New Year, New Designs, New Show...

2013 has begun in creative frenzy.  I have managed to shake off the low feelings and dark thoughts that accompanied a very emotionally exhausting Holiday Season.  Cleared my bench, my mind, and my calendar!  Looking ahead now to one of my most favorite events, a wildlife-themed art show I co-host every February with my dear friend and artist Gisela Pferdekamper.  This will be the seventh year for this show, dedicated to raising funds for the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation.  Held in Gisela's converted barn (she is a wonderful sculptor and turned her barn into a working studio), this show has evolved from a word-of-mouth event with a few of our local artist friends getting together for a fun evening, to a three-day show featuring works from award-winning artists from around the country.  Last year we attracted over 300 guests for our opening night reception alone!  The outpouring of support from the arts community for this event has been so overwhelming--all participating artists donate 25% of show sales to RSCF.  This year's show will be held February 10 - 12, we have 18 artists participating, and several live art events opening night including a raku firing and live body painting.  All the work is inspired by nature--really gorgeous stuff --photography, sculpture, fine jewelry, paintings, pottery, mixed media and more.  I've included the invitation here, featuring a lovely art photograph courtesy of Melinda Moore of our female golden lion tamarin.  Zeppo has never looked better!

I'm feverishly creating new works for this show, and have hit on a couple of pendant designs I really love.  I call them Ladder Works and Glyphs.  The Ladder Works feature hand constructed and soldered wire ladder-style bases from which I build layers of elements cold connected with rivets or screws.  Brass and bronze wire have caught my fancy at the moment, I love the deep golden color and ease of use (solders and hammers beautifully).  The Glyphs are textured open-wire designs, accented with a cold connected element.  I call them Glyphs because my brother commented that he likes the style because each pendant reminds him of symbols of a lost language from an ancient tribe.  I love that!  These two design styles are perfect for another of my current obsessions, enamel copper discs by MaryAnn Carroll of Artisan Beads Plus.  I absolutely love them and use them constantly--the rich rustic colors are so intense and gorgeous!  Perfect for layering and cold connecting.  I plan to have a nice collection of these for the show and am offering some in my Etsy Shop as well.

 

I'll keep you posted with photos from the show--it will be such a fun night.  AND, if you are in my neck of the woods, do come by for this event.  Great art, great cause, great artists.  See you there!