Nosy in New Orleans: Tell Me All Your Secrets Discussions - crafthaus2024-03-28T21:54:03Zhttps://crafthaus.ning.com/groups/group/forum?groupUrl=nosy-in-new-orleans-tell-me-all-your-secrets&feed=yes&xn_auth=noLet's Talk to Paul Sacaridiz and Michael Radyk!tag:crafthaus.ning.com,2017-07-26:2104389:Topic:5710322017-07-26T20:43:35.351ZAmarette Gregorhttps://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/AmaretteGregor
<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-815df9b2-809a-4d87-bf71-6889c6090e22" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hello dear readers!…</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" id="docs-internal-guid-815df9b2-809a-4d87-bf71-6889c6090e22"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hello dear readers!</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In this blog post I’d like to share some great insights from another awesome conversation at the 2017 SNAG conference. I got the chance to have a chat with <a href="https://craftcouncil.org/people/michael-radyk" target="_blank">Michael Radyk, Director of Education for the American Craft Council</a>,</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">and <a href="http://www.paulsacaridiz.com/about/" target="_blank">Paul Sacaridiz, Executive Director of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts</a>.</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">They both had some valuable thoughts to share from their backgrounds as makers, members of the educational and academic arenas, and participants in shaping the craft community. I snagged them in between sessions for a casual chat about how they see the field and advice for building a strong career.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Part of what drew me to this blog was the feeling that we don’t talk enough about the nitty-gritty details of being a working artist -- things like money, and making a living, seem to be harder to talk about than I wish they were. Sacaridiz and Radyk both agreed that the emphasis on professional practices is out of balance with the importance of this topic, and Radyk spoke a bit about how he’s thought about this issue throughout his career:</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“...I’m seeing it from my perspective as the director of education but I’m also learning so much as an artist and… professional practices, it’s like this kind of arc that comes and goes. I was never taught anything about my career in school. When I was a professor at SCAD or Kutztown, that was the main course that I wanted to integrate into the curriculum… it goes way beyond just having a website, so that’s the challenge.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Finding people like Kristin Mueller [executive director] from Peter’s Valley, to come and speak to Kutztown, and working with local people, but some of these local people also have kind of a national presence, because they’re pulling their students from all over, so I think that was really important for professional practices. People who were doing craft shows, people who were exhibiting, bringing them to talk to the students. And getting everybody on board, to know that that’s an important issue.”</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I agree this broad perspective is so important! Once again, there isn’t only one path to a right answer, and people from many different experiences will share a broad range of ways to succeed.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We also talked a bit about the Craft Emergency Relief Fund, now rebranded as <a href="https://cerfplus.org/" target="_blank">CERF+</a>, an organization that helps artists prepare for a resilient career and make it through emergencies, (including providing grants and planning assistance -- check them out!!) Radyk’s worked with CERF+ in the past, and Sacaridiz is currently on their board. <a href="https://cerfplus.org/news/in-it-for-the-long-haul-building-a-strong-foundation-for-a-lifetime-of-art-making/" target="_blank">I’ve also worked a bit with CERF+</a>, for a panel discussion about steps I’ve taken towards planning for a long-term career (getting business insurance and developing good stretching habits!) Sacaridiz and CERF+ brought a panel discussion to the NCECA conference this year, and I’m harboring hope we’ll get to see them as part of SNAG’s conference next year.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To wrap up, I asked Sacaridiz and Radyk what their advice to someone like me would be -- a couple years into a full-time practice, and someone who wants to do this as my career. They had some great thoughts:</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Michael Radyk: “Always think about, in the back of your head, that long-term. What are your short-term goals, long-term goals, have plan A, B, and C. I think that’s really important to always have that, be really on top of what the overall arc of your career can be. Long-term. And be willing to change, be willing to just take risks, that sounds cheesy but it’s so true.”</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Paul Sacaridiz: “Lift your head up. I think that the other danger of being in the studio all the time for one who makes their work as making their living, is by necessity you’re kind of this [head down working]. So I think to be very aware of what the field is doing, and how your work relates to things that are very different from your work. And to also kind of draw a series of circles, and to know what’s out there. Like what’s in a hundred or two hundred mile radius of you, what’s happening, who [is] leading… Know your field, so who are the leading writers, what are the leading institutions, who are interesting collectors, what are shows to be in. Specifically things you also won’t do, like who’s writing about work that’s very different from yours, who’s putting together exhibitions that you might not see yourself in, but that you’re interested in. Just to know the ecosystem of it, and to know the players and to get to these things…</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To get to [conferences], I think is an investment in your career. To take advantage of workshop settings would be another thing I would suggest, because you come and you network and meet people, and it’s so rich. So Haystack, we award 25% of people who come full scholarships.”