Thinking about Geography

[Thea Clark]

I have been feeling very nostalgic for San Francisco since my visit there last November. Strangely this is always triggered when I see a house in New Jersey with a stucco exterior.  I realized the places I lived the longest or during important turning points in my life were all stuccoed. I never realized that this visual memory was so strong. I felt something like this when I moved back to S.F. after living in Wisconsin for three years, I thought I longed to see the ocean again, but what hit me on my return were the mountains. So these two, place and geography, which can inform our emotional sense of being, are great starting places for creating.

The show Geography, curated by Mike Holmes and Susan Cummins is opening in conjunction with the Society of North American Goldsmiths in Seattle next week. I just received the catalog I purchased from
blurb.com. It is attractively designed with three essays and an introduction an a representative photo from each of the 22 participating artists who were selected by national and international gallery members of

Art Jewelry Forum, the non-profit organization that funded the exhibition and catalog. Nearly all of the images and artists statements tie in beautifully with the theme, and those few that don't so readily are still lovely examples of contemporary jewelry. If you are lucky enough to attend the SNAG conference in Seattle next week you will get to see all the works. If that's you, I hope you'll comment back and give your impressions, or photos of favorites.