Last Lap

I've got one week until my flight to Seattle...so I decided to start 18 more rings today. Because it doesn't feel right if I get things finished with time to spare? The first night of INDULGE is next Thursday, February 9th so I hope you drop by if you're in the Seattle/Bellevue area or peer pressure your friends with applicable geography.

Also, I'm trying to be extra savvy and maintain a regular mailing list. You'll notice you can sign up by entering your address to the right. There's a growing list of interweb gew gaws over there. I'll send you fancy pictures, updates, and occasional Etsy coupons!

Minutiae

Things are getting pretty sloppy. Still no time for an overhaul.

Did I mention I'm also making charms for the Society of Contemporary Craft?


And more earrings...


And those long blue bits in the background have to assemble themselves into a serviceable entry for the necklace show "Hot Under the Collar" that's going to take place during the SNAG Conference.

These new polymer clay pieces are helping me get brooches moving more quickly. That's something at least. Trying to do this and cut back on caffeine consumption simultaneously is driving me a little nuts. My teeth feel sharper than usual. My tongue feels vulnerable. Shaky hands are counterproductive to my tiny dot painting regimen.

Must think small, calm thoughts.

INDULGE

Winter in Iowa is not the ideal time to work in my basement studio. However this freakish weather is making it more tolerable than normal. I just have to suppress my anxieties about how this will translate into the gardening season...

In less than a month I'll be trying my hand at INDULGE, a four day orgy of jewelry selling. I'm qualifying this event as my first real foray into the world of the high-end craft sale. The SNAG Trunk Show was a 2 hour scrum without the pretense of displays, charm, or dignity. It was perfect. My local favorite "What a Load of Craft" show affords a low financial investment--I show up and spend a day with my local Iowa Citians.

INDULGE will be different...plane tickets, major entry fees, and a lot of staying power along with an optimistic inventory. Though the price is comparatively low in the scheme of things, it's a tall order for this art hermit. So I'm working on new bits and pieces.



Yes, that's polymer clay. I'm as baffled as you are. Don't worry, lots to add.

And look at this disaster of a bench. I had dreams of cleaning and organizing...until my calendar reminded me that I have less than a month.


INDULGE takes place at the Bellevue Art Museum from February 8th through 12th.

Take a Peak

Metaphors and Similes

Reposted from my article at Art Jewelry Forum's Blog


I have a habit of making calendars, almost obsessively – in my sketchbook, by the computer, and pinned up in my studio. So I know that it’s only been a month since I returned from Seattle and the SNAG conference, but it feels like a full season has passed. Somehow I’m still scrambling to avoid scorching everything I put on the back burner in May. Now I’ve had some time to sit with the whole ordeal, read other blogs, and let things settle . . .

Often the difference between one conference and another has more to do with the individual attendee than the programming. I’ve been on a hot spree of SNAG conferences for the past six years, and in some ways they become interchangeable. The routine of lectures and exhibitions coupled with the landscape of a giant hotel and an unknown urban setting blurs into a merry-go-round of manic conversations and gut reactions. The whole conference experience is so removed from daily life that it can be too much to process....(continued)

SNAG Seattle 2011

I've recovered (mostly) from SNAG. This was the longest I've ever stayed at the conference, arriving a day early and leaving in the early evening the day after the party. I thought waking up in the hotel on Thursday morning that I would be rested and prepared. Everyone else flew in haggard having been stranded in airports, coping with canceled flights, or not making it at all. Somehow the conference still got the best of me, and as I tried to juggle the blog for Crafthaus, various meetings with friends, the Trunk Show, and the Pop Up Promenade, I lost my mind. Without enough sleep and under duress I become a shambling, squawking, senile version of myself.

I saw a fraction of what I'd hoped to in Seattle and a fraction of the conference as well. It is impossible to be all things to everyone, including myself. The homestead is rough around the edges, there are weeds to pull, pies to bake, and cat hair to vacuum before a family visit. Thankfully the Trunk Show went well enough that I can take care of some of these things without having to dance for nickels until fall.

Pre-Conference Urgency

Trying to make mass quantities of work for the upcoming SNAG Conference. I'm one of 60 participants in the Trunk Show so I want to be as prepared as I can. Also, I don't know how to relax before a trip like this. I might as well be chugging coffee in the studio anyway. So give me your dollars in Seattle or I'll cry like a manic over-caffeinated little bitch.