Show News! And help please

First, the big news: I got my acceptance email from Norwescon Dealers' Room Monday! That means I will definitely be there with an abundance of stuff. Now I just need to make some decisions about hotel arrangements and locate an assistant.

 The graduation show went well. There was a decent turnout and some sales. I'll be making more leaf things, as they continue to be very popular.

My Professor's only advice about my display was that I should probably have more color.  I'm inclined to agree, and am looking for ways to incorporate my shade of purple into things.  I'll almost certainly be able to add some in the sign and frame, and there may be a new tablecloth or overlay as well.  The fun part is going to be transferring the aesthetic from an art show display to a dealers' room table.

So I mentioned above that I need some assistance with Norwescon. I need some assistance with Rustycon as well. The job mostly involves covering the booth during lunch and if there ends up being a daytime panel I need to go to, as well as help with setup and breakdown. There's a con badge in it for the person chosen, and likely some meals as well.

Shows, Sales, and everything else!

Tine for catching up!  Most immediately, we've got a big sale going on in the Artfire shop.  There's a coupon code for half-off everything in the "clearance sale!" category.  Also there's free shipping on everything right now.  The sale will run till Tuesday.

Other big news:  I'm graduating from my jewelry and metals program this winter!  Part of this process involves having a solo show, and mine will be on Friday, Dec 16th, at Wayward Coffeehouse, at Roosevelt and 65th in Seattle from 6pm to 9pm.  I even have a postcard for it!

All of the pieces featured on this postcard will be at the show along with some other spectacular things.

Speaking of things you haven't seen yet, here's another pendant:

I'm exceptionally pleased with the smoke effect from the double silk ribbon necklace.  I think I'm going to switch everything over to silk cords and ribbons.  At the least it will lend some consistency to my presentation.

Also, speaking of shows, I'm all lined up to be in the Dealers' Room at RustyCon January 20-22, 2012.  I've got my paperwork in for the Dealers' Room at Norwescon, but I don't know yet if I'm going to get a slot.  I should probably snag an art show table to feature some of my really spectacular pieces, just in case.
OryCon was a pretty fun show.  I seriously had the slickest, most professional display of all the 3D artists.

I sold a pendant and a print, and spent an awful lot of time at concerts.  Also, I think some of the northwest convention regulars are starting to recognize me.  :-)
I'm going to be away from home and studio for a couple weeks right after RustyCon for a desperately needed vacation, during which I'll be filling my personal twitter feed with pictures of things like pineapples full of rum.  With any luck I'll come back full of ideas and new solutions to vexing engineering problems.

That's about it for now.  There will be further updates on progress towards the graduation show.  If you're in the Seattle area at the time, feel free to stop in.

Late again, but with good reason.

Right, so, finals at school ate my life, time, energy, and brain.  The worst thing about finals in art classes is that it's not really an exam.  You basically take all the art work you did in class, display it, and stand up in front of the whole class and justify your existence...including your failures.

Epic Fail: Spirit of Earth

This was supposed to be "Spirit of Earth", AKA The Green Man.  It has bubbles, both ruptured and not (the popped ones you can see the base color in), as well as silver wire that has separated from the enamel.  This was mostly my hubris biting me in the ass.  Between the bad engineering decision that resulted in a face full of cracks (It's heavy enough metal that I can wait and counter-enamel at the end!), the physics-lacking jury-rigged solution (If I flip it over and counter it now, all the cracks will melt back together and everything will be ok), and over-firing at the end, the glass melted enough to allow the cloisonné wire to start falling out, and the glass to run down them.  It's a small miracle I didn't seriously damage the school kiln.  The only thing that survived were those totally perfect eyes...mocking me.



In happier news, Water is done:

Spirit of Water

I am pleased, especially with the metallics I got in the darker brown and the water.

Firebird!! Also in today's issue:marketing materials

The "Spirit of Fire" firebird was finished on Wednesday.  It was a royal pain and a learning experience, but it's done.  It took approximately 6 firings

I also have a whole series of pics of most of the process, but I'm still sorting those out.  So, for next week, we'll have process pics, and probably "Spirit of Water" as well.  That one's currently in the "fugly" stage, and I expect to have it done in another day's work.

I'm currently venturing into bookbinding for a school project, and that's been interesting.  My art business class requires us to have 2 portfolio books to show at the end of the quarter (a little more than a week from now), one big fancy book (for meetings with shops, galleries and clients), and one leave-behind book (to leave with those shops, etc. so they'll remember you).  I'm making the big portfolio from scratch, and playing with a couple of ideas for the leave-behind.  Since I'm running with copper, silver, and purple for my main colors it's been interesting to try to get the right balance and not go over the edge into gaudy.  I've got several options for the less-elaborate leave-behind portfolio.  There's the standard black vinyl with permanently bound-in page protectors, the 3-ring binder, the paper or plastic presentation folder with brads, and professional binding (which is expensive).  But, I found, in Office Depot, a form of spiral comb-binding that doesn't require a special machine to work the comb.  I'm thinking to try that in letter and half-letter size, just to see what it looks like. I've also got a few of the standard black variety in case the experiment looks odd or otherwise doesn't work.

