Sher Novak
Albany, Ca
Website
Tell us a little about yourself.
I have a strong sense of belonging to a place. I grew up in an old house in a small town in Connecticut, surrounded by extended family. There were very few idle hands in my world. Quilts, clothes, sweaters, furniture, tin lamps, stone walls… we made things. I went to the woods for materials, or scavenged the trunks in the attic. My creativity has always been encouraged and supported.
I left home at 17 to attend Parsons School of Design. I took a semester off, and didn’t return. I was working for a designer in Tribeca, sewing her samples and managing the sample room. It was the 70’s; exciting times in Soho/Tribeca. I had intended to go back to school; but one way or another, life got in the way.
Fast forward a few decades, and I was a patternmaker in the Bay Area with years of experience in the garment industry. When my son was in high school, I decided it was time to get my degree. I graduated from California College of the Arts (CCA) in 2015, a month before my son graduated from UC Santa Barbara.
Being in school with kids my son’s age was challenging and often awkward. For the most part I got over it (I think the kids did too but you’d have to ask them!) I met so many wonderful, amazing, talented people at CCA; it was a terrific experience. My life has changed so much! Now I am navigating the waters of being an art jeweler, finding my path and my place in this new world.
What is your favorite tool and why?
Don’t get me started! I love tools. I’ve worked in other people’s shops with other people’s tools for as long as I can remember. Father, grandfather, father-in-law, husband, they all had, or have, a home workshop. My shop is a studio, and I am a woman and a full-time artist. Among all these men who were my mentors, I’ve integrated the group and excelled.
Many of my tools have special significance to me and at one time belonged to loved ones, mentors, or other artists. They bring the good creative energy that is within them into the studio.
That said, my favorite tool was bought brand new: a small Fretz PrecisionSmith narrow cross-peen hammer. It is very beautiful, and a delight to use for shaping and texture.
Which materials do you create with most and what is your attraction to using them?
I use silver, copper, and gold. Silver is a sensuous material and I love when it retains hammer marks from forming and folding. I often combine silver components with leather and thread, using knotting, lacing, and sewing techniques.
I patinate copper to make large, colorful, one-of-a-kind pieces. I like to do patinas, and copper takes to it so beautifully.
Recently I’ve been playing with adding gold to my silver pieces with wire, keumboo, and bimetal. Gold is such a miraculous and magical material, my heart flips when I work with it!
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I’m a “Country Mouse” and a “City Mouse,” in equal measure. My work is often inspired by memories of my childhood in Connecticut; its rural landscape, plants, and animals. Other work is more urban, referencing my city life in New York and San Francisco. For a long time I could not reconcile the two perspectives, but now I see both as reflections of visual environments; the settings in which my life plays out. I am inspired by structural organization in both natural and man-made places, and my work explores the concepts of rhythm, repetition, gradation, proportion, and order.
How long have you been working in metals and what brought you into this field?
I’ve been working in metals for seven years. I decided to return to school in 2007. It was a “bucket list” thing that was making so much noise in my head, I had to stop ignoring it. I started taking community college classes that I could transfer to a four year program.
I was not sure of a major, but I wanted the academics of a BFA and I wanted to study a traditional, skills-based discipline in the Fine Arts. In 2010 I took Jewelry I at City College in San Francisco with Suzanne Pugh and the rest is history.
What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out in metals?
Even after thousands of hours at the bench, I consider myself someone who is just starting out. I tell myself the same thing I would tell someone else. Be kind to yourself; be patient with the process. Do the best work you can with the skills you have, keep learning, and practice. There are so many techniques I want to master, pieces I want to make. All in good time…
What has been the biggest challenge for you as a metal artist and have you overcome it, or how are you working to overcome it?
My biggest challenge as an artist was allowing myself to be an artist, and acknowledging that I am an artist. For me it all got mixed up in feeling bad about myself for not finishing school. So I did the only thing that would take the bad feeling away. I finished school.
Favorite resource/vendor or website you would like to share?
http://www.design-dautore.com
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/
https://www.selvedge.org/blogs/selvedge
https://www.atlasobscura.com
http://www.forbidden-places.net/explo1.php
http://collections.vam.ac.uk
http://collections.madmuseum.org/search/jewelry/objects/images
https://rawvision.com
http://honestlywtf.com/category/art/
https://www.vogue.com
http://mariafernandacardoso.com
http://tomassaraceno.com
http://www.jonasees.com
—————————————————————————–
Hap Sakwa
Sebastopol, Ca
Website
Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a 67-year-old reentry artist. What do I mean by that? For the last twenty-five years I’ve been known in the metals community as a photographer, but before that I was a working artist exhibiting mixed media sculpture in galleries and museums. Several years ago I decided to back away from the photography business; dusted off my old machines, oiled them up and got back to the work of making. For the last three years I’ve struggled to find a satisfying direction, until I went hiking in the desert. I was down in Joshua Tree and found my way into the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Museum.I spent hours walking through the sculpture park completely awed by the scale, quality, thoughtfulness and sheer number of pieces assembled on a harsh windy hill top baking in the desert sun. The mixed media assemblages of found and fabricated material inspired me to return to my own past as an assemblage artist. Soon I was busy haunting the local salvage yards and rifling through flea market junk searching out the materials that would soon become the palate for the work I was meant to do.
What is your favorite tool and why?
