THE OPENING HIGHLIGHT

SHANE MILLER .... LINDA JARVIS .... RON HO at opening of LOST AND FOUND.
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It's been just over a week since the opening of the LOST AND FOUND show at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts. It was a wonderful opening with lots of people attending .... lots of attention ....lots of generous words .... AND I sold my large piece .... IF FOUND RETURN TO ICARUS and a favorite of mine.... BALLAST FOR THE WINDCHASER. I could not be more pleased. Even with the attention and the sales, the highlight of the evening, for me, was getting to hang out a bit with Ron Ho. Ron is an amazing jeweler .... you can tell by the piece he is wearing. He told Linda and I that he has never owned a piece of his own jewelry because everything always sold. Recently he had an opportunity to buy back the piece he was wearing at the opening and so he did. I think it looks spectacular on him. The neckpiece he made for the show was just as amazing .... meticulously crafted with found objects from around the world including Tibetan keys and an ancient looking ear plug (maybe from Africa) and lots of other goodies. He has such a signature style that you can easily recognize a Ron Ho piece from 20 paces. I own his book .... DIM SUM AT THE ON-ON TEA ROOM and study it often .... beautiful photography and incredibly inspiring.

Ron Ho is a protege of Ramona Solberg. The only reason I am making jewelry at all is because I saw some images of Ramona's work and loved it. Before that introduction to her work I thought all jewelry was stones and diamonds and glittering stuff. Honestly, that type of jewelry has no appeal for me. Romona's jewelry is full of dominos .... found bits .... not shiny things .... the lost .... the found .... the discarded. She put found object jewelry on the map. I'm sorry I never had an opportunity to meet her but from everything I've heard she was well loved, as is Ron Ho.

BALLAST FOR THE WINDCHASER

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Tomorrow evening I will be at the opening of a new show at BAINBRIDGE ARTS AND CRAFTS on Bainbridge Island called LOST AND FOUND: ASSEMBLAGE. I am one of ten artists participating in this exhibit. The artists include: LINDA COSTELLO, BIL FLEMING, CHRIS GIFFIN, NANCY HEWETT, RON HO, LINDA JARVIS, MICHOLE MADDEN, MARK OSBORN, DEBORAH PEEK and me....SHANE MILLER. KAREN HACKENBERG is being featured in the larger gallery. Her paintings are of discarded mass produced items that are found littering the edges, cracks and seams of our natural world. Many items were found along the edge of beaches here in the Pacific Northwest. Both of these shows will be on exhibit from November 2- Dec.3. The reception is Friday, November 2, 6-8pm.

The image above...BALLAST FOR THE WINDCHASER... is one of 3 pieces I will have in the show. I really enjoyed making this sculpture and was a little sad to deliver it to the gallery knowing that I might never see it again. The body of the boat .... THE WINDCHASER...is an old weaving shuttle. The wood is very worn....a little primitive....and has a great patina. The ballast passengers are stones I picked up on Rialto Beach out on the coast. One of the stones wears a jaunty expression due, in part, to the red waxed linen string attire. The sail is gampi paper printed with one of my photographs of clouds. I remember the day I took the photo....there must have been a strong wind up at cloud level because bits of the clouds were being pulled off and stretched in wisps like cotton candy. Two rear wheels and one tiny front wheel carry the load. This is a simple piece that has a sort of innocence. BALLAST FOR THE WINDCHASER measures 14" long x 9.5" tall x 2.75" wide.

I am so looking forward to the opening tomorrow night. I am always happy when my friend and fellow artist, Linda Jarvis and I share a show. It means we can ride to Bainbridge Island together from Port Townsend and catch up on our lives and on the return trip we get to share notes about the opening....it's always fun. Also, my friend, Chris Giffin, from OR is one of the participating artists. I've been told she is supposed to be at the opening and it will be good to see her. I used to do a large circuit of outdoor shows and saw Chris on a regular basis but since I quit doing outdoor shows I only see Chris every blue moon or so. I am also looking forward to seeing Ron Ho. He is quite a well known jeweler here in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. He was a student of Ramona Solberg and it is easy to see her influence in his work even though his style is his own. Yesterday when Linda and I delivered our work we got to see a sneak peek at Ron's mixed media found object neckpiece. It is so beautiful and so lovingly crafted. I am honored to be in a show with Ron Ho.

DETAIL OF BALLAST FOR THE WINDCHASER

Linda Jarvis and I just got invited to participate in a show at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts next June. The title of that show is SETTING SAIL....ARTISTS AT SEA. I do love having these carrots dangled out in front of me....they keep me moving forward as good dangled carrots should. So stay tuned for more boats and sailing ships.

"GIVE ME FIVE" FIBULA

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I've recently become interested in fibulas.....and I'm not talking about bones....although I'm interested in bones, too. The kind of fibula I'm talking about is a brooch or pin, usually made of beaten wire, where the pin part is an integral part of the design. The early Romans used fibulas to hold their tunics and robes closed. A safety pin is a type of fibula.

Here in the Pacific NW Ramona Solberg was quite known for her bead fibulas. She collected incredibly beautiful beads from Africa ....India ....and all over the world. Many of these treasures found there way into her jewelry. The fibula below is an example of her work.


Alexander Calder is another artist who loved working with wire and made this fibula for Georgia O'Keeffe. It is in the shape of an OK....her initials. In truth this may be a pin instead of a fibula but either way it is an incredible example of some of Calder's jewelry. Georgia loved this pin and rarely took it off. In the second photo you can catch a glimpse of it again.



Using these two inspiring artists as inspiration, I took a small leap into the world of fibulas. For my first try I wanted to use only wire and not depend upon beads or other elements for the interest. With the silver market being so high, I decided to practice using 16 gauge copper wire....much more affordable. When my confidence improved I tackled making the hand fibula (shown at the top of the post)... for my friend, Kristi, for Christmas. She is a massage therapist and her hands are her best tools. She is always drawn to art and jewelry that feature hands so I knew this would be the perfect gift....if I could pull it off. I may have been a little over confident....it's tricky. After making this piece I have decided to go back to the basics and make some very simple fibulas for a while. The trick is getting a nice flowing design that has a simplicity and an elegance about it. I do like it that the hand is slightly abstract but once you 'see' it, the design jumps out at you. My hand fibula is made of 16 gauge sterling silver wire and is 3 inches long.


This is how I packaged Kristi's gift. I printed her image on almost transparent gampi paper and adhered the image to kraft paper. I tied the package up with a copper chain and embellished with a small metal beetle. I liked the vintage look of the wrapping and thought Kristi would, too.

I will continue to work at my fibula making and will probably eventually add some charms or small found objects for interest and color. So stay tuned.