Gallery round Two

Round two. I am in the process of doing gallery visits and writing about them on the blog. This whole virtual world is a little 2D for me so going to all these galleries and actually touching the work is a mind blowing experience to say the least....Thanks again to all the galleries for letting me photograph their spaces and all of the great work!

Soooooo Liz and I took a day trip to Hudson to check out a show and to visit Ornamentum. Ornamentum was founded in 2002 by Stefan Friedemann and wife Laura Lapachin. Ornamentum "gallery represents a collection of pieces of conceptual jewelry. ornamentum gallery focuses on contemporary jewelry designers who are working beyond our traditional understanding of jewelry as ornamental, showcasing pieces that explore sculptural forms, new materials and approaches."via Designboom. The gallery is located on Warren Street which is the main strip in downtown Hudson. Conveniently, Hudson is only an hour from New Paltz. The space is currently undergoing a expansion/renovation which will include a larger gallery space for one of a kind openings.

Ornamentum has a familiar feel where glass topped cases crown pull out drawers that house wonderful rings necklaces and brooches. Above these showcases are backboards for larger necklaces and brooches. Over all the gallery was very clean and perfect for all of the stunning work housed within.

After I introduced myself Stefan started showing us some work. We had a great time touching things, inspecting solder seams, trying pin backs and lifting pieces for weight etc etc etc. I think were were in there for at least 40 minutes just looking prior to touching. Stefan pulled out one of Ted Noten bags, which was really nice to see up close (a lot lighter than I thought). We also saw some of his larger neck pieces (Marble necklace and one made with a small bug collection). I was really captured by Lisa Gralnick's work, her gold brooches and rings specifically. Incredible detail. All of those little facets and cuts, sigh....I don't know how she can do it. Seeing her work makes me feel like I just gorilla fist my way through making. I was also delighted to see Gerd Rothman's finger print series. Stefan was wearing one of his rings. He let us in on the fingerprint making process which is pretty interesting in itself. If you want the scoop you will have to visit the gallery and ask Stefan himself.

Liz and I could have stayed in there all day. I just wanted to say thanks to Stefan for showing us around. I can't wait for the expansion.

We also ate at the Red Dot with Myra and Ken. If you are in Hudson EAT THERE! I had the fish and chips, Liz had the Lamb, Ken had the scallops and Myra had muscles. All GREAT!! We also had some killer coffee and pudding at the end.

AMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL SHOW 2009

I have had a bunch of work to do but I thought I would pause and blog for a moment. I wanted write about what I thought of the show. There was this strange nervousness in the air. I think the exhibitors were not sure what to expect and rightly so. When I arrived for the retail only section I could tell that some of the wholesale people were not happy. I think I heard the words "dismal" and "ghost town" multiple times. I can't speak for the wholesale but I think the retail was just slightly lower than before. I did about the same as when I was a searchlight artist two years ago.

Sometimes I don't feel like that sales are as important than the people. On average, everyone had a great positive attitude. I think it was kind of a "we are all in this together" thing. Which was kind of comforting. I had a great time. I think Liz had a great time. I talked to a lot of folks I had not seen in years. Truthfully, I wish I had more time to talk to people that came by my booth. I started having a conversation with Bruce Metcalf about micro economics and Etsy but my booth got swamped. I also wanted to talk with Gabriel Craig who was there doing interviews for an upcoming project but again I kind of got sidetracked. Andrew Wagner and Monica Hampton came by which was great! Andrew did the interview from my previous posting. I think the best part of the show was the metals searchlight artists. I love all of them. If I could have, I would have hung out with them the whole time. I loved all of their work and wanted to buy all of it. I did a couple of really great trades. I am pretty sure I would have traded my whole booth if I cold have. I also ran into two folks that I was excited to meet in person. First Annie from Imogene and Allison Fomich from Tiger Lilly. I also ran into a bunch of old friends like Jeff and Susan Wise, Biba Schulz and Sam Shaw.

All in all I had a blast. I made enough money to pay for the trip and the booth so I am happy. I told someone that I didn't think I would do the show again but hey at this point I would totally come back. I am leaving you with photos of all the wonderful work by the searchlight metals people.

Press

just walked in the door. I swear I will post photos soon. Here is some shameless self promotion

The wanderous

ACC video

Driving

I have a bunch of photos to show you guys but I. Am STILL on the road. Blog soon


-- Post From My iPhone

So far so good

I have had mixed reviews so far. The show itself has been kind of dead. It picked up at the beginning and then it kind of fizzled out. Off and on, here and there, sales have been hit or miss. Some old lady haggled 60% off which was a strange experience for me. It has been great to see some friends I hadn't seen in a while. It was also nice to see some new faces taking the big plunge/investment to do the show. Andrew Wagner had a pretty sick Rattlesnake mustache. I love some of the searchlight artists!! I am going to try and take some photos today. Until then all I have are pictures of my booth.

