Art Bliss!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen I give you ArtBliss!
A new EAST COAST art Retreat!!! YES! Right here on our side of the world September 24 - 26, 2010 at Hampton Inn & Suites Washington-Dulles Hotel in Sterling, Virginia!
Pack your bags it should be a blast!

Sally Reed

Wanted to brag some more on student work from last semester. This is the work of Sally Reed. The first image is of her belt buckle. She was in my Metals 1 class and became entranced with texture. She's one of a handfull from last semester that are off an running and buying tools! Yay!

This is Shell by Geoffrey Jones

Very COOL!
A Shell ad shot in 1970 by Geoffrey Jones. This and his other short movies can be found on The Rhythm of Film DVD

Ron Pippin

and I give you Ron Pippin and his marvelous creations!

Polly Morgan

This is Polly Morgan:

















This is Polly Morgan's artwork!
Check it:

To Do

Many of you have heard me whine before about the mountain of "to do's". Well, Mary Ellen Golden sent me this article. In it Srikumar S. Rao talks about improving your efficiency through first taking note of your mental chatter.

Not a problem! where do I sign up?

He starts with
"Odds are you sometimes feel like you're swimming in molasses. Your strokes are good, with power in them, but you're just not moving forward as fast as you'd like. You look at your to-do list at the end of the day, and too many items aren't yet scratched off and will lengthen tomorrow's list."

Oh, TOTALLY! I am SO on board.....

And here's his crystal clear nugget:

"Listen. Here is a fact of life. When you label something as bad, you are very likely to experience it as bad. In fact, you're almost certain to. But as your own experience has shown you, you never really know at first whether what happens to you is good or bad. You may not know for years. You may never know..... When you refuse to label something that happens to you as bad, then you don't experience it as adversity, and bouncing back is much easier. When you don't fall down, you don't have to get up."

SO wonderful! I have been trying to teach my daughter this, I try to help my friends through crises with this type of thinking! I just need to be reminded myself.

Last night I was distressed about a million things. I was laying staring at the ceiling. Robert walked in took one look and said,"What's wrong with you?" I told him.
He sighed and said,"How can you think that when your the luckiest person I know!" "I AM?!" I reply.
"Yeah, you wanted to be accepted to grad school, Ding!
You wanted to teach at Artfest, Ding!
You wanted to be accepted at more art retreats, Ding!
You wanted a job at CFCC, Ding!
You wanted your daughter full time, Ding!
You wanted a studio at Wabi Sabi, Ding!
then you wanted a studio at home, Ding!
You wanted to live in this house, Ding!
then this spring you wanted a new (used) car, specifically a Subaru, Ding!
You wanted your summer school class to fill, Ding!
You wanted me, Ding! (I know right?)...
the Universe just LOVES to give you stuff!"
Obviously I was laughing by the time he listed himself!
Hmmmm, he has a point!
Well then! Now I want to do a book! I want to travel to Europe again. I want a Dumore small precision drill press... all doable!
but I better not get toooo carried away! ;-)

Tara & Bella

Oh, you will cry! but it'll be worth it!

Mission Accomplished

Well, I got a packet today from the Humanities secretary... my student's evaluation of me as a teacher.



I couldn't look at it.

I was too scared.

I always have good comments, but there's always one or two that have criticism. That's not such a bad thing, but it's hard for me to be objective. I take it too personally. I've tried to tell myself all the things one would, "You can't please everybody. It's not about being liked" or "They have a valid point and I need to grow as an instructor." etc......

Their responses are typed, so I have no way of knowing who wrote them, but it's still scary to be criticized. I am throwing my all students a cookout tomorrow here at my house, I'd just gone and bought loads of hotdogs, buns beans.... and I told myself I wouldn't look at the evaluation until after, in case there was a bad mark and I felt hurt. So I'm listening to E-Town on NPR doing dishes... Robert's teaching in Raleigh and Meredith's gone to a friend's house. I have procrastinated a much as I can, and now I see the envelope staring at me. I open it against better judgement.

I burst out laughing. They're so funny! and glowing...

