This image makes my brain hurt from all the beauty!

So, a couple of weeks ago I had some of my recent work documented by Maureen Keaveny... and I've just been dying to see what the photos look like. I just got an email from Maureen with a tantalizing image that has gotten me so amped up for the rest of the set. The image below is of one of my Mourning Necklaces being worn by Olivia. The necklace is made of horse hair, sterling silver, silk, and antique jet beads. After feasting my eyeballs on this, it's going to be even more difficult to wait for the rest of the images!

Pro-Nails

This is what my dinning room table looks like these days. Apparently I'm running an underground nail salon... at least that's what it smells like! The truth is that I'm working on getting some good nail art designs under my belt for a project I'm working on. The plan is to make a series of rings that will feature some extravagant acrylic nail designs as the 'gem stone.' I've come close to perfecting the zebra motif, and have logged tons of hours on the internet watching 'how to' tutorials on youtube.

Although I'm sure that this seems like a crazy venture at this point, I'm really excited about how this will develop... I can't wait to get the ring shanks a little further along so that I can see what the nails will look like in their settings.

Work Documentation

What's a great way to spend a Friday night, and I'm not being sarcastic here? I spent last night documenting some of my recent work with Maureen Keaveny, which was so much fun! I really like shooting work on models as well as off the body; and my models were great. I attached a couple pictures below, one of Josie wearing her wedding dress to highlight the design of the neoprene necklaces. And another of Olivia, she looks amazing in the retroglo chains (hopefully the images will make the necklace actually glow!).

I can't wait to see how the pictures come out!

Amazing little giftie!

I was so happy to open up my mail box the other day, and find a package from my dear friend Wendi (who recently moved from Providence to Madison, which was a very sad event for me). Wendi is a super creative person, an amazing cook, and all around wonderful maker-of-all-things-awe-inspiring. You should check out her blog, Modern Ma'am, which has a wide range of info from recipes to knitting to house hold tips.

Anyway, the reason why I'm writing this blog post is because inside this package was a hand knit neckpiece that Wendi made for me! She said it was her first piece of knit jewelry, and I'm hoping that she makes more! I love the soft texture of the yarn, and how dressy it can make a casual tee shirt. It also reminds me of the lace and tatted collars that women used to wear... Considering that I have a soft spot for all things that refresh historical ideas, I'm totally in love with this necklace!

I want, I want, I want

I just came across this amazing tape while perusing the items on display at nonesuch things. The tape was designed by a Parisian jeweler, Marie-Helene de Taillac, who creates beautifully cascading necklaces and earrings that rely heavily on the bright saturation of precious stones. Marie-Helene has created the jewel tape using images of bezel set precious stones in a spectrum of colors, ranging from greens and blues to sparkly pinks or reds. Apparently, she even revised the color balance on two rounds of prototypes because the printed tape didn't look like the actual stones before she felt that the stones actually reflected their authentic counterparts.

My mind is rolling with ideas of what I could do with this amazing tape... At 16 meters long, there's lots of possibilities! From gift wrap, to impromptu picture frames on the wall, to package design... I can't wait to have a couple of rolls of this in my hot little hands!

Chromophilia Reviewed!

I'm excited to have Chromophilia get a review in one of our local papers, The Providence Phoenix. The article, by Greg Cook, highlights some of the work in the exhibition and touches upon the aesthetic of the show. Personally, I'm always so glad to have contemporary art jewelry written about, because it hardly ever happens and I appreciate that critics are willing to learn about this emerging field and present it to a larger audience. I've posted Greg's review below, or you can read it here.

Review: '10 Most Endangered Properties,' plus 'Chromophilia'

The title of the "Chromophilia" exhibit at Craftland (235 Westminster Street, Providence, through October 10) focuses our attention on the bright colors of contemporary studio jewelry, which follows the 1980s revival — a la American Apparel — throughout fashion. But the bigger trend that curators Devienna Anggraini and Islay Taylor identify is a Post-Modern, catholic use of a wide variety of non-precious materials.

Mike & Maaike, a San Francisco studio led by Mike Simonian and Maaike Evers, fashion flat leather necklaces and broaches based on pixilated photos of famous jewelry (Daisy Fellowe's "Tutti Frutti" necklace, Imelda Marcos's ruby necklace, the Hope Diamond) found via Google image searches. Mariana Acosta Contreras of Providence strings folded leather into scarf-like necklaces resembling strands of flowers or shelf mushrooms. They often have a neutral main color (gray, white) with bright hues (reds, greens) flaring from inside folds.

