Order/Chaos sterling cuffs

Here are the cuffs that we designed and built for the exhibition which was just put up & out on display tonight. Got back from the "hanging" a short time ago. The work is varied, beautiful, thoughtful, politically charged and well worth the time if you are in town.

We are in such fabulous company and are truly fortunate to have been selected and to be the only jewellery artists for this show.



Order is uniformity, neatness, linear, methodical.
Chaos is variation, disarray, turmoil, frenzied.

We crafted two 6.5inch sterling silver cuff bracelets to represent our definitions of Order and Chaos.

Order shows linear thinking represented with horizontal silver lines of similar nature to each side of the word, uniformity through the letter size and shape of the word itself and it is neat and clean in finish.

Chaos is rough and colourful with the applied patina. The word itself is varied in size and shape and the turmoil and frenzied thought is shown through the scraps of silver at each side of the word.

Order/Chaos Show at CSAC

To quote Katie Fitzrandolph who always preps the press for the shows:

Perhaps the most ambitious exhibition so far at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre opens this Friday.

Approximately 25 artists have responded to the theme of Order/Chaos. Their work encompasses painting, pottery, glasswork, sculpture, photography, jewelry and installation. Their approaches are philosophical, humorous, graphic, political, whimsical, personal, reflective and experimental - not necessarily all at the same time. The scale is equally broad, from works a few inches across to six feet wide to a multi-level site-specific installation.The theme resonated with a range of established and emerging artists, and the response necessitated impaneling a jury to select works for the exhibition.

Order/Chaos is the second theme exhibition for the Charlotte Glencross Gallery at the Centre, located at 732 Charlotte Street. The exhibition will continue until the end of August, with an opening reception Friday, July 18 from 5 to 7 p.m.

We were fortunate enough to have our submission of Order & Chaos sterling cuffs chosen for the show. Will post a photo of those once the show has opened. If you are in the area, come on in for some sangria & nibbles.

Guitar Pendant Prototype

Finally, here is a shot of the finished 'montage' of bits from Dave's old Applause.

I finally got a chance to present this to him last week. He was super pleased and just tickled, especially since he didn't know it was coming. The bonus is that the shadowbox matches the woodwork & shelving in his Project Studio where it is going to be displayed.

Enjoy!

Guitar Pendant

We were asked by a Metal Arts Guild of Nova Scotia colleague to participate in a fund-raising event for the NS Symphony children's' programs. The challenge was to create a piece of art (whatever type you do) from a musical instrument.

I bummed a soon to be deceased acoustic guitar off of my buddy Dave. It was one that he had used for years while busking and had finally started to warp and deteriorate to the point where he either had to rebuild it or throw it. This solved his dilemma too.

The subsequent piece is the result of chisleling free the fret bars, pulling the g-string, some bits of guitar hardware, sterling silver and silver solder.

The fundraiser will open at the Fireworks Gallery in Halifax on October 4th.

The Unusual

Lady's Slippers are a native orchid to our little part of the woods. They are somewhat rare, to the point that they are considered endangered in some areas, and unusual in that they seemingly spring from nowhere. We have them growing in areas where we have trimmed back the woods to create walking paths and then they appear in the paths. These orchids are a beautiful thing.

They are often like friends, wonderful and unusual. Beautiful. Appearing in your path and thriving in just right mix of light and shade. Treasure them.

Why We Have No Pole Beans Now

They had started to grow. Nice fresh leaves breaking the ground and looking good until yesterday morning when we discovered that they had been mowed off and all we had left were a few errant leaves and multitude of stems.

This morning's walk about revealed the reason, our resident snow-shoe hare in summer coat was happily munching at the back of the garden next to the studio. In the photo you will note the poles for the beans and netting that we recently placed over the now recovering stems. "Jacq" is in the foreground.

It has gotten quite used to being around us, obviously, as you can get pretty close up to these fellows before they feel any need to hop away by even a few feet to maintain their distance.

A pick me up

I just received a phone call from Lydia, a new acquaintance and wonderful lady. She wanted to let me know that she saw our jewelry work at Viktor's Blue Rose Salon in Woodstock when she was there getting her hair done recently.

She adores the guys too and offered them suggestions on display for our work which is always appreciated. I have a feeling that not only is she one heck of a smart 'money' girl but she has a keen eye for the 'how to' as well.

I've been meaning to blog for a couple of days now but have been feeling under the weather which is bad around here this week, it's been overcast and showering for days.... and predicted to continue well into next week.

She was just what I needed, bright, cheery and full of positive news. Thanks Lydia.

Coincidence - I think not

A couple of weeks ago when I met with Gerald, of Viktor and Gerald, he said to me "Nothing happens by coincidence." I had been musing about that for the last little while.

At a recent area book sale I grabbed "The Celestine Prophecy". I know that this book has been around for awhile, and I also know that it was recommended to me years ago by Aunt Pat.

Finally cracked the cover on it yesterday, finished it about 01:30 this morning. Not entirely sure what to make of it other than to say that people have often been placed in our path when we have needed certain types of information and they have been more than willing to share. I identified with it.

Stick with me here, this is going somewhere...

The basic premise is the old adage "ask and you shall receive" which leads to the old corollary "be careful what you ask for, you might just get it".

We all know someone who knows someone and if we follow the trail long enough or ask the right person, we are all no more than 6 people away from knowing someone else. This kind of '6-Degrees of Separation' reality takes some of the coincidence out of our lives too.

I'm not proposing that our destinies are preordained for whatever life of misery, poverty, disgust, etc. that we might be experiencing. It is just possible however that if we only took the time to talk to the people that we meet, that cross our path, that they might have an answer to a problem that would help lift us out whatever misery we are currently experiencing.

The point of this rambling, if you haven't already drawn your own conclusion, is that we should try to be open to the possibility that we will meet someone who can help us and in turn, the people that we meet may need our help and that every human transaction holds the gift of learning. The catch is that we have to ask.

The other thought is that if you have stumbled upon this blog, it was for a reason, and there is something here that you can use. Hope that you find it.