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Thoughts
from the Studio
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| November
2001
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The
colors of November are all around us now. Streets softened with
billowing piles of golden leaves, marigolds and chrysanthemums glow
under the dark stormy indigo skies, and my quilt of many colors
goes back on the bed.
Puda
sits on the porch inspecting my new art deco copper house numbers.
They are available this holiday season for $15 a numeral. Each 3.5”
x 5.5” number is hand cut and filed, and finished with a natural
patina that will continue to season in the weather.
This
of course is my busy time of year, and this year is no exception.
As I finish up my last workshops for the year, I want to remind
you that attractively designed gift certificates are available for
workshops for the upcoming year.
Coming
up this Saturday, November 11, I will be a guest artist at the monthly
Anderson Alley open house called “Second Saturday’s”.
Artists are in their studios from 1-4 p.m. in the Fabrics and Findings
building next to the Village Gate on Goodman Street in the Neighborhood
of the Arts. I will be on the fourth floor as a guest of Richard
Margolis. Do stop by!
At
the end of the month I will be exhibiting once again at the annual
Alternative Fair sponsored by Metro-Justice at the Unitarian Church
on Winton Road. This show is from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, November
30, and from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday December 1st.
My
holiday home show will be for two days this year to accommodate
busy schedules. Come Saturday, December 8th after your trip to the
Public Market from 11a.m. -4 p.m. or Sunday, December 16th from
1-5 p.m. For more information please email me.
As
I prepare for Thanksgiving this year, I realize, in the poignant,
bittersweet way that follows great tragedy, just how many things
I have to be overwhelmingly grateful for in this life I have been
given to live, one sweet day at a time.
Go
in peace,
Elizabeth.
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| September
2001
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Good
friends are perhaps our greatest assets. When we have friends who
accept us for who we are, paradoxically, I think we become better
people. I am constantly reminded of the joy that a truly symbiotic
relationship engenders, and how a friendship that reminds us to
grow and reach lasts a lifetime.
Summer
time is great time to celebrate those friendships. There are heart-to-heart
talks with my friend Sarah over burgers and beers at a little joint
over looking the Genesee River where it spills into the lake. I
got to share only SOME of the pictures from 20 rolls of film that
Sue took on her first trip out west. (She REALLY liked the Corn
Palace!) Of course Saturday morning is not complete without lattes
and pastries with friends at the farmer’s market that is just down
the street from me. Ed and I took a stroll down memory lane with
a trip to the drive-in-movies. (Things have changed since the days
my siblings and I would be in the back of the station wagon in our
jammies.) We were shocked to find out that you no longer have a
speaker on your window and that you bring lawn chairs, food and
quilts and hang out with everyone outside of the car. Thanks to
new friends who took pity on our lack of furniture, or know-how,
in no time we fit right in.
Yep,
summer is hard to beat, corn on the cob, garage sales, walks on
the beach, and one of my favorites, sitting on the front porch in
evening twilight, with a chilled glass of wine, reading out loud.
Precious
Metal Clay Workshops:
Wednesday,
September 12, 19, 26, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Rochester Museum and Science Center Call 271-4552.
Tuesday,
October 2,9,16, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Genesee Pottery, 713 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607. Contact
Margie Slinker at 716-271-5183.
Wednesday,
October 10,17,24, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Rochester Museum and Science Center Call 271-4552.
Saturday,
October 13, 10-3 p.m. and Thursday October 18, 7-9 p.m.
Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, 205 Genesee Street, Auburn, NY
13021. Contact Stephanie Bielejec at 315-255-1553 or smac@relex.com
Wednesday,
November 7,14,28, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Rochester Museum and Science Center Call 271-4552.
See
you in October!
Elizabeth
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| July
2001
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When
summer arrives, we all invariably have a long list of projects to
attack. It occurs to me that in this fast-paced global economy,
we still hold in high esteem, those things, which have been derived
from physical labor, using our hands. And these days, as work becomes
more specialized, the concept of handcrafted becomes more, rather
then less, like alchemy.
It
is always a delight to have a customer marvel over a piece of jewelry
I am especially proud of. I feel good that its craftsmanship can
withstand the scrutiny of a discerning eye.
But
perhaps there is something that is a bit of a misnomer about the
word "handcrafted." Watch anyone make something by hand, and you
come to realize the incredible ballet that is taking place between
their physical world and the world of concepts. This experience
is something that can be guided but not taught. There are those
who think all they have to do is watch someone else make something
and they are ready to go. And those who think that if they can see
it in their head, they are 90% there.
