I figure its time to say a little something to my team of faithful, loving, new and life-long supporters.
This is super awesome and super hard! I went into the studio the night that I launched this project with so much energy and excitement thanks to the swift and generous response I received in less than 8 hours of being live. This is what that first night looked like:
go down to the studio, light some candles, pour a small glass of wine, turn on my music, and dig through my pile of stuff to see what grabs my attention. I know! I will finally cut that weird horse shaped bottle opener into pieces...that'll be awesome. Its probably just aluminum or something.
Two hours later: Barely through cutting off the neck of said horse, I'm sneezing, and wiping my face with my arm. My arm is obviously covered in (maybe)steel shavings-this could be why the sawing is endless-and i have now wiped those shavings all over my face. I go to wash it off and realize I have to walk around the studio to drip dry because I am a metal artist, who works with all kinds of nasty crap, and nothing is safe for my face. I retreated into the house a little while later for a break .My partner reminded me that I am raising money in order to have time to make art instead ofworking 11 hour days at a job that pays me nothing to then come home and spend 5 hours in the studio. So, then my challenge was to take a step back and remind myself of the goal, while setting up some boundaries. I reminded myself that I promised to make something everyday of the 30 days that this is up and running. I said they would be the equivalent of sketches. So, my boundaries are as follows:
1.Shut up the critique when she gets really loud -she makes everything take longer.
2. I have no longer than 2 hours per day to do this particular exercise.
3. I must think about transition while doing this exercise.
*side-note: I do not have the capabilities to solder at the moment, so I am stealing some of what I learned from participating in Radical Jewelry Makeover ( http://www.ethicalmetalsmiths.org/projects/radical-jewelry-makeover/). This is to say, I am repurposing old jewelry, using lots of found objects, cold connections, no new metal. Its a little frustrating but also a really great stretch for my brain and my studio practice. I hope you enjoy the end result as much as I enjoy the process.
Below are some pictures of what has been made or attempted thus far. The first one is the unfinished horse, which will get tackled eventually. Then we have Transition: Day 1, and Transition: Day 2. For scale, they all fit in the palm of my hand...
The pictures are amateur, people, much like the video!
