Ahhh.... spring!

Its been a long time since I have witnessed spring in a green area, having been living out west for a while... check out some of the luscious blooms, all right here on the Arrowmont campus:

Martina planted these tulips!

I hope everyone is enjoying a beautiful spring!

2010 Artist in Residence Exhibition

Kent Perdue has been busy.... check out the video he made of our exhibition!

It shows a little from each of us. I'll be posting pictures of the exhibition soon. Things have been a little hectic for me, I've been running around the south visiting places and showing work. I can't wait to share a bit of what I've been doing very soon! Until then, please enjoy the show!

2010 Arrowmont Artists in Residence Exhibition from Kent Perdue on Vimeo.

Surfaces

Lately I have been sneaking in moments to play in the studio. Unsure of what will become of some of this, I'm having lots of fun reticulating yellow brass and sterling silver. These first couple of images are parts are destined for a wall piece- fusing silver and copper filings to copper sheet.

patinated with liver of sulpher:

To fuse filings, start with a clean copper or silver surface and cover with flux. When the flux looks clear and glassy, sprinkle clean silver and/or copper filings onto the surface and continue to heat until the metal is glowing red. Pickle, and clean with pumice and a brass brush.

16 gauge yellow brass

more 16 gauge yellow brass, patinated with gun blue

this last image is of a piece of reticulated 18 gauge yellow brass

Its easy to reticulated brass- just heat the metal until red hot and pickle eight times. Then, heat the metal until evenly warmed. Using a sharp, hot flame, heat up an area of the metal until it is near melting point. Move the flame away slowly, and you will see the metal begin to buckle. Keep moving across the metal until you have completed reticulating the piece. Definitely work with good ventilation, and my best advice is to work with a piece of metal that is about 3 inches by 3 inches to avoid melting through until you get the hang of it.

I am so enjoying the instant gratification of such dramatic texture. In three short weeks, I will begin to teach a class here at Arrowmont about surfaces. I can't wait to share this with the students. What I think is so great about these techniques is in their simplicity. All they require are metal, a little flux, a pickle pot and a torch; pretty minimal for such interesting results. Start adding patinas, and the sky is the limit...

Saturday Mornings

Saturdays are not for sleeping in these days...

I have been working with a great group of kids from the area on metalworking projects. I am teaching a class called "Manipulating Metal", and each week, we tackle new skills. Candy Tate, who has been working with metal for years and taking classes at Arrowmont, meets with us each week as well. So far we have met three times, and have covered carving and casting with cuttlebone, sinking and bouging, texture, soldering, forming, finishing and patination. Today we completed footed dishes:

I am so proud of them all! Each step of the way they have been attentive to process and detail, all the while gossiping or talking football... will it be the Saints or the Colts tomorrow??

Here is Damon, deep in conversation, and notice the beautiful cuttlebone creation around his neck! And yes... thats his copper dish!

This is William, his piece is in the foreground. I had the pleasure to meet him during Art Reach in November.

These guys are great, and it is a lot of fun to teach such an animated group. They work together so well, and I can't be happier to see them each come in every Saturday!

As for me, studio work is coming along steadily. With our resident show just around the corner- opening in four weeks- it better be! Here is a taste of something in the works... it is inspired by a past piece, but will be completely different in appearance. Stay tuned!

Bad Blogger!

Well, I hope everybody had great holidays with family and friends! I have been consumed in work over the last month or so, and have completely left the blogging for later. I have been all over the place since the last post... from Arizona across Missouri and back to the Smokey's.

In Arizona, I participated in the Mesa Art Festival, held for the last few years right before the holidays. This year I was awarded a second place prize! It was a lot of fun to see friends there and meet new ones. My boyfriend, Ryan, was there for support... it was good to have time together!

Here we are, setting up...

And a sampling of some of the work I had created for the show:

rings with patterned metals

torch-fired enameled ornaments

lotsa earrings!

lots more necklaces!