I don’t suppose I have a favorite tool, although, I’m keen on the Foredom hand piece that hangs like a one armed alien from a beam over my workbench. It’s the most versatile tool in my shop: cut, grind, carve, drill, sand. I couldn’t live without one. The band saw is also a tool I could not live without. All the forms used in creating my sculpture are first roughed out to size on the band saw.
Which materials do you create with most and what is your attraction to using them?
Most of my pieces begin with a wood core of some sort. And then I apply a variety of metal objects and found sheet metal to the surface. I think of my current work as a kind of tin can anthropology. 25 years ago I assembled objects in a similar collage style using found ceramic plates, coffee mugs, ashtrays and an assortment of cultural kitsch as source materials. Now I am in love with patinaed metal and vintage advertising tins revealing the time worn surface of age and use. My attraction is the variety of textures (patinas), the imagery, colors, graphics and cultural connectivity that binds us to materials and symbols.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I draw inspiration from everywhere. I am a big consumer of eye candy out in the world, looking at how industrial systems connect or how fields weave together seen from the window of a plane; museums, galleries, books, magazines and online. The current body of work draws from many artists and art styles, among them would be pop, folk, steampunk, architecture, post modern design and collage; artist would include Noah Purifoy, Tony Berlant, Kurt Scwitters, Ettore Sottsass, Peter Shire and Morgan Brig among the many artists that inspire me.
How long have you been working in metals and what brought you into this field?
I am an accidental metals artist. And I should mention that I’m not trained in any art form or craft. Learning as I go, I consider myself a kind of privateer, owing no devotion to material, technique or style. The finished product is all that matters.
For several years since retiring as a full time photographer I spent countless hours in my shop working through ideas trying to find a voice. About two years ago I began work on a series of pop-art heart totems reacting to the negative social climate preceding the election in 2016. “Fighting hate one piece of art at a time,” was my mantra. The totems are a kinda sorta steampunk assemblage style topped with decorated carved wood hearts. I made a base for one using some metal scrap material I had laying around the shop and the proverbial light went on above my head. The pieces have grown in dimension and evolved in complexity, focused now on the teapot form, as a human figure proxy.
What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out in metals?
The advice I would share with anyone wishing to be an artist – know that you don’t live in a vacuum. You do not stand alone. You are part of something much bigger that has evolved and been a rich unifying part of social networks since the first images were scratched on cave walls. Look at everything and all art in every medium and from every time period; these are the masters and they have a lot to teach us. All art and craft is appropriated either directly or indirectly from some source; borrow, don’t copy. Do not restrict yourself to your peer group; craft media tend to be very incestuous. You are alive now and it’s your job (responsibility) to leave a valuable artifact for the future. And if you are not obsessed and committed to your art and craft, don’t do it.
What has been the biggest challenge for you as a metal artist and have you overcome it, or how are you working to overcome it?
The biggest challenge for all artists is finding an audience and a venue for sharing their creativity, whether you’re a jeweler, a sculptor, a dancer, a musician, all artists struggle to be seen. Self-promotion and marketing in the 21st Century is a daunting task. There are few brick and mortar outlets and craftshows are competitive and demanding. But, you have no choice. You will not be discovered in your basement or garage workspace. Since becoming a reentry artist I have participated in the local open studios, been rejected by dozens of galleries and exhibited sculpture at local art events. Recently I have found an online gallery that exhibits my work on their website and at art fairs, like SOFA and Art Palm Springs. So, I’m getting there.
Favorite resource/vendor or website you would like to share?
My favorite resource is the flea market; a wholesale cultural anthropology of all the tools, machines, clothing, music, food, art and artifacts that define our society gathered together on acres of asphalt every Sunday.
And there is nothing like walking through museums – the warehouse of all things art and culture. Soaking up the energy of all the art, tribal to modern and reading about the artists, their lives, their motivation, their world and being intensely aware, I’m walking in their footsteps.
—————————————————————————–
Curtis H. Arima
Emeryville, Ca
Website
Tell us a little about yourself.
My mother is a master seamstress, and my father was a mechanical engineer and inventor. My works, their conception, and the way I move through the world reflect their influences.
My mother has a passion to make clothes for people to help them feel comfortable in their own skins, and feel special for any occasion.
Growing up I loved seeing my mother take bolts of fabric and turn it into wedding dresses for to be brides, and watching clients’ faces light up seeing clothes that complimented the lines of their body the first time.
She guides her clients through the process of customizing clothes, helping thems understand aesthetic and the best choices for the project.
I carry her knowledge with me when I do custom work.
Listen carefully to my clients, decipher what they want, use expertise to help guide them through their best options, and create a piece that makes them feel special.
I grew up in Santa Clara, California while Silicon Valley was on the rise. My Father was enamored by the ever changing technology. He enjoyed latest tech (before it was even called tech). In the 80’s he bought a video camera that needed a portable VCR to record, a huge 40” projector TV that distorted the view unless you watched it from head on, and a laser-disk player when the disks were bigger than vinyl records. This equipment seems antiquated now, but are examples of how technology is ever changing. With change there is an opportunity to learn.
Through my parents influences I have gained an interest dedication and transformation:
- I enjoy constantly moving through challenges to achieve steady progress.
- I enjoy things that develop more fully through practice, repetition, and innovation.
- I am thrilled by taking basic things and transforming them into something that holds meaning, emotion, and/or experience.
