Oh Ricky You're So Fine...Man, That's Awful.

I recently began following Ricky Gervais on Facebook, and discovered that he is a passionate animal welfare advocate.  I already knew him as a ridiculously talented actor, comedian and all-around outspoken individual, but didn’t know about his interest in critters.  Cool.

So, I thought, wouldn’t it be amazing if I could somehow get him to notice RSCF?  Wouldn’t he love to come meet Delilah and Ninita and be our new best friend and advocate?  I mean HOW HARD COULD THAT BE, RIGHT???  Yes, I am that naïve and pie-eyed.


Who could possibly resist this??  WHO???

So I sent him some pictures and links on Facebook, and wrote a probably way too long message, and asked all my Facebook friends to like the message and beg ask him to contact us AS IF THAT WOULD WORK.  Well, it did….sort of.  Mr. Gervais posts pics every few days of something mind-blowingly adorable with the caption, “I found this in my belly-button.”  I had the brilliant idea this morning to send him a photo of Ninita with the post, “Mr. Gervais, Ninita, our baby pygmy marmoset, would like to know if you have room in your belly-button for her.”  GENIOUS, AMIRIGHT????  Anyway, he actually responded today in the comments with a smiley-face emoticon, about which I am totally excited and consider “first contact”.  Don’t judge, I have no idea how you go about reaching out to famous people these days.



Screen-grab of the Facebook post with Mr. Gervais SMILEY FACE ACKNOWLEGEMENT!
 

Another Facebook friend forwarded me Mr. Gervais’ management contact info (I have no idea how she got that), and I have decided to write a letter to ask if Ricky (yes, we are on a first name basis since the smiley-face emoticon, right??) would consider meeting us and maybe be a part of one of two documentaries we are considering.  One about the Red-browed Amazon Parrot Program, and another about Delilah and the Bongo Repatriation Program.  Both are equally fascinating—one about a species of parrot brought to the brink of extinction due to habitat loss and the black market pet trade (lots of shady characters, mob connections and even….MURDER), the other a story about the life of an orphaned baby bongo antelope who beat the odds to survive, and her new role as ambassador for a program that has brought her species back from the brink of extinction through captive breeding.  That,  and the successful-nobody-thought-they-could-do-it return of these majestic creatures to their homeland on the protected slopes of Mount Kenya. Get your tissues ready—it’s a tear-jerker. 

So, how the Hell do you put that into an email that is supposed to be two paragraphs no more than 5 sentences each?  That’s what I hear is recommended in a “cold call” like this because celebrities are inundated with requests and if your communication doesn’t grab somebody’s attention in, like, 10 seconds or less it’s one more dumped in the queue headed for the recycle bin.  Notice, I used the word “queue”, which is British, as is Mr. Gervai…I mean Ricky.  Ever since I’ve considered contacting him, all the conversations we have in my head are with British accents.  Yes, I am an idiot.

This stuff just stumps me.  I guess I’m supposed to strap a GoPro on me and run through the field with Delilah for YouTube, or stage some sort of Vine that you pray goes viral featuring Ninta and her toothbrush massages, but I HAVE A REAL LIFE SO THAT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.  I need the folks at Aardman Animations to do a Claymation video of Delilah inviting Mr. Gervais to her prom or something.  That’s still a thing, right? Young folks asking celebrities in a video to go to prom with them?  And yes, it’s Mr. Gervias—who am I kidding????  Hey, Delilah asking him to her prom is pretty damned good idea….hmmmmmmm….sigh, I need help.



Ninita getting a toothbrush massage.

The thing is, we really need someone with a supportive audience and a strong public presence to help us.  We may be a tiny 30-acre facility at the end of a dirt road, but we are home to some of the world’s most endangered wildlife and we succeed where many larger organizations have failed.  Unfortunately, we’re not so good at attracting national support, or a “face”, for our cause.  Bring species back from the brink of extinction?  No problem.  Establish vast tracts of protected habitat home to some of the world’s most endangered plants and animals?  DONE.  Contact a celebrity and get them to support us?  NOT A CLUE.

Why Mr. Gervais?  Why any celebrity?  We live in a time where a recognizable face counts. A LOT.  And more to the point, I respect the man.  He speaks his mind, seems unafraid of voicing his beliefs, and we need that.  Someone willing to tell the truth regarding the status of our world and the incredible damage we have done to it.  And also to show that we can effect change, we can preserve what’s left of nature, but it ain’t pretty and it ain’t easy.  While I am grateful to the recognizable voices behind many “nature shows”, I don’t see Oprah, Morgan Freeman or Alec Baldwin willing to stand up and say out loud what we all know is true—humans have wrought a holocaust against nature with heinous consequences.  I believe Mr. Gervais has the balls to do just that and more.