Islay Taylor of Providence crochets webs of thread to hold cascading strands of orange and red beads. San Francisco's Emiko Oye turns Legos into bright, blocky, fun bracelets. One cheekily puns on Mondrian's blocky early 20th-century abstractions. RISD-trained Jimin Park's broaches look as if she's fashioned bits of metal and fluorescent plastic junk she picked up off the street into Post-Modern tribal talismans. Oye and Park's work highlights a distinguishing characteristic of this jewelry: a spirit of play.

SO Rhode Island Interview!

I was recently interviewed for what I thought was going to be a short side-bar piece about myself and my role as Gallery Director at Hera Gallery... However, when I picked up the latest issue of SO Rhode Island Magazine, a local Arts & Entertainment Monthly, I was surprised to see a full page portrait of myself smiling (awkwardly) back at me.

Despite the intimidating full page photo, the writing is very generous and references some of my aesthetic philosophies, inspirations, and recent works. They also make note of Chromophilia, which was a great free plug for that show. I'm pretty flattered to have been featured in this months paper, and really appreciate the opportunity to talk about the artistic interests that I'm involved in.

Click on the photo above to enlarge the image and read the article.

Art New England Article

There's a really interesting article in this issue of Art New England about the Providence art scene written by Doug Norris. Doug is a wonderfully observant art writer who primarily reviews for the South County Independent, and freelances for national publications as well.

In Providence: The Artists' Nest, Doug describes the Providence art-scene as a incubator focusing on experimentation, collaboration, and community. This mentality is particularly fostered by the local artist run organizations such as AS220 and The Hive Archive. He also elaborates on Providences thriving anti-establishment art subcultures; artist developed micro-communities built around performances, parties, live music, daily creation, and shared spaces that emphasized the collective nature of making things. An example of this would be Fort Thunder. Fort Thunder refers to an illegally artist occupied warehouse which has recently been developed into gentrified condo space. With the eviction of the artists, Fort Thunder has come to describe a group of people (artists, makers, musicians) tied together by their beliefs and interests, but with out a tangible locale. Exhibitions and events are stages across the city in warehouse, peoples apartments, or unoccupied loading docks (which I've seen temporarily transformed into elaborate stages for plays), information about which is spread the old fashioned way by word of mouth and screen printed posters. One last local organization that the article mentioned is the Dirt Palace, a feminist collective operating out of a re-purposed Library building. The Dirt Palace is a space that promotes personal growth for individuals, and an environment conducive to challenging thoughts and radical actions.

Despite it's gritty appearance, Providence proves to be a ripe locale for embracing and facilitating creative natures. There are so many unique facets to Providences art scene that it's difficult to distinguish or separate these elements. It's this influence and contamination of one genera to the next that I've always found so appealing about this town. Providence really does makes it easy to be a creator, people support one another and businesses actually cater to artists.

Be sure to check out the article below by clicking on the images to enlarge them to a readable size. You'll also note that I've been quoted in this article a lot! I'm excited to have been able to contribute to such an honest, historical, and observant portrait of the city that I live and work in.

Chromophilia Installation Photos

Here are some photographs from the installation of Chromophilia at Craftland. This show, which I co-curated with Devienna Anggraini, features the work of Emiko Oye, Anthony Tammaro, Mike and Maaike, Jimin Park, Jenny Bradley, Amy Weiks, and Mariana Acosta.

I have to say that the final display looks wonderful. The work really brightens up the gallery with the highly saturated hues and tactile materials that each artist used.

Enjoy the pictures, and if you want more information about the show or artists check out the Chromophilia blog!

ELISE GOLDIN

A jewelery collection where the pieces bond two or more people together, to force interaction amongst the participants in a society where we are becoming increasingly void of real human interaction.

This morning I've been wasting time skimming the back-logs of some blogs that I like to read... when I came upon the work of Elise Goldin. Elise is a multidisciplinary designer, focusing primarily on creating artifacts and functional objects. She combines a bold aesthetic quality with unique materials to articulate her ideas. Her explorations with process, technique, and material enable her to create contemporary works that require the active involvement of the viewer.

I came across her 'Knotted Collection,' and clearly fell in love. She has used the laser cutting process to create smaller knotted links, then these rope like units are strung together to create wearable pieces. Her idea for this series started with the desire to physically bond two people together, therefore creating the more couture pieces pictured below. Eventually this concept evolved into a more wearable series like the chest plate pictured to the right.

I appreciate the graphic quality of her work, the knots reference old 'how-to' maritime diagrams. I also appreciate her ability to move beyond the smaller individual units and link the pieces together to create larger pieces that also reference historical pieces of jewelery. By moving the utilitarian into the realm of the decorative she has allowed the viewer to focus on the beauty of the alternative.