Movin' On Up!!

Just like George and Weesie, I am very pleased to announce that my beloved Graphic Jewelry Collection "is movin on up". But instead of going from Harlem to the East Side... Graphic has gone from my basement studio to the brand new (and beautiful) Creative Expressions Art Gallery in Mequon, Wisconsin.



I must admit that I am very proud of my little collection... getting to hang out in a gallery with amazing works of art and talent.

And the best part of having my work accessible to the public is the increased amounts of feedback. Today, the gallery owner told me that "Graphic Triple Pendant" receives the most attention. This is great to know since I feel a burst of creative energy coming on and plan to create a similar design.

Once again, until the pieces of the Graphic Jewelry Collection take up residence with you (hint, hint) they can be found at the Creative Expressions Art Gallery.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Have a "Graphic" New Year

Happy New Year everyone!! I hope that 2009 brings each one of you success, health and happiness! If you are one of those resolution people, I hope you make progress before your list becomes a bookmark.

What I really want to do this year is MOVE inventory and properly roll out my new jewelry collection. I call this line "Graphic" because all of the pieces contain at least one element with a texture that quite frankly reminds me of graph paper.

"Graphic" has been in the works for over a year now. I've been playing around with textures and decided on this one because I love the way it looks with simple shapes. I think it makes the finished piece look powerfully elegant and boldly simplistic. (make sense???)

After I had the texture process down, I began designing and fabricating pieces right after Christmas 2007. Next came testing "Graphic" at shows last spring and summer. Customers seemed to like the unique texture that lends very well to mixing and matching.

I am very pleased with this collection and can't wait to add more pieces. Keep an eye on my Etsy store and Facebook page to see the items that get added on a continual basis.

My Art Show Application Experience: Paperwork

Well, I think I finally figured out why the art show application process bugs me so much.

As I was preparing my final round of paperwork today, I kept being reminded of my former life as a human resource consultant. I spent a lot of time in those days recruiting, selecting and placing hundreds of folks in positions with companies. More importantly, for every person placed were dozens that were not. Why?? Well there's all sorts of reasons and I really don't want to rehash too much of the past... but one reason is not taking the application seriously.

Now I admit that I was a tough critic, especially when getting a ton of applications for one position that needed to be filled asap. I've permanently "filed" plenty of incomplete, sloppy and grammatically-challenged first impressions. Now I do NOT want that to happen to me, especially when a few shows make up most of my revenue for the year. So when I complete an art show application, I put myself in the position of the selection committee faced with hundreds of applications for one 10'x10' piece of pavement.

So my advice... take time and care when preparing your applications. Supply all information requested, print clearly, organize your paperwork and remember that you only have one shot at making the first impression! And if that doesn't motivate you, think about the non-refundable application fee... that always makes me want to give them my best!!

A few more tips:

• make a file for each show to house info supplied and received.
• have a ready-made, short blurb about yourself and your work.
• send materials directly from the post office to avoid exposure to weather.
• pay careful attention to requirements and deadlines.
• pray!

Good luck everyone and come back to hear my thoughts on jury images!

It's All Greek (and Jewelry) to Me...

This past summer, I was blessed with an amazing opportunity to spend two weeks in Greece following in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. I traveled with a group of 40 lovely people and one awesome tour guide. Together we explored the ancient ruins all over that beautiful country. Everyday of the trip brought one breathtaking experience after the other.
Click here to see a few of my favorite photos from the trip.

It was truly a wonderful trip... very inspiring both as a Christian and as a jewelry designer. Standing in the same places that saw major biblical and historical events, made me feel awestruck.

It only took a few moments for me to realize that taking pictures of Greece wasn't going to be enough. I wanted to take Greece home... and that's what I did! I decided to collect leaves from plants that adorned the popular attractions and from ordinary places. Now in my studio I have dried leaves labeled, "poplar leaves from Olympia", "plant outside Paul's prison in Philipi", "laurel leaf growing next to the Parthenon in Athens" and "ivy leaf from the stream where Paul baptized Lydia".

I know that my travel mates thought that I was nuts at times, but I kept telling them that I had a plan for those leaves. And now everyone can see a little bit of my imagination come to life in the photo above. Here I have cast an olive leaf (left) from the grounds of Philip's tomb and a laurel leaf (right) from Apollo's temple in Delphi. I'm not going to bore you with the process, but I painted each leaf with several layers of a paste form of pure silver. After completely drying, I fired them in a kiln, applied a patina, polished and voila... perfect leaf impressions made of pure silver (click on the photo above to view larger). The process took about a week working at mom speed and I look forward to making more with the leaves that did not get ruined by the Greek heat or my cat.

The photo on the right is the olive tree that "gave" me a leaf.

The photo on the left is the laurel tree that did the same.

*

Thank you trees!!! (and security guards for looking the other way!!!) and by the way the, the stones behind the leaves above are actual pieces of ruins in Corinth and Ephesus... but don't tell anyone!!!.

More Productive Than Planned

In yesterday's blog entry, I mentioned that a late night for me ends at about 10pm. However, last night (for some strange reason) I got a second wind and worked until 12:30am. I popped a DVD in the computer (it was "Beauty Shop" with Queen Latifah, which I recommend as a cute flick) and worked on creating some silver components for my Spring 2008 Collection. This is the first time that I'm looking at the design process as creating a group of similar, interrelated items. So for this spring I've been working on a new body of work called "Graphic" that features mesh textured silver components like in this piece http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8629230. My goal is to debut these items at the upcoming Wearable Art Show in Cedarburg, WI in April 2008. So far I have 3 necklaces, 2 bracelets, 2 pendants and several earrings. My goal is to have 10 production pieces (that could be made several times) and 5 one-of-kinds. We'll see how it goes...

Not only did I stay up late working, but when I finally got to bed it took me another hour to actually fall asleep. My mind was racing with design ideas and to-do items... why does that always happen?! Then I had to get up early because my cat, Foster, thought it was time for a little mishchief -- and to torture me!

I rolled out of the bed, kissed the boys and got back to work. I got some more components ready for the next step. By the way, for those of you who don't know... there are sooo many steps to creating even the most simplest-looking, handcrafted jewelry items. So show your jewelry designer (me) a little love!

I also spent quite a bit of time researching international shipping and am now happy to say that MAMA MAYBORNE DESIGNS is now a global operation, shipping world-wide. Actually, I'm still waiting for an order to come from outside the US... but when it happens... I'm ready! Check out the low shipping rates in my shop at http://www.mamamaybornedesigns.etsy.com/.

Thanks for your time!