So far so good

So far so good. It was a little sketch trying to fit everything into Liz's Mazda but we got it all in there thanks to her amazing tetris skills. The trip was great. No traffic from NY. I was shocked to find out that they let us pull our car into the convention center! That definitely didn't happen last time. We set up maybe %60 percent of it last night and we are going to finish up today. I unfortunately left some essentials so I can see at trip to the store in my future. Friday is the big first day for retail. I took a quick look around and I am have to say I am really excited about the searchlight artist's this year. I am also excited to see some old friends and maybe get a chance to have a beer or two.

NEW PIECES/small arms dealer

You guys saw these before but I just made a whole boat load more (laser cut black felt). This time they are all different (handguns, machine guns, etc etc). Something fun. I am well aware that it is very "dude" jewelry. For some reason I just had to make them. When my brother and I were little ones we were SUPER into star wars action figures. I think we had like 50 or 60 of them. Mostly I remember being stoked when we got a figure that came with more than one "accessory" aka blaster or for the nerds BlasTech DH-17 or E-11 blaster rifle. For some reason these remind me of those.

In other news, I am still finishing up a bunch of stuff for ACC. Its getting close to that time..... I will be sending out announcemenst sometime this weekend. If you want to be added to the mailing list please email me: arhash(at)gmail(dot)com

Everything happenes at once

Just when I a was plugging away at the work for ACC Baltimore guess what showed up at the school? Our 3D printer. Of course as you know I can't resist a little technology. Like a moth to a flame I was camped out next to this brand new shinny thing for four days straight! Someone needs to make better directions for this thing (it was worse than IKEA's frownie man). It was little rough at first (mostly small technical problems, our PCs needed updating desperately). I did get some great help from Michael Gayk who sort of works for the manufacturer. Thanks buddy!

Now that it is running I have been experimenting. I think I love this machine. There is no heated lye solution you have to dip your piece into or a large vat of resin that you have to suit up for, or powder to vacuum. You just "print" the part and peel away the support and you are done. No messy clean up.

Check out the two pieces I printed yesterday. Notice the loop within a loop towards the bottom? There is also a screen shot of the software and the location of the peeling cuts. Yes I said peeling cuts. This thing is really a glorified vinyl cutter. It lays down a piece of material on a moving Z table, applies a little masking fluid then a little glue, cuts the layer and repeats the process, building an object layer by layer.

Yes.... I had design for breakfast.

I was just thinking how jealous I am for the people that get to go to any of the premieres of the new documentary Objectified. The Objectified website asks "how many manufactured objects did you touch this morning?" I started thinking about it an my head nearly exploded trying to count all of it. I really need to downsize.

Anyhoo for some reason these newly discovered pieces from Tomas Forsyth (drawing tops from a previous posting) Reminded me of how touch is taken for granted. I mean yeah it would suck not being able to see or hear or even smell (sometimes I wish I had selective smelling) Living without touch.....that would be a little hard.

ACC is slowly pushing along. I will have more photos soon. The good news is that the 3D printer is being delivered today!! Trust me it will be a welcomed distraction.

foundations of design/recycled materials

soooooo. I have been working on a few things. I have always been dedicated to the idea that strong design fundamentals in a piece can make it or break it. Sometimes that comes in the form of symmetry, shape, color or whatever. Sometimes I just try and sit down with a material and work it until I feel comfortable with it and then make a piece from what I have learned. In this case that material is felt. Specifically industrial felt. I just received a large box of scraps from Filzfelt (my new best friends). I know I have talked about them in previous posts but I LOVE the felt they sell. The best part is that it is 3mm thick! This felt is normally used in industry for gaskets, filters or padding. For me it's thickness produces an easy transition from 2D to 3D. Sliced chopped or perforated it has this unique quality that I can't get out of my head. My brain just processes it easier. Its like working with play dough instead of porcelain or cardboard instead of paper. Maybe its just my chubby fingers or my bad eyesight but I love that I can see it. I think it may also be the way that I gorilla fist things sometimes. It just works for me. Also its a second generation raw material and that makes me happy. Now if I can just keep the cats away from it. Anyhoo here are some new brooches I am working on.

stain matrix