Archive for the About My Work Category

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Winter Show Season And Other Things

Posted in About My Work, art, Art Happenings, Festivals and Shows with tags , , , , , on April 11, 2011 by candlesandghosts

Yes I know we are technically heading into Spring, but I thought it might be a nice time for some updates-especially considering how much has gone on. We had a really successful fall show season which was great, but it left me with quite a dilemma…I had a number of upcoming shows scheduled, but literally almost no new work for them. So, the day after Christmas I set to work at a frantic pace; the advantage to working like that was that I had little time to over think and had to create more on impulse. As a result, I feel my imagery became more bold, and in some ways more abstract, but I’m quite happy with where its heading. I’ve also begun working with a number of new elements which I feel has given the work more punch.

First some images of some of the new work:

“Treeline”

“Big Wheel”

“Three and One”

“Balance I”

“GXM”

The piece “GXM” I’m really excited about because it was made using my new large format Epson printer.

The first show of the season was ARTfest Ft. Myers in Ft. Myers, Florida.  I can say that aside from being a nice location, there wasn’t much else about the show to rave about.  For us, it was a terrible show in terms of sales, but most everyone around us seemed to be doing well.  Go figure.

Otherwise we had a very nice time-

Jeremia was making new friends as always

and the downtown area of Ft. Myers was particularly beautiful.  I especially like this great piece of public art outside of the art museum there, and the way it reflects light and casts shadows.

I’ll have to continue this in the next post, Kristina and Jeremia are beckoning me to go with them for a trip to Home Depot, so who am I to argue.  I practically keep the place in business.

Until next time,

-M

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Crazy, Crazy, Crazy

Posted in About My Work, art, Festivals and Shows with tags , , , , , , , , on December 6, 2010 by candlesandghosts

So how are things? As the title implies, things have been a little busy

for us around here.  Since I last posted we’ve done 3 shows:

Festival of the Masters Booth  Orlando, FL

Festival of the Masters Booth Orlando, FL

I’ve worked on a large commission:

Manaus 1

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And I’ve even managed to get a few other new pieces finished,

including a another version of one of my favorite pieces:

“A Series of Minor Distractions” 2010

“Ferris Wheels and Polka Dots” 2010

“Four Dandelions” 2010

“Sanctuary” 2010

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Jeremia, of course, has been his usual hip self-still growing like a weed

and cute as ever (if I do say so myself).

-styling for the camera

-being chased by Zombies during the Zombie Lurch in Durham

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-going Trick or Treating for the 1st time.

He especially liked where we were staying while we were showing at the Festival of the Masters in Orlando.  There was a heated kiddie pool

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where we could swim day or night.  He could even fetch his own towel

when he was ready to go back to the room (well almost).

But nothing compared to meeting the Mouse:

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Up next for us is a home studio show this weekend, and I’ll try to get some details up a little later this week.

-M

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Virginia and an Art Show

Posted in About My Work, art, Festivals and Shows with tags , , , on October 13, 2010 by candlesandghosts

We went to Waynesboro, VA this past weekend for the 39th Annual Virginia Fall Foliage Festival, and it turned out to be a pretty nice to-do. The only ironic thing was that the leaves hadn’t yet begun to really change, but the views from the valley up into the hills were still quite nice.

My booth was full, and I even had time to get some new pieces finished

“Rest”

“Dreams of Flight”

We got lots of compliments on the booth, and even managed to win a “Judges Choice” Award, which was nice.

On the way home, it was one of those beautiful clear early fall sunsets and I managed to snap a few shots at twilight:

I shot these as the car was moving

but I think they still turned out nicely

perhaps I’ll use these later on

Up next for us on the show circuit is a show in Florida in, of all places, Disney World- hopefully its a good show, and we can’t wait for Jeremia to meet Mickey.

Until next time,
-M

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The photographing has begun

Posted in About My Work, Photography, Studio with tags , , , , , , , , on September 1, 2009 by candlesandghosts

So, finally after much pomp and circumstance, I have started shooting some of the many new things I have ready for both my Etsy shops.  Aside from all of the jewelry pieces which will be going up at GaleriedeIlluminata, I am also beginning the process of replenishing the inventory at EandO.  I’ve pulled about 40 things at random from around the studio, and to give you an idea of the variety, there’s a Victorian soap tin, a group of vintage sailing photos, a snazzy metal purse from the 50s, some antique fraternity ribbons, some old postcards, old watch springs, plenty of antique photographs, and various vintage jewelry parts.

Photo-Booth

I thought this also might be a good time to talk a little about the photo booth I am using- mine is made from a double thick furniture box.  The sides are lined with one layer of foam core to serve as light reflectors, and the backdrop paper is just a roll of bulletin board paper that I picked up at a local school supply store.  The clip-on lights came from Home Depot, and run about 7 bucks apiece, and I covered them with thin tissue paper to help diffuse the light.

Quite a simple set up, I know, but I just wanted to show it because I’m all about the saving-money-where-I-can-thing.  I’m a firm believer that you really don’t have to have an expensive set up to get good shots, and good images are crucial for good sales.

Until next time,

-M

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Starting another new piece

Posted in About My Work, art, jewelry with tags , , , , , , on August 30, 2009 by candlesandghosts

While working on everything else, I’m starting this new piece- it’s a little different from others that I’ve made, because it will be as much about the chain and metalwork as it is about the pendant.

I’m beginning with an antique cork-topped glass vial, and this brass Victorian drawer hardware piece.  For reference, the hardware is about 3.5″ tall.

new-necklace-1

Both are nicely naturally weathered, so a lot of the work is already done for me.

I’m making the chain out of annealed stainless steel wire and know that I want it to mimic the swirl shapes in the hardware.

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Here I’ve connected the hardware to the first part of the chain.  I decided to attach the chain on the sides of the piece so that it appears to float, but I’ve also connected it at the top so that it doesn’t move around too much.

new-necklace-2

At this point, I’m thinking about making a double chain  (a wonderful recommendation from my wife), and I believe I’ll hook it at both the sides and at the top.  Somewhere further up the necklace, I’ll bring the two chains together as one.

I’ll keep you updated as it progresses.

-M

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Sneaky Peeky #2

Posted in About My Work, art, jewelry, Randomness with tags , , , , , , , , on August 29, 2009 by candlesandghosts

So, I’m getting close to having most of these pieces finished, but I thought you might like to see another update before they are all wrapped up:

new-pieces-1

I’ve been waiting on a couple of shipments of antique beads to arrive so that I could finish some of the chains; they came in this week so I’m good to go,

new-pieces-2

and I’ve also got to get all the custom boxes finished so that each piece has a snazzy place to call home.

new-pieces-3

I’m hoping to get most everything photographed this weekend so that they can all be up on Etsy by sometime next week.

new-pieces-5

I was also finally able to purchase some much needed toolery from Ornamentea-

I got a jeweler’s saw which will be great for working on some of the tin boxes I’ve recently gotten,

saw

I also got a nice pair of magnifying goggles so that I can actually see what I’m doing,

goggles

and I got a good respirator so that I don’t die from the fumes and dust I’ve been creating.  Well the respirator came from Home Depot, but I had to work extra hard to find one with lovely “fuchsia” dust cartridges.

respirator

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Finally, on a completely unrelated subject-  I stumbled upon this shirt the other day on Etsy and think it must be about the coolest thing ever created- definitely have to have one.

zombies

Enjoy your weekend-  M

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