- This is why I am drawn things in my life that I can be never fully master. Metalsmithing, teaching, practicing Ashtanga Yoga, making my own body and hair products, brewing beer, baking bread, cooking time consuming meals, gardening, and sewing.
What is your favorite tool and why?
A particular forging hammer would me my favorite tool. Gary Griffin a master metalsmith, and my graduate instructor gave me it to me at a going away party after completing my MFA at Cranbrook Academy. I use it often and when I do I think of him and the life changing, exciting, challenging, and productive time I had in the Detroit Metropolitan Area and Cranbrook Community.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Inspiration is everywhere and anywhere if you are open to identifying it, absorbing it, then recalling it when needed.I try to be mindful about the way I move through the world…it does not always work….but I try to observe rather than just look.When observing, if my heart/mind jumps at something I try to capture it, take a image, save it on a file, or write it down. I analyze why am I attracted to it…. its shape, form, emotional connection, intellectual food? Usually don’t have a plan for it, I store it away in my artistic arsenal, for use later.Here are some things that I go to regularly to be inspired:Travel – Helps me see other worlds, ways of being, eating, observing. It broadens my aesthetic possibilitiesOur garden – Beautiful and ever evolving, a reminder of our impermanence and the changes in life cyclesPsychology and Science – Connects us or disconnects us to ourselves, each-other, and the universe. My dream life is active, and I lucid dream often (long story for another time). I often pull a dreamlike feeling into my work.Art of any kind – At a museum, in a gallery, online, outside, in a book.Making a new body of work or major piece, takes recalling the inspiration, then translating that through intellect and physicality. These are the three main ways I develop work. Sure sometimes I have an idea fully formed in my head, but that is very very rare.
Technique/Process
I try to add a new technique to my artwork every few years. It started with stone setting, then engraving, casting, working with a lathe, and enameling. Now I am at the baby step stage experimenting with CAD and 3D printing. This has been the most difficult, as it is the least hands on.Learning something new does not take the mystery of it, it opens new pathways of curiosity, and the more you learn about something the more you realize the depths of knowledge to be learned.If I am fascinated by a technique or way of working I make samples. It is fun to see what is possible and my physical or emotional limits with the technique. I often don’t have major plan, but loose ideas. Through lots trial and error, making progressively more challenging samples, patterns and concepts will emerge. Then I can move forward in a more direct way.
Concept
Sometimes I will have an idea I want to communicate. I research the topic in books, online, anyplace I can gather information. Then it is a matter of going through my inspirations to see how that can be communicated. Doing sketches, paintings, sample pieces, paper models, and photographing things that are related to the idea.
Image/Form
Other times I will have an image or form that I am attracted to. I do iterations. I will make several variations of that form, some quick jewelry, paper models, more complex works. I research what forms are related it and the possible meanings they could have, then more iterations. Sometimes they develop into something substantial, other times they stay samples and quick jewelry.
How long have you been working in metals and what brought you into this field?
I was first introduced to jewelry when I was about 12. I made origami brooches lacquered with nail polish for gifts. In a few years I had figured out a more advanced way of preserving the paper, and it turned into a small business I had with my mother. By the time I was 17 we were doing 8 craft shows a year, and I was in three stores in the Bay Area and LA.I started in 1994 at what was then named California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC now CCA) I loved throwing clay on a wheel, and liked painting/drawing. As an elective my second semester I took a Jewelry/Metal Arts class with Marilyn da Silva. She taught us how to raise a bowl. My mind was completely blown to see a seemingly solid sheet of metal transform into a three dimensional object with torches and hammers. It had the same excitement of seeing a bowl being thrown on a wheel for the first time. Bacis into extraordinary. I continued to be fascinated with metal and clay during my student years at CCAC.Now I am honored and privileged to be Co-chair with Marilyn da Silva in the Jewelry & Metal Arts program at California College of the Arts. The fantastic group of faculty teach students to be excited about the many different directions in metalsmithing and help them fund their passions.
What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out in metals?
Learn the process of getting to know yourself. What makes your heart beat faster, what makes you cry? what captivates you so much, you lose time in it? What make you feel uncomfortable? These are your topics of research.Do some things that are challenging for you in your art and your life.Say yes to opportunities big and small.Do lots of “productive failure” and learn from mistakes. You won’t know what is successful if you don’t know what didn’t work.Listen to your teachers about your work, but don’t always do what they say, prove them wrong in a big way if you really think you are right.Don’t just look at metalwork!Dedication and drive is way more important than natural talent. You can’t succeed on talent alone, but you can succeed if you have the motivation to accomplish your goals.
What has been the biggest challenge for you as a metal artist and have you overcome it, or how are you working to overcome it?
Knowing what kind of work to focus on and Finishing work are my biggest challenges.I make work to make money, client based work, work to further my artistic growth, and work that a gallery wants to show.In the past it has been difficult to decipher what to focus on. If I dedicated time for client based work or production work to make money an inner voice would say “This work is not helping you progress as an artist” and vise a versa if I were to focus on the other. Now I understand that there is a natural rhythm and balance that happens (if I pay attention), all work helps each other, as long as I am finishing things.That brings us to the second issue….I love to start new project, finishing them although satisfying, is hard for me. I use to think once I had an idea of what the piece was going to look like I lost interest. I realize now, once the excitement of starting a piece is over, it gets harder to make. It is going to go through some challenging stages before it is done. To finish a piece means it is going out into the public eye have my own and others critical reaction or praise. This always a bit scary. When something is unfinished it has the potential to be something. When it is done the potential is depreciated greatly.Half of arts work’s purpose is to be seen by others, so I have to trick myself. I make deadlines and goals, or have exhibitions where work has to be done to be sent off. The work I make with clients is easier to finish. They have a deadline for me and a payment, which is a motivator.I try to remember If the piece is terrible, it is an opportunity for learning, it can be deconstructed, it can go in the recycle bag, or melted down to make something new. So I guess work always has potential.
