Symposium 2013: Paradigm Shift: Reinvention, …...Paradigm Shift: Reinvention, Redefinition, and Fundamental Change The Scene: A group of bleary-eyed artist types—maybe 10—are

Sept/Oct 2013

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sthe SeattleMetals Guild

Symposium 2013: Paradigm Shift: Reinvention, Redefinition, and Fundamental ChangeThe Scene:

A group of bleary-eyed artist types—maybe 10 —are huddled around a long table in the dining room of a house. It is morning but the light through the large window is thin and anemic: barely cutting through the drizzle. A single straggly tree branch scrapes furtively at the window glass. Hanging on the wall is a small calendar with a picture of a kitten. The kitten is wearing a Santa hat and peering out of a Christmas stocking. Near the end of the long table a man—unshaven, obviously needing more sleep or coffee—picks his head up and looks around. His brow is furrowed as if he is puzzled.

End Scene.

Soon after the last presenter has spoken, the lights in the theater are turned off and the doors to the Broadway Performance Hall are locked. It’s mid-October and all the planning, organizing and troubleshooting has paid off. Another Symposium is in the can. Now, we can start all over. In December of last year, the Planning Committee met to begin brainstorming the 18th Annual Northwest Jewelry and Metals Symposium—Symposium 2013. Helping to choose the coming year’s speakers is one of the best parts about being on the committee. What could be better than working with a bunch of sleep and light deprived coffee, tea and cookie fueled metalsmiths all with their own opinions? Though we don’t always agree, the process gets the blood flowing and there’s always something to learn. Something at the meeting that late fall morning was different, though. The familiar arrangement of faces, laptops and coffee cups had somehow changed. Some veteran members were missing but still the group had grown in size. Change was in the air: new blood, new ideas. New directions.

Change is inevitable and change can be very good. In a way, the Symposium has a built-in mechanism for change in that each year presents a new mix of speakers and topics. A fresh chance to try something new. This is how we keep things vital and relevant. Even our venue has changed over the years. But these changes have for the most part been evolutionary rather than revolutionary. In personal histories and world history alike, sometimes something more is required: a major change in thought or tradition; a shaking up of how things are seen and done. As we each pitched names and ideas for potential speakers a pattern of overlap seemed to materialize: certain names were attached to significant shifts or changes in our field. Though we don’t always have a central theme for the Symposium (last year’s Keepin’ it Local a notable exception) it seemed that we had one for 2013: Paradigm Shift.

Which brings us to The Question. For the last few years we’ve posed a question to our speakers hoping, if not requiring, that they somehow answer it. This is what we wrote to our Symposium 2013 speakers:

We would like you to address the idea of paradigm shift—fundamental change, reinvention and redefinition—in your presentation. What is its significance for makers? Do you see large changes ahead for Craft? What shifts have you made in your own career and how did you know when, and where to go?

Yes, it’s really three questions (and a statement). And, as always, there’s no telling whether they will actually tackle the subject at all. But we’ve chosen our speakers carefully and each embodies change in some way.

More Symposium information on page 3.

Register now for the Seattle Metals Guild

Symposium!

Registration is quick and easy! Just visit

www.brownpapertickets.com/event/451846 and fill out the

necessary information.

If you get stuck, contact symposium@

seattlemetalsguild.org for help.

See you October 19th!

2 www.seattlemetalsguild.org

Board News

President’s Letter Sept 2013Today I went for a fabulous walk with my dog Tip in Cowen Park, commonly known as Ravenna Park since it is just off Ravenna Boulevard. Cowen Park is literally half a block from my studio yet it has been years since I’ve been down there. Back when I opened my studio, 10 years ago this autumn, I frequented the park since I also lived just two blocks away. The park is one of my favorite places in Seattle. Once you drop down into the ravine the speckled sunlight filtering through the canopy of maple trees transports you miles from the city. At generally 10 degrees cooler it is also a refreshing break from a hot day like today.

Despite the sunshine and warm weather there was just a hint of autumn in the air today. The smell of ripe fruit, the sunlight striking from a slightly lower angle, and a smattering of turning leaves are sure indicators. Autumn is hands-down, my favorite time of year. After a carefree, playful summer, autumn revives a deep nostalgia for thoughtfulness and significance that I find soothing and oddly rejuvenating. It stirs warm memories and brings a strong desire to reconnect with what is most important to me. I guess it makes sense that now is when necessity comes to the forefront as now is the time to hunker down and begin to prepare for winter.

Did I ever tell you the story of how I came to serve on the SMG Board of Directors? Forgive me if I have. Seven years ago this month I was contact by the President, Jennifer Howard-Kicinski, and asked to consider serving on the Board and invited to attend the Board retreat that month. A couple months earlier I was having a stressful day and while running errands I took a break and stepped into the Aveda shop at U-Village to take-in a calming scent. When I walked in I was greeted by a cheerful person, who (after learning my emotional state) promptly offered me a “soothing hand massage” that I just couldn’t refuse. Anyhow, we sat down across from one another, she pulled out some especially nicely scented hand cream and then removed her rings before slathering up. One of her rings jumped out at me, a fantastic hot-pink druzy set into a bold cuttlefish bone casting. I commented on how cool it was and asked where she’d gotten it. She said, “Well thank you, I made it!” We chatted thereafter about jewelry and teaching, I told her about my studio just up the street and not long after she visited me there. That cheerful person was Jennifer Stenhouse, now a good friend. The funny thing is that I thought she was the “Jennifer” who contacted me about being on the Board. If I had known it was the President I’m not entirely sure I would have accepted. I would have been far too intimidated!

