Summertime

Time certainly flies by doesn't it? Just when it seems that there will be a nice period of calm lazy days...you realize that summer is coming to an end! Autumn is actually my favorite season so I'm not really complaining, but it is also a time when life gets busy again (no more quiet beach days).

You also realize that time flies by when you discover how long it has actually been since you last posted a blog update! Yikes!

I spent some of my summer teaching various jewellery courses and workshops around the city. I'd have to say that EdVentures Fredericton is one of my favorites. These are week long "learning adventures" for tourists and locals in just about any art medium you can think of. Here I am with one of the lovely participants from my "Primitive Casting Techniques" class, as we go over torch basics.


These courses are a blast! You can learn more about them at www.edventues.ca.

My other 'must report' piece of news is that I did receive the creation grant from Arts New Brunswick that I had applied for in April! This was wonderfully exciting news and I will be posting my project concept and details soon. For now I will say that I have two back to back exhibitions booked for early(ish) 2011 for this body of work. Check back to hear more about this!

For more information on any of the pieces you see at the top of this post you can go to The Moorings Gallery website, or of course, feel free to contact me directly with inquiries.

Easter Eggs

Spring is officially here! I have been very busy over the last couple of weeks preparing orders and completing an application for a creation grant (keeping my fingers crossed) from Arts New Brunswick. Doesn't it seem like every due date you have for the year will ultimately land in the same month! That's how it always seems to work out for me anyway, but I actually do my best work under a little pressure so I try to embrace it.

Next weekend is Easter. I don't celebrate this in a traditional sense but I do like to observe the idea of renewal in general and celebrate the beginning of lovely weather in my own way. One symbol of spring and Easter that I do particularly enjoy is the egg. Such a simple and beautiful object that is undoubtedly commonplace, but has something decidedly magical about it as well.

The image above is of a piece I recently delivered to Gallery 78 called "Dove's Egg". The stone is white agate, and I think the style of the links are somewhat reminiscent of wings or feathers. The picture below shows a few more egg-like stones that I have just acquired (Chinese picture stone). They will appearing in some of my new work very shortly. Happy spring!

Into the World of Retail Locations

I have spent the last couple of years focusing most of my energy on trying to build a substantial artists resume. I have applied for and won awards, submitted my work to interesting exhibitions, and taught classes on metalworking to build my name and reputation. I try not to give my time to anything that I would not be proud to be known for....I never wanted to be known as "the lady with the table at the farmers market" for example. I think that I have had a reasonable amount of luck and success so far, but my main goal for this year is to lay the groundwork for a less sporadic art income! For me at this time, this means carefully selecting a few well-known retail fine craft shops and galleries to sell my work for me while I create. The reputation of the gallery/shop is of course the key here, and I had my eye on a couple and had been waiting for the right time to approach them.

The first was "Handworks Gallery" in Saint John NB http://www.handworks.ca/. I was in love with this gallery the moment I first saw it's beautiful old-fashioned storefront! The atmosphere inside is even better. It was immediately apparent that this place was run by people who really understand and appreciate fine craft. I was recently able to set up an appointment with owner Shannon Merrifield and I am thrilled to say that they have enthusiastically accepted my work!

My second much desired location was "FireWorks Gallery" in Halifax Nova Scotia http://www.fireworksgallery.com/. FireWorks has a wonderful upscale location in downtown Halifax and is described as having an Old-World, Victorian Era shop atmosphere. What could be more perfect! I sent a letter and my information to them (with my fingers crossed) before ACTS in hopes that Leslie Lawrence would stop by and take a look. She did, and in fact placed a lovely wholesale order!

Along with my work now being carried by Gallery 78 year round, and seasonally at The Moorings Gallery this should be a good start in the world of retail for this year.

Atlantic Craft Trade Show 2010

We have been experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures this week here in New Brunswick. It really does feel like spring. It makes you forget that there are actually a few weeks left where we could potentially experience grueling winter conditions!

