Pink Crow Stirrings

I'm Back...and I'm Back.

Wow, hi! 

So, despite what has probably seemed otherwise, I DID make it out of the jungle alive...well, more than alive, and I realize how completely cheesy this sounds, but I came back feeling new...like the jungle took me in, shook me up, emptied all of the negative energy out, gave me a bit of time to recover, then sent me back home all fresh and clean and ready to start life afresh. That's really how it felt, that's the only way I can explain it...I had my expectations of what an amazing experience this would be, and they were FAR exceeded...my mind had no way of conceiving how the experience would change me.

We've got a lot of catching up to do, and no, I'm not going to force you to sit through a lengthy sideshow of photos I took while I was there. Yes, I would like to share a bit of my journey with you, but before we get into that I just want to let you know that after the longest studio break in Pink Crow history I'm now back in the studio, back in production...making stuff...for real! Feels good to be back. Hello...again.

Ok, here are a few shots to give you an idea of what I had going on for six weeks earlier this year:

 

Jungle Airport - Tarapoto, Peru

 

 

Running errands in Tarapoto before venturing into the deep.

 

 

A friend's home in Tarapoto

 

 

My jungle bedroom

 

 

Between a rain and a sunset

 

 

Maya, the mama dog. I wish I could have taken her home.

 

 

A fuzzy little guy looking for a cozy home.

 

 

A great spot for fresh juice.

 

 

Leaving the jungle.

- - : - -

Ok, that's it for now...time for me to get working in the studio.

 

...and this is what's going on now...

 

I've got lots in production and lots of other news too...I'll have more about that soon. Thanks for stopping by.

-c

 

Random Happy: New Studio Shoes

I'm not generally the kind of girl who makes purchases impulsively. In fact if I see something at a store that I really want I usually leave without it and only return to get it if I find myself still thinking about it days later...and if it's no longer there or I don't have time to go back I take it as a sign that it just wasn't supposed to happen.

And I'm not the kind of girl who shops to make herself feel better when she's feeling down. When I'm feeling down the last place I want to be is at a mall, or in a retail store of any kind...and I know, there's the web and all, but I like to feel things, especially if they are going to be on my body. I'm all about the feeling approach to shopping...and come to think of it for life in general for that matter.

So, this past spring I surprised myself when I impulse bought these sweet shoes:

But I was travelling, and they were on sale, and my soul needed a little boost...what better to give the soul a little boost than a new pair of zebra striped ballet flats, right? And for under $20 how couldn't I? I decided then that they would be my new studio shoes. Not for shopping, not for errands, not for driving...for the studio, so when I put them on my mind knows it's time for creativity.

-c

Random Happy: Arranged by Color

Today I spent the late-morning/early-afternoon popping into thrift stores near where my parents live. I was happily surprised at the last one when as soon as I entered I realized that the clothing departments (women's, men's, children's) and the housewares department were arranged by color. I spent the first several minutes taking pictures of their very tidy-looking displays.

Handmade Division Talk About: Masters & Mentors

This post is my participation in Etsy's Handmade Division Team group blog.  The way it works is anyone on the team who chooses to participate writes a blog entry on the topic of the month and includes links to the blogs of all of the other team members who have participated (see list of links below).

This month's topic is:
"Talk about one/some teachers/mentors/masters you'd like to study with"

The three artists that immediately come to mind are Joseph Cornell, Kiff Slemmons & Andy Goldsworthy.
Although these artists' work may seem quite unrelated at first glance they share the underlying common practice of working with the found object.

Oh Joe!
As a lifelong obsessive collector I felt an instant connection to Joseph Cornell upon discovering his work. He collected special images and objects and constructed boxes to honor and display and protect these things. He died before I was born, but if given a functional time machine and the opportunity I would love to work with him for a bit.

Kiff, my hero.
Early in my metalsmithing career I discovered the work of Kiff Slemmons and I was immediately in love. She lives here in Chicago and I still fantasize about contacting her to see if she could use a part time studio assistant to do the grunt work and bask in the glow of her amazing brilliance.

Taking a break with Andy.
If I were unexpectedly able to take a sabbatical I would love to work with the astoundingly wonderful environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy. I do love sitting at the bench and creating, but if Andy would have me I would revel in the time spent outdoors organizing leaves by color, creating spirals from found bits of nature, or making a graceful arch out of found pieces of slate.