Ultimately the reason I decided to join the Board was simple. I had been an SMG member for a few years however I had never participated in any Guild event or program with the exception of a couple ornament exchange parties. I didn’t have a clue what the organization did (because I never read my newsletter) and I only knew the jewelers in my small circle. I decided to join the Board because I knew if I made a commitment to be responsible for some part, that I would, without a doubt, get involved. My circle is now grand.

So why am I telling you this story? Well, I guess in part because I think it’s a good story but also because I think it’s important. Becoming an active member of the Guild has broadened my

world. It has been life altering, really, and well, you too might benefit from such an experience. I would like to appeal to that part of you that yearns to do something significant, that knows preparing for the winter is wise and thus invigorating. I would like you to consider making a commitment to get more involved with our Guild.

“How can I do that?” you may ask… Autumn is an exciting time of year to jump in, the Symposium is revved up and ready to roll, volunteers are needed the day of and for the organizing committee next year. The Ornament Exchange Party is just around the corner and we need someone to organize it, anybody good at throwing a party? The infamous Board retreat is scheduled October 6th, anyone up for joining me at the round table? At the minimum please take the time to renew your membership, do it now and it will carry you through 2014. And if you are not yet a member, join a great group of people who are keeping the vision alive, a vision of self-sustaining community.

In closing, Wikipedia says this:

Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity and is intended to promote good or improve human quality of life. In return, this activity can produce a feeling of self-worth and respect. There is no financial gain involved. Volunteering is also renowned for skill development, socialization, and fun. It is also intended to make contacts for possible employment.

Tell me what you like to do and I will find a place for you, [email protected].

I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Dana

SMG EventsDate / Event Page

Oct 19: Seattle Metals Guild Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Oct 20-21: Workshop with Greg Wilbur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Contents2013 SMG Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Board News:President’s Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Events:Workshop: Moving Metal, the Art of Raising . . . . . . . . . . 9

Member News:Exhibition: Women Working Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 My trip to Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Thumbnail Sketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Membership Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13


Symposium

Remember when June Cleaver—Beaver’s mother—wore high heels and a string of pearls as she stood washing dishes at the kitchen sink? Nostalgia for early television sitcoms aside, change that image up a bit: the sink is a forge and Mrs. Cleaver is now Elizabeth Brim, pearl wearing, hammer wielding, nail polished blacksmith. She is not your typical steel worker.

“I grew up in a strong female dominated society. The things I make are all about being female and the expectations of women of my generation. I’m just playing dress-up, making a little fun of myself and having a really good time.”

From subject matter to execution, there is improbability and audacity in the work of this exceptional blacksmith, from the delicately woven southern bonnet forged and fabricated in steel to the sheets of iron welded into flaccid hollow forms, heated red and then inflated with compressed air into pillows. Brim has an MFA from the University of Georgia and has studied metals, sculpture, and blacksmithing at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. She was an instructor in the Columbus State University Art Department in Columbus Georgia before deciding to become a full-time studio artist and moving to Penland. Since then she has demonstrated extensively in the United States and in Germany and Canada and has been a visiting artist at a roster of universities that include Cranbrook Academy of Art. Brim will speak about her life and work.

There is a point of plasticity where metal can be said to act like clay, but this man raises metal vessel forms whose insanely choked-in necks and integrally forged tendrils seem metalurgically impossible. How does he push a sheet of metal this far? Greg Wilbur is a studio metalsmith and artist living in Portland, Oregon. He has earned degrees in Metalsmithing and Art Education from the University of Oregon, where he played a lot of baseball (“hammering is just like baseball” he writes). Wilbur was co-founder of ‘Art in the Pearl’, the highly rated street fair in Portland (“artists should make money”) and since 1996 has participated in the collaborative artists event Emma Lake Collaborations born in Saskatchewan, Canada and also staged in Oregon, New Zealand and France.

Greg Wilbur will be speaking to us mostly about his experiences organizing and crowd-funding the exhibition “East and West: The Hammered Metal Object”. This cross-cultural, bi-continental exhibition of Japanese and American metalsmiths will travel to multiple venues including Portland’s Museum of Contemporary Crafts and the Velvet Da Vinci gallery in San Francisco. Crowd-funding-- raising money online through a multiplicity of small contributions on sites like “Kickstarter” —is how many creative projects are now being made. Find out more at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/136474819/art-exhibition-east-and-west-the-hammered-metal-ob. Wilbur’s work can be found at Velvet daVinci and the Waterstone Gallery in Portland OR among other venues.

Elizabeth Brim: Forming/Reforming Traditions

Gregg Wilbur: East and West – The Hammered Metal Object – How to make a show(s) from Scratch

More on the following page.