Excerpt from one:
"I love Ms. Manley... I wish I could fail and be with her again!"
Love this one: "She deserves a pay raise and her own parking space."
This one made me want to cry: "Ms. Manley is a great metals and life teacher."

How wonderful!!!! I feel validated. I'm only part time. So I only get paid for the actual hour(s) in the classroom, face to face with the students. The extra time I put in with out pay painting a old showcase to put their work in, or babysitting the student art show last week, the extra money I pump into the class when we need things I can't order, or time delivering work that wasn't picked up from the show, sweeping the floor, scrubbing the sink, repairing tools, or driving broken tools across town to those that can repair them.... all seem worth it now. I do those things because I love metalsmithing and I want to see people get to do it, who normally wouldn't. I can confidently say that all of these people who took my class this semester wouldn't be making jewelry and metal work if it weren't for the class at CFCC. Most of them would never even have been exposed to "art metal" or "art jewelry". So my work here is done.
Warm inside!

Ring of Bright Water

photo by Michael Franklin


Ring of Bright Water is one of my favorite movies. I'm ashamed to say I have not read the book. But I thought it a fitting title to this post. I've enjoyed reading Jake Stachovak's blog and want to share this paragraph from his About page with you:
"It's Not Really About Me - It's About the Water
It’s about you and all the people along the route, and anybody else that cares to listen. I’m not out to prove anything about myself with this trip. By many people’s standards it doesn’t even fit the description of an expedition. Paddling 5000 miles through everyone’s backyard isn’t “hard core” enough to compare to trips that probe remote arctic islands or cross entire oceans. What I hope sharing this trip does do is show people how paddle sports can open up a world of adventure right near home. I also hope that the route itself (starting and ending in the same small town in Wisconsin, linked by a continuous loop of water around a third of our country) shows how we all are linked by water. Perhaps with an appreciation for watersports and the realization that we all share the same water we may be motivated to take care of it for the future. "
You can read more here.

Robert & Jake as he loads up to head north.

Celebrity in the House!

photo by Micheal Franklin






Robert and I were lucky enough to host Jake Stachovak. Jake is kayaking from Portage Wisconsin in a loop down the Mississippi, around Florida, up the East Coast all the way back to Portage. Read about his amazing trip here!

A Steam punk romance. By keithnewsteadautomata.com

Oh yeah!

The Cog is Dead - "The Death of the Cog"

FUN!

the hissss of steam

Josh Sreb

I have to brag on some of my students. It's the end of the year at CFCC and I'm taking photos of the final work. I'll share some more as the week progresses. I just finished tweaking these images of Josh Sreb's work.
Isn't it WONDERFUL!?
I'm hoping Josh's work will be accepted into a new Quarry press book coming out, Steeeeeeeeeampunk!
And hopefully, we'll see more of his work as he progresses. This semester was Josh's first foray into metalworking! CFCC will be loosing Josh, along with a number of my other best students as they go off to other schools and pursuits. BTW- the cuff is for sale as is the second belt buckle pictured. I keep telling Josh and others that they need online stores/etsy shops. Let him know what you think!

Intimacy

So, it's late. I have to get up a 6. I should be in bed, but I feel verbose. I was recently thinking about a comment a woman made at my table of wares at Artfest this year. She said,
"wow, your work is so refined... and its so ... intimate." It just cropped back up in my mind and I'm swishing it around. How nice. I like it... intimate. Isn't that what jewelry does best? Its given intimately. Its small and requires a paring down of experience... a scaling down of vision. Keith Lo Bue talks about allowing the viewer in, and that being the choice of the wearer... I think I'm drawn to nuance as well. I like it when something's packed with nuance. Or when subtlety is used... a subtle transition from one edge to another, or a fading texture gradually dying off a surface. Ah.. so lovely... and when it's done well! a patina that is used just so... a fine file that has gently licked off a sharp edge and softened it and then been lovingly sanded to the silkiest of smoothnesses.... so nice.

