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Signs of Life 2009 Facere Jewelry Art GalleryOctober 7-28Every year the Facere Gallery puts together a show with an interesting twist: each invited artist submits a photo of a major work, which is then is given to a writer to serve as inspiration for a poem, essay, or story. The two are published together in a lovely glossy journal. The exhibition of the submitted works opened on October 7. A number of the artists and writers showed up for a public presentation beforehand, where we showed slides and read passages from the journal. It was fantastic to meet so many of the participants, to see their work, and to hear the stories read aloud--it really brought the whole project to life!
My catalog piece was Choros, a necklace made of 11 torsos carved in the classical style. In the accompanying short story, writer Erica Baumeister cannily describes a visit to the Louvre--the very place where I got the idea for this piece. I also submitted a large maple pendant, Veneer (not shown), that looks sort of abstract but is in fact a portrait of Victoria Beckham's overengineered cleavage, and two brooches depicting cleavage of another kind. I carved the plain version, Low Rise (below, middle), a while ago, after trying in vain to find jeans that were neither matronly nor obscene. Further thoughts on sacral display led to Swallowtail (below, top), which is "tattooed" with a wood-burning tool, and Formline (below, bottom), whose lacquered thong also alludes to the sinuous lines seen on much native Northwest Coast art. 
My repressed childhood preoccupation with dolls seems to be resurfacing. This pearwood piece-in-progress is made up four unattached limbs that can be restacked into different configurations--doll as building blocks. My friend Gary's trenchant assessment: "So did Hans Bellmer and Louise Bourgeois meet in a dark alley?"
I've been wearing this carved maple cuff around Manhattan today, and as far as I can tell, no one has taken any notice of it. On the other hand, I have been getting an unusual number of complements on my dark pink leather gloves (which are thin enough that I can wear the cuff on top of them).
I just spent the day at the Baum School in central Allentown, PA, where my friend Janna Gregonis teaches jewelry classes. The Baum is a fantastic regional resource for artists of all ages and the jewelry students are an enthusiastic mix; I squeezed into the bench between a high-spirited emergency room PA and a white-haired firecracker celebrating 61 years of marriage (or to be specific, "Twelve good years!").
My own "studio" is comprised of hand tools stuffed into a plastic box, so I get a little tunnel-vision when I have the chance to use torches, rolling mills, anvils, and the like. I worked on 4 rings, including 2 cocktail honkers that I started planning last year when such things were in style. Since I never really had much basic training as a metalsmith Janna had to provide some coaching, and I can now say with certainty that if I lived within a 3-state radius I'd sign up for her classes.
Another carved alder panel--similar to Daphne, but Glance is a single panel and the eye is considerably larger.
In addition to my recent forays into larger work (by which I mean 6 inches rather than 2), I've also been trying to relax my finishes a little, to leave something to chance or nature. Hence, I've been soaking pieces in water, throwing them down the stairs, or, as here, going after them with a hot torch and a vigorous wire brushing. This example is beech (I think), about 11".
