Earring Project

Mistakes are fun.

Levels and patterns

chicken vertebrae

from bulbous to bobblovelies

I love the process of creating these brooches, very reminiscent of molecules, chemistry sets here i come.

In my quest for molecules waiting to become the perfect broach I found a wonderful website called molecule of the month.

But the molecule that captured my fancy happened to be absinthe, from a site called 3Dchem. Maybe its the coincidental color of the wooden balls I use, or just the interesting back story, either way my first molecular brooch will have to be a tribute to the green fairy.

anyway here are my non-molecular beginnings.

bulbous clover

Shelton Walsmith was kind enough to allow me to work from his paintings and explore enamelling techniques. In doing so I fell in love with a shape of his ... I call it the bulbous clover.
Shelton sent through an amazing email on color which I have included below. I displayed it along with pictures of Shelton's work and my color experiments.




Family von bulous



Shelton Walsmith on color:
_________________________________________________________

good to talk to kristin
i'm amazed at the power of color. it's a long engagement for any artist. thinking always bilingually about color and music is helpful in that i find i can build rhymes +couplets from a series of repeated chords and colorings. that thereare only a few to work with at a time is not a curse but a blessingof focus. diversity and variety are born in a myriad of shades shifting amidst the limited palate. i've never thought for a moment "this my color theory", ever. color has its own humor to tell you if its funny or sexy or not. i find fluency in certain color combinations, from there i'm liberated to struggle with image or the figure that inhabits the color field. the figure may be a rectangular letter slot or it may be an ear of corn, it doesnt matter as long as the color is singing and continues tosing with revisits.
one simple experiment i want you to take away from this is a tried and true technique of smoky glazes. these sfumato washes are used by everyone from leonardo da vinci to ross bleckner. paint an oil painting and let her dry......when shes dry to the touch, nothing comes off on your fingers, then take black oil paint thinned down toa transparent wash (test it on newsprint you should be able to readthru it) coat the painting with this substance. what occurs is that darks of the painting darken deeper and the overall tonal intensityis subdued. if your painting has a built up impasto the texture is enhanced in the thickened paint by the wash, an increased shading is apparent in raised surfaces. you can leave this as the final face of the painting or further enrich and re-intensify contrasts and separations with a finishing varnish or you can use the smoked, toned down painting as a point from which to continue painting. i think light is color's greatest gift imparted, light is sacred or profane with illuminates or expoits.
carry the day by having practically no illusory depth or picture.this most apparent when paint is trowelled on as it would be en masse to a wall.in terms of illusion the mastery of color is first a command of tone and tone has its own mastery over the maker and the viewer's emotional response. as tone shifts the viewer experiences emotional resonance rising and falling like musical notes shifting from elated ascending majors to inward plummeting minors. so color is an opportunity to sustain light and life in the wet eyes of the painting due to these affects of tone and to the face + fabric of the surface. this is only a fraction of the knowable portents of color, with billions of shades the total effect is unfathomable. picasso liked to look at his own work and the work of others via black and white reproduction because, he said, he could see the structure better. color in this case is merely so much make up to draftsmen and sculptors of form and space; a can of something you slap on after the real work is done!
more soon,
sw

Brooklyn Artist Gym - Plus One Show Opening September 7

September 1-14 BAG Plus One Show

Opening reception Friday Sept 7, 2007 6-9pm

Huge thank you to Shelton Walsmith for submitting me as his +1.

Here is the website and a sneak preview of the show
http://www.brooklynartistsgym.com/events.html

Ships Ahoy

Time out for a visit home,
oh-mich-io-new-rhode-york.
Will return with a new camera and ideas a plenty.

Kris-eana drawing collaboration

Part 1 - Kristin drew, scanned and sent images to Jeana.
Who will go through the same process and we will create 4 masterpieces, ah ha h!
(she better not be in here cheating instead of waiting for the postal service, bad baby)
Some are fun and some are just a bit odd, but its all part of the game.

Idea from

http://www.sexliesandfairytales.com/

Here we come to save the day!!!

how 'bout some more tender lovin' from dear war monger motherland?

profile

it only took a year of left handed self portraits
to face my profile



how many kristin's can you find?

curiouser & curiouser part 2

drawings inspired by f. houtin
morphed into broaches

a quick sketch


and a brooch on the verge of a nervous breakdown

curiouser & curiouser part 1

this is my newest favorite project!
it involves putting my new metal working skills to the task
of building my own fantasy world.
as blueprints i used drawings which were inspired by this fabulous print called Frog by Francios Houtin, a Parisian etcher, draughtsman and print maker. i think it is easy to tell he has spent time as a gardener.



i am really intrigued by his early etchings (70s) and the shapes he uses. they seem to be begging to be interpreted as jewellery.

i first came across his work on bibliodessy and have been a fan every since. Check out more of his work at these galleries. Richard Reed Armstrong Gallery (or if you live in chicago you can go see it in real life!!) and Galleria del Leone.

who who who?

this is an ode to jayna
she sure loves owls, that jayna

worksplace

hear is a little peak at my workspace.

it is always changing

ahoy boaties!

welcome to jewellery in the form of a blog.
my little spot to share all of the twittering of my fingers.
I hope you enjoy what you see,

ciao