</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">All of this advice really resonated with me. Paul Sacaridiz also recommended applying to TA at Haystack, and I’ve put their March 1st scholarship deadline on my calendar for next year (you can sign up for their mailing list on <a href="http://www.haystack-mtn.org/" target="_blank">their website</a>, to make sure you don’t miss out.)</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One last resource Sacaridiz shared with me is craftschools.us, a joint venture between five U.S. craft schools which includes <a href="http://www.craftschools.us/podcast.html" target="_blank">a podcast series called “Make/Time</a>,” that I can’t wait to dive into -- it looks awesome. The site also has scholarship info and other cool programs and initiatives. I encourage you guys to check out CERF+ and craftschools.us, and check back in for my next post, coming soon!</span></p>
<p><br/><br/><br/></p> Conference Chat with Aurelie Guillaumetag:crafthaus.ning.com,2017-06-27:2104389:Topic:5692532017-06-27T23:54:11.222ZAmarette Gregorhttps://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/AmaretteGregor
<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-61a3f05a-ebec-263e-7042-28637f7e18ed" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hello again, fellow intrepid makers! Today I’m sharing some tidbits and insights from a lovely conversation I had with Aurélie Guillaume, a fabulous art…</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" id="docs-internal-guid-61a3f05a-ebec-263e-7042-28637f7e18ed"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hello again, fellow intrepid makers! Today I’m sharing some tidbits and insights from a lovely conversation I had with Aurélie Guillaume, a fabulous art jeweler and enamelist from Montréal, Canada. Currently she is the artist in residence at <a href="https://lillstreet.com/" target="_blank">Lillstreet Gallery</a>, and will be their featured jewelry artist for the month of July. I spoke with her about her work, her current career path, and her thoughts on making a living in the “art jewelry world.” I’ve snagged some pictures for this post from her <a href="http://aurelieguillaume.com/" target="_blank">website</a></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, and her fab <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mlleguillaume/" target="_blank">Instagram feed</a></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Seriously, go check them out for yourself. (Aurélie's website has photos of the BACKS of her work, which are as stunning as the fronts! I stole a couple to share here, but trust me -- you want to see the rest.) Her work is incredible and her Instagram is full of process shots. Aurelie is an incredible craftsperson and artist, and should definitely be on your radar.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817027?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817027?profile=original" class="align-center" width="300"/></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: My thought process with the blog is wanting to talk to people about how they see their career... Like how they’re making a living and how people are kind of navigating…</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: How it’s happening now</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Yeah, and for them, because I think it’s very personal and different for everybody too, like it’s not like there’s a right answer that’s the perfect solution. Because I’m at the very beginning, I’ve been working full time for about two years now, and I’m just starting to get work out in the world and meet people and stuff like that, and so I’ve been really interested to hear how other people have gotten where they are, and where they’re looking to, or maybe they’re not, just other people’s thoughts…</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: yeah, yeah, and how they got where they are.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817341?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817341?profile=original" class="align-center" width="300"/></a></span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Yeah, so the first question I’ve been asking is, if you were to describe your career right now, what does this moment look like for you, like what are you doing, what are you working on.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: I am working on a million different things at the same time, and it’s good and it’s not, but, yeah. It’s just like, I feel my career right now is just like saying yes to every opportunity that comes my way as much as possible, because I’ve only been out of school for about two years now… I had my graduation two years ago.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: for MFA?</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: No, I don’t have my MFA, undergrad. And it’s been kind of a rollercoaster since then, like in a good way, which is exciting the whole way. But it’s just like I think it’s a bit all over the place, you know, because it’s hard to figure out what you’re exactly... I mean I know what I want to do in terms of jewelry right now, and I know you can evolve from that, and keep working and making your work better, but I find it’s just like in terms of trying to settle in your career and, you know, finding your galleries, and then collectors and it’s kind of at the moment I find it’s like a little bit of everything. It’s just taking any opportunity really, so I’m doing a residency right now at Lillstreet art center and I’ve had a show recently at Reinstein and Ross (</span><a href="http://www.reinsteinross.com/gallery/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.reinsteinross.com/gallery/</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">) in New York, and since then it’s just been people contacting me and I’m like, “Ok, yes yes yes!” And then I’m like, I said yes to everything.