Why am I enraptured with metal? I mean really, why? why not clay? I love clay! I used to adore it! but now its okay, I mean I like it an all. Why not oil paints or soil? I used to adore soil! ...and humus and roots and the warm smell of it on my hands, but now..
it is metal that I cannot stop thinking about. I drive the road, NPR playing in the background dreaming of how many different hinges I can make for one locket. How many different ways I can trap a shell in metal. How many different ways I could solder a platform onto a ring to raise it up differently each time. why does my brain do this? And then why is it so hard to actually make the metal sugarplums that dance in my head? It seems there's never time.
I guess it's back to that word, intimacy. I am intimately involved with copper and silver. We are in a love triangle we three.
Or is it an age thing? is there something about middle age when your brain kicks into high gear, but only on certain things? I can't remember my middle name but ask me a question about metal! ah well... it's a lovely affair.

Whitman

....walked out to the studio, after making diner, after teaching.... the late evening air was so cool, so lovely. No hint of the awful August ahead. The birds were still about. The cat snuck out beside my leg, exited to be loosed on the night world. I had mistakenly left the radio playing softly on a shelf. Even though the dinner in the house was in the oven, the timer about to ding, I thought I'd just flip on one soft desk light and touch some of my tools, revisit the project, one of millions I've had to abandon mid-process to go to a part time job. So I stole it, that soft moment at the bench, not even 4 minutes of time and then it happened. Just liek things like these do, there it was wafting out of the radio... someone reading Whitman.

I froze at the words. I've never payed one whit (no pun intended) of attention to Walt Whitman. I preferred the romantics or Rumi, but I could not ignore it. It sliced my thoughts open with such a quick clean cut. Here try it yourself:

"There's no object so soft that it makes a hub for the wheeled universe. And any man or woman shall stand cool and supercilious before a million universes. And I call to mankind, be not curious about God, for I who am curious about each am not curious about God. No array of terms can say how much I'm at peace about God and about death. I hear and behold God in every object, yet I understand God not in the least, nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself. Why should I wish to see God better than this day? I see something of God each hour of the 24 and each moment then, in the faces of men and women. I see God and in my own face in the glass. I find letters from God dropped in the street and everyone is signed by Gods name and I leave them where they are, for I know that others will punctually come forever and ever. And as to you, death, and you bitter hug of mortality, it is idle to try to alarm me."

so beautiful.... guess I had better pay more attention.

My New Etsy shop

Check out my new shop saltwatercowgurlz.etsy.com. The focus will be belt buckles and belts. I don't have any buckles up yet,soon, soon! But I have plenty of belts!

My Students Buckles

Thought I'd share some of Cape Fear Community College students' belt buckles:
Alex Kleiner, Aleah Smith ( has dried pansies under plexiglass) and Courtney Fryar.

Otter Skull Fetish

Here are pictures taken at the Iron Chef Artists Challenge by Rachel Bowen Thanks Rachel!!!
In these the fetish is still damp. I made it to hang on the wall. The sausage casings and concentrated watercolors dried lighter, and if I remember correctly some of the salt left a white frosty effect. BTW- the otter skull was a resin replica!! No otters were harmed in the Iron Chef Artist Challenge or the making of this art piece. Also the large chunk of coral was supplied by AF in the kit. As many of you know, I'm adamantly against using coral. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FARM RAISED OR FAST GROWING CORAL. these are myths perpetrated by the bead industry to fool you into purchasing guilt free. I almost had an argument with the bead store lady in Port Townsend. She insisted that there are farms in China that raise coral! Which I find preposterous. I was buying red glass there that looked coral and commented as such. But I just was weak at AF and used this piece that was provided.
Read more:
Oceana
Too Precious to Wear
World Wildlife Fund

Artfest Experiences

Hey! This is a photo by Adeola. I'm planning my creation at the Iron Chef Artist Challenge sitting next to Theo Elsworth, wearing his ghost glasses. She just a posted Artfest pictures on her blog! click here
You can see some of the great energy generated by the Iron Chef Artist Challenge and if you scroll down, I really enjoyed her pics of the journaling in the Kitchen Shelter by the beach. Love that tattoo! The bonfire journaling party is one of my FAVORITE events at AF the fire, the dogs and marshmallows, the creativity, the old woodstove going.... I well up with emotion!