Symposium

Once upon a time there was no simple, straight path for artists and makers to get their work out there, get it seen and maybe sold. Etsy changed all that, providing almost instant access to worldwide markets, free from the constraints of applications, juries, galleries and booth fees. Focused on the hand-made, this e-commerce site is now for many the way that they first begin and then continue to sell their work. As much as Etsy has helped to redefine the marketplace, it is now also changing things by teaching makers how to be better entrepreneurs

After working as a bench jeweler and shop manager, and then running her own business, Danielle Maveal found Etsy. Working through this online craft community, she soon was in 30 boutiques worldwide, with thousands of sales and a supportive team of mentors, collaborators and peers. In 2006, Etsy hired Maveal to help grow the company and work with the community. During her five years as Etsy’s Seller Education Lead, Maveal was responsible for writing the newsletter and blog posts and organizing both online and offline workshops for an audience of nearly one million. Since then Maveal has led small business classes at Seattle’s General Assembly, The Creative Conference of Entrepreneurs, Martha Stewart’s Dreamers Into Doers Conference and other entrepreneurial events. She recently launched Creative Little Beasts, the podcast, consultancy and community for rebel entrepreneurs where she is Rebel Leader.

The 1940’s was a pivotal time in the history of American contemporary metalsmithing. Back east was Art Smith, Ed Weiner and Sam Kramer. Here on the west coast one of the iconic figures was Margaret De Patta. A child of the Northwest—she was born in Tacoma—De Patta studied in Chicago and eventually moved to San Francisco, where she built signature compositions that dynamically balanced light and line and helped define Modernist jewelry.

Curator of Jewelry at New York’s Museum of Arts and Design, Ursula Ilse-Neuman has organized and curated exhibitions including Elegant Armor: Jewelry from the MAD Collection; GlassWear: Glass in Contemporary Jewelry and, in 2012, Space, Light, Structure: Margaret de Patta Retrospective. Ilse-Neuman holds an MA in the History of Decorative Arts and Design from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (Parsons The New School for Design) and has completed doctoral studies at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture. She has lectured widely in the United States, Europe and Asia and has established an international reputation as an expert on contemporary jewelry, writing books and contributing feature articles and reviews to publications that include Metalsmith Magazine. Ilse-Neuman will speak about the life and work of Margaret De Patta, and the retrospective exhibition and its accompanying catalog.

Danielle Maveal: One Player’s Story and Tips for Building a New Kind of Creative Business

Ursula Ilse-Neuman: The Transcendent Jewelry of Margaret De Patta: Vision in Motion



Symposium

Paradigm shifts not withstanding, there are some day-of events that just work great and have become boilerplate, firmly embedded in the architecture of the Symposium. Like the Tables: There’s the Resource Table where attendees (and presenters) can park their promotional materials. Schools, art centers, suppliers, service providers, guilds and organizations: this is the place to get your message out or discover something new. Everyone is encouraged to bring their show and promotional postcards, their business cards and exhibition announcements, dvd’s, pamphlets and pricelists to the Symposium and place a stack on the table. And then there’s the Educator’s Summit Table where teachers and instructors can share information and maybe a few tales from the trenches. It opens at 8am. Clock hours are available to all K-12 educators who attend the Symposium. (Forms will be available at the Summit table.) Contact [email protected] for more information. This is also a great opportunity to learn more about the Passing The Torch program which gives high school students the experience of exhibiting their metal work and encourages them to consider a life in the metal arts. Anyone who took the time this spring to look around the corner at the SMG Convention Center Biennial Exhibition caught a glimpse of some of the fresh young metalsmithing talent that populated the cases of the Passing The Torch Exhibition. These students represent the next generation of makers and metalsmiths.

Astute Symposium veterans will know that I’m also talking about the Book Sale and the Silent Auction, but for those who haven’t been to a Northwest Jewelry and Metals Symposium, here’s the straight dope: There are a LOT of books for sale. Books you haven’t seen and books that you haven’t dreamed of. Books that you will in all likelihood covet.

And who knows what you’ll find on the tables of the Silent Auction? Could be a chance for an ad in a national magazine,

could be a tool, could be a box of porcelain doll parts or marmot bones. Could be a sweet little, enigmatic object or even a private lesson or personal studio tour. Could be a honey badger costume or a small capuchin monkey dressed in a tuxedo and trained to brew delicious lattes. (Aw, you caught me: monkeys aren’t allowed in the BPH.) The point is that you never know what will be there or how much it will go for. And more to the point: it could be yours. Except the monkey.

But even here there’s a whiff of change. A new crew is planning and running the Silent Auction and Nadine Kariya now stands at its helm. Nadine and her team are launching the BIJOUX BIG BOARD at Symposium ’13. The BBB will feature only jewelry (bijoux. 1: noun: a small dainty, usually ornamental piece of delicate workmanship; something delicate, elegant, or highly prized), from the conceptually to the concretely precious. Donated pins, brooches, rings, pendants, earrings or exotic piercing thingies. All items will be displayed on the Bijoux Big Board and identified with the maker’s name and title. Bidding will start at $5 across the board. Contact Nadine at [email protected] or call 206-234-3419 for more information.

Here’s another change: The Friday evening reception that has usually kicked off the Symposium is now a Post Symposium Reception held on Saturday directly after we clear out the Broadway Performance Hall. 5-7 at Von Trapp’s – 912 12th Avenue, Seattle. It’s a short walk from the BPH and if you’ve parked in the structure/lot at Harvard & Pine, your car can remain there. This is not a public event but all Symposium attendees are welcome and encouraged to attend. It’s free, although drinks and food will cost you.

Thought. Idea. Metaphor. Slemmons: Words that just seem to go together. Over forty years of work, Kiff Slemmons has explored ideas through serial investigations and museum and gallery exhibitions. Ideas about scale and classification through images of insects, ideas about imperfection in the “repair” and remaking of other artists’ work and ideas about the value of materials in the restructuring of found photographs. Slemmons is a self-taught metalsmith with degrees in Art and French from the University of Iowa. She has studied Literature at the Sorbonne in Paris and Metal through Parsons School of Design (in Japan). She is a Fellow of the American Craft Council and has been interviewed for the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art. The public collections that hold Slemmons work are too numerous to detail here but include The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Victoria and Albert Museum, London and Houston Museum of Fine Arts, TX.