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817645?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817645?profile=RESIZE_320x320" class="align-center" width="300"/></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Yeah! Awesome! That’s great, though. So, did you know that this was what... like did you say, “I want to be an art jeweler, I want to be an artist, that’s what I wanna do,” or have you come to it, kind of..</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: No, this is not, like, first, I didn’t even know I was gonna be a jeweler, like I was doing a graphic design program, and I really hated working on computers. And then I started jewelry and I really love working with the techniques, and I did the jewelry school in Montreal, and then I went to Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, on the east coast of Canada, and this is where I discovered enamel work and this is where I discovered I could put two and two together, with illustration and working with the techniques, and still feel challenged by working with metal working with my organic elements such as enamel. But still having my own artistic input into the work, and settling in for… like enamel is helping me exactly get what I want from paper to metal, or glass, I would say.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058816940?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058816940?profile=original" class="align-center" width="300"/></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: So, okay just in terms of timeline, you’re like,</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: Oh yeah! The thing is, I did my thing, and I was just like, I don’t know about jewelry, I’m more interested in art jewelry than traditional classic jewelry, like working in a store as a goldsmith, and I’m like, I’ve always admired art jewelers, and I thought it was an interesting world. And you know all the events that are put together just like Schmuck (</span><a href="http://www.munichjewelleryweek.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.munichjewelleryweek.com/</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">) and Joya (</span><a href="http://www.joyabarcelona.com/index.php/en/info" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.joyabarcelona.com/index.php/en/info</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">) and SIERAAD (<a href="http://www.sieraadartfair.com/">http://www.sieraadartfair.com/</a>), and like SNAG, and all these things, y’know, and it’s super exciting and it kind of helps you travel to places and meet people.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Yeah, that’s what I want to do! So have you done any of the overseas, like Sieraad and...</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: No, not yet.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Ok. That’s my goal.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: But the thing is, it kind of came by surprise because for a while when I was doing my undergrad I was not doing what I’m doing right now, and I really didn’t like what I was making, and then I just decided to do… because I think if I didn’t see anything like that before, like oh people don’t really do like young illustration like I do… Or like, in enamel, I don’t know if I was gonna be received, but then at some point you can’t think just about what people are gonna like.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Right. Well, cause if they like it because...then they’ve seen it before, they have to have seen it before in order to like it, so… you have to do something new.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: Exactly, so I’m just excited to do it, and I have so much pleasure making these characters out of enamel, and for me it was just like I just felt I was finally myself, and I was doing something that was getting me to the bench every morning, and keeping me away from my bed, you know? And I feel like when you make… I’m very honest with what I make. And I’m not trying to please anybody, and I’m not trying to be somebody else, or compromise.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817693?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817693?profile=original" class="align-center" width="285"/></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Yeah, it’s authentic for you.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: It’s very authentic. And, I feel like people can see that through the work, you see my work and they’re like “oh it makes me happy.” and for me it’s a compliment, you know? it’s just like if this is making you happy then like, I’ve done my job. And it’s almost like I just happen to be part of this world because I mean, I don’t know, I just gave something that was very genuine to the world, and it was very well received, and… Cause I don’t think you, like, I mean - people, if they really want something, they can get it. But I feel like, you can’t be like “I’m gonna be a contemporary jeweler “ So like, people will make you, I find. I don’t know if I’m wrong.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: That’s what I’m saying, I don’t know that there is a right, I think.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: There’s not a right way, but the thing is that you can participate to these foreign countries and all, but if people don’t want your work, then you can’t be this artist. Unfortunately, it’s really sad to say. You know, I mean it’s like...</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Yeah, well, I guess you could, but just be for you. If you couldn’t make a living, maybe, at it.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: It depends where you want to be.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058818071?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="288" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058818071?profile=RESIZE_320x320" class="align-center" width="288"/></a></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Yeah. So that’s the other thing that I’ve been wanting to talk to people about, and kind of part of my idea with the blog, is to ask some of the questions and talk about some of the things that are kind of “taboo.” Like people don’t like money.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: Yeah?</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Cause people don’t really talk about it, so if you’re uncomfortable with anything...</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: [Laughs] We’ll see, depending on the question!</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: ...just don’t answer it. But just from a basic standpoint: how do you make a living?</span></p>