Sheesh.  An artist's work is never done.

elemental creatures

So, the new Big Project is the Elemental Creatures series, which I hope to debut at NorwesCon. It's my first major endeavor in enamel illustration.  I'm nearly done with Fire, have started Water, and have a working sketch for Earth.  Air is still a bit in the planning stage. Hopefully next week I'll have all the pics of "Creature of Fire" ready to show you.  I'm trying to document the whole process, through all the firings, etc.so all the exacting work is visible.

I'm also starting to look into project management software; something to help me keep track of my time and stay on top of my production schedule.  I've just done some figuring out of how much I need to sell to be sufficiently profitable, and producing that much may be a challenge.

Conventions and enamel astronomy!

The biggest news this week it that I've confirmed my travel plans and will definitely be at ApolloCon in Houston, TX, June 24-26.

The second-biggest news is that Claws are officially going into production!  I got the samples from my machinist today, and they're awesome and worth every penny.  So, look for copper, brass, and bronze claws available on Etsy and ArtFire soon (probably tomorrow or Wednesday).

The third-biggest news is pics of the solar system buttons.   I've got them displayed nicely on a piece of black velveteen in a shadow box frame with comets and an asteroid belt made of low-grade pearls.  They will be available for sale beginning at the ApolloCon Art Show.  they're each about 1" across, and I think I'm going to ask at least $300 for the set.

3/1 UPDATE:  This piece now has an official name.  It's called "One Sun, Nine Planets, Many Moons, Assorted Rocks"

Whole display with comets and asteroids

One radiant Sun

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Moon

Earth and Moon together

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

 And, last, but certainly not least (in my eyes):

Pluto

 I think that's all the news I have available for the time being.

becoming legitamate, and other legal matters

I know I'm late again.  I'm probably going to change official posting day to Monday or Tuesday, so when I'm late, I'm not so terribly late.  My lame excuse this time is that I spent the weekend in Pasco, on the other side of the mountains, having my convention art show debut.  I didn't manage to sell anything, but learned a lot about lighting and display, and made a few connections.

The big news this week is that I'm going to go legit in the eyes of the law.  I'll be registering name/business with the state department, getting my sales tax #, and possibly even getting my city business license, too.  And that's just the local stuff.  I'm going to be trademarking name/logo as well.

In more creative news, I've finished the solar system buttons!  I'm not terribly happy with how the sun came out, but I'll live.  There should be pics of those in the next few days (they're taken, but not edited yet).  My first set of copper plates for the elemental creatures series arrived on Monday, so I should be able to get going on those in fairly short order.  I think I'll do a Seasons series next, and after that, I'll probably start a long, intermittent series of "species of firebird" (you know, fire peacock, fire hawk, fire sparrow, that sort of thing).

That is all the news for now.  Hopefully there will be pictures soon.

I am a bad, bad, blogger

Apologies for skipping last week.  I spent the weekend doing business research and having major personal revelations and was so exhausted I forgot to write.  The practical upshot of it all, though is that it is my goal to have work to fill at least one panel at the Norwescon Art Show (4/21-4/24).  I'm concentrating on the enamel/illustration part of my art, since I can make that on-topic (Sci-Fi/Fantasy, if you're wondering).  I intend to do more elemental panels to go with the "Creature of Air" mirror.  I don't know if I'm going to make mirrors of them, or just leave them flat wall pieces, but I do know that I'm going to photograph them and do prints.  So that's really the only big announcement I have.

Mirrors (finally)

So, of the mirrors I did for class, here are the 3 most spectacular.

"Fairest":  Chased Copper Knotwork Frame

This one is meant to have a 4"x6" oval mirror in the center eventually.  Modeled on fairy tale "magic mirrors".

"Creature of Air" Cloisonne Enameled Copper Hand Mirror

Putting this one together gave me fits, since the front is another formed piece.  The enamel went beautifully, though, and putting the face in the cloud was one of those decisions that was made just as I was starting to lay out the wire.  There is a 3" round mirror on the other side, and I used this one to do my makeup just before my presentation. 

"Earthly Concerns" Cloisonne Enamel Pressed Powder Compact

This whole design flowed from the stone, which reminded me of nothing more than a tree trunk.  I'd also been wanting to do a compact since I started enameling last summer.  I think I need to work on function a bit more.  Inside is a 3" round mirror and a place for a pressed powder pan.