Barbara Smith

I’ve just returned from Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts this weekend after a fantastic workshop last week with Gretchen Goss.

Gatlinburg

A quick and dirty synopsis of my week there:
Captured in Glass workshop: awesome
Gretchen Goss: amazing
Facilities @ Arrowmont: pretty darn nice
People: nice, funny, talented
Quality of work produced: most excellent
Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Dollywood: very weird
Number of Thomas Kincade stores in Gatlinburg: 5
My experience on a scale of 1 to 10: a 10, definitely.

I had a great time last week. I met some great people and spent the week in a very engaging, friendly, and open environment. I learned a ton about enameling not only from Gretchen, but from my fellow workshop participants. Everyone I was sharing the studio with was helpful and giving of their time, advice, and in some cases even their supplies. Most of us generally started our day around 7 am and then worked in the enameling studio until 12 or 1 am each day. Even though I was only there a short time, I feel like I accomplished a lot. I made many, many enameling samples and really got a grasp on the photographic process we were using. I am extremely grateful to have gotten a week to concentrate on my work and really get a sense of my tools and techniques I use when enameling. It is this kind of intense study that I find so beneficial, but don’t often have time to do at home.

A little about the process:
Basically, we were using the gum bichromate printing method on an enameled surface to create images in the glass. This could be as simple as printing one image on a piece of enameling steel (often looking like an old tin type) or working on copper and creating layers of both enamel and images in the glass. The application of the light sensitive emulsion was a bit tricky and definitely requires proper ventilation! The exposures could take place under a photo bulb or outside…printed from actual negatives, transparencies, or even making photograms.

A few of Gretchen’s samples.

I really think that this process has a lot of potential. Personally, I would like to continue to work with it in some way….I could really see it fitting into my work both conceptually and aesthetically.

A few of my samples from early in the workshop.

I’m going to try to get into the library at school and scan in my tiles from the workshop to post. I really liked where my work was going at the end of the week…lots of layering and stoning, and printing of multiple images. Being immersed in your work in a setting such as Arrowmont is really a dream come true…

Now, about Gatlinburg. I had no idea what the Pigeon Forge/Dollywood/Gatlinburg area was like before last week. I can tell you that driving into town last Sunday, I was a bit taken aback at what I saw. I don’t know who the city planners are in this area, but I think they need a healthy spanking. Gatlinburg in particular has a beautiful landscape, yet in places it feels like a huge dollar store. (I hear Niagara Falls is the same way). Unfortunately, I didn’t get to go up into the mountains, but, they are gorgeous. Traffic on the main drag in Gatlinburg is pretty heavy…so I was a bit reluctant to try to drive, not that I really had time. As I mentioned earlier, there are apparently 5 Thomas Kinkade stores in Gatlinburg….I had heard that there was one directly across from Arrowmont and had every intention of going there….but it burned down recently! Thats right…I guess there was so much light inside the store that it spontaneously combusted. (but really, this is just one reason we were so fascinated…)

Anyway, two thumbs up for Arrowmont. I would most definitely go back there for another workshop! I hope that I run into my fellow workshoppers in the future as well….somewhere. And on a side note, I am apparently incredibly allergic to something at Arrowmont…constant sneezing turned into a horribly sinus infection, which made the 8 hour drive home pretty hairy. Even with that, I had an incredible time. I would recommend that everyone goes to experience the unique atmosphere!!

It seems like the summer is getting really short really fast.

I’ve made some progress on my cameo project, part deux.

I still need to put the 2nd frame on, which is made from 14k gold filled wire. I also acquired smaller acupuncture needles to use in this piece, and I think the scale is much better.

This is the back of the piece with the pin stem components mostly finished. The little hair ball is stitched to a thin scalloped silver piece and will be prong set in between the catch for the pin. The gold frame still needs to be wrapped with the fine gold filled wire, but first I must sand…

And now, I’m off to Arrowmont this weekend for a workshop next week!

A few weeks ago, I started working on a new cameo piece. So far, the going is SLOW. I’m currently waiting on a few materials and angsting about the back of the piece and the design of the pin stem.

The wire piece to the left is a wrapping test and will eventually be made out of gold filled wire to match the acupuncture needles. Right now, I’m thinking about having 5 needles in the tooth and may cut them down just a bit as I think they are a tad long. We’ll see. I’d like to bring the wrapping to the back of the piece by coiling the gold wire on the top ends of the pin stems. Perhaps some hair there too, but I’ll know more after I’m done angsting over it!

I’m excited about a few things that are happening with this piece, at least in the way the materials are being applied. I’ve also never done such a dimensional piece…I’m a little nervous about how it is going to read, but, I’m hoping for a strong visual impact.

I haven’t picked out the crochet pattern for the collar yet, but I’m hoping to tackle that next week…and possibly get the cameo piece put together this week. My goal is to submit it to Metal Inclinations. The deadline is June 30th, and I’ll be at Arrowmont for a week this month…the clock is ticking.

Update: I think I found a crochet edging patter that will be perfect: Dewdrop Edging.

I’ve started working on my design for my next cameo neck piece. So far I have the back form made, but that is as far as I have gotten. This week I’m going to focus on getting the other pieces cut out and prepared so I can start putting things together. I am going to use a combo of sterling silver and 14 karat gold. I’ve not actually worked with gold before, but I don’t think it will be that much of a stretch for me. I really wanted to bring the 2 colors into this piece for some nice back and forth repetition in the design.