Though now living in Chicago, Kiff Slemmons will always be a favorite daughter of Seattle and the Northwest. She is an artist known for her thoughtful and honest approach to both conception and process. The respect that Slemmons accords even the simplest materials can change the way that we see and appreciate the world and our ideas about it. Slemmons will discuss how she came to work with a cooperative in Oaxaca, Mexico founded by the artist and cultural activist Francisco Toledo, designing jewelry using handmade paper. And how this project led her to question the importance of the handmade in current contemporary culture.

Kiff Slemmons: More Than One To Make One



Symposium

Immutable Realities:Admission

General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $90.00SMG Member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75.00Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35.00Registration + SMG Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . $120.00

Admission includes lunch. Sorry—whether you bring your own or not...

Registration Register online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/451846 before Symposium day or at the door the day of the event October 19th, 2013. See the green sidebar on pg. 1 for complete registration information.

Times Doors open for Check-in and Registration at 8:00 AM.

The Symposium begins promptly at 9:00 AM and runs till 4:30 PM.

Carpooling Why not carpool? You could save four or five bucks and up your bidding in the silent auction or buy a book. Besides, it’s more fun and all the cool kids are doing it.

ParkingStill want to park? There’s ample parking at the Broadway Performance Hall. But it ‘s not free: $5 all day. Still, it’s a bargain. The garage is around the block from the BPH at the corner of Harvard & Pine.

AccessibilityWe are pleased to announce that the BPH and atrium are handicapped and wheelchair friendly (this includes an elevator). It would help immensely with setup if we are notified of the need in advance. Please contact Micki Lippe ([email protected]) before the Symposium and let us know.

LunchWe again have the entire dining atrium reserved for the Symposium. This light-filled facility is in an adjacent building a very short walk from the main BPH building and is also handicapped accessible. We will begin the afternoon program promptly after lunch and, while we will be able to keep everyone abreast of the time in the atrium, you are on your own should you choose to dine off campus. The lunchroom is often the place where new connections are made and serious networking happens and we heartily recommend joining everyone in the atrium.

In either case, lunch is part of the price of admission, should you choose to eat in or out.

Rules and Regs.While this has always been the case, it’s worth restating: no food or open containers in the auditorium. You can bring a bottle of water in but a) it must have a cap and b) it must leave the auditorium when you do. Cell phones should also be turned off or set on vibrate while in the auditorium. Okay, this isn’t a BPH rule, it’s mine. But it does make for a more civilized experience.

AuctionContact Nadine Kariya—[email protected]—for auction donations or to volunteer: see pg. 7.

Membership RenewalAs always, you can renew your SMG membership right at the Symposium. Why bother? Well, if you avail yourself of this amazing opportunity your membership is good through December 2014 which is—wait for it—an extra two months free!

WorkshopsThere will be several presenter-taught workshops offered in conjunction with the Symposium. See more about the Greg Wilbur workshop on page 9 of this issue, and be sure to check the website and your email for details.

Whether it’s incremental or sweeping, change can be unsettling and change can be invigorating. It is for the most part necessary and life sustaining. In any case, in the end change is inevitable. With that in mind, if you’ve never been to the annual Northwest Jewelry and Metals Symposium, it’s time to change all that. And if you come every year, go ahead and change the way that you get here or where you park or what you have for lunch or where you sit—but DON’T, don’t change your plans to come this year. Because we all know that there are some things that should never change.

New Scene:

Same room. The sun has broken through the clouds a little bit. The people at the table seem more animated. Some are smiling. Something in the room is different. In the background we hear the faint sound of birdsong. A single thin, but unwavering shaft of light has cut through the remaining mist and gloom and falls across the table, illuminating the papers laying there. The birdsong is louder. Two words stand out amid the coffee stains, written by hand in strong, expressive strokes. They are underlined and starred:

***Paradigm Shift: Game Changers!End Scene.

Andy Cooperman, Seattle


Bijoux Big Board is Born!

Brainstorming for the 2013 SMG Silent

Auction, committee member Nadine

Kariya asked Mary Hu if she had any

ideas to bring more

art to the auction

audience. Mary

Hu said the Yuma

Symposium had an

auction every year,

of pins, no tools or

books. Dawn Na-

kanishi, who has

been in charge of the auction since it

began 19 years ago, said they started out

very simply, and now they have 100+ pins

and jewelry items donated to the auction,

a main funding source for the sympo-

sium.

Based on this idea, the SMG Auction

Committee is inviting SMG symposium

attendees to make a “small, exquisitely

wrought item,” a “bijou,” some conceptu-

ally or concretely precious object, for the

silent auction. All items will be displayed

on the Bijoux Big Board and identified

with the maker’s name and title. All items

will have a starting bid price of $5, and

the sky’s the limit! Any unsold items will

be returned to the maker.

Whether you stick with what you know,

or try something new, now’s the time to

get busy and make your jewel for the Big

Board. Novice or expert, this is a great

way to show your work, and a great

chance to purchase some wonderful,

unique “bijoux!”

Support the 2013 SMG Symposium Silent AuctionSymposium attendees love the silent auction! You never know what treasures will be offered by our generous supporters.

