is my first time-lapse video. I hope you all enjoy it. I am excited to continue this series of "This Is How I Work."

Here are some new things, in detail, of what I am making.

My working table is filled with small piles. My favorite way of working.

A few of the many castings I am cleaning up. This particular set of castings will be my large cluster earrings.

And now half way there with semi-finished products, pendants and earrings! I have some beading time ahead of me.


What is your workspace like and how do you work? 

ringing

Alloy Gallery

I've been busy working on earrings for this holiday show. Thanks Alloy Gallery for inviting me to participate in this show. If you're in Newport, RI during December, stop by and check out all the jewelry! Opening reception is December 8th.

working on earrings

I really like round shapes.

pendant

Time likes to speed.  This pendant was made in 2009.

in development

October- lots of new things are happening in studio!