Favorite resource/vendor or website you would like to share?
Foodwishes
Art Jewelry Forum
Hoover and Strong
Otto Frei
Instructables
McMaster Carr
You tube for anything[/su_spoiler]
—————————————————————————–
Holly J Carter
Richmond, Ca
Website
Tell us a little about yourself.
Originally from Minnesota, my family moved to a small southwestern horse town in Arizona when I was in first grade, and then we moved to the ‘Big City’ of Phoenix when I was in high school. Making has always been in my blood as I come from a long line of custom cabinet makers. I loved to create with scraps of wood, paint, rocks, sewed Barbie clothes from fabric scraps, and created knotted embroidery thread jewelry. I used crocheting skills taught by my grandmother to make doll clothes and doilies. I even wrote poetry and had my first published poem in junior high. I was also quite the little entrepreneur, selling to my friends my hand and machine sewn scrunchies, and seed bead bracelets that I made on my bead loom.
My grandfather, who used to let me hang out in the cabinet shop and help a little as I got older, influenced my creative side with his own art. Before deciding to continue with the family business he dreamt of being a cartoonist with Disney. As a child, I would revel in his colored drawings and would try to draw like him. It was easy for me to copy the cartoon characters that I grown up seeing, but I always found my own original drawings to be of still life, landscapes, and architecture instead, even as young as six or seven. This is probably why I had planned to be an architect when I grew up. Ultimately, I decided to enter college for Interior Design, because I thought that I could express more creativity than I could as an architect. And then after many years of design school, I eventually changed to Fine Art metals and have been working and teaching as a metalsmith ever since.
In 2012, I moved to the Bay, and now reside in Richmond where I have become involved in creating art within the community. I am also now the president of the Northern California Enamel Guild.
What is your favorite tool and why?
Although it is hard to really choose one tool over another, I would probably say my torch, because what metalsmith doesn’t like flame! A torch is also a very versatile tool; it can melt, connect, create color changes, and make something malleable.
Which materials do you create with most and what is your attraction to using them?
I use silver, copper, and natural materials most. I love to work with silver because it is very versatile in fabrication, casting, and enameling, but I especially love how it looks and feels when it is freshly sanded and bright white right out of the pickle. Copper I love most for enameling, if you let it do what it wants it can surprise you with the beauty of colors and patterns it will achieve. I often cast natural materials into metal that I find interesting because of how it is constructed or just for its simple beauty. I believe in paying homage to its life by preserving it in metal. I also have affection for wood; I love to touch it and smell it, and find interesting textures and patterns in it. I especially like to recycle old wood into frames for my wall pieces.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I draw inspiration from the ‘architecture of natural forms’. I find myself inspecting how things are made and how natural animals and plants grow. Vertebrae, for instance, is an amazing structure that allows movement of life, every piece has its place and moves perfectly aligned. Plant forms and how they grow fascinate me. I find their natural structures and stages of growth to be perfectly engineered processes for creating life, one way or another, as many natural organisms have multiple ways of procreation in order to further their species.
How long have you been working in metals and what brought you into this field?
I have been working in metals for 14 years. After many years of working towards an interior design degree I began to realize an attraction to metal working. I began to teach myself rudimentary soldering so that I could build models for my design class projects. The more I did, the more I enjoyed it, and then I decided to look into the metals program where I was enrolled at the Arizona State University. When I realized that I could also learn jewelry making, I decided to change my major. As I learned metals fabrication, I found that I could also use some of my designs from interiors in my metal art. I believe learning about architects and designers such as Antoni Gaudi, Victor Horta, and Louis Comfort Tiffany influenced my switch to metals.
What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out in metals?
Learn everything you can from a good teacher about many techniques, even if you don’t end up using all of the skills you have learned, all of the time. It is good to have at least a basic knowledge to pull from when the need arises. But, do focus and perfect those processes that speak to you.
Most of all, find a good metals community wherever you are, it shouldn’t be hard! Because of my connections with the metals community, my move to the Bay was so much easier than it would have otherwise been. I moved a long distance from home, not knowing anyone, not having family nearby, and not knowing where life would bring me. I joined MAG and instantly found support and new lifelong friends.
What has been the biggest challenge for you as a metal artist and have you overcome it, or how are you working to overcome it?
I find the constant struggle of time and finances to still be an issue. It takes a lot of time and/or finances to maintain a web presence and do marketing/advertising. But then, if I am not bringing in enough sales I add more teaching to my schedule and that just takes more time. I find that I end up with little time to focus in the studio or on the website. With teaching taking so much extra time outside of the classroom and classes not always filling, it has not been sustainable. I have come to the conclusion that a simple part time position may allow me to pay for someone else to maintain some of the business side of things, so that I can better enjoy and focus on my time in the studio when I am able to be there. The hope is that this may jump start the business and sales part of my art career so that eventually it will be more self sustaining. In addition, I hope this will allow me to focus on larger more fulfilling pieces, thus spending less time on smaller, less expensive ‘sellable’ work. I am currently working towards seeing if this configuration will be successful.