It’s never too early to assemble your donations —tools, books, gems and services are sure fire items!

Giving to the silent auction is a wonderful way to recycle those items you love but never use, have duplicates of, or are taking up too much room. If you have skills you want to pass on, donate a lesson or two!

Commercial donors can inform a target audi-ence of what they have to offer, and will be be listed on a prominent donor marquee at the symposium.

Proceeds from the auction support the SMG Symposium, awards programs, and the metal community.

New at the Silent Auction: The BIJOUX BIG BOARDThis year, we are introducing a new feature to the silent auction, the Bijoux Big Board.

Bijou—French, from bizou ring, from biz finger, first known use: 1668 in Breton; plural, bijoux.

1: a small dainty usually ornamental piece of delicate workmanship: jewel.

2: something delicate, elegant, or highly prized: adjective.

Your donated bijou, pin, earring, ring, whatever, can be made of interesting bench scraps, unfin-ished treasures, experiments, or your own usual recognizable great work. Bidding will start at $5 for every item so that we all have a chance to make and win original and fun items. Your bi-jou will be pinned to the big board for everyone to admire and bid upon. Unpurchased bijou will be returned to the maker after the auction.

HANDS ON!!! HEARTS ON!!! Make a fun or exquisite small jewelry item to donate to the BIJOUX BIG BOARD.

Q&A: [email protected]; 206-234-3419.

Symposium



Events

Member News

Workshop: ‘Moving Metal, the Art of Raising’Date: October 20-21, Sunday and Monday

Time: 9:30am – 5:30pm

Location: Seattle WA

Cost: members: $247 (includes $20 material fee), nonmembers: $292

Register here: http://movingmetal.brownpapertickets.com

Join talented and prolific Portland-based holloware artist, Greg Wilbur, for a two-day workshop in conjunction with SMG’s annual Symposium. Using metal hammers and stakes, transform a 6” flat sheet of copper into a seamless bowl/vessel. This workshop is open to all levels of student experience. Greg is a hands-on teacher who will stress efficiency and safety. Some hand strength required. More advanced students may make other objects if they so desire. There will also be some patina exploration. In addition, Greg will bring tool steel hammers and stakes of his own design for sale.

Exhibition: Women Working Wordsby Robin Updike

Originally printed in Ornament, 2013

Karen Lorene, owner of Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery in Seattle, Washington, has two great passions: jewelry and writing. As the founder of Facèré, she has for four decades sought out jewelry artists from around the country and the globe, organized exhibitions and championed jewelry art with unbridled enthusiasm. Along the way this one-time schoolteacher and painting major also decided to take up writing. About twenty-five years ago she started writing fiction and nonfiction.

Irene’s first plan to meld jewelry and writing into one project was the 2004 debut of “Signs of Life,” an annual jewelry show and arts publication in which she commissions writers to respond to individual pieces of specially created jewelry with poems, essays or short stories. Now, in “Women Working Words,” Lorene once again found a way to celebrate jewelry and words in one exhibition. To mark the publication of her first novel she asked thirteen women jewelry artists to make work that involves words. The result was an exuberant recent showing in February of bracelets, brooches, necklaces, rings, and earrings that include subtle word play, not-so-subtle puns, aphorisms, quotes from famous writers, script in secret languages, and jewelry literally made of the pages of books. If you love words and were lucky enough to attend, finding the wearable words became as pleasurable as admiring the craftsmanship of the work.



Member News

Women Working WordsSarah Wauzynski’s “Locket Botanica” is a 2.75- inch or 7.0 centimeters tall silver locket that opens like a book cover to reveal a meticulously illustrated accordion-style folio of Washington State native plants with their botanical names. A tiny book made into jewelry, the piece is exquisite for its miniature rendition of a book that would be beautiful in any size.

Another artist who seems to be almost making books is Gail Rappa, whose sterling silver, gold and semiprecious stone jewelry looks to be inspired by illustrated books. Rappa creates imagery and quiet visual narratives then includes engraved words or phrases. Her bracelet “Freedom” displays comforting images of a house, a sturdy tree and a dreamy star-strewn night sky. These little vignettes arc worked into square charms that resemble tiny shadow boxes. Engraved onto the back of the bracelet, charm by charm, is the phrase “Perhaps True Freedom is Having a Home to Return To.”

Other artists use previously published words to make jewelry. Kathleen Faulkner’s “Webster’s Nov World Dictionary, Aardvark to Azure,” is a seven strand necklace made of beads of rolled dictionary pages. Light as a feather and organic-looking, as though made of tiny twigs or pebbles, it was easy to become philosophical contemplating the idea that most of the words beginning with A in the English language are rolled into this one, modest looking necklace. Faulkner becomes more literal in a sterling silver brooch resembling a cartoon thought bubble in which she encases this quote from Ernest Hemingway: “The world breaks everyone and, afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” It is the sort of reminder most of us need several times a week.

Kristi Zevenbergen’s work is created with found objects already imprinted with words. Her “Secretary Ring” is made from an antique wooden pica pole, a measuring tool used by printers in the days when the pages of newspapers and journals were set by hand. The word ‘secretary’ is imprinted in perfect schoolhouse script across the pica pole fragment, and the word ‘elite’ is printed above it. In today’s world there are no secretaries, only administrative assistants. The very notion of an ‘elite secretary’ sounds like a job description from the 1950s. All of which makes this ring a tongue-in-cheek reminder of a bygone era in which women with ambition and brains aspired to become elite secretaries. But it was also an era when people received news primarily on the pages of newspapers and magazines, a thought that makes this reviewer nostalgic.