<p></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: Haha [both laugh]. I don’t know if I make a living… I think I’ve been very lucky because I just had a solo show in New York, and so...</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: And was it good, were there lots of sales from it?</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: I think I sold about half the works.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Wow, awesome!</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: And so, selling half the show obviously was really great for me. But you know, it’s really hard. Like, I maxed out my credit cards many times, and it’s like - in terms of money it’s a roller coaster. You cannot be in this field and do this for money. This is - no. This is...no.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: [laughs]</span></p>
<p></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: And I don’t think you can - I mean, you can only be an artist, but it’s really hard. And I’m working as a teacher, I try and sell production jewelry, and once in awhile I sell a one-of-a-kind piece. It’s not necessarily sustainable yet, but I feel like when you’re an emerging artist, this is how it is: you get out of college, first you have like thousands of millions of dollars of debt, right? That you’re in Canada or in the US. It’s a little bit less in Canada, but you still get out - you know, I have debts, but - You know, you have to invest, a lot, and maybe be in a situation where it’s, you’re maybe eating pasta every day. But then, eventually, it’s gonna come back. But you know, it takes time, and - I think, if you are dedicated and you really love what you do, money is the last thing that comes to mind. Of course, I’m stressed out everyday. Like, I bought a ring yesterday.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: [laughs] I know!</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: I bought books today, and -</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: I bought a bunch of books, yep.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: - I’m just like “Fuck, I’ve been spending so much money! But then I talk to my gallerist, and she’s like “Oh we sold a piece!” I’m like [sighs]</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A: Perfect! [laughs]</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: No, but it’s just like, I live month to month, and I’m not an established artist. I’m just starting my career and it’s hard, but we’re creative, right? So like...</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: You make it work.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: You make it work. And eventually, it’s gonna work. And if it doesn’t, then I don’t know what I’m gonna do.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: I don’t think you’ll probably have to worry about that, I think you’re gonna be fine [laughs]</span></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817251?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817251?profile=original" class="align-center" width="287"/></a></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: But you know, I think one thing that I’d like to have in my career is maybe be teaching, because I also really love transmitting what I know, and to give tools to people to make something of their own. So, for me, I think I cannot only be an artist, because I think it’s also nice to have students that really challenge you. Like, “how do you do this?” And, “how can I make this?” And you will research and, eventually - Even in the past year, I’ve been teaching at Lillstreet Art Center, and people have asked me questions, and I have never tried these techniques, and then I want to try them just because maybe I can teach them something about it. And I learn so much from myself, too. So it helps me - And it’s good to do something else than just your work.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Right, yeah. Get out of your bubble.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: But, money is not something that’s… no.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: You don’t have a bunch of hundred dollar bills in your pocket all the time? [laughs]</span></p>
<p></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: No...I don’t know if I wish, though. I would be like “Ugh, money, whatever.” As long as I can live and eat and be happy, I’m fine. Oh and also grants, grants grants, [into microphone] apply to grants. I bought a kiln recently because I got a grant.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Are most of your grants Canadian?</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: Well, I got a grant last year from the government of Quebec. But I don’t - Because I am in the US right now - But I’ve had this grant last year. But because I’m living here, it’s kind of hard to get grants from there. But grants, grants. I mean, I have a lot of friends, even here, that are applying for grants. And that’s also a big part of, I think, an artist’s income.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Yeah, I hear that from other people, too.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817465?