Post-Buckman Report

Well, so I lied: this post is not about drawings, as I promised in my last one. I simply haven't gotten that far yet. This one is about what a great time I had at last weekend's Buckman Art Show & Sell. With the help of my new jewelry cards, I sold a little over twice the number of pieces I've typically sold in the past. Thank you, Morgan! Folks were sticking to the lower-to-mid-price range, since we're not out of the recessionary woods yet, but it was a very busy show and they were buying. It was fun and lively, full of good energy.

I especially enjoyed connecting or reconnecting with fellow artists: old friends Lisa Gastelum (TQB Designs) and Lisa Kaser; Ann Hymas (Circle Couture) & Taya Koschnik (Tasi, w/ her sister Silvija with whom I didn't get a chance to speak) - Thanks, ladies, for the awesome trades! Christopher Reitmaier, my cohort in the use of bottle caps (I think each of us showed pieces made with odds or ends given by the other), just to cover the highlights. I have to thank Taya for making my highest-priced sale of the day while I was taking a break (the necklace pictured above). That's another great thing about these shows. Without official booth-sitters, we take turns with our neighbors to make sure none of us are chained to our tables without relief. And I must thank my neighbor Samantha, who's involved with the running of the show, and who volunteered to haul my work (and my husband's) to & from the show, as we don't have a car. Much better than dragging it all in my granny-cart in the rain.

And, the spirit of generosity abounds. A quite dapper gentleman in a pinstriped suit and a bowler hat came to see me. He'd liked my button pieces when he visited the show last year, and this year he came back with a small bag of gorgeous vintage buttons for me. I was touched not only by the actual gift, but that he'd actually remembered and saved them up all year to bring to me. This is one reason I know I'm on the right path - ever since I started making jewelry with buttons and other found objects, abundance has come my way. With every show, there comes a perfect stranger willing to share collections of buttons, in some cases family heirloom buttons. Or friends who collect bottle caps for me when they're walking their dogs or traveling. One friend has brought me bottle caps from a surfer beach in Hawaii, and from trips to Australia and New Zealand. (Although the pickings were slim in New Zealand: apparently, they just don't throw trash on the ground like we do in America...) The universe does provide, and I'm grateful.

In any case, it was a great show. And as soon as I get through with my taxes, I'll turn my attention to drawings for awhile, and keep you posted.

Time once again for the annual Buckman Art Show & Sell - for me, that's always a harbinger of spring. New life, new ideas. I'll be there with my jewelry: collage pendants, gemstone beads & pearls, and Brew Buttons. I have some new styles available in the Brew Button line. In addition to the holed buttons with nuts'n'bolts, there are new pendants and pins using interesting shank buttons layered onto one or more bottle caps (shown in top photo). Because they cost less to make in materials and labor, I'm able to offer them at a lower price point than the bolted variety. I also have some new pins using vintage dominoes with buttons or old jewelry parts (shown in center photo).

Another new thing: I've recently had my business and jewelry cards redesigned and will be debuting the new look at Buckman. They're fresh and bright and show off the jewelry to its best advantage. (My graphic designer is the very talented Morgan Harrington. Feel free to contact me if you're interested in using her services!) The cards, with jewelry, are shown in the bottom photo.

My next post will be about my drawings. I did manage to complete another one before I had to throw myself into show preparations, but have had time only to contemplate what the subject of the next one will be. Once Buckman is over, I'll carve out some time to begin a new one. I can't wait to lay out that large, white sheet of paper and start out on the tightrope walk that is drawing. In the meantime, I hope to see you at Buckman: Friday, March 11 - 5 pm to 9 pm, and Saturday, March 12 - 10 am to 5 pm!

Persephone Time

Well, it's that time again. The holidays approach, my hours at the day job increase, and I go into hibernation mode as far as art-making goes. I have just time and energy enough to go to work, eat, sleep. Maybe a hot bath at the end of a busy retail day. Everything else goes on the back burner until January. Fortunately, I enter this season on a high note: this past weekend I took my jewelry to the Arts Fair at the da Vinci Arts Middle School. It was a great show. I did pretty well, and had a lot of fun helping shoppers, looking at other folks' beautiful art, chatting with old friends, and making new ones. Sold a couple of my favorite pieces (one is shown above). It was especially enjoyable to be placed next to another artist who makes wonderful jewelry with bottle caps and jar lids. Our approaches are quite different though our materials are similar; a bottle cap exchange party is in the planning stages. So, with that to look forward to, I set my art activities aside for the rest of December (my Etsy shop is on vacation as well). I'll be back in action, with some fresh energy and new ideas. In the meantime, my work is available at The Real Mother Goose and Guardino Gallery in Portland, Mary Lou Zeek Gallery in Salem, and The Artshop at the Corvallis Art Center. See you in the new year!