Favorite resource/vendor or website you would like to share?
Ganoksin is always a great resource for getting advice in new and old techniques. I also like to order my enamel supplies from Schlaifer’s Enameling Supplies. The late Joan Schlaifer was always so helpful and had a lot of information about the products that she sold.
—————————————————————————–
Lexi Daly
Sebastopol, Ca
Website
Tell us a little about yourself.
Growing up, travel was very important to my parents, they wanted my sisters and me to see the world, learn its history, and experience the beauty of nature as much as possible. I remember always being so fascinated by little intricate objects I found in nature while camping and traveling; seed pods, tiny wildflowers, seashells, and butterfly wings. When I was five, my grandmother gave me a huge box of beads that I obsessed over, and my fascination with tiny objects slowly developed into a love of jewelry making. I fell in love with small glass beads called seed beads and spent much of my childhood teaching myself different traditional bead weaving techniques from cultures all over the world that use them. I found the intricate patterns of seed beads woven together with thread fascinating, like so many throughout history have.
My connection to nature and the way I was brought up instilled in me the importance of environmental consciousness, humanitarianism, and sustainability. While working towards a fine art degree I became aware of the huge negative effects the jewelry and fashion industry have on the environment and I considered not becoming a jeweler for those reasons. Then I realized I could be a voice of change, and my work could help others be a voice of change by wearing it. That is when I started working with objects I “save” from entering the landfill (AKA trash, old clothes, or disposable products). The jewelry I make today is a combination of bead weaving, disposable products, and recycled silver.
What is your favorite tool and why?
My mini drill press, it has been a life saver when drilling the hundreds of tiny holes I use to sew beads through.
Which materials do you create with most and what is your attraction to using them?
Since sustainability is so important to me I find it exciting to come up with unique ways to use things people have thrown away. We see these things in everyday life and most of us don’t think twice about using them once and throwing them away, and what happens to them afterwards. I find ways to transform them into something beautiful and valuable, while at the same time educating people on the negative impact of those disposable products. My hope is by doing so I can get people to think twice about using disposable products, and to live a more sustainable lifestyle.
I also love working with seed beads. They are so versatile in the way they can be used, and they add a complexity and intricacy to my jewelry pieces that I love. Lately I’ve switched to using vintage seed beads to make my work even more environmentally sustainable.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I get a lot of inspiration from playing with new “materials” and seeing what ways I can use them. I spend a lot of time in the studio cutting and drilling and shaping things like plastic bottles, stir sticks, and coffee cups to see how far I can take the material from its original form to transform it into something beautiful and dynamic. I had the most fun transforming old clothes into paper and using the paper in my jewelry. It completely changed the clothes and helped save the environment a little bit from the huge effects fast fashion has on the planet.
I’m also inspired by royal fashion from cultures all over the globe throughout history – the traditional neckpieces from ancient Egypt, lacework from the Ukraine, Native Ecuadorian collars, and European fashion, fairytales, and folklore.
How long have you been working in metals and what brought you into this field?
I’ve been working with metals since 2005 when I moved to Oakland and went to Art School to further my skills in jewelry making. The beadwork I did as a child had evolved into large intricate necklaces and collars. I wanted to learn metalwork to combine modern metal pieces with traditional beadwork. The juxtaposition of the two fascinated me at the time. You can see some of the pieces I created using that idea on my website.
What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out in metals?
Don’t risk getting hurt for a good grade or to complete a piece you’re really excited about quickly. Working with metal can be very hard on your body and it can take time to build strength and dexterity. Your body is your most important tool, listen to it. Take breaks all the time, set a timer to remind yourself to stand up, stretch, and look at something in the distance to protect your eyes from strain. If your teachers don’t show you, take the time to watch videos on the most ergonomic ways to work and discipline yourself in working in those ways. Invest in the best tools, its well worth the stress it takes off of your body, it could add years, even decades to your career.
What has been the biggest challenge for you as a metal artist and have you overcome it, or how are you working to overcome it?
My physical injuries. In college I injured my ulnar nerves in both arms and that created tendonitis in my forearms and a lot of pain and weakness. Nerve damage takes a very long time to heal and it has really hindered my career. It has been 10 years and I’m just now feeling able to work full time again. It has been the biggest challenge of my life, not just my career. If I didn’t love making art so much I don’t think I would ever have had the determination to heal from the injuries I sustained in college.
Favorite resource/vendor or website you would like to share?
Nature. Getting out in nature helps me relax and I find my creativity flows more easily once I’m back in the studio.
There are so many great resources online for jewelers now its hard to choose, but for those just starting out there’s some great online courses on branding, marketing and photography on creativelive.com that I’ve found super helpful.
——————————————————————————
Kirk McGuire
San Francisco, Ca
Website
Tell us a little about yourself.
I was literally born an artist, and from the young age of only four I was noticeably artistic, I amazed my kindergarten teachers and friends with my ‘born skills’ for drawing. Or sculpting ceramic animals, and nature scenes. Born in raised in the Sierra Foothills in Placerville California. I grew up hiking almost daily in the forest near my home, studying any kind of nature and wildlife I could soak in, including, insects, birds, mammals and especially amphibians and reptiles.
