A Busy Couple of Weeks for Me: Shamless Self-Promotion

[John Harris]

Well, I have been busting out jewelry pieces left and right as of late. But it's all for good reasons.

 

This Saturday, April 30, is a very large craft sale in Rochester, NY called May Day Underground. I have more than doubled my normal stock in preparation for this sale. There will be over 100 vendors there, including a close family friend of mine since I was 2 years old who is now a specialty soap and candle maker. I will also be along-side my identical twin brother, Kenny Harris, who is a book maker and well-known painter in Central and Western New York. This sale will feature some of my cymbal pendants, as well as a large supply of silver and brass production work, most of which are in the standard Steampunk style.

 

On May 4, a large collection of my work (which includes the Myconocle: The Eye of Psilocyborg, The Amazing Extending Body Poker, The Lost Archaeologist's Amazing Digging Device, the Mechanical Eye of Aman-Ra, and the Frightworld Pharaoh's Ankh) are being photographed in LA and in Death Valley, CA for a spread in Lip Service Magazine. The article is on the top Steampunk designers in the world. I feel privelaged to be among that category.

 

On May 6, a charity event called Bijutsu is going on. It is being organized by Megan Cosgrove, Sumiyo Roland, Sunhwa Kim, and Bob Wood and will feature a large amount of artists and designers that have donated work to sell in an attempt to raise money for the Japan Relief Fund through the Red Cross. At this event I will be revealing and selling a new line of jewelry that is only for charity. It's called A Cymbal as a Symbol and is based on my previous cymbal pendants.

 

 

 

On May 9, I am involved with yet another charity for a young boy with lukemia. This event is taking place at the Dipson Theatres Market Arcade Film and Art Center on Main Street in Buffalo. This event is going to be fun because it is a double-feature of two locally-made horror films called Slime City and Slime City Massacre. I am good friends with one of the special effects designers for these movies, so I was excited to get involved. For this event, I am donating a custom Slime City A Cymbal as a Symbol pendant to be auctioned off.

 

On May 13-15 I have a weekend full of photo shoots for Rio Grande in order to show the new Steampunk Components line that they recently released and had me test and review. Modeling my work (which is essentially the collection that Lip Service is shooting plus a few extras) will be two fellow designers. Furniture Designer Eric Rose and Jewelry Designer Natasha Horeth will be modeling for this shoot.

 

So my question to all of you gods of craft: How do I stay sane with all of the work and appearances?