Cycles

Well, I got a good start on the new body of drawings I wrote about last time. These are the first 2 completed, along with one for the Dios de Los Muertos show at Guardino Gallery. One more large one is begun, and I have more ideas than you can shake a stick at. I'm quite happy with how these are going, and would love nothing better than to hole up in the studio and draw all day. But everything must move in cycles, and so it is time to concentrate on jewelry for the holiday season. With several galleries, and the da Vinci Arts Fair coming up (on Dec. 4 & 5), I must move into the jewelry production cycle. My pleasure in all the different forms of art I make is fairly equal, so I don't mind moving from one to the other. I just wish I had more time for each of them. I'll try to post a couple of new jewelry photos soon. In the meantime, mark your calendars for the Dios show at Guardino, opening on Last Thursday October 28 from 6 pm to 9 pm, and for the da Vinci fair in December.

Regeneration

Recently I decided it was time to make some changes in my life as an artist. My experiences with showing different types of work over the past few years suddenly seemed to be showing me some lessons, and the time had come to act. I decided to start with my studio in order to clear the decks for a new direction. During the 2 week process of tearing the place apart and rearranging everything, I came across the treasure pictured above. Many months ago, I found a gnarled, dried piece of ginger on the sidewalk in front of our house, and brought it in to put with my collection of other found objects. It was so dry, it had crumbled into 2 pieces as I picked it up. Then I forgot about it. Here it was, sitting in a dark corner, with no soil, no available moisture - and it had sprouted. I took it as an omen that I was starting out on the right path, and continued my take-no-prisoners rampage through piles of old work and hoards of materials I'd once thought I'd use some day. Many trips to the recycle bin later, and after much hauling and pushing, I had a newly clean, more spacious, and more functional studio.

Now, the real work begins: new and different work. I've loved doing the collages using vintage photographs, beading, found papers and other found objects with the charming patina of age. I've gotten heaps of positive feedback from friends and strangers alike; people like these pieces, but I have sold very few of them. I even heard a few comments at my most recent show comparing them to scrap-booking.... Perhaps the popularity of that pastime, which satisfies the creative urge for a lot of people, makes my pieces seem like something folks would rather do for themselves. In any case, I feel that it's time to move on, try something different. I'll still do collage of some sort; haven't figured out yet quite what that will be - perhaps using the same kinds of materials in more modern, less reverential ways. The first thing I'm going to do is go back to my roots in drawing. Looking at some work from earlier periods while I was cleaning out, I felt the larger, freer drawings I'd done decades ago were a signpost. So I bought a large drawing pad, pulled out my pencils and oil pastels, and am poised to loosen up and just see what comes out if it. I'll continue with my jewelry, which I so enjoy (and remains the best-selling category of my work), and I'll be happy to continue my older collage style for those folks who are considering custom pieces using their family photos. For now, however, I'm really looking forward to cutting loose and doing some big, free drawings with no attachment to outcome or later sales. Time to make art what it was when I was a young girl who drew constantly: play!

Gresham Art Walk

On July 17th, I went to peddle my wares at the 9th Annual Gresham Artwalk. I took along my lovely assistant Dian (and her lovely assistant Bob, who came in the a.m. to help us set up). We met a lot of very nice people and had a lot of fun. The show was very well organized, the volunteers extremely helpful. Sales were rather modest, but I came out somewhat ahead. I did meet several folks who expressed interest in having me do my signature collage/beading treatment using some of their own family photos, so there's the possibility of a commission or two. That would be exciting!

I have to say, I'm not sure I have the stamina at my age to continue with these larger outdoor art shows. Getting up at 4:00 a.m., building a shop, tearing it down - by the time I got to sleep, I'd been up for 18 hours. That's a record for me! I'm still working on getting my energy back over a week later. I wouldn't have missed this for anything: it was an interesting, educational experience & I met some great folks. I just think it's taken too much out of me; I think I'll do better in the long run with the smaller school benefit shows I've been doing the last couple of years, looking for new retail outlets, beefing up my Etsy activity, and maybe my own website sometime soon. We'll see how it goes.

In any case, my thanks to all the customers who were kind enough to purchase my work, to all the friends who helped with advice and equipment,and to the organizers and volunteers who kept things running smoothly and were so helpful.

Lazy Afternoon

Having one of those lazy afternoons; can't quite get motivated to do much of anything. So, took the camera and went for a lazy walk around the neighborhood, taking just a few shots of odds & ends I noticed along the way. Here a couple of my favorites. Will I do anything else with them - make drawings, start a line of photo-image cards or prints? Not sure yet. At the moment, I don't feel like doing anything....