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817465?profile=original" class="align-center" width="287"/></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: Yeah. Who did you interview?</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: So, I’ve talked to you, I’ve talked to Nikki Coupee. I really want to talk to Jillian Moore. She said she would talk to me... I just got brave enough today to be like, “Come talk to me!”</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: Oh it’s ok, don’t worry, I’m like a normal person.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Well, that’s what I’m really loving finding, is like “Oh hey, we’re all humans, it’s fine. It’s great.”</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurélie: It’s like we all have this - we’re all going through the same struggle.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amarette: Yep, absolutely.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thank you, Aurélie, for your time and great answers to my questions! Next week I'll be back to share another conversation I had at the conference. Tune in then for a new perspective!</span></p>
<p><span>Save</span></p> Let's GO!!!tag:crafthaus.ning.com,2017-06-07:2104389:Topic:5688182017-06-07T18:31:52.212ZAmarette Gregorhttps://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/AmaretteGregor
<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-f44aaf49-83ab-bf0a-6135-e76892844b37" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">OH. MY. GOODNESS. Is there anything better than being in a room full of your fellow nerds? Really, I can’t think of anything. Especially when those nerds…</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" id="docs-internal-guid-f44aaf49-83ab-bf0a-6135-e76892844b37"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">OH. MY. GOODNESS. Is there anything better than being in a room full of your fellow nerds? Really, I can’t think of anything. Especially when those nerds are METALSMITHS. I’m finally getting back in the swing of things after returning from New Orleans last week, and I gotta say… My final verdict on the SNAG conference is (drum roll please) IT’S AMAZING! YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY GO!!!</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> </p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ok, I’ll try and cut out the shouting. But it’s been a week, and I’m still blown away by how great my first conference experience was. It’s hard to decide on my favorite part, so I won’t. I have some awesome interviews and insights coming your way in the next few weeks as I transcribe and digest the great conversations I had, but for now I’d like to share my top reasons to put next year’s conference on your calendar ASAP! (Sorry, that part’s not shouting, it’s just an enthusiastic acronym.)</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817076?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="199" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058817076?profile=RESIZE_320x320" class="align-center" width="199"/></a></span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-2">"Futura" necklace by Pasha Moezzi, image stolen from his Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pashadesigns/" target="_blank">@pashadesigns</a>.</span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The people. Woah. I couldn’t believe how many amazing conversations I had with people I hadn’t even known the day before. It’s almost like we all automatically had a bunch in common... Everyone was so enthusiastic to be there, and to talk about the work they were wearing, and where they were from, and what they were up to… I feel like all my friends were there and I just hadn’t met them yet. I kept walking by people and seeing things I recognized from Instagram, and then the artists responsible were right there! And totally down to chat! Nowhere else are people going to understand fangirling about a fellow jeweler. Not only that, they’re right there with you.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Also, people are willing to talk shop in the best way. I love understanding how other people’s work is made, and it was so amazing to share the love of a good rivet, a clever soldering connection, or a new type of alternative material. At one point, Marie-Louise Kristensen (</span><a href="http://m-lo.dk/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://m-lo.dk/</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">) mentioned a type of two-part clay she uses in her work (Milliput). I shared my excitement with the ladies behind me. Then I had an awesome conversation about mills and lathes with Pasha Moezzi, (</span><a href="https://www.pashamoezzi.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.pashamoezzi.com/</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pashadesigns/" target="_blank">@pashadesigns</a>,) whose fabulous work was on display in Adorned Spaces, the on-site pop-up show. Conversations like these are priceless, and they’re just not going to happen like this at any other event.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058816421?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058816421?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-center" width="370" height="308"/></a></span>Speaker Bruce Pepich, Racine Art Museum and Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Executive Director and Curator of Collections. After a wonderful talk Mr. Pepich took time to sit with conference attendees and answer a variety of questions (including mine!)</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: center;"></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The talks. This is what the conference is supposed to be all about, right? At least I assumed so beforehand. The scheduled sessions were indeed awesome, inspiring and thought-provoking in the most enjoyable way. I was so glad that none of the programming overlapped, so I didn’t have to make the difficult decision of who to see.