As well, I grew up mesmerized by the strange and unusual creatures of the ocean. Watching every Jacques Cousteau television special I could, and reading old National Geographics by an oil lantern while away with family at my grandmother’s cabin, high in the Sierra. Strangely enough, I was not able to even see the ocean until I was around seventeen years old. Soon after finishing high school, I attended American River community college and was up for a Grant to attend the California arts & crafts college in Oakland. At the time my college art teacher advised me not to go to college and said I was a natural born artist, and that it would Mess me up!
I expanded my creative sculpting talents into learning the fine art of bronze sculpting/casting. In 1984 at age twenty-three I moved to Monterey Bay to get a job working at a bronze foundry because I wanted to do bronze instead of ceramics. There I was hired and I began a nine-year apprenticeship at the Monterey Sculpture Center where I learned and perfected my technique, ultimately becoming a master sculptor and mold maker, specializing in bronze marine life.
I have always used my imagination, and hands in a way that harmonized with my obsession with nature. I hope through my sculpture to bring an awareness of the land and sea around us and to the animals that live here. Every living thing has beauty and I try to show this. Please respect our planet, respect mother earth.
What is your favorite tool and why?
My favorite tool, or tools are handmade sculpting tools from bronze welding rod. Made by myself making them tailored to my specific needs, thus making them ‘favorites’.
Which materials do you create with most and what is your attraction to using them?
I used to sculpt with plastalina oil clay, then I switched to sculpting directly in foundry wax. My attraction is wax is sturdier and allows me to sculpt without the need for armatures.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I have always been obsessed with our Oceans and the variety of amazing wildlife. It is my inspiration! I’m fascinated in particular by the unusual and unique species. I am also inspired by the bronze age of man. I sculpt in a way that shows an emphasis on balance, harmony, movement and rhythm giving my creations an ‘organic’ feeling. Every living thing has beauty and I try to show this.
How long have you been working in metals and what brought you into this field?
I have been a bronze sculptor for over 32 years now. I had studied and worked in many mediums by the time I was twenty. Bronzes attracted me because they are here forever! Not that I want to be an immortal, but the idea of having my sculptures, possibly salvaged from the bottom of the ocean like an ancient artifact appealed to me. We have bronzes in art museums that were found and once cleaned of barnacles they are beautifully preserved, since bronze does not rust or corrode… It will be around far longer than all of us.
What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out in metals?
Safety first! Wear respirators, gloves and so on. ‘Hands on’ is better than any book! If you can self-teach, or get a job as an apprentice working in the field you are attracted to.
What has been the biggest challenge for you as a metal artist and have you overcome it, or how are you working to overcome it?
I would say the biggest challenge for most is becoming a marketer, or salesman of your work. I have overcome it. I never had to do consignment in galleries. I was able to sell my work outright to art galleries plus they paid for the shipping of purchased bronzes. By doing the work myself, my quality standards were the best.
As well since I did most everything I was able to offer a very attractive wholesale price to these various galleries. Sadly, nowadays Galleries in my opinion are archaic. I stopped working with galleries years, ago. I now only make internet sales, or sales by social media and or commissioned work.
Favorite resource/vendor or website you would like to share?
There are many online websites I like for selling and, or showing my work. I would have to say Etsy is my favorite one.
——————————————————————————
Lucy Gamble
San Francisco, Ca
Tell us a little about yourself.
I grew up in the woods of New Hampshire playing in rivers and driving down dirt roads. I’ve always enjoyed creating with my hands and went through various crafty phases as a child- pillow sewing, card making, beading. The glue gun and I got along very well and we ended up with an old sleeping bag covered in dried hot glue. Metal work has become the favorite creative outlet of mine over the last few years, but it has always been important for me to have a craft. Outside of metal, I work on a business operations team for a tech company named Okta. I am an avid music listener, explorer, a bit of a runner and an aspiring dog musher.
What is your favorite tool and why?
I love sawing intricate patterns with a handsaw. My most ambitious pieces have been a tree with tiny branches and roots and a necklace of all the continents. I find the patience and persistence required of hand sawing soothing and I enjoy taking on ambitious challenges to get the finest detail out of the metal.
Which materials do you create with most and what is your attraction to using them?
I am in a bit of a transition from a materials perspective in that the materials I am used to being able to work with- copper, bronze, brass are at odds with the skill level and direction I want to be able to achieve. I have always dreamed of working with gold and it is something I look forward to working towards.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
My favorite place to draw inspiration is people watching. I have always been drawn to the harmony between individual and jewelry so I often pay close attention to different pieces I see on people throughout the city. My dream is to make pieces that fit the wearer like an extension of their body, style and personality. I continue to drive to create work with a finer finish that is both delicate and wearable.
How long have you been working in metals and what brought you into this field?
I’ve been working with metal for 5 years. I was introduced to metal working through an Art studio program in school. I did my first soldering and sawing and quickly made metal work a part of my curriculum. In college, I was living in the jewelry studio teaching, monitoring and creating. I love the intensity and dedication it demands to bring a project to completion and losing track of time in the studio. I love using fire to turn metal into liquid. Most recently, I have grown to love the beauty and stability of a carefully finished piece. I have been lucky to find the Metal Arts Guild community and Scintillant Studio here in the bay to keep my passion alive and take my craftwork to the next level.
What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out in metals?