Living
in an old house allows for this kind of mental pondering all the
time. One of the first things that never changes is that with any
given project, just about everyone I talk to has a different way
to approach it. It's the thing that I love about old houses, handmade
clothes, old utilitarian furniture and jewelry. The uniqueness of
each approach is testimony to the fragile elegance of each human
brain.
Then
is the lovely and fortunately, not unrare trait, of fine-tuning
some detail that, once finished, will never be visible or apparent.
As I observe this process, I realize that what I am in fact watching
is a kind of inner dialog, a mediation on utility verses perfection.
(Can this old porch in fact be a porch and a poem at the same time?)
.
At
the end of the day, when the execution of the job is done, and one's
body is literally bone tired, the mind is not done "handcrafting."
The
high point of teaching workshops for me is seeing that moment when
the student has their own epiphany. It's the moment when they see
the answer without asking. It's the moment when they know I am not
the boss, that anyway that works is right. It's the moment that
they realize they can deconstruct something and unearth a secret.
It's the moment of independence when they know their own handcrafted
item won't have a diagram in a book, and their hands are NOT the
primary tool.
See
you next month,
Elizabeth
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| June
2001
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Summer
is almost here, Adorn Yourself! We are celebrating the first day
of this intoxicating season with a Summer Solstice Jewelry Sale.
It's a time to fling open the doors, and let the fragrance of flowers
waft. Customers who are familiar with my holiday show have often
voiced a desire for a jewelry party when my garden is in bloom.
So this year I decided to do just that, and what better time then
the longest day of the year?
Jewelry
parties are always a good way to see new work, meet interesting
people, talk about a special order piece you would like to have
made, and enjoy a glass of sangria, my own special recipe.
These
sales are by invitation only. If you would like to be on my mailing
list, please email me your mailing address, and I will send an invitation
out to you at once.
Coming
this month is a new section devoted to Precious Metal Clay! Check
here for the latest information about workshops, how to purchase
PMC, and updates on technical news. For the time being just let
me remind you of upcoming workshops until the page is up and running.
Saturday,
July 14, 10-3 p.m. and July 21, 1-3 p.m. Schweinfurth Memorial Art
Center, 205 Genesee Street, Auburn, NY 13021. Contact Donna Lamb
at 315-255-1553 or smac@relex.com
Monday,
July 16, 23, 30, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Genesee Pottery, 713 Monroe Avenue,
Rochester, NY 14607. Contact Margie Slinker at 716-271-5183.
Wednesday,
July 18, 25, August 1, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 7, 14, 21,
6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, August 15, 22, 29, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
At my studio, contact me at elizabeth@agte.com
Make
silver jewelry in just three sessions with Precious Metal Clay.
This revolutionary material works and feels like clay, but once
fired, the finished object is pure silver. In our first session,
we will limber up, practice our clay working skills, brainstorm
about jewelry designs and adjust working models to the correct scale
for jewelry. In session two, we will work up our designs in PMC,
and session three, the kiln-fired pieces are returned to be polished
and finished. Precious Metal Clay comes in one ounce containers
that will yield approximately 4-8 pieces. Each ounce is $30 plus
tax and is purchased at the first session of the workshop. Prices
for workshops vary by location.
See
you next month,
Elizabeth
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| May
2001
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This piece will be in the "Made In New York 2001" exhibit
from July 1- August 26 at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in
Auburn, NY. The Shrine to the $1000 Tooth.
This
"shrine" is to my $1000 tooth. After breaking my tooth in half a
few weeks ago during the stressful, teeth-gnashing process of getting
a grant written, I found myself in the dentist's office trying to
put the price tag of this tooth in the context of the budget and
lifestyle of an artist... an impossible undertaking. At that point
I realized there was nothing to do but make the tooth's untimely
death a moment of tongue-in-cheek homage.
As
a jeweler, I decided to enshrine the tooth itself in a sterling
silver setting. (The most expensive "gem" I have ever bezel set.)
Display it on a silk and lace pillow, surrounded by gold-filled
teeth-like guards, all atop a circular saw-toothed blade. Hanging
from a chain of "pearly whites" is a magnifying glass for closer
inspection of the "relic." The lockets hanging from the shrine contain
pictures of my smile, and my own set of "pearls."
