Don’t miss the 2nd annual Design Salon Holiday Sale, taking place at the Kingsley Montessori School in Boston’s Back Bay on November 21st from 10am until 5pm. The 19 exhibitors were cherry picked by “The Salon” jury from about 50 local salon members. “The Design Salon Holiday Sale is the best kept secret for holiday shoppers seeking unique and chic”, says design connoisseur Jill Shah of the South End. “It is an opportunity for Bostonians to rub elbows with the designers of crème de la crème.”

The Boston Design Salon was founded in 2007 by a small group of local female design professionals. At the first Salon gathering, there were about six women sharing a bottle of wine and their realization that there really could be a design community in Boston. “I just wanted to get to know more designers in my community. All types of designers: graphics, fashion, architecture, web. Knowing each other helps us to help ourselves,” says founder and ceramist Jill Rosenwald. Within a relatively short amount of time, membership has grown to over 200 women. Design Salon gatherings have become a cozy sharing of ideas, opinions and business discussions. Female industry experts, such as Boston Home Magazine Editor Rachel Levitt, Mariposa’s founder Livia Cowan, and Design*Sponge
founder Grace Bonney have been invited to speak to the group. “We have been able to grow our network while keeping an underground, hip edge to The Design Salon” says Jill Palese, fashion designer. “There are no dues involved,just talent and the desire to inspire and to become inspired.” The Salon Sale is open to the general public and 20% of all the proceeds will be donated to Kingsley Montessori School.

Winter Whites and Neutrals

Now that my outdoor show schedule is over for the year, I've got to get going on listing new work in my online shops. I'll get these studies in neutrals up this week ...maybe.

Techniques include image transfers, mica shift and silkscreening combined with either satin finished or hammered/oxidized silver.

Tree ornaments with a twist

We've always had a Xmas tradition in our family - only unusual ornaments are allowed on the tree! No Santas, Rudolphs, Frosty the Snowman or glittery snow scenes allowed. I guess this all started when we were kids in Mexico. I remember those early trees with with colorful straw garlands and repousee tin ornaments in bright colors and all sorts of shapes - roosters, tucans, parrots and even pigs. The ornament collection grew as we moved on to Panama, the Phillipines and Brazil. The Phillipine tree was the most unusual. Firs and pines were not imported, so our tree consisted of a bare tree branch painted white. Perhaps considered chic today, but weird when you're a ten year old kid.

So, when I decided to make a line of tree ornaments, I naturally looked to the non-traditional. My work this year has been heavily influenced by traditional Asian design elements, so what better subject than geishas and Chinese landscape scenes? I'll soon have a whole series of polymer clay ornaments with image transfers of bijinga (beautiful women) from ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) by printmaker and painter Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806). Stay tuned - they'll be listed in my 1000Markets shop soon!

New for Fall

Not only do I have a bunch of new work for the fall and winter seasons, but I now have an absolutely incredible online shop in which to put it! 1000Markets recently revamped their site to make it even more beautiful and buyer friendly. They've done a fabulous job! Click on the picture to take a look at my shop and then go on to browse the rest of 1000Markets - I know you'll be impressed!

The Handmade Life

Fellow Boston Handmade'r, Mimi Kirchner, has been featured on Etsy's Handmade Life! I absolutely adore Mimi's dolls and really enjoyed a peek into her process and inspiration! You can see more of her dolls in her Etsy shop. And be sure to follow her fantastic blog!

Outside the Box

I'm artistically curious. I love to get a glimpse of the process behind the finished product, and one of the best ways to do that is to take a workshop. One of the first things I did when I left my corporate job a few years ago was to take a mixed media class at the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston. I had already discovered polymer at that point and had no intention of pursuing wood block printing, pen and ink drawing or mono printing, but I wanted to get my head around how it was done. Workshops also give me a healthy respect for fellow artists and crafstpeople - only when you try your own hand at something do you realize just how much talent, practice and vision is involved in the creative process.

I also take workshops in my medium of choice - polymer clay. I love watching the masters at work and I get something out of each and every class I take. Sometimes the class is an epiphany - Maggie Maggio's color class completely changed the way I approach my work. Usually, though, it's not so much the technique, but one or two details that influence and inspire me. From Kathleen Dustin I learned that there is rarely a mistake that can't be fixed. Louise Fischer Cozzi taught me to just relax and be joyful in my work, and Seth Savarick taught me the importance of flawless craftsmanship. I also love meeting fellow polymer aficionados at these classes. I met Melanie West at my first workshop and we have gone on to take several workshops together - she has helped me enormously in making the transition from hobbyist to artist.

The picture is of a Japanese style inro box that I learned how to make in Seth Savarick's class. Vessels are lots of fun and a pleasant break from jewelry. So think outside the box and have fun - take a class!

Persistence

I was browsing the Etsy forums the other day and came upon a thread about how someone decided to try polymer clay, because, and I quote: "I thought, how hard could it be to roll out a couple of flat globs and cookie cutter out some circles and rubber stamp em and bake em, right? HOW HARD could that be?? Well, if someone can tell me how to get the polymer clay boogers off of my little plastic rolling pin and work surface and rubber stamp, I *might* be able to clean up and throw the stuff away! urg!!". It never fails to amaze me how some people think they can try something for the first time and be perfect at it. And, incredibly, how they think it's the medium's fault when it doesn't come out right!

All of which made me think about a trait that most dedicated artists and craftspeople have in common, and that is persistence. You hear about passion and creativity and vision, but it's the dedication to keep working at something until you get it right that sets them apart. Or conversely, being comfortable in going in another direction if that's where it takes you.

I'm sure glad I didn't "throw the stuff away!" after my first try! Here is a photo of some of my early, and very amateurish, attempts at polymer. And another of my humongous reject jar (it is 24 inches tall and it's almost full):



Because I'm a persistent person and dedicated to good craftsmanship, my work has progressed to where I feel I'm in control of the medium, instead of the other way around. But I still contribute regularly to that big reject jar in the corner of my studio!

New Work

I've been having a busy summer! I have a hectic show schedule and during the week I try to keep up in the studio replacing inventory. I always set aside a few hours a week, though, to just play and experiment with new techniques and designs.

When I saw the fabulous jewel colors of Byzantia textile paints by Stewart Gill, I just had to have some! I'm just starting to play around with them, but so far so good. I see an elegant series of pieces in the works!



I made these pieces last week, took them to a couple of shows over the weekend and already sold three necklaces and some earrings! It's nice to get something right immediately - usually it's weeks of trial and error!

2nd Annual Boston Handmade Marketplace at Union Square in Somerville

The Somerville Arts Council and Boston Handmade present an ArtsUnion Event: The Boston Handmade Marketplace. More than 25 artists, artisans, and craftspeople will be showing and selling handmade jewelry, clothing, accessories, housewares, art, photography, toys, and sculpture in Union Square at the intersection of Washington, Prospect & Somerville Ave.) on July 11, 2009, 3-7pm, as part of the Somerville Arts Council ArtsUnion series.

Boston Handmade at the SoWa Open Market on June 14!

The fabulous artists and artisans of Boston Handmade will be joining the other fabulous artists and artists at the SoWa Open Market on June 14. The Market has been awesome this year, don't miss it!