In many ways I am just starting out in metals and the most important thing has been to not get stuck. It is tough when you are gaining skills as an artist to be able to create something that turns out the way you want it to, but the stumbling blocks are necessary to move through to achieve that growth. It’s hard not to feel like a bit of an impostor when you see jewelers with skills that you want, but it is important to seek help and mentorship while maintaining patience. Usually, you are your toughest critic.
What has been the biggest challenge for you as a metal artist and have you overcome it, or how are you working to overcome it?
My biggest challenge is having time to commit to advancing my skills. On top of my job, it can be difficult to have the energy to muscle through another lesson at the end of the day, but I have been nudging myself to remember how good it feels to create. Making time and energy in my day to prioritize metal has been a practice and a balance.
Favorite resource/vendor or website you would like to share?
Rio Grande has always been my go to, but my favorite resource in materials lately has been working with Adam of Scintillant studios to better understand stones and stone sourcing.
——————————————————————————
Olivia Shih
Oakland, Ca
Website
Tell us a little about yourself.
Born in the US and raised in Taiwan, I’m an artist, jewelry designer, and writer currently based in Oakland, California. In my conceptual work, I explore the imprint of sexism on our daily habits, often through alternative materials paired with metal armature. Questioning the construction of gender and reinterpreting feminism are the driving forces behind my work.
I know some artists say they aren’t interested in political or confrontational issues, but identifying as an artist is a political act in itself. Instead of valuing the financial stability and familiarity of a 9-to-5 job, an artist might choose a part-time gig with little upward mobility in exchange for more creative running room. The artist values flexibility, creativity, and ultimately, freedom of expression, which is intrinsically political.
As Aristotle aptly puts it, humans, by nature, are political animals.
Your recent jewelry collections are a big departure from your conceptual artwork. What’s the story here?
At this point, I feel as if I’ve been in school for too long, and I want to explore the world outside of academia. My jewelry business is one of these ventures, and although there is no apparent link to feminism, the business is inspired by inquisitive women who speak their own minds. The carved acrylic collections, in particular, inject an undeniably bold presence into everyday life.
Which materials do you create with most and what is your attraction to using them?
With my conceptual work, I enameled white tiles and secure them to metal armatures with grout. Mass-produced tiles were the texture of my childhood in Taiwan, and I’m fascinated by its conflicting nature. Tiles were introduced to Taiwan as an implementation of modern hygiene; it is an uniform and easily cleaned surface–the visual equivalent to white noise. Due to humid weather and frequent earthquakes over the years, these tiles have peeled off or gently bulged out on walls, taking on almost human characteristics.
In my jewelry business, I utilized the belt sander in carving wax, moved onto carving wood, and ultimately, to acrylic. The more I work with acrylic, which is a type of plastic, the more attracted and repelled I become. Plastic has permeated every aspect of my life. This material is alluring in its shiny, bright newness, its ability to be molded into practically any object, but plastic also converges into floating islands in the middle of the ocean. How should we react to this addictive material?
How long have you been working in metals and what brought you into this field?
After I got my bachelor’s in creative writing in New York, I realized that I never felt like I belonged in that city. So in 2012 I pivoted and headed to the west coast, where working in metals really grounded me. Making an object with my hands gave me focus, and the bay area gave me an open-minded and welcoming community. It surprises me to this day how supportive and sharing the people in the metals community are!
What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out in metals?
Make mistakes! If you never melt a bezel or overfire enamel, you will never know what the limits and potential of these materials are. As my professor Deb Lozier says, if you can repeat a mistake to create a consistent result, the mistake becomes your technique.
My second piece of advice is to try everything. This means interning at a gallery, working as an artist’s assistant, volunteering at a conference, etc. Each opportunity is a chance to see what truly fits you. Think of it as trying on a ring. You won’t know if it feels right unless you try it on. Taking on different roles in the metals field will also give you a feel for how the industry works and where your niche is.
What are your plans for the future?
Right now I’m focusing on building my jewelry business and writing for Art Jewelry Forum, but I might consider grad school in a couple years. It would be incredible to return to an environment custom made for explosive creative growth!
——————————————————————————
Alexa
San Francisco, Ca
Website
Tell us a little about yourself.
My life experiences have been very diverse, and are all part of who I am as an artist. I speak many languages, have traveled around the world, and lived in Mexico and India. I have known the rhythm of life in villages with no electricity or running water. I have slept in a manger in the foothills of the Himalayas, lived in a temple compound in southern India, and participated in ritual dancing and visitations through the night disguised as a demon in a village in Mexico. These and so many other experiences have enriched my inner landscape. Although, I am not drawn to mimic ethnic styles, my work often has a textural feeling that is reminiscent of lives more connected to earth and nature and simple tools.
However, at the end of all travel there is an experience of coming home and reintegration into one’s own sense of self. Ultimately, the effect of so much exposure to other cultures has been to clarify who I am as a person, a woman and an artist. It is mostly from the unique forms, textures and themes of the world in which I live that I draw inspiration. Although an element may appear in my work that has an ethnic feel, I am driven to frame it with a simple, sleek shape or surface that reflects a more modern sensibility. The best example of this juxtaposition is a series of cuffs that consist of fold-formed, oxidized copper attached to polished silver with silver rivets.
What is your favorite tool and why?