 

These are the people who inspire and influence my work. To read about other team members' masters and mentors click on their blog links below:

 

Andes Cruz: http://andescruz.wordpress.com/

Nancy Dale: http://nedbeads.blogpost.com/

Tosca Teran: http://nanopod.wordpress.com/

Rickson Jewellery: www.Ricksonart.blogspot.com
Beth Cyr: http://bCyrJewelry.blogspot.com
Lisa Hopkins Design: http://lisahopkinsdesign.blogspot.com
Sand Fibers: http://sandfibers.blogspot.com
Purified: http://purifiedart.blogspot.com

Emily Watson http://nocoloratall.tumblr.com/
Thomasin Durgin: http://metalriot.blogspot.com
WATTO Distinctive Metal Wear http://wattoonline.blogspot.com

 

 

Handmade Division Talk About

For those of you who have been with me for a while you may notice that this post differs a bit from the way things normally work around here. This post is my participation in a team blog "Talk About", as part of Etsy's Handmade Division Team. The way it works is anyone on the team who choses to participate writes a blog entry on the topic of the month and includes links to the blogs of all of the other team members who have participated. This month's topic is:

"Talk about something you'd like to create, that you maybe don't have the skills or technology to do currently"

I love this topic because it is actually something I've thought quite a bit about. 

So many of my pieces have internal moving parts because, well, I am pretty much obsessed with kinetic and interactive artworks. Generally when we think of kinetic or interactive art we think of things on a grand or at least human scale, but I have always been drawn to the precious and the intimate scale of small personal items.

I've often thought of creating some sort of tiny, precious machine with parts that move on their own, and have seriously considered taking a watchmaking class to figure out how to do this.

 

http://pursuitist.com/style/inside-the-art-of-watchmaking/

From the time I was just a child I've loved clocks and watches that display the phases of the moon. It wasn't so much about keeping track of the phases as it was about the idea of a slowly moving disk behind the face of the timepiece that hid and revealed an image.

 

http://blog.jameslist.com/2009/daniel-roth-athys-moon-2134-watch-shows-the-moon-respect/ 

I imagine making a piece that works like a watch, but instead of keeping track of time and lunar phases it would hide and reveal many different and once-hidden images. I dream about the combinations of images in the piece changing every day, and days, weeks, maybe months going by before the same sequence is ever repeated...but don't expect to see it in my shop if this ever happens, I don't think I could part with something like that.

-c

Read what other team members have to say about pieces they would like to create:

NEDbeads: http://www.nedbeads.blogspot.com/
Lisa Hopkins Design: http://lisahopkinsdesign.blogspot.com/
Jewelry by Natsuko: http://jewelrybynatsuko.blogspot.com/
Beth Cyr: http://bcyrjewelry.blogspot.com/
ArtJewel Designs: http://www.artjeweldesigns.blogspot.com/
Abhaya Fibers: http://abhayafibers.blogspot.com/
Purified Art: http://purifiedart.blogspot.com/
Nova of Sweden http://nova-designs.blogspot.com/
Bella-Bijou Jewellery: http://bellabijoujewellery.blogspot.com/
Pink Crow Studio: http://www.pinkcrowstudio.typepad.com/
Sand Fibers: http://sandfibers.blogspot.com/
Alice Istanbul: http://istanbuldesigns.blogspot.com/
Thomasin Durgin: http://metalriot.blogspot.com/
Moxie & Oliver: http://moxieandoliver.blogspot.com/
Andes Cruz: http://andescruz.wordpress.com/
Tosca Teran http://nanopod.wordpress.com/
Delias Thompson http://deliasstudioinc.blogspot.com/

Recharging Inspiration: Art Books

Oh Borders, why oh why do you tempt me with those 40% off coupons? I already own more books than I could ever hope to read in...well, ever. But 40% off...how can I resist, especially since I have 2 Borders stores WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE of my home.

Oh what to do with a coupon that gives me a bigger discount than when I was a bookstore employee back in college. Buy a "couldn't/wouldn't buy it everyday" book of course...a splurge without the splurge thanks to the coupon!

So yesterday I happily jumped on the bus and when I arrived at Borders I made a beeline directly to the Art Books department...love those Art Books, the heft, the smell, the good paper...urgh, but they're so darn expensive. Unless you have a 40% coupon!

I scored this gem:

 
Oh Joseph...I love you so. We would have been great together.

     

So......because I PAID $36 FOR A $60 BOOK (thank you very much), I naturally convinced myself of what sense it would make to buy another book (I'm onto you Borders, I'm onto you!). I picked this one up so I could finally end my very long history of stalking it on Amazon:

 
 Inspiration for future pendant shapes.

 

...Oh my...

 

...the visual cortex...

 
...of my brain...

 
 ...is overheating.
 I have to go...

Cheers!

-c 
 

Studio Update: Showing Up

I've been showing up lately, lots actually. More on that later.

Knowing inspiration has hit isn't difficult when it swoops in and slams you over the head like a ton of bricks. Those big "WOW!" moments are easy to recognize and translate so seamlessly and directly into fresh, new ideas that they're almost like gifts laid out before you, arriving anonymously and often taken for granted. The work that follows this type of inspiration may not always come as easily as the idea did, but when the idea is so clear and solid it somehow provides a stable foundation on which to begin work, and gives you the stability and drive to work through even the toughest obstacles that may come up.

