emiko-o reware

Nothing better than making the front pages of your hometown’s major newspaper! It only took me 15 years, but here I am featured as the Style &  Taste  cover story for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 11, 2012! Wonderful article, “Silver, gold, Lego: Precious links to the past are jeweler’s gems“ by John Petkovic – we had a long phone interview back last fall and it was definitely worth the wait. HUGE, multiple images accompany the article (photographed by me, Aryn Shelander, and Christine Dhein).  A different angle with this article, focusing on my Parma roots and start as a young recycling artist. Plus a nice quote from local retailer who carries my work in downtown Cleveland, Anne Van Hauwaert Fashion Design. If you’re in the area, stop in her boutique at Little Italy’s schoolhouse at 2026 Murray Hill #106, Cleveland, OH 44106.

As I say from time to time, “Cleveland Rocks!” To read the online version, go to cleveland.com or click here to see a larger image.

aegean slim bracelet

It’s been a crazy long week getting ready for (yes, Thanksgiving, but also) one of the two Holiday events that I’m doing this season, the first being HUGE, and THIS WEEKEND up in Sacramento! The 3-day, Holiday Art and Craft Festival presented by the Crocker Art Museum and Creative Arts League of Sacramento. They scouted me out at the ACC Fair this August and boy, am I glad to be in on a holiday show this big! Just wait til you see the NEW GOODS on my newly designed/crafted astroturf display area!  Not only more color combos and new LEGO jewelry, including more KIDS bracelets and new swingy long necklaces, but ALSO  LEGO Holiday Greeting Card, and ORNAMENTS. Deck out your tree with my upcycled Hugging Dinosaurs series as well as laser cut game board do-it-yourself ornaments. Even a TABLE TOP game board tree to hang all your great ornaments from!

Here are the details:
Where: Scottish Rite Center  6151 H Street, Sacramento
My Booth #: 114, in the back of the room, on an end of an isle
When: Fri, Nov 26, 1-7pm; Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 10am-4pm
Admission: $6 adults, $3 Students and Seniors, free for Crocker and CALS members

Hugging Dinosaurs ornament

For all you wanting to get your crafting fix on, join our Accessorize with Toys! Workshop at the CA Academy of Sciences March 18, 6-10pm. Part of the Academy’s weekly NightLife Thursdays (a club-like atmosphere with DJs), this one highlights SCRAP who is sponsoring us to do our Charmed! bracelet project. Shana and I are bringing primo game and toy parts, so come on out and make a super fabulous charm bracelet! Other SCRAP projects will be masks and cards from recyclable materials.

DJs on deck are shOOey, playing house and breaks, and shissla of SpaceCowboys. Sounds like a booty-shaking time to be had.

Take note that this is a 21+up event, and tix are $12 general admin, $10 for museum members. Best to get tix in advance, I hear that these Thurs. night events can sell out. Get tix here.

charm bracelet by Shana Astrachan

Well, not literally, but man, I haven’t seen such excitement in the bloggisphere for men’s underwear until now. Population Control 2.0 is on fire! All it takes is one good blog (and something tech related like circuit boards) and the rest follow suit (or manties, I should say). Ecouterre.com broke the story Jan 27th (featuring many of the Metal Art Critique Collective members work from our Jewelry_cycle show!).

Population Control 2.0 was originally created as part of a collaborative project by the Metal Arts Critique Collective to bring public awareness to the issue of e-waste and the benefits of recycling. Each member of the group was given access to small, pre-cut circuit board rejects to make a piece of “green” jewelry. The works were showcased in the exhibition Jewelry_cycle at the San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design in fall 2008. An accompanying catalog documented the artists’ process in making.

GreenMuze.com

While the circuit board pieces used for Jewelry_cycle were mostly from cellular technology, I tend to associate circuit boards with computers and guys and all that is geekery, this being the impetus for my Population Control 2.0 boxer briefs. Having a boyfriend who uses laptops for endless hours daily led me to revisit medical studies on continual laptop use linked to male infertility. Could it be a male form of birth control? My process in making the briefs became a public crafting event in which I brought all my tools, parts, and male dress form “Julian” to a 3-day chill music festival/campout and constructed the piece right out on the lawns. Working on “Julian” became the perfect icebreaker to engage the public in a dialogue about recycling, circuit boards, and art.