I would be hard pressed to choose between my biggest investment in a tool, my electric jeweler’s saw from Knew Concepts and my mini-drill press from Micro-Mark. According to the inventor, Lee Marshall, the design of the electric saw is based on the action of a sewing machine. It can quickly cut even the most intricate pattern in metal sheet with very minimal effort. It was expensive, but well worth the investment to save wear and tear on the tendons and joints of my arms and hands, which had suffered years of abuse from carpentry long before I began making jewelry.
The mini-drill press drills holes at a precise right angle to the surface of the metal. However, the stem of any of my mini buffs, sanding discs, cut off discs, and burrs will also fit in the chuck allowing me to use both hands to hold and manipulate the piece I am working on. Micro-Mark is a great resource for inexpensive tools useful to a jeweler. I also have their mini combination metal shear/brake. I only use it for making crisp bends in sheet metal, now that I have a good quality shear from Rio Grande. Micro-Mark does sell a very inexpensive brake just for bending sheet metal.
Which materials do you create with most and what is your attraction to using them?
In the first few years my work was all highly polished Sterling silver. However, I eventually gravitated toward less precise, less polished surfaces. At one point, I was cutting shapes out of sheet metal with a hammer and small chisel. In a later series of pieces I began incorporating acrylic as a way to bring color into my work, mostly my favorite color, red. Currently, I am working exclusively in bronze because it is so much richer and warmer than either silver or American gold. It reminds me more of the color of gold jewelry I bought in India. The challenge I have to work around with bronze is that the solder Rio Grande has developed is not a perfect match.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I design jewelry not only as body decoration, but as wearable art. My jewelry often expresses in visual language themes drawn from my musings about life. An on-going direction in my work is a series of pendants and brooches that incorporate forms suggestive of cocoons or nests as visual metaphors for relationships. Each “cocoon” or “nest” is built-for-two (two pearls or semi-precious stones nestle inside), and is contained within the simple geometry of an outlined circle or square. The latter serves both as a counterpoint to the organic form and texture of the “cocoon”, but also as an abstract symbol representing qualities of relationships, like privacy, safety, and security, that support the potential of relationships to be containers for growth. When I am working on these pieces, I have the sense of creating from a very primal place.
A series of pieces that I call “Geometrics” is influenced more by my experience working in graphic arts. This group of brooches and earrings are a playful exploration of altered circles, squares and triangles that have been bent, pierced and corrugated. The designs are driven by my love of simple geometric shapes.
An element that frequently shows up in these pieces is an undulating line that I call a “squiggle”. Its earliest appearances were when I was working in clay. I still have an example of it from that period on the wall of my jewelry studio. You can see two large, glazed porcelain, black squiggles on the wall to the left of my main work area. A squiggle speaks to me of spontaneity, of playfulness, of movement and dance. It is the expressive gesture of a hand, the path of a bird in flight, the bounce of a ball. My squiggles are part of an ongoing conversation between elegance and whimsy, as exemplified in a piece I called “Whimsy Escapes”. The enameled strip along the top of this piece can be removed and replaced with a choice of three other colors, depending on ones mood.
How long have you been working in metals and what brought you into this field?
After earning a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from the University of California with a major in Ceramics, I spent several years creating and exhibiting both functional and sculptural work in clay. Following the hiatus that resulted from a major relocation, I found myself returning to an earlier love of working with metal. I realized that I prefer working with metal because it can hold crisp pattern and attenuated form, and it resists in a way that creates a dialogue between the material and artistic vision. So I abandoned clay, eventually began training as a bench jeweler, and have never looked back. I have been making jewelry for over 15 years.
What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out in metals?
If you aspire to making work that is unique to who you are, learn to sketch your ideas. If want to make the most efficient use of your time and materials, learn to sketch so that you work out your ideas before picking up a hammer or saw. My other advice would be to participate in the MAG exhibits and challenge yourself to develop new work inspired by the theme of the show. Each year that I have done this, it has caused me to squirm and struggle with the theme, but each time that struggle has lead to a break through and to new inspiration and new work.
What has been the biggest challenge for you as a metal artist and have you overcome it, or how are you working to overcome it?
One word: marketing. I spent years on the craft fair circuit when I was making ceramics. Been there, done that! So, I am having to figure out another way to market my jewelry. I have found even the higher-end online markets to be not very useful. In any event, I prefer to deal directly with the owners of brick-and-mortal galleries who know their clientele. I am currently putting together a new portfolio to show.
Favorite resource/vendor or website you would like to share?
I have already mentioned vendors I like. As for resources, I like to have as much exposure as possible to what other art jewelers are creating, so I have collected the whole 1000 series from Lark Books (1000 Rings, 1000 Necklaces, 1000 Bracelets, etc.). They contain only very high quality photographs and no text except the title, dimensions, and name of the artist.
I have researched both galleries and artists on the internet. If I see work I like in a book I go to the artist’s website, and from there I can go to the sites of the gallery or galleries where her or his work is sold. There I might find other artists I like, then go to their websites. This is a never ending source of inspiration that helps me to think outside the box when designing my own work.
I have also just recently discovered an online resource, thanks to an eMail invitation to do an online course taught by the inventor of Fold Forming, Charles Lewton-Brain. It is offered by Craftsy.com and it is excellent! A few years ago I took a week long course in fold-forming at the Mendocino Art Center from a very accomplished jeweler who had studied with Charles, but this online course from the master still blew me away. It is interactive, so you can post questions for Charles and the other students, as well as share your work.