i'm dirty!

Ponoko

This was posted on the MFA blog and I just thought it was so awesome that I had to post it here. Ponoko is a website where you can sign up for free, download their templates for free and use Illistrator, or someother vector drawing program to design, jewelry, furniture, whatever. Then, you upload your files to their site, pick a material (mostly acrylic and wood), pay with a credit card and they will laser cut your design and ship it to you. You can design flat pieces that can then be assembled. You can also sell your work through their site or even take someone's existing design and customize it. It's really awesome, I suggest you check it out.

The Power of Objects

This is a "scarf" by Rika Mouw. It is made of salmon vertebrae and thread. Rika lives in Homer, Alaska (an amazing place for those who haven't been) near the Bristol Bay watershed home to the world's largest wild salmon run. This watershed is still a pristine wilderness and one from which subsistence, commercial and sport fishing are absolutely vital to this state. It is home to one of the largest concentrations of brown bears in the world, vast herds of caribou and countless species of migratory birds. It is also where there are plans to open up this region to a huge mining district the likes of which have not witnessed before.

Art Jewelry Forum

Do you know about the Art Jewelry Forum? Check it out.
Click on the Random Acts of Jewelry. (Hint: it is always different.)
Andrea Janosik was named the 2007 Emerging Artist by the AJF (silver and blue piece above).

MJSA Show April 13-15, NYC

The annual MJSA Show is right aroudn the corner. All majors should go as a student at least one time. It is a small-ish trade show of suppliers. MJSA- Manufacturing Jewelery and Suppliers of America.

Smithsonian Craft Show

The Smithsonian Craft Show is another regarded craft show in your backyard. This year's dates are April 10-13, 2008...right around the corner. The exhibitors at this show by-and-large do not show at the ACC Baltimore show although looking at the list of jewelers there is some overlap. The exhibitors tend to be more special and higher end. For example, the image above is work by Donald Friedlich. Check out Don's work. It is all learning for you. The more you look and look carefully the better YOUR work will be. ACC can be overwhelming and the trick is to keep going and looking. Soon things will become familiar and you will be able to start to pick up good info.

Consider checking it out. Take your friends and family.

Quote of the Day

Alice thought to herself,

"I don't see how he can ever finish if he doesn't begin,"