<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058818610?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="499" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058818610?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" class="align-center" width="499"/></a></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="font-size-2">Thomas Mann gave a wide-ranging talk covering the different incarnations his career has had, and some of the wisdom gained along the way. He specifically addressed the challenges of today's craft scene, and how to deal with them:</span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058818795?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="242" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058818795?profile=RESIZE_320x320" class="align-center" width="242"/></a><br/>I particularly loved the sessions that focused on an individual artist’s practice and work -- I love hearing the thought process behind a piece, and it’s always so enjoyable to get this perspective from the artist themself. In particular, hearing from the early-career artists was awesome. Zachery Lechtenberg (aka Yotburd,</span> <a href="https://squareup.com/market/yotburd" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">https://squareup.com/market/yotburd</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yotburd/" target="_blank">@yotburd</a>) was a highlight for me, and shared some of the theory that enriches his work. The packaging of his pieces is carefully considered to make viewers weigh the value of objects, since opening the beautifully-crafted outer artwork would destroy it, but without opening it you can’t “use” the object within. There’s also a secret code in play, so symbols from different pieces work together like a cereal box decoder ring system, creating a relationship between the works and speaking to collecting. I appreciated the variety of perspectives, as the presentations included curators, gallery people, educators, and artists in a variety of different career phases.<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058818898?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="279" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058818898?profile=RESIZE_320x320" class="align-center" width="279"/></a><span class="font-size-2">"We need the super villain (brooch), Set2", by <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Zachary Lechtenberg,</span> image stolen from his Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yotburd/" target="_blank">@yotburd</a></span><br/><br/></span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The vendor room. AHHHHH. Too much good stuff. Books, tools, demos, stones… And again, seeing this stuff with your fellow metalsmiths is just so fun. I loved being able to turn to whoever was next to me (friend or stranger) with my latest discovery and go “this is so cool!!!” Seeing tools in person before buying is great, and the Rio Grande booth in particular had awesome demos going on all day. Most vendors also had show deals going, so even though I spent mayyyyybe more than I should have (it’s all deductible as a business expense!) I felt good about my purchases. Charon Kransen’s amazing book selection was another highlight, and the understated case full of AMAZING work by artists he represents was one of the conference’s best-kept secrets.<br/><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058816440?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="261" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058816440?profile=RESIZE_320x320" class="align-center" width="261"/></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058816440?profile=original" target="_self"></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058816560?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="316" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058816560?profile=RESIZE_320x320" class="align-center" width="316"/></a></span><span class="font-size-2">Top: Erica DeMarco planned her pin swap display like a pro (on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/demarcoerica/" target="_blank">@demarcoerica</a>)</span><br/></p>
<span class="font-size-2">Bottom: My pin swap haul... wow.</span><br/><br/></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The pin swap. How do I even describe the marvelous frenzy that was the pin swap? Apparently they usually do it in the vendor room, but the doors didn’t open in time so everyone ended up swapping in the hallway. Then when it did move inside, there was a major bottleneck as everyone kept trying to swap in too small a space. BUT, if you have to be packed in like sardines, at least you’re surrounded by amazing pieces of art -- that can actually go home with you! I’m so thrilled with the pins I got, and am already planning to bring more next year so I can maximize my trading opportunities.<br/><br/></span></p>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The people. Again. Because hands-down the best part of the conference was meeting so many truly amazing artists and fellow enthusiasts. If the conference was just a bunch of us turned loose in a hotel ballroom for a weekend, with no other programming or events, I might still go. I came home so excited to have new friends from all over. And next year’s conference is in my home town -- Portland, OR. So, how ‘bout it? Gonna come see me next year?</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Stay tuned for more from some of the great conversations I had at the show. I was able to sit down with Aurélie Guillaume (</span><a href="http://aurelieguillaume.com/new-page/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://aurelieguillaume.com/new-page/</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mlleguillaume/" target="_blank">@mlleguillaume</a>), Nikki Couppee (</span><a href="http://www.nikkicouppee.com" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.nikkicouppee.com</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nikkicouppeejewelry/" target="_blank">@nikkicouppeejewelry</a>), and Jillian Moore (</span><a href="http://www.jillianmoore.net/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.jillianmoore.net/</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/phlaznatch/" target="_blank">@phlaznatch</a>) and more!! BE. EXCITED.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"></p> Let's Get Ready...tag:crafthaus.ning.com,2017-05-18:2104389:Topic:5680002017-05-18T04:16:18.399ZAmarette Gregorhttps://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/AmaretteGregor
