emiko-o reware

So much press has come out in the last week or two for all my current local shows, it’s hard to keep up! Today local cable show, “Inside City Limits“  did an onsite interview with me as well as with Christine for Jewelry_cycle. Even after doing the artist talk at the museum on Sunday, I still managed to miss mentioning stuff during the interview. Hard to think ahead of myself while concentrating on looking natural and standing up super straight. Our 20 min interviews will get cut down to 7 min each anyway. Looks like it may air the first week of December, comcast cable channel 11 and 104 (not sure what that translates into non-comcast-wise).

In newspaper land, I was shocked to hear, then see that Lionize was chosen for the SF Chronicle’s Sunday Datebook, Art section. Check them apples out! If anyone local is reading this, I would love to have your copy of this Datebook page when you’re ready to recycle….

Man, that collar is sure living up to its name, even in it’s second generation. Another winning bathroom “studio” photo! Who needs fancy lights when you’ve got glossy Pantone paper and diffused natural light!

The SF Examiner came out with an opening week article (Oct 13) by Sasha Vasilyuk, for the SFMCD shows, and the print version here used the Queen Margherita necklace, the first of the Royal Jewels series (though not present at this exhibition). Click here to read the online version.

In Blogland, many many great posts: Capitolagirl.com interviewed me about the Royal Jewels show and my process and posted to her blog as well as to PoshMama.com, where I was the Friday Spotlight.

Fellow jeweler and blogger, Amy Tavern had a great post Friday as well, titled, “I left my jewelry in San Francisco”, which included the SFMCD shows among her Bay Area artscapades.

Jewelry_cycle was a hit with the bloggers too: the lovely Cindy Edelstein of Jewelry Business Guru kindly posted us. It’s great that the media has all managed to use different images  to depict this show.

Then American Craft got in on the act for their Calendar of Events, highlighting Reed Easley’s fan:

And last, but certainly not least, JCKstyle posted our show and Aimee’s bracelet in their online newsletter:

What’s next? Now if we could only get Population 2.0 (circuit board boxers) out there for some local event….

Mark your calendars for this Sunday, Nov 9 from 1-3pm when I and fellow Critique Collective members are hosting a Meet the Artists Open House at the San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design. Artist walkthrough/tour begins at 1:30. I’ll be giving a tour of My First Royal Jewels Jewellery Collection LEGO necklaces, and the Collective will be talking about the Jewelry_cycle exhibition.

Jewelry_cycle:Artists Discover Hidden Sparkle in the Discarded is an educational showcase of wearable treasures made from re-purposed and re-cycled materials. With the idea of an exhibition in mind, co-curators Christine Dhein and Christoph Koch asked the Critique Collective to create wearable art from a variety of small, discarded circuit boards. Circuit boards are commonly made from fiberglass, epoxy resin, and a variety of metals, which is likely to be one third of the material. These metals include copper, silver and gold, which add a precious element to what would otherwise be considered e-waste. These artists discovered the hidden potential, and transformed these materials to create brilliant, sparkling jewels.

Participating artists are: Shana Astrachan, David Casella, Christine Dhein, Reed Easely, Aimee Golant, Christoph Koch, Kelly Nedderman, and myself. Shout out to Christine for working extra hard to have the exhibit be super clean and pro looking! Check out Julian on the job!

Come join us and learn some facts about environmental waste and how you can do your part to lesson your carbon footprint while being creative!  Plus sit down and make your own jewelry from recycled toy parts at the MakeArt:Jewelry + Objects self-serve table that I developed.

Shout out to SCRAP and UGlu for being awesome sponsors of my MakeArt table and workshop!

Getting some of my exhibition pieces ready for the upcoming SCRAP show, which opens Monday, Nov 3 here in SF, called Recollections: Celebrating 30 Years of SCRAP. I can’t tell ya how much I love SCRAP (Scroungers Center for Recycled Art Parts)–I don’t know where I’d be today as an artist without such an inspirational source of materials. Even more fitting is that my Lionize II collar is on the postcard and PR, being that it is the reincarnation of the original Lionize collar which was the first serious exhibition piece i created 10 years ago from materials I salvaged at SCRAP.