Some of the most delightful work is by Marcia Keefcr, who makes bracelets and necklaces from the pages of novels, maps and musical scores. Her work suggests the harmonic convergence of origami and a slinky toy. Keefer’s bracelet “Etude* is made of sheet music and thread. Her bracelet made of colorful maps is “Safari,” and a bracelet with roundels punched from the pages of novels is called “Nightime Reading.” The idea of walking around wearing part of a book is a beguiling notion to anyone who treasures the printed word.

Nadine Kariya’s minimalist brooches are, grammatically speaking, imperatives. Taken from the language of computer keyboards and software interface, her streamlined gold and silver brooches and pendants command us to “undo,” “deny” and “esc,” which is computer keyboard shorthand for “escape.” Those bits of digital world vocabulary have metaphorical implications for our lives. Who would not want to be able to undo, deny or escape from something regrettable with the ease of a simple keystroke?

Visual puns are Mary Hallam Pearse’s forte. She engraves formal, classic-looking sterling and eighteen karat gold rings with peppy suggestions, such as “Rock On,” a ring that also features an engraving of a cut diamond. Another of her rings has the engraved word ‘sparkle’ on the top where you would expect to find a big stone. And it is hard not to smile at Kat Cole’s brooches made of words snipped from old tin boxes, cans and signs. Cole’s is some of the most colorful work in the show thanks to the red, blue and yellow tin words she fashions into such phrases as “Not Born to Float” and “Chase off the Others.” Wearing Cole’s cheerful work would be like walking around with a little maxim pinned to your jacket. Jewelry has always been a form of self-expression and “Women Working Words” was a smart reminder of just how eloquent jewelry can be.

IMaGES:

MARy HALLAM PEARSE “Rock on” ring in engraved sterling silver and 18k gold, 2012. Photograph by Walker Montgomery.

KRISTI ZEVENBERgEN “Secretary Ring” Ring in found object and sterling silver, 2012. Photograph by the artist.

NADINE KARIyA “Amore Brooch/Pendant” Brooch/Pendant in scalloped shell, sterling silver, pierced shakudo, silver onlaid on brass and shakudo heart bezel, sterling and stainless steel clasp, 2012. Photograph by Daniel Fox, Lumina Studio

KATHLEEN FAULKNER “Webster’s New World Dictionary, Aardvark to Azure” Necklace in seven strands of beads made from dictionary pages, sterling silver, paper, ink, colored pencil, mineral glass and ‘a’ words. 36” long, 2012. Photograph by the artist.

SARAH WAUZyNSKI “Locket Botanica” necklace (pictured with “Viewing Loupe” bracelet), an illuminated folio of Washington Native Plants of sterling silver, egg tempera and mixed media, 2012. Photograph by the artist.

KAT COLE “Chase” Brooch Brooch in tin, found objects, brass and steel, 2012. Photograph by the artist.


Member News

My trip to Australia for the 2013 Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia Conference

OR

What goes down in BrisVegas doesn’t necessarily stay in BrisVegas…

BrisVegas = Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, Australia. Best known for year round warm weather, its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef and for being a hinge in between two tourist hotspots, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast.

This year’s JMGA conference, Participation and Exchange, took place in Southbank, Brisbane, from the 12th to the 14th of July (that’s in middle of the Australian winter, so there was no skipping lectures to go work on a tan…) The JMGA is the SNAG equivalent but with different organizational structures, with the JMGA relying solely on unpaid volunteers for action. The conferences are generally attended by around 150 people and are normally held biennially, though this year’s conference was a year late owing to the 2011 flooding in Queensland affecting the conference facilities.

This year’s conference took place at the State Library of Queensland, situated in the Southbank area of Brisbane. Southbank is the heart of the Brisbane cultural center, so the Gallery of Modern Art, the Queensland Museum and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre surrounded us. We were treated to eighteen speakers over three days, with each day opening with one of the three keynote presenters - Peter Deckers, Tricia Flanagan and Laura Bradshaw-Heap. Other internationals spoke, including myself and long-time friend of Seattle, Professor Norman Cherry. When catching up again we noted that this was the third time and third country this year!

After an introductory PechaKucha the preceding night featuring local and interstate artists and curators, Peter Deckers opened day one of the conference. He is an artist and educator originally from The Netherlands who now lives and works in New Zealand, and who, in an early slide, had me worried. He detailed recent gallery closures in Europe as well as the ongoing effects of the GFC, which prompted me to ask myself, ”Are all of us assembled here clinging to a sinking ship?” While that question didn’t specifically get answered during Peter’s lecture – he went on to

describe the HandShake project, amongst others - neither did it get answered during the course of the next three days (despite it often seeming to loom.) Relief was at hand, however, in subtext of the many other presentations. Through several presentations over the weekend I felt the force of each artist’s individual will to create, meaningfully and beautifully, in the face of this nagging adversity.

The first night saw the traditional JMGA gallery openings, including the award ceremonies for the Graduate Metal and Participation exhibitions, the former showcasing anyone who has graduated from any tertiary undergraduate or training program in the years since the previous conference, while the latter was an all in group show for conference delegates and members of the JMGA throughout Australia.