So, Mr. Gervais, if you see this—please contact us.  There is a tiny monkey, some truly amazing parrots, and a young lady bongo antelope who really want to meet you.  Who really NEED to meet you. 

Now, to squeeze this into two paragraphs 5 sentences each.  Sigh…..

Kisses to you Mr. Gervais!

 

FeBLURary....

February was a blur...hence the title. For the past seven years, my good friend and wonderful artist Gisela Pferdekamper and I have joined forces to hold a wildlife art show benefiting the good works of the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation. This show, aptly called "Wild Things" began as a small, word of mouth event featuring a few of our local arts friends, showing works inspired by nature, held in Gisela's converted barn/studio. Our first year attracted about 100 folks and raised a few hundred dollars for RSCF. Fast-forward to 2013 and the show featured 18 artists from around the country and attracted over 350 guests, raising several THOUSAND dollars for RSCF! We done good! Each year the show gets bigger and better, yet still retains a "down home" appeal we are so proud of. Gisela's barn/studio is an ecclectic, wonderful space, tucked off a dirt road in the wilds of Loxahatchee, surrounded by a lush garden landscape, wandering albino peacocks, and a molluccan cockatoo named Pepitta greeting you as you come in. Gisela and I are so proud of this show and the fact that we hold it each year with a budget of around $500.00 (thank Heaven for our volunteers, friends and sponsors!). 

 

 

 This year's show was a BLAST. Great art, music, food (thank you International Polo Club and Wanderers Club Wellington), and more. Please visit our Flickr page for pics of the event. Planning and preparing for the show pretty much obsesses me for the bulk of January, and recovering (my word for "accounting") takes me through to the middle of February. When it's all over I heave a sigh of relief and immediately begin imagining next year's show. I'm a glutton for punishment!

 

In the meantime, I am so thrilled to be showing at the Copper Frog Gallery in New Jersey. Just sent them a box full of goodies, soon to hit their shelves. I hope they like the selection, and look forward to joining the CFG family. One of my favorite jewelry designers, Staci Klinger Smith also shows there, so neat to have my work alongside hers....I anxiously await reviews....

 

I also just sent a box to Plum Gallery in St. Augustine, one of my favorite spots on the planet. Karen Sheridan has created such a wonderful space on Avilla Street, right in historic downtown. The gallery is gorgeous, full of light and filled with wonderful works, including Karen's beautiful Key West inspired paintings. I am always looking for any excuse to visit St. Augustine...I may just have to head North to see what she thinks of the new work I just sent her...

 

Working on new designs as well--exploring steel wire bundles and color. I'm experimenting with Gisela using steel wire, glaze, and clay. Her kiln is loaded and I can't wait to see if my ideas worked or not. Will keep you posted, the firing is today. I've posted a couple pictures here of the first rings I've made featuring the wire bundles. The rusted steel wire ring is my favorite. I love rust, and steel rusts beautifully. Add MaryAnn Carroll's enamel copper discs and you get a gorgeous ring. The other ring is aluminum, with blue enamel steel bundle and a copper enamel accent. More to come.....

 

 

Finally, a ring I made right after this month's rather explosive celestial events. This "Asteroid" ring is created from a lump of black quartz druzy I set in sterling silver and brass, wth 14k gold nugget accents. I love this...very fun to wear and full of sparkle and mystery.

 

My head is overflowing with ideas these days, just have to find the time to execute them! My life is about to get even more hectic--as many of you know, I am a conservation biologist in real life, and soon will be hostage to hatching red-browed Amazon parrots, one of the most endangered Brazillian parrots. Eggs in the incubator, will be hatching next month. We feed the babies every 90 minutes around the clock, so sleep will be a distant memory...wish us luck!

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! 

I Made the TEAM and a Bunch of Other News...

Wow, is it 2012 already? IS IT FEBRUARY ALREADY?!?!? Time has flown and I've been woefully lax in posting here. If you don't already know, I also post quite a bit on Facebook, so mosey on over there and "Like" me!  Thanks!