The Market Street Gallery (1554 Market St, SF) is again hosting this SCRAP show, this time featuring 18 artists, which appears to be mostly female, including moi and my fellow recycling cohort, Christine Dhein.

I heard that the Bay Guardian had selected this show as its Monday Pick of week, very cool, and it didn’t occur to me until tonite as I was flipping through this politically laden issue (what to make of Prop H?), that hey, the show must be featured in THIS WEEK’s issue, since the opening of the show is Monday. Lo and Behold, almighty, can you believe what I saw:

Here’s a closeup–even has artist and photo credits–yeay!

What an amazing month it has been for PR!  For those who want to see the show, it runs Nov 3-25th, with an Artist Reception on Saturday, Nov 15 from 6-8. On Saturday, Nov 22 there will be a silent auction for which I’m donating the Mondrian Limited Edition bracelet (see right).

To attend the auction event, there is a $30 entry fee, the proceeds going to SCRAP; word on the street is that Ruth Asawa is donating a piece! Could be worth it to check out the auction….

For more info on the show and events, go to The Squid List.

Tomorrow: I hunt down the address of the SF Examiner’s Circulation Desk and get me that Oct 13 issue that apparently my LEGO necklace is featured in!

My circuit board boxer briefs, Population Control 2.0 are DONE and at the SF Museum of Craft+Design awaiting install! Julian is hanging out there, getting some special spa treatment with the other models–full body whitening. Before he left, we did some classic bathroom shots of the briefs.

This is the back view close up

Here is the front view closeup: 

Here is the text that explains the piece and will be in the show booklet:  “In Population Control 2.0, my initial idea was to recreate a belt based on a 1960s metal scalloped belt that I got from my boyfriend’s grandmother. But the circuit board pieces just screamed LAPTOPS and MALE, which led me to revisit medical studies on continual laptop use linked to male infertility. Not only is the production of computers toxic to our environment, it may also  hinder our ability to repopulate future generations.”

And in Pygmalion fashion, here it is in the flesh:

September must be The Hot Month for me artistically; not only am I creating a ton of exhibition pieces, but I am published in 3 new releases! Finally got my  Art Jewelry Today 2 comp book from Schiffer Publishing (see earlier post). Gorgeous spread of Lionize II and the glass Craft Tiara (the latter of which has been traveling around the world with the GlassWear exhibition ). The 3-page spread is too large to scan! They even printed my bio and individual artist statements.

Yesterday I got notice that my work is published in a U.K. publication titled, Adorn: New Jewellery, by Amanda Mansell, Laurence King Publishers.  Mostly European jewelers it looks like. Can’t wait to get that from ol’ Amazon.com….

And the cherry on top goes to the long awaited The Art of Jewelry: Plastic & Resin by Debra Adelson, Lark Books which arrived at my door last night.

Check this out: inside flap coverage, folks!!!

This is a how-to projects book, and my project is the Riveted brooch (which moonlights as my nametag at various events). Lark books are really improving their graphic design; more sophisticated layouts and superb photography. LOVE IT!

In case you’ve never seen my first ever Cartier in LEGO, let me introduce you to The Duchess. She debuted in Florida this winter at the Florida Craftsmen show, and will come out again for the upcoming show here.

Here she is:

Here is the original Cartier bib necklace in amethyst, gold, turquoise. Created for the Duchess of Windsor, 1947. 