I was away to Halifax NS from February 5th till the 8th to attend the Atlantic Craft Trade Show again. This year I was fortunate enough to be included in the New Brunswick Crafts Council's new booth along with six other new companies. Melissa Murphy-Desrochers Designs, by my friend and fellow jewellery artist Melissa Murphy-Desrochers who makes stunning nature inspired silver and labradorite jewellery (http://www.melissamurphydesrochers.com/). Farfalla Creations by the hilarious Charlotte Burhoe who specializes in all-natural higher end spa products (http://www.farfallacreations.com/). Charlotte is also a wedding and event planner, which did not have anything to do with this trade show, but is definitely worth checking out (http://www.charlottesabrinajayne.net/). Two wonderfully interesting sisters from Legacy Lane Fiber Mill, Alyson Scott and Amy Carpenter Tonning. They actually operate a fiber mill where they specialize in the art of fiber processing for clients, but were at the show to offer their own line of Alpaca/Merino yarn as well as luxury Alpaca insoles (http://www.legacylanefibermill.ca/). Denise MacLean Pottery by Denise MacLean who is also a graduate of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. No website, but you can look her up. I would highly recommend it since I love her work! She creates beautiful, whimsical, unique pottery with sweet little woodland creature images in an unexpected color palate (we are actually in the process of doing a trade, can't wait!). Nathanial Bond, a young man with an exceptional talent for Fly Tying (again no web address at this time). He displayed traditional flies, as well as pins ands brooches for the avid 'fisher person'. And finally Apple n' Spice Soap Crafting by the delightful Carla Sampson (http://www.applenspicesoapcrafting.ca/). The gorgeous colors of her products practically glowed under the lighting (an embodiment of her personality). Also, a special thank-you to Amy Dow-Robinson from the New Brunswick Crafts Council who organized and made the whole thing happen! She was planning and putting up with all our individual problems and requests for weeks! Thanks again Amy!

Melissa, Charlotte and I travelled and stayed together which really made the weekend. It was a great time. I do not have pictures of the whole booth at this time, but you can see me in front of some of my work above.

Exhibition Update!

Hello again and Happy New Year! I think the general consensus is that everyone is quite excited and optimistic about 2010. Hopefully it lives up to its expectations.

So far I have one piece of great news....my exhibition "Shadows of Antiquity" was an absolute success! (The image at the top is a shot of one corner of my room in the Gallery.) The opening was amazing....perfect timing, great weather and a large crowd. I couldn't have asked for a better evening! People seemed very excited about the work and quite a few of the pieces sold that night...I was sooo excited to see red dots popping up everywhere. The display looked great as well. Every piece in it's own black shadow box frame, which my father kindly spent hours building for me before the show.















Here I am on opening night helping a lovely customer try one of the pieces. The jade stone looked beautiful with her red hair.

The exhibition ran from December 4th until the 24th and I actually sold everything, with the exception of one piece! Way beyond my expectations. Last week Gallery 78 signed me on as an official Gallery Artist as well. You can now find me under the "Artists" category on their website. Hopefully my next show with them will be as wonderful as the first!

One of the most exciting things about the whole experience was that I received some great media attention. You can see two more articles by Kate Wallace that were printed about my work in the Telegraph Journal.

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/salon/article/886268 This was about the show.
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/901043 This was an artist Q&A.

I took a bit of a break over the holidays to relax and visit with family and friends, but I am now back in the swing of things working on my next project. Details coming soon.

Solo Show Opening at Gallery 78

So, in case anyone is wondering career day went well. I decided to dress business casual and speak using just a few jotted down notes. I had two groups of students...which were quite different by comparison. The first group was very quiet. No questions or comments, nobody raised their hand when I asked if there were any artists in the room! Not very exciting. They came across as a bit afraid of each other....typical high school kids I guess. The second group was much more talkative. Almost half of them said they wanted to be artists or had tried their hand at making jewellery. I had a couple that chatted with me and they all seemed very interested in the work and the slides that I showed. Overall a pretty good experience.

Now for the more exciting part. My first Solo Exhibiton "Shadows of Antiquity" will open tomorrow night, December 4th, at Gallery 78! I have been putting in long hours for the last few months to get the work for this show together. I am so excited that it has all finally come together just the way I had invisioned it! I think that it is a great example of my influences and style.

You can see an online preview of the work as well as my artist statement at http://www.gallery78.com/. You can also read one of two interviews I did last week for the paper at http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/search/article/874429.

I am really looking forward to the opening tomorrow night and hoping for lots of Christmas shoppers!

Career Day

Remember career day in high school? I can't really recall learning about any interesting, thought provoking career opportunities. Maybe that's because very few public schools seem to embrace the more non-traditional choices for what to do with your life. Well...apparently someone at Leo Hayes High School is in favor of encouraging students to explore all their options when it comes to choosing a career, because I have been asked to do a presentation there tomorrow about what it is like to be a metalsmith and artist. Me at career day....how surreal! Kind of a lot of pressure. I've been thinking about how to approach it...should I prepare a detailed presentation, or just speak off the cuff about my experiences so far....should I dress up, or should I go in the clothes that I wear while working around the studio??

I decided to make notes of my key points, important experiences, and any other ideas that I want to stress, but to keep it more like natural conversation. I will bring some images for a short slideshow, as well as some actual pieces of work (like this silver goblet) that they can see and touch. I have to fill two 30 minute time slots (each with a different group) so hopefully the students will have lots of questions and comments. Check back to see how it went.

Wish me luck...at least I am not an accountant!