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Welcome back, my lovelies! As I begin my blogging journey with the SNAG conference in mind, I’m thinking a lot about all the bits and pieces I have to accomplish before my trip. My goal is to squeeze out as much…</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Welcome back, my lovelies! As I begin my blogging journey with the SNAG conference in mind, I’m thinking a lot about all the bits and pieces I have to accomplish before my trip. My goal is to squeeze out as much benefit as I can from this trip, and in typical fashion I try and control the uncontrollable by planning til exhaustion. So my conference prep checklist includes these big-ticket items:</span></p>
<p></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Plan for the trunk show.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The soft fiber in my work presents a challenge. Displays can’t be over half an inch, which means my typical strategy of displaying work under plexiglass sheets to avoid too much fondling won’t work. Alternate ideas include gently worded signs about no touching… this goes against the grain for me so I’m not sure how to tackle this yet. Another option that I usually use for shows is to have a “sacrificial” piece so people can experience the material without handling the higher-priced art pieces. OH, also I suppose I’d better finish all the work I want to bring!</span></p>
<p></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Plan my pins for the pin swap.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Oh man, am I excited for this. And anxious!! How do people decide who to swap with? What if people don’t want to swap with me? What if I want to swap for certain pins, but someone else wants to swap and I run out?? What if I fall in love with someone’s work and weird them out? Am I worrying too much about this? (Absolutely yes.) I’m planning ahead to be prepared to let go. Of my own work, and of other people’s. Otherwise I’m going to stress myself out of all the fun! Also, the time left for finishing pins is getting short…</span></p>
<p></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Plan for the portfolio review.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This part’s gonna be interesting. It’s been so long since I’ve had any kind of critique or review. After school, those opportunities are few and far between. I’ve gotten used to the feedback at shows; people either gush, or mostly keep it to themselves. Great for the ego, but maybe not so great for creative growth. So I’m really looking forward to the chance to sit down with someone and hear constructive criticism. Also, I’m planning on using this opportunity to pursue the other goal of this blog: wisdom gathering from those who have gone before. It seems like a prime opportunity to collect a new story of someone else’s experience. I’m looking forward to sharing it here!</span></p>
<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In case you can’t tell from this pre-conference brain-dump, I’m a worrier. Since I’ve laid out “honesty” as one of the goals of this blog, I’ll explain that I actually battle clinical anxiety. Planning ahead is just one of the ways I help protect myself, so I’ll be better equipped to enjoy the event when I get there. Something about laying out all my areas of concern helps remind me, “oh wait. I’m actually quite resourceful. And smart! Remember, how I always manage to handle stuff in the moment? I’ll be fine.” It helps to sort through what can be planned, and what is just subject to the winds of chance (hint: ultimately everything’s down to chance.) So, I’ll keep putting one foot in front of the other, and before I know it I’ll be in the air, winging my way to New Orleans! Now, I wonder what shoes I should bring...</span></p> Let's Get Started...tag:crafthaus.ning.com,2017-05-10:2104389:Topic:5674322017-05-10T17:29:21.836ZAmarette Gregorhttps://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/AmaretteGregor
<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-5e209959-f365-9f6f-fb81-3a2ef3dac11c" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hello, dear readers! I’m so delighted to be blogging about my own work and the upcoming SNAG conference in New Orleans. I’d like to share a bit about…</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" id="docs-internal-guid-5e209959-f365-9f6f-fb81-3a2ef3dac11c"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hello, dear readers! I’m so delighted to be blogging about my own work and the upcoming SNAG conference in New Orleans. I’d like to share a bit about myself and my creative process, in preparation for taking on the Big Easy.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/P7_IAssM5sVa3WYGuzDKMawk4z2ZT9NVFpkXLwN4HprKDgQrqzRl0j0lBZF1dfuSxOIx3kx6gvs7Ew-DNye_5Cyu64MUSPPbFmBWhuT6GPGOVLmH_k4eIEDoURE1oXErx3ZXKPkU" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" alt="welding" width="400" height="269"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Portrait of the Artist, age 12</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve loved art and making things since I was little (I got my first glue gun at age eight, and once asked for my own roll of scotch tape for Christmas.) I made a concerted effort to</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">not</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">be an artist when I first started college, but it didn’t take. After I got a post-bacc certificate at Oregon College of Art and Craft I worked a couple “grown-up” jobs, and then decided to give full-time art a serious try.