...and now the feat of getting them up on etsy!

I've also been working on some other things:

an engagement ring commissioned by one of the staff here at Arrowmont, for another staff member- how exciting! Darren and Maxine were engaged to be married on December 15th. They met here, and they are two extremely hard working, funny and warm people. Congrats to the two of them!

For an exhibition entitled Charmed at The Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, a set of charms. They are made with patterned metal, shibuichi, and sterling silver. The images doesn't quite show the tubes that are holding each piece together... lots of cutting! The show will be posted online, and the charms will be available for sale. There are lots of participants from all over the country, and I am very excited to see what the others have come up with!

This piece is a tea infuser. It was made for the eXtreme tea exhibition that will take place in Houston during the SNAG conference. Check out the link! They choose my image as one of four for their card! It is about 5 1/2" long, and made from patterned metals, silver and nickel. The tube rivet allows the piece to swivel open and closed to add loose tea.

Judy Belcher and myself put together this piece utilizing her polymer clay skills put together with my metalworking. The piece was a collaboration for the Synergy II conference in Baltimore. This is an international show in which polymer artists were to collaborate with others and see what results might come. I had a great time collaborating with Judy, and I am anxious to collab with others now! We were featured on Polymer Clay Daily a while back- how cool!

Whats next? Tomorrow will be the first day of teaching community classes, I'll be teaching Rings and Things. Students will learn all the basics of metalworking. It will be a blast! Our resident artist exhibition is right around the corner as well- we start installation on March 1st! Yikes!!! The residents will also be going to Middle Tennessee State University in February to give an artist lecture... Stay tuned! I'll have so much more to share coming up. And I am hoping to stay more current with the blogging! until next time- vic

Art Reach

My latest bunch(most of them!) of kids for Arrowmont's Art Reach program! These guys are high school seniors, we had a blast cuttlebone casting with pewter.

Arrowmont has been running a program for years that allows students of all ages in area schools to come in for a day and participate in an art class. This year, there is a photography class, two different ceramics classes, a wood turning class, and a fibers class making batiked bandanas. It is great for the kids because they are getting to experience things outside the norm: art in school is limited in this area to say the least, most students spend about 30 minutes per week with their art teachers. I really enjoy my time with these kids, and I want more! They are a treat to have on campus, and so much fun to work with!

These last two pieces are from my fifth graders! They are both T's, but for very different reasons. The first is a "power T", significant in the football culture here, and the second, a very feminine initial! I wish I had more to share, but the time flies and before you know it were out of it! Today's group had a great cast and some very refined work.... can't wait to see what next week will bring!

Torch-fired Enamels

What a great week! Our class with Marjorie Simon flew by, but not before she could share a variety of skill sets with us. She shared torch firing enamels, fold forming, embossing and the hydraulic press, solderless pin backs, and a variety of cold connecting techniques. We had such a great group, some who had never touched metal, gallery owners, even the vp of the Enamelist Society. And we all come away with new knowledge, and pieces to show for it!

Marjorie even brought some of her own work with her, to show examples of the ways that she uses the skills she was sharing. They were just gorgeous.

And student work a plenty:

Vicki Mathieu

Diane Howey

Robin Lathroum

Cynthia Hicks

...and these were my samples, which you probably recognize from the last post. I fold formed everything and used etching creme galore. I really liked the effect of the matte finish on such vibrant colors.

The last thing I tired was embossing in conjunction with enameling. I used steel binding wire, then some blues. I also used the solderless pin back Marjorie taught us. It was a good solution to making a lightweight, wearable piece. I donated this brooch to Arrowmont's silent auction, which took place the Friday evening. Auctions at Arrowmont are a lot of fun, and support the student scholarship fund. I was happy to see this brooch go home with Bill!

This week long class was incredibly enriching, and I will have a lot to think about in the studio! It was great learning from Marjorie and I know enameling will be showing up in my work from here on out!