The tricky part is that inspiration doesn't always drop into your lap like that. My mind is always open and waiting for my next big collision with inspiration, but lately I have been focusing on tuning myself into the smallest details of daily life to see what inspiration I can find in what I might not normally notice, or may normally take for granted.

 
 The minute corkscrews that happen when metal is perfectly drilled.

Wanting to take the Stock Certificate series a step further I decided that I needed to open up what had been the boundaries of the pieces...the contour of the frame. All of my work on the pieces to this point has been contained within the frame, and while I feel that there is still plenty of space for further exploration inside there, I wanted to begin to break out of that static shape.

I started with an exploration of the details of the stock certificates themselves and saw a parallel between the fact that I was looking for something to ornament the outer boundaries of my pieces, and the fact that many of my favorite details on the certificates are just to the outside of boundaries and borders:

 

From there I began looking at minute details of similar things and found myself attracted to the stylized foliage detail on our currency:

 

I loved how the leaves just outside of Washington's portrait looked naturally yet neatly tucked into place.

 

So from there I decided to explore the shape and form of overlapping bunches of leaves. I made some preliminary sketches...

 

...and then got down to the business of figuring out the how and the where to make it work. 

 

So this is where I am right now:

 

And this is who I visit from time to time to remind me that inspiration or no inspiration, it will all be okay if I just show up:  

And so I'm just going to keep showing up.

-c

Inspired by Nature

The other day I was cutting up some zucchini for dinner and as I cut closer and closer to the stemmed end of the veg I saw a very familiar shape emerging:

 

I love that rounded pentagonal shape, and had sketched different incarnations of it while planning for one of my stock certificate series.

 

I often find myself marveling at the incredible designs found in nature: the form of a ready-to-burst cherry blossom, seed pods of all kinds, and one of my very favorites discovered when I was ten and had recently moved to Florida: the minute image of sunshine left on freshly picked citrus fruit (it's left where the stem connects to the fruit...look for it next time you have the opportunity to pick a fresh orange or grapefruit).

 

I've been cooking/baking more lately, and I have to say that it's really refreshing to be enjoying something I've never put much thought into before. That's not to say I've never cooked/baked before, and also not to say that I didn't enjoy it while I was doing it, it's just that when I did them in the past my focus was different...my goal was to make this one thing, and once I had done it and had gotten my "fix" I didn't have to do it again for months.

 

I'm looking at it very differently lately though, and it is much more absorbing and rewarding to me to make a meal from scratch than ever before (and then to even do it again the next day).

 

I have to give proper credit to Michael Pollan for his book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma". It was somewhat of an impulse buy early last week, but the more I read the more home cooking made sense to me. Needless to say Martin is really digging this alien woman he came home to last week and is hoping she stays for awhile...me too!

-c

Westward Bound

OK, so I typed in the title for this post and then thought, 'hmm...let me make sure I have that right', so I googled it to be sure it was a real word and that it was spelled correctly. I found it funny enough to share that the number one result returned for the search "westward bound" is a novelty PVC, rubber and latex clothing store out of the UK. Awesome! So, that's not the westward bound I was thinking, but what a fun little distraction!

MY westward bound refers to my weekend plans. More on that later.

Have you ever noticed the little Feedjit widget down on the sidebar there...the one that looks like this: (Where is the question mark in that sentence supposed to go?)

I click into that every so often to see where in the world my blog has been read recently. I can guess the readers who are represented by many of the dots in the specific places where I have friends, family, customers, etc., but I find it pretty fascinating when I have a hit from somewhere I've never been or a place where I don't know anyone.

So, that brings me to my title. Martin and I have booked a quick weekend trip to San Francisco because I've never been and have always wanted to go there, and he's been but loved it so much he's happy to go back. I'm often so inspired by being in a place far from home and I'm thinking a quick visit to the West Coast will inject some creative energy into my blood for the upcoming fall production season.

This evening I checked the "Recent Visitors" map on my blog and noticed a few visits from the San Francisco area:

Hello San Franciscans...I am so excited to be visiting your city.

We have some loosely laid plans for what we want to do and see and eat, but if you live there or have been and have any suggestions I would LOVE to hear them. Thanks so much, and stay tuned for another studio update soon!

-c

Cruising Etsy: Vintage Tins

The other day I was aimlessly cruising through Etsy's vintage treasures when I spotted this tin and had to check it out. You see, I have the twin of this tin. I bought it about a year ago...it was a love at first sight kind of thing. It doesn't really "go" in my kitchen, but there was just something about it that made me need it...and yes, I do know the difference between want and need. This was life and death.

Once on the page I clicked the alternate images and my life gained newfound meaning. I mean, I am once again in love...check out this image:

After seeing this image I have spent WAY TOO MUCH time scouring Etsy for vintage tins...way too much time adding tins to my 'favorites', because I HAVE to do this. 

Don't believe me? Go check out my favorites.

-c