Now, for the news.  Most recently I participated in the sixth annual Wild Things Art Show benefiting the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation.  What a great night!!!  This show is so special.  Artists from all around the country come and offer works inspired by nature.  The show is held at a good friend's home, in her studio that is a converted barn.  I've included a slideshow here of images from the night.  What a blast.  Live art demos, body painting, food, drink and best of all, INCREDIBLE ART. of all kinds.  Some of my favorite artists were there, including Anthony Burks, Melinda Moore, Donatella Linari and Norman Gitzen.  The highlight of the night for me was when New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag purchased one of my newest and HUGEST designs called "Dreams to Desire" (pictured here).  This necklace is one of my favorites ever, a collaboration with the uber-talented Staci Louise.  I'm so thrilled!!  The event raised a nice bit of money for RSCF, all in support of wildlife conservation.  We will be posting a smaller, online version of the show so you all can have a chance to buy gorgeous art and support RSCF as well.  I'll keep you posted!!!  By the way, I always donate 25% of my Etsy sales to this wonderful organization, so please, visit my shop and BUY SOMETHING....thanks :)

Next, I have to tell you how excited I am to be chosen by Nunn Design to join their 2012 Innovation Team.  That means that every month I get to play with Nunn's wonderful line of jewelry supplies, creating whatever I feel!  I can't show you the work yet, but I can tell you that I am very impressed with the quality of Nunn's componants.  I am especially in love with their chain.  Comes in so many styles and finishes!  Weighty and really top-notch.  I definately suggest you immediately go there and purchase some.  You won't be dissapointed.  Great value as well!  AND, they have endless bezels in tons of shapes, forms and design.  Perfect for resins, big stones, and all the crazy bits and pieces I love to work with.  When I got my first "goodie" box I felt like a kid a Christmas!  As soon as I can I'll share images with you.  Check out the site, but set aside some time to do so, they have so much to see!

What's next?  Well, 2012 will be a great year for us all, right??  I'm showing a new line of work at a new Gallery in Lake Worth run by the Cultural Council.  No jewelry (gasp), instead, I am focusing on a new series of mixed media relequaries and totem boxes.  The series is called "Fly" and features antique doll parts along with lots of other weirdness.  Flight is such a magical thing, and birds are a big focus in my life.  So, these boxes will be on display only in this Gallery (for now).  Here are a few images....I'd love to hear what you think of them!  This year I hope to expand this series and work with more non-jewelry designs.  Have no fear, I'm making jewelry, but want to flex other design muscles as well.

Whew, that's a quick update...I'll try to post more often, I swear!

Not Enough Hours in the Day

Hello!  It's been forever (it seems) since I've posted.  As with so many of us, life is so busy!  I have been working closely with a wonderful little co-op gallery in Lake Worth, Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery, run by Joyce Brown, a talented sculptor and supporter of all things art.  Joyce is a real voice for the arts community in Lake Worth and has a spectacular back story involving peddling to the Amish, promoting hippy folk concerts and proudly declaring her Communist affilitations.  I love her.  The gallery is a funky, ecclectic mix of everything from gigantic metal sculpture to fused glass earrings.  The member artists (28 and counting) all work together to keep the doors open and host events twice a month.  It's a big challange to keep the gallery up and running, considering todays economy and wholesale evisceration of most communities arts budgets.  Anyway, I help the gallery by running their Facebook page and blog, both of which I expect you all to immediately follow and "like".  Go ahead, I'll wait till you get back....

Thanks!  Now, on top of working with the gallery (where I also show my work), I also manage several other blogs, websites and Facebook pages for both my jewelry business and my "real job" with the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation.  Again, please follow, like, etc.  As much as I enjoy working with social media and web design, I am at capacity with all the groups I support, and find I need to somehow figure out how to juggle it all AND find time for my own work.  Welcome to the digital age.

So, what have I been up to?  Well, last Sunday we hosted the fifth annual WILD THINGS Art Show in support of RSCF's conservation programs.  This event is held every year in Loxahatchee, right around the corner from RSCF, at a private studio owned by Gisela Pferdekamper.  Gisela is a wonderful artist--famous for her "fat horse" sculptures and paintings.  Every year she allows us to hold the show in her studio, a converted barn.  The space is amazing and we have a great time.  All the art is wildlife inspired and this year we had some of the best artists in the region.  I have to give a "shout out" to a couple of artists that joined us for the first time this year.  First, Anthony Burks.  Anthony is a spectacular painter/mixed media artist and his work is just breath-taking!  We are so lucky to have him in the show!  He created the bongo painting you see here specifically for the event, and it sold (of course).  Check out his online portfolio and prepare to drool....

Next, check out Melinda Moore's art photography.  GORGEOUS work, almost dream like.  Her bird photos are just stunning.  Again, a great addition to our show.  We look forward to seeing both Melinda and Anthony again next year.

Finally, I have to thank Georgette Pressler of Devious Body Art for her amazing work during the show.  She painted Andy Fields into a living cornucopia of wildlife!  Parrots flock across his face and shoulders, while bongo graze on his chest and abs....Can you say SUPER-COOL-AMAZING?  Whate a great night...

So, I've been busy!  AND, I've been making a whole new line of necklaces using vintage photos and tin types.  More on that later...this post is long enough!!  See you later...