I am still alive, just swamped!

[Callie Shevlin]

Sorry I have been MIA lately, the French lessons are starting to be a bit overwhelming due in part to the fact that my teacher speaks absolutely NO English, so when she says things to me and then pauses I haven’t a clue as to if she is taking a break from speaking or if she just asked me something or if she just told me to read/do something. 

 

Here is the last of the Amsterdam goodness from that fantastic Jewelry induced trip (many many thanks to Kerianne Quick again)

 

 

I did get to see Notre Dame, it was pretty impressive but the weather was not. 

These gates were amazing and really made the weather bearable and worth the 2 metros! I did NOT get lost, thank heavens there were maps, my favorite and specialty as it is!

 

Here are a few Amsterdam shots as well. I am in love the idea of these shades with bulbs as a light fixture, in fact, I smell a DIY project for my apartment in the spring!

Random walk sticker (people don't actually walk until the light says so, pay attention New York)

Of course I saw a bunch of red doors with black iron hinges, beautiful, wish I had one as a dining table! I was also enamored with the iron rods that run through the floors of the buildings and out both sides.

would you just look at that architecture, it is gothic and bloody fantastic. This is just across the street from the Anne Frank house, which had a line out of it about a kilometer long!

 

 At the B-Side Festival (which Kerianne blogged about for AJF, and can be seen at: http://www.artjewelryforum.org/blog/2011/11/

Patricia Thomazo (www.patriciathomazo.com) was one participant of the B-side Festival and I really enjoyed her work and the explanation of it as well

Lisa Johnson, this one's for you as well!

Patricia uses porcelain and silver for these fab necklaces.

And here the artist models one of her own creations

 

Patricia's outlook on color is really interesting and although everyone takes color into consideration and what it means when creating a piece, Patricia creates pieces based on life phases.

Here you can see what Patricia is talking about in the above statement.

 

Where Did the Night Go?  by Alexander Blank

 

These wearable sculptures are extremely light and are carved. BY HAND. An absolute ridiculous amount of amazing craftsmanship.  I thought they must be rapid prototypes at first due to the perfection, but alas, a human did actually make these.

If these are beginning to look a little bit familiar, they should. They are derivatives of many disney characters. 

Wyle E. Coyote is by far my favorite, nothing to do with the craftsmanship, I said they are immaculate, he's just my favorite.

Hide N’Seek by Melanie Isverding

And the perfect match to show with Alexander is of course Melanie Isverding, her work is also meticulous and there are little sparkly bits on the insides of these pieces is actually small bits of crushed gemstones (garnets etc).

Can't stop looking!

 

I want this brooch.

The above artists were in a show together at Galerie Rob Koudjis.  I got to meet both artists (we ran into them in a cute shop with art for the home) and Rob at his gallery, all three were really nice and it was a pleasure.

 

 

Great apartment show by Morgane DeKlerk at the B-side Festival.  www.morganedeklerk.blogspot.com

She makes work that makes sound, it’s really fascinating, so check out her blogspot

 

Nolia Shakti Conceptual Jewelry

www.noliashakti.com

Nespresso Jewelry, very light weight and also colorful looking.  I was lucky enough to be able to pick it up and it really is amazing.

 

Kei Kagami (absent because he missed his flight from London, but originally from Japan) Lloyd hotel bar, sort of a crowded and strange set up, but also really fun (did I mention the bitterballen we ate across the street?)

 

These shoes are strange and a bit torturous to look at, but also very curious, some of them I wanted to try on to see if it would be super awesome to wear!

This concludes my Amsterdam adventures from November, now onto more mundane things in life (aside from the little trips I manage to go on).

[Susan Ellenton]

Really interesting as always Callie. Thank you for taking time to post. Curious about the Bside concept. Will check out the blog you linked. Thanks again.