Day two began with Flanagan and closed with local curator and critic, Kevin Murray, who presented India Australia Dialogue-An Indian Rite of Passage for Australian Jewellery. He began his presentation speaking about the status of art jewelry and jewelry in general in India. He illustrated his words with the images of Katheryn Leopoldseder‘s pieces that demonstrate in metal the differences between typical Australian and Indian dwellings – with the idea that while the house is possibly the location of one’s status and wealth in Australia, in India that place is more likely the body.

Having neatly explained the high importance that pure gold has in the jewelry worn there, noting that while each system is different, neither is ‘better’, he simultaneously explained why there is a the lack (or at least incredibly low incidence, especially given the jewelry-wearing population) of art jewelry being produced in that country. Consequently this fed into his argument that perhaps it was up to non-local jewelers (or any other designers/artists), such as those assembled before him, to utilize the methods and skills available in that country for the production of their works, given the paucity of local designers currently availing themselves of those same opportunities. Putting the issues of colonialism aside for a moment (which were inadequately addressed and were more heavily debated in the question time at the end) he explained that there are artisans having to give up their trade (in other crafts, yet ones sympathetic with jewelry that could be used by art jewelers from outside if they found an appropriate outlet for such skills) owing to it not being a sustainable living.



Member NewsThis suggestion was contentious in a room full of makers for whom the design and output of their works is only arrived at through the intrinsic nature of their making process, and thus to whom outsourcing is almost an anathema. The artists discussing

this were passionate about keeping their local skilled workforce; which I felt in some way was the same point that Murray was trying to make but in a broader sense. He appear to be arguing that the handmade is culturally on a precipice, and if someone (including outside artisans if the local ones can only see jewelry as gold) does not save the artisan in India, this knowledge will be permanently lost, to all of us.

The second night was the traditional Pin Swap Dinner, this year taking place at a local Greek restaurant. The Australian version of the Pin-Swap is a little less taxing for makers, in that you put one pin into the swap and receive one pin out of it, meaning that the meetings occur as you search the whole room to find your corresponding maker/swapped work. Like the SMG Christmas Ornament Swap, the result is makers are more keen to spend time and resources on their piece, as they are expecting a fair return on their investment!

Kristin D’Agostino’s final-day presentation, Dipping a toe in the participatory realm: Project versus Practice very much worked with the Participation and Exchange theme. D’Agostino is (by proxy – she’s originally from the USA) another artist from the large New Zealand contingent that attended this year. She began by introducing jewelry as the original participatory art because, “This art is incomplete without the viewer’s physical interaction.” She followed this by introducing us to the participatory projects that she is involved with – The Overview Newsletter and the Brooch of the Month club. Once again it is a maker involving the public in her projects, by engaging diverse wearers and then encouraging them to tell the story of what it’s like out in the world as human plinth and art-jewelry wearer.

I also spoke on day three, delivering a paper entitled: How to become an artist jeweller: a Seattle community case study. The content was particularly relevant in Australia given the huge budget cuts that the longstanding Technical and Further

Education (TAFE) system, a partially government funded training organisation which operates in all states and that administers the coursework component of the apprenticeship system in Australia, is currently facing. These changes are already affecting jewellery training and apprenticeships in some states.

I specifically wanted to note that it appears to me that the avenues for learning jewellery skills and conceptual skills seem to be diverging globally, and while some systems are threatened by this advancement, others are reaping the benefits. In order to make these points I had to (very quickly) get my Australian audience up to speed on the current state of education opportunities in the USA, for which (when I could) I used Seattle as my main example city.

To see the whole paper including slides, please visit my blog. www.melissacameron.net/blog/?page_id=5482

The final day closed with drinks at a local bar in the Southbank district, meaning that we had a beautiful walk from Library to pub between the generously laid-out buildings, mostly within view of the river. The tropical climate allows for an abundance of greenery, and the architecture and landscaping around Southbank has been arranged to take full advantage, so we walked through a tunnel of elaborate coil-shaped steel Bougainvillea trellises, whilst continuing the discussion of the last lectures.

In all, I felt that the better presentations really delved into what the Participation and Exchange theme meant for their practice, showing in real and dynamic ways that jewellers, and the objects that they make, can create enduring connections to the society they are a part of. Kudos must also go to the organizers for enforcing the theme through question time at the end of each session. There were many issues wrestled throughout the weekend, that in this follow-up were collectively dissected or hammered home, and I thought the level of discourse was encouragingly high.

And that, my friends, brings this summation home. May you all find someone to be your human plinth decorated subject, and thus may we all live happily ever after! (Far, far from the ocean and its sinking ships…)

For more information about the conference and discussion on some more of the presentations I encourage you to seek out the full post on my blog (www.melissacameron.net/blog) or on Crafthaus (http://crafthaus.ning.com/profiles/blogs/jmga-conference-2013?xg_source=activity).

Images:

01. View of Southbank, Brisbane at dusk

02. The Bench Collective – one of the window-only shows visible on the Friday night gallery walk

03. Kevin Murray

04. Works at graduate Metal:

(Front) Joanna Hawley (Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE) Untitled, 2012. Sterling silver, fabricated.

(Rear) Danae Natsis (The Design Center Enmore, Sydney Institute of TAFE) Time Is Life, 2012. Three neckpieces, niobium, sterling silver, rare earth magnets; lathed, bent, anodised

05. Kristin D’Agostino

all images by Melissa Cameron

www .seattlemetalsguild .org13

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Please make checks payable to: SMG, PO Box 70407, Seattle, WA 98127Please allow up to four weeks for processing of your membership. If you have not received confirmation within four weeks,

please contact [email protected].

