laurieopal

Arrived late last night after some airline delays.  The  weather is an  unsanfrancisco balmy.

Tomorrow I get to put out the  jewelry including all the new work.  Have already seen lots of people I really like.

I'm moderating an interesting art/crafts panel.  Will be writing about it when I get back.

Mood:Elated

As I said the other day, I mailed Bayla Fine her ammonite tree pendant.

Today she called me on Skype and I got to see her wearing the pendant.  Since I design specifically for people, seeing it on them is important to me. She's in Massachusetts and normally I wouldn't see it on her for about 3 months.

This is a first.  I love my video phone.

Pendant is sterling silver ammonite and orange sapphires.

Did the very final jewelry work for Wiscon.  Made a small pair of cat/turquoise studs and a black feathered raven with a ruby eye.

Also a flamboyant necklace with large moonstone beads, vivid sparkling copper glass art deco beads, small amber beads and an art deco snake chain. The elements are very different almost contradictory and they _really_ work. I always love working with my grandmothers beads.  It makes me think of her.

Still need to photograph the two opal pendants that I'm bring to Wiscon for Nancy Cobb

I have some beautiful new stones for Wiscon including this one. It's a rare mixture of chrome diopsite and chrysacolla.

I'm leaving it this size so you can see the interior crystals that are clear in life, but not in a smaller photo. Actual size is 1.5"

The brilliant ammonite with orange sapphires tree design is set and finished, as is the black jade with the magnesium flowers.
They are for Bayla Fine's collection and I'm mailing them to her early this week.  I'm sorry I won't be there to see her open the package.

I did take photos .  The ammonite photo is great and shows both the design and the incredible colors in the stone. The black jade photo is only OK.  The flowers have a flashing chatoyance that's hard to capture.  It's stunning in person.

I've been working on my first bronze commission in a very long time (now that I'm working in bronze again).  It's for elisem and I've been working on it for quite a while.  It's done and I'm thrilled with it.  It's set with 3 orange Mexican opals and 4 small very colorful Australian opals.  I'm bringing it to her at Wiscon, so if you're there you should be able to see it on her.  I'm really looking forward to that.

Jewelry is well on it's way to being finished.  I'm also working on a group of photos of wild_irises from Women En Large for the Art Show.  I wanted to do something special since she is a guest of honor.  And I'm delighted that blogs from Body Impolitic, as well as a few of my photos, will be included in the guests of honor book Impolitic.

Mood: Driven

I'm working late but I wanted to post. 

I set the rings for Wiscon tonight and did a final polish on a pendant commission in electrum. Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. (It's found mostly in ancient jewelery and coins.) My electrum is half sterling silver and half 14kt gold. It's a lovely pale "moon" gold color.  I haven't worked in it in a long time, but I think I may do more work in it soon.

I have two new "creature" commissions right now. I have a very detailed one for a cat wrapped around a small gorgeous blue sapphire for an ear stud.  I'm actually working from particular cat portraits. I'm planning even in this tiny size of having a "feeling" of the portrayed cat although certainly nothing truly explicit.

And I'll be making a bronze pendant with octopus/octopi holding a natural garnet crystal for my friend SJ.

Looking forward to Wiscon.

Mood:Done for the Night

After Norwescon I spent a few days in Seattle seeing friends and as I said, loving their spring. 

When I came home I _too_ instantly got intensely busy doing the very delicate final work on some waxes I'd been working on for a long time.  And doing the metal work for folks from Norwescon  (ring sizings, chains etc.).  The waxes are done and in silver. Most of the Norwescon work is either out or should be out in the mail this coming week.  I feel like I'm only now coming up for air and writing here again.

New works include a  large brilliant patterned ammonite that I've set as the base of a leafless tree that reflects the pattern in the stone.  The branches have orange sapphire fruit.  I made a woven setting for a stunning black jade with magnesium flowers, different then any black jade I've seen before.

And I've cast two designs for opals.  One is is a textured ribbon setting with three blue opals, the other is a brilliant oval opal set in very asymmetrical lace.  All of the work is in silver. 

I'm still in the process of stone setting. There will be photos, but not until the folks who commissioned them see the jewelry.

I just finished the waxes for five new rings for Wiscon. It's hard to believe I'll be leaving in two and a half weeks.  The stones are golden quartz, a lapis shot with gold, a Peruvian opal, a pearl, and an orange cats eye sunstone.

I'm really happy that Debbie Notkin is a guest of honor at Wiscon.  I've just started getting together a group of photographs of her from Women En Large that will be in the Art Show.  I wanted to do something special for her.

Mood:Coming Up For Air

I'm back from Norwescon.  I saw lots of people I don't see enough of, and I had a lovely visit to Seattle spring. There were many  amazing cherry trees.

I'm posting now because as I write, the Allure of the Collection is opening at the National Museum in Osaka. Its the celebratory 35th anniversary exhibition of the National Museum of Art in Osaka.  I'm thrilled that I have six photographs in the exhibition (two from Women En Large and four from Familiar Men). And I very much appreciate the care they took with the accompanying text.



The exhibition is in two parts and presents some 350 works by approximately 150 artists from the museum's collection of over 6,300 items. The first part will introduce a wide range of contemporary art from the 20th and 21st century by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Giorgio Morandi, Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Yayoi Kusama, and Yoshitomo Nara.

The second part, the photography exhibition that includes my work, is contemporary photographs chosen from works that the museum has acquired since the mid-'90s. It consists of a diverse selection of works from both Japan and abroad. The exhibition catalogue includes my photograph Bob Guter.

I received my invitation to the opening a couple of weeks ago and I wish I could be there.  I was talking to my friend Rebecca Jennison today in Kyoto on Skype.  She will be taking a group of her students from Kyoto Seika University to the exhibition today and hopefully I'll get pictures. (if they're good enough I'll post them.)

Having my work in the museum twice in the last few months is wonderful.

All that's left is packing my clothes and roping and taping my boxes.  I'm leaving in the morning for Norwescon in Seattle.  I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone. And I love Seattle spring.

And I have more good news from Japan The National Museum of Art has just published “Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of Art, Osaka”.  I am delighted that my photograph of Bob Guter is among the chosen work.

I went to the Maharaja: The Splendor of India's Royal Courts exhibition at the Asian Art Museum on Friday in spite of all the intense work.  It closes while I'm at Norwescon..  The jewelry was amazing.



Interestingly  the work that was more inspiring for my art were some of the paintings.



And mind blowingly, this is a silver coach with enamel work - beasts, birds, florals, tassels and more.