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/sDtaEW8_wwrLROvr5435i4NUxFCuZDowF5swhjuQuQsZOsGgiIOWlFsUPyXRr-YvekuT39q7nArZHyvWkba3H28FgsaJ4ADwapo_BczmUcCznBKHnYEvbT9El51ozhatAsHkxwYp" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="455" height="310"/></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/IyH4tw1vgKID5hS6BNHo92egw9oh9wg9sIhhwnLgQKhF4UCHvmgPadsH8B6ZDbV_XCVkjfQF5Sd-Sf8y2BV6HGyR0lFtCtdtvBez2wGfcpx0qqKpyFP0uwtoRLp61aUX47ce-9go" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="453" height="304"/></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/16NrK25_FTwavlHwUigy8byWZ0w0PecCno3YR8bP9BxMu6-G5cB8JoOXzngb9xWm5qaExLpXE82OIMlF9pHPFdmkW-JHs56WvnhcMXtJB-RRmu2qi7a7tppNVimCg7F8xhPBpzXR" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" alt="Blue-Square-Dot-Earrings-1920x1920.jpg" width="282" height="282"/></span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">From top: Brooch, brass and upcycled sewing thread; Earrings, brass, thread; Necklace, brass, sterling, thread</span><br/><br/></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My work is materials-focused. I’m a nerd for a new tool, a new texture, a new space to play in. I spent a lot of time in art school worried about the concept behind a piece. Am I talking about collecting? Sentimentality? The emotional connections we make to objects?? Ultimately, yes… kind of. Maybe? For now, I have arrived at a place where I embrace the pure joy and emotional connection I feel to color and materials. I take so much pleasure in the process of shaping the substances I use, and my work is about the resonance I find in the formal aspects of a piece. I’m looking for the response I have when I stand in front of a Calder, or a Rothko, or something by Jean Arp, or Klee, or Miro. Mondrian, Calder (oh, is he on here twice?) Warhol, Nevelson, or any of the hundreds of other artists’ work I’ve stood in front of and ached.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/r0wVkYcPldtYErAo0oKPe9LIayQwemEARHgTsnCQ6KdRvolAZblCRcdrzlz-Ce5ANKRbd7XvOYM1Y8P-bG97LVoi8ufxMZMharLxiWQjlPryuJCR41xfCeyltGRoEy8RfjWAguD6" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" class="align-center" width="277" height="226"/></span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/JiNCeqVIHsmx0z4DPw5UCQQYMcNQ19mSzER3wOlkq3zZ8SUOXvYHBBKkbApe2Hk4IPy2w1BCGFRcy17sLRDm6PJKxZ3Z_V_qpYIDQ2gSpCT503ydsff6ITpqrzh_5gpUeh6rI9ic" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" class="align-center" width="336" height="225"/></span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/nNL04Mh3Od7Ykn5gab3P1Jdrof-7lSwoNEWPncMX1roOVyV-0Ek5lf4IlitVmjIIoaefBhDdar9VT1pr0OFYHLxUAE_bPquNmoXfclqClU3nut-SGoQI5XJ8Bbm-RY-5eTCzszFB" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" class="align-center" width="282" height="219"/></span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/m8Q_Xu1JkcG6W1dd-CFVoePC0eGI56HjCkuJD_w6jzEMg53-ojAPNhg78xSYbt6mOlvrV2H5JCzuX_1p8Av49-pxpf_H-oz_Dh8Q5LXCM6x3xuFP3-JDpg3MPTrqXSmpbBkEzj4H" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="292" height="285"/></span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">From top: Louise Nevelson, Calder, Jean Arp, Mondrian (images shamelessly stolen from Google image search)</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My work might have a “deeper” conceptual or representational side, one day, and all my thoughts on meaning and concept inform my thought processes now. But it’s taken a bit to be ok making a piece that’s really just about the joy of that line with that shape, or that color as expressed in that material. Sometimes when someone’s eyes get as big as mine when I look at an artwork I love, or when someone says they “just want to eat this. Is that weird? To want to eat it?” I feel like I’m on the right track.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I say I make jewelry because it’s impractical to wear a painting. The pieces I respond to, that make me want to make, also make me want to be as close to them as possible. To rub them on my body and push them into my soul. So the closest practical thing to do is to wear them. When I make a piece wearable, it is with the wish that someone else will respond on this level. That they will feel the wavelength of my work resonate in them, and want to smash it onto their person. If this is my goal, putting a pin back on the piece just seems like common courtesy.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/3YOqkRWeSFn6yRlrZ77la7P5uU-sb7qgD9-N-WTHUG0-gcqn44Y-Go4_MVYpXbGT3ugoYANEwsBzmCdw4d93DtY1ZUQVnThBHRvgZxITN6FKqeTuvULSqyVmBpoeHVdc1akFPNod" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="624" height="427"/></span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Red Landscape Brooch”, sterling, brass, stainless steel, thread</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I want to have a long-term career as an artist. I have so many ideas and directions I want to explore, I feel sure I will need a lifetime to begin to address them all. So I’m planning on a lifetime of making art. And with that in mind, I’m asking, “how?” How do I get to do this forever? How do I make this sustainable? What are other people doing to make their careers feasible? Questions of commercialism, integrity, balance, and creative well-being are fascinating, because there are so many versions of the “right” answer. Different methods work for for different people. And it’s a scary time to say “I’m an artist.” I think a lot about artists’ place in the modern world and how we participate in building a better society, especially as an artist who doesn’t produce narrative or political works. For right now, I’ve decided honesty is a good place to start. I’ve begun my own little crusade to ask honest questions, and give honest answers (even if the answer is “I don’t feel comfortable talking about that,”) about our struggles, our emotions, our anxieties, and our processes.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So. How about it? Tell me all your secrets.</span></p>