So now you can meet the next reiteration of Cartier, Paris, The Duchess 2. It is based on an emerald and diamond necklace by Cartier, Paris, and a matching pendant by Harry Winston, 1960. They were created for, you guessed it, the Duchess of Windsor. Here is the original:

Here is my LEGO version using various sets handed down from cousin Jeanne & David. The large segment of the necklace breaks away from the rest of the necklace and can be worn as a pendant:

2 weeks and counting until My First Royal Jewels Jewellery Collection is to be installed at the SF Museum of Craft+Design. Amped up on adrenaline, the necklaces are really moving along. You’ve already seen a preview of Cartier Blanc, now for my Boucheron remake. Titled, Maharajah’s 6th, it is a take on the “white jewellery” craze of the 1920’s, just like the Cartier Blanc piece.

Here is the original Boucheron sketch of a necklace in diamonds and emeralds, designer for the Maharajah of Patiala, 1928.

Here is my necklace in the works:

Spent last weekend, chillin with Julian at our fav annual, luxury camping up in Willits, CA. Julian’s first campout, and was it hot! But boy, was he ready to strut his stuff (a little more so at the beginning of the weekend than at the end, as you can plainly see…). He’s no wall flower, this one. Outdecked most folks, plus we met so many new peeps without having to lift our behinds off the lawn. Well, mine anyway. He soaked up some rays (was a great sunshade for me by early evening!) and collected a few business cards along the way. Could have a few future art show gigs in the works…..

And look how much  work we got done! The male boxer brief is coming along nicely. A lot of planning the “fabric” structure, hence the yellow tape. Finished that leg this week and so on to the other leg tomorrow. One-of-a-gazillion projects on the table(s).

A trip to American  Apparel is in the works,  for some extra coverage undergarments (this is for a museum show, after all). Then we should be all set for the model shoot next week.

Say hello to the newest member of the Critique Collective, Julian! I picked him up tonite from a lovely photographer up in Twin Peaks who had killer view of the city. Christine found his ad on Craig’s list and I called his mother pronto this morning! He’s the model for the latest circuit board creation (see last post), which will not be a man thong after all, but boxer briefs such as pictured here. A bit more tasteful for a family-friendly exhibition, don’t you agree? Julian convinced me. So it will be a crafting camping car ride this weekend, hopefully much progress by monday. I should take him along for the proper fitting, but everyone knows that three’s a crowd, plus where would we put his all his gear, he’s such a diva….

On the recycling vibe, EVERYONE MUST watch this online video called, The Story of Stuff. It is a tad long (20 min) for watching on the sly at the office, but it is perfect for your lunch break. Very well done and poignant. The animations are very simple but entertaining.

Can you guess what percentage of the stuff we buy in America ends up in the trash within 6 months of purchase: A. 30%, B. 70%, C. 99%, D. 45? The answer: C. What in the world?!!!!
Here is a screen shot from the movie that lends some insight into the early makings of our consumerist society back in the 1950s; I may need to use this quote in an art piece .

Much has developed in the last week on the upcoming exhibition space at the SF Museum of Craft + Design. I’m developing the MakeArt Gallery: Jewelry and Other Objects activity table for the back room; a simplified version of the Accessorize with Toys workshop that Shana Astrachan and I will be conducting on November 15 in that same space. So for those who can’t make that Nov 15 date, you’ll have the entire run of the exhibition to stop in and create something of your own.

Complimenting that in that space the Critique Collective will be showing a BRAND new Group Project in an exhibition co-curated by Christine Dhein and Christoph Koch called, Re-Purpose, Re-Use, Re-CREATE! We’re all super pumped up and ready to get others on the Green Train. Hopefully I will get a chance to update the crit collective website to include the press release on that. Until then, click here to grab the pdf.

What’s this: A. Abstract depiction of California in an earthquake; B. The inside of an old computer I scavenged at SCRAP; or C. Future Man-thong.
If you chose C, you are Correct! Cher thong ensemble will be showing in the above crit show, and she will have a partner in crime. Here is a sneak peak of the parts I cut up a few hours ago. Think electronic jock strap. So far the title that strikes me is “Population Control 2.0″. Definitely conceptual, but will be wearable/lifesize. Commentary on how constant laptop use on male laps is being linked to impotence, using technology to create genetically superior offspring….