It gives one pause to think how technology will affect our generation’s health 10-20 years from now. Not only is the production and conspicuous consumption of computers toxic to our environment, it may possible hinder our ability to repopulate future generations.

Greendump.net

Shortly after Ecouterre posted the circuit boxers, then followed Apartment Therapy Unplggd, GreenMuze, Green Dump, Tree Hugger, Techtv101, Earth Blips, tweetmeme, Eco Friendly Mag, the Find Buzz, etc etc. Who knows where it will end (perhaps in traditional print?), but in the meantime I’m coming across some great eco blogs. Click on the links and see what I mean.

Treehugger.com

EcoFriendlyMag.com

EarthBlips.dailyradar.com

The opening reception for re/PURPOSE at the African American Art and Culture Complex was quite the turnout last Thursday–besides the show that Christine and I are in (there we are in the photo to the left), the Simply Nina show upstairs had its opening as well. Not only did so many artists show up, but city officials like Ross Mirakami (District Supervisor) came to celebrate the newly renovated spaces (next month the city will have an official ribbon cutting, since funding for the renovations have come from the city). In the downstairs gallery, each of our jewelry-wearing mannequins sits statuesquely in their own window, facing the lobby. Just before we left at 8pm, we got in a little papparazzi action in front of our work. Check out more photos on my flickr.

my "Maharajah" LEGO necklace

my "Cygne Noir" LEGO necklace

Christine's circuit board breastplate

Christine's runway circuit piece

Accessorize with Toys was again a superstar hit of the party, this time at the Renegade Craft Fair this past weekend at Fort Mason in San Francisco. The fair was both Saturday and Sunday, from 11am-7pm and our booth was rockin’ pretty much nonstop! This time Shana and I zoned in on helping people create specific projects: charm bracelets and keychains, which worked out perfectly for our limited 10×10 space (we actually prefer the more intimate setting). Over 50 people per day participated, and about 70 bracelets and over 30 keychains were made. Families, young kids, teenagers, adults, seniors, and fellow crafters alike sat with us in our crafty toy zone. Thanks to organizers Danny and Sue for promoting our workshop, both on the website and on other online bulletins! We can’t wait to come back next year.

Photos of our lovely participants and their creations are up on Flickr. It was great fun seeing everyone get revved up about making; we had SuperMoms (like this mom here to the right, who helped her 2 girls all the while with an infant strapped to her front), Super Dads, entire clans (thanks Pam for bringing your family and a donations bag!), best friends, other artists, you name it!

Our next stop on the Accessorize with Toys train is at SCRAP on Saturday, August 8. You get to use materials you find at SCRAP as well as what we bring. It’s going to be epic. Call or email SCRAP to register: 415-647-1746 or workshop@scrap-sf.org
Hope to see you soon!

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!

In the midst of setting up the SF Museum of Craft+Design show, I managed to whip out a necklace for Ethical Metalsmith’s Radical Jewelry Makeover. Revere Academy students were at it for 3 days and by the last night I couldn’t resist the piles of random costume jewelry and other jewelry bits. So, why not pull another all-nighter, this time channeling the ever-fabulous Vivianne Westwood! Way too much fun, wish I could have kept it, but here is the result, a collage necklace. Titled “Dia de los Muertos de Westwood“, named mainly for the skeleton charm that started the whole deal, along with having been inspired by the Westwood show that was at the De Young museum awhile back. (model photo by Christine Dhein).

The piece is now on exhibit at Velvet da Vinci, SF through Nov 9. It is for sale, one of the more pricey items at $300. Proceeds benefit Ethical Metalsmiths. If you’re in town, please check it out!

Some other works by Revere folks: Jenny Reeve’s ring

Christine Uemura’s ring/pendant/brooch

Elizabeth Oppenheim’s plastic pendants