Today’s Date ❑ New Member ❑ Renewing Member ❑ Check if contact info has changed

Name Organization (If applicable)

Address

City State Zip Country

Home Phone Cell Phone Work Phone

Email Fax

Check if you do NOT want your ❑ address or ❑ phone published in the SMG directory

❑If you would like to receive a paper copy of the newsletter in the mail, in addition to the emailed electronic version, check the box and include an extra $5.00. See membership fees below. Please check one type of membership.

❑Individual: $45 ❑Student*: $20 ❑Household**: $60 ❑Individual w/printed newsletter: $50 ❑Student* w/printed newsletter: $25 ❑Household** w/printed newsletter: $65

* Current student ID required ** For any number of adults living at the same address

Memberships paid on or after September 15, 2013 will be valid through 12/31/14.

❑I want to help by volunteering: a little ❑more than a little

❑I want to be included in a member-only email list serve so I won’t miss anything!

Please make checks payable to: SMG, PO Box 70407, Seattle, WA 98127Please allow up to four weeks for processing of your membership. If you have not received confirmation within four weeks,

please contact [email protected].

MEMBERSHIP FORM

MEMBERSHIP FORM

NEW

NEW

metals events & information

Now ShowingBainbridge Island Museum of art

Now showing: Heikki Seppa, Master Metalsmith AND Artist’s Books and Art Jewelry

Retrospective of Heikki Seppa’s work from both BIMA’s permanent collection and private collections, and an adjoining exhibition of work by regional art jewelers.

Through September 22

Beacon gallery and Sherry grover gallery

Free admission

Call for Entries 20th annual Benefit: Juried Show and Sale of Wearable art

Deadline: December 13, 2013

Submission fee: $15-$35

The yWCA RAgS guild announces a call for entries for its 20th annual juried wearable art show and sale. The show will take place March 6-9, 2014 at Mercedes-Benz of Tacoma. Open to all artists working in all media of wearable art—garments, fashion accessories, and jewelry.

For more information, please contact: Judith Cunneen, RAgS Artists Chair. 253-756-9493 or [email protected]

Opportunity for Current Pratt StudentsPratt is re-opening the jewelry studio to current students for monitored work time on Fridays, whenever the studio is available.

Who is eligible to attend?

Anyone currently enrolled in a 4-, 6-, or 8-week class. you can work in the studio on Fridays during the weeks that your class is running.

Studio Fridays are for practicing what you’re learning in your current class, so you are welcome to use the same tools and equipment that you are using in your class!

(EXCEPTIONS: no centrifugal casting on Studio Fridays; certain other pieces of equipment may not be available due to safety concerns.) Experienced monitors will be on hand to help you as needed.

you will also have access to many of the consumables you use in class, including things like saw blades, sand paper, drill bits, misc. flex shaft burs, flux, buffing compounds, etc.

P O Box 70407Seattle, WA 98127

Sept/Oct 2013

www .seattlemetalsguild .org

The Seattle Metals Guild is a non-profit organization made up of people with vary-ing interests and involvement in traditional and contemporary jewelry and metal arts.The Guild was founded in 1989 to provide for the exchange of ideas and information, as well as to offer affordable educational oppor-tunities to its members and the public.Our activities include: a web site, bimonthly newsletter, exhibitions and a series of aes-thetic, technical and business workshops and lectures.The skills, energy and enthusiasm of the Se-attle Metals Guild members promote and sustain its successful programs.We welcome new members and encourage participation by everyone.

The Seattle Metals Guild Newsletter is published bimonthly . Comments, announcements and ads are welcome from all SMG members .

Please contribute to your NewsletterWe encourage participation and welcome information about upcoming shows and events, articles about safety and bench tips you would like to share. If you have comments or something to contribute, please submit your information, generated in a word processing program, via e-mail.

Include photos or logo artwork in JPEG format, if available. Remember to provide who, what, when, where, why and how.Tegan Wallace: newsletter@seattlemetalsguild .org

Deadline for Nov/Dec issue is Oct 20 . Articles received after that date may be published in the following newsletter .

2012-2013 SMG Board of DirectorsAll addresses are suffixed with “@seattlemetalsguild.org”

President . . . . . . . . . . . . Dana Cassara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . president@Vice President . . . . . . . . Tegan Wallace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vicepresident@Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . Aran Galligan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . secretary@Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . Brenda Cregeen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . treasurer@General Board . . . . . . . . Kristen Hummel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . board1@General Board . . . . . . . . Sarah Meranda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . board2@General Board . . . . . . . . Peggy Foy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . board4@General Board . . . . . . . . Maru Almeida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . board5@General Board . . . . . . . . Reed Schilbach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . board6@

SMG ServicesNewsletter Editor . . . . . . . . . Tegan Wallace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . newsletter@Workshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TBA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . workshop@Symposium Coordinator . . . . Micki Lippe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . symposium@Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tory Herford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . librarian@Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . Genniefer Chiu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . membership@Scholarships . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reed Schilbach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . scholarships@

The Seattle Metals Guild is an Associated Program of Shunpike .

Documents

Symposium 2013: Paradigm Shift: Reinvention, …...Paradigm Shift: Reinvention, Redefinition, and Fundamental Change The Scene: A group of bleary-eyed artist types—maybe 10—are