This weekend I spent 2 days at the Arline Fisch workshop put on by CMAG. It was a pretty fun time. Although I’m not sure if I’ll use the processes in my own work, they will definitely be helpful in future teaching. I seem to always have a textile student or two who want to use techniques they already know with metal. I did determine, however, that plaiting is the most evil invention ever…I had decided this years ago during a textiles class in Colorado…and it definitely isn’t more enjoyable with metal!

I have some really good news!! I’m so excited about it that I just had to post it.

First, I’m taking a class this summer at Arrowmont with Gretchen Goss called ” Captured in Glass: Photographic Transfer on Enamel”. I’m really looking forward to this workshop, which specifically mentions using gum bichromate processes on enamel. And, as if that wasn’t enough, I was awarded a scholarship from Arrowmont and by Pi Beta Phi to attend! I’m really excited about that, since funding is always an issue.

And, secondly, I’m all lined up to start my M.F.A. at SUNY-New Paltz this fall! I’m really excited about working with Jamie Bennett and Myra Mimlitsch-Gray (who did a stint teaching at Purdue years ago). I’ve been awarded a scholarship for fall!! I can’t wait to start working again…like, really working.

This week is finals week here, but after that is over, I’m switching gears into maker mode. I hope to start posting images of work in progress again soon.

YAY!

I had a great time meeting Jessica Calderwood this Sunday, and getting to work with her for awhile this past Monday. She was wonderful! Very open about every aspect of her artistic process. She gave a great lecture covering some work from her undergrad, her residency at Kohler, and her grad work at ASU. She also talked about how she has survived as an artist post graduate school, and had many students asking her, “What am I going to do when I graduate?” We have already mentioned to her that we would love to have her back for a longer workshop at some point.

The students really enjoyed working with her…it was a perfect topic for the enameling class, which had yet to do much with painting/drawing with enamel. (I’m not incredibly well versed with this) The students asked intelligent questions and, I think, really gleaned a large amount of information from Jessica. I’m excited to see how my students integrate what they learned from Jessica into their last two class projects.

Interestingly enough, this was my first time at Purdue that I’ve had the opportunity to go to a lecture and workshop by a metalsmith. Come to think of it, we never had anyone in to even do a lecture in photography the entire time I’ve been at Purdue! I know I’m not the only person here who feels this way, but, one of the huge things that we lack is a strong visiting artist program. It is really so important for the students to get opportunities like this one during their formative years in school. It is even important for the faculty! All of the faculty who attended Jessica’s lecture and demo yesterday, including myself, learned a lot and felt excited about this new technique that we could teach and/or use in our work. Yesterday was awesome….and as excited as I was I also felt like I had missed out; that my students miss out because of a lack of funding for visiting artists at Purdue. Maybe one day. I think this was a step in the right direction.

Well, the spring jewelry sale is over. It was a pretty busy week, but, all in all we had a TON of work and had pretty good sales.

Today I spent the day at Spring Fest in the College of Liberal Arts tent in 40 degree weather…windy…rainy…talk about cold. Three cups of tea later I’m still not warmed up!

Despite the crap weather, Spring Fest had pretty good attendance….although we didn’t really sell much jewelry. The laminated paper brooches were a hit though.

At any rate, tomorrow, a WARM dinner with Jessica Calderwood. I’m very much looking forward to her talk. And, if all goes well, we are going to shoot for having Kiff Slemmons in during the beginning jewelry class this maymester. Fingers crossed!

A few pieces of my spread for the spring jewelry sale–my last one here at Purdue. I managed to compile 41 pieces to sell, which might be a new record for me.
We have 2.5 weeks of school left here and between that and the sale I’m pretty much a grumpier version of my normal self. I am really excited to report that this coming Monday, April 14th, Jessica Calderwood is coming to Purdue to give a lecture and demo on her work processes. I REALLY like her work, so I’m looking forward to meeting her (and letting the enameling students learn from someone who knows what she is doing…) This is the first time since PAJAMA’s formation that we have brought in a visiting artist from outside the university to work with us. Very exciting, since this is mainly what PAJAMA was made to do.

Tonight I spent some time pursuing the new online show hosted by Ethical Metalsmiths called “Composting Good and Evil”
As I was browsing, I paused at this piece by Kerianne Quick:

Of course, the teeth, but there is also the idea of matriarchal heritage in this piece, which really draws me in.
I just have this mental image of a woman moving through her life, and as one mother figure passes, the ring is given to the next in line…an act of passage to a new stage if you will…and that at some point in her life, one woman might wear all these rings for a moment, before passing them onto the next generation…I want these rings to be a performance piece…

We have 4 weeks left in the semester here at Purdue and I am going insane.

My current task is the upcoming spring jewelry sale put on by our metals club called PAJAMA. (Purdue Art Jewelry and Metals Association). I’ve been working non-stop on some items to sell, since this year our sale is participating in Spring Fest (a very well attended event, depending on the weather).

I’ve just finished my set of flyers:

With all the post-SNAG talk about the Bruce Metcalf presentation, I’ve been thinking a lot about my feelings towards making my “serious”, more conceptual metals pieces vs. jewelry. I’ve often talked to a former student about how I really don’t enjoy making production jewelry…its true. It has to be more organic for me; more intuitive. I generally find that if I make too much of one thing, I get really bored. When it is playful and unscripted…now that is when jewelry making is at its best (for me).

I’ll be sure to post a few images of the work I made for the sale as well as our display. We’ll be making laminated paper brooches with the kiddies at Spring Fest, so if you are in the area and want to eat some bugs (Bug Bowl…), stop by!

Iris Eichenberg’s Chatelaines on Klimt02.