The
background of the shrine stand is a collage of illustration plates
from a heath manual printed in 1919, where the model alluringly
displays the use of toothbrushes and dental floss. In grisly contrast
are the skeletal etchings of tooth placement in the skull.
Of
course, all proper shrines must have candles, and these are housed
in saw-toothed copper with comb teeth on the front. The jaws with
teeth are a reference to the fact that people and animals both have
often been purchased based on the quality of their teeth, and that
teeth are often the only way to identify our existence or identity
once we are gone. Course-toothed sandpaper covers the bottom shelves,
containing red toothbrushes, and another antique illustration of
teeth location.
The
Egyptian base of the shrine is a reminder of tombs where the dead
took with them the things they wanted to have in their next life.
The people sipped their wine
And what with God there, they asked him questions
Like: do you have to eat
Or get your hair cut in heaven?
And if your eye got poked out in this life
Would it be waiting up in heaven with your wife?
Crash Test Dummies
On
NPR a few years ago, I heard a report about Japanese computer chips
makers. Deciding that computer chips are indeed the soul and identity
of the computers themselves, they hold Shinto funeral services for
the chips when they are decommissioned, just in case...
Not
one to take unnecessary chances either, and hoping that my tooth
and I will be reunited, least I be mis-identified in some possible
other life, I offer up this shrine.
See
you next month,
Elizabeth
R. Agte
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| April
2001
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On March 25, I had the honor of shaking hands with
Janet Reno. My good friend, Sally Wood Winslow, alerted me to the
pending lecture of her cousin and offered me a seat in the front row
reserved for family and friends.
Reno's commitment to public service was at the forefront of everything
she advocated. ("You can make a difference, your hire US, make sure
we know how you feel.") Seeing a person of such obvious grace, inscrutable
morals, and basic down to earth values renewed my sense that not all
Washington insiders are eventually corruptible. Her commitment to
fair play and good manners meant that her lecture was not about Washington
scandal. ("Talking ill of others is a waste of time and energy.")
Her feminism is refreshingly void of the conventional trappings. ("Do
you feel like you have had more barriers in your career because you
are a woman?" Answer "No.")
Raised by a singularly strong mother, Reno grew up in an environment
where problems were solved by rolling up one's sleeves and getting
dirty, period. She painted a delightful story of her family life.
Her family had outgrown the house she was born in, and with insufficient
funds to build another, her mother simply took it upon herself to
build another house across the field. She dug the foundation by hand,
talked to experts, and "saved the heavy lifting until Daddy came home
from work at night to help her." When it came to time to install electrical
wiring, her mother was denied a permit because she was a woman. Instead
of folding, she marched home, tutored her husband, marched back to
the zoning office with him, and he got the permit. Reno said, "we
liked the plumbers much better, they gave permits to women." She lives
in that house still.
Hence the woman who stood at the podium, ("Search your heart for the
right answers, win your battles by being the best, and never burn
your bridges.") Her grace, humor and grit obviously comes from a commitment
to do her personal best and not looking for vain glory or universal
approval. It was stunningly refreshing to see a woman who had such
a difficult and public job stand with such personal courage, unflinching
or apologetic for the choices she had to make during her tenure in
Washington.
Did she have lofty advice about success and the things of real value
in life? Yes. She said simply "Take care of those you love, it will
be the most important job you have."
See
you next month,
Elizabeth
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| March
2001
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No
sooner did I hear geese flying north yesterday, then the snow started
in earnest, and today we have three feet on the ground, hey it must
be March! The
Tucson Gem show in February proved to be a real inspiration, as
usual! It was a real shock to bolt out the door in running clothes
the first morning and be greeted by frost on the windshields. But
gradual warming maxed out at 85 degrees by my last day. I focused
on opals, fossils, and agates on this trip, and found some gorgeous
specimens that I am anxious to incorporate into new work.
I
was especially glad to have the opportunity to sit in on Tim McCreight's
lecture on Precious Metal Clay, getting invaluable information to
pass on to my students in upcoming workshops. It was exciting to
talk to others from around the country who have been working with
PMC and see examples of their work. For those of you interested
in PMC, the new project book "Working with Precious Metal Clay"
written by Tim McCreight is now available for $29.95 and worth every
penny.
The
standing joke by the end of the trip was that almost everyone I
spoke to, had at one time or another, lived or been in Rochester,
but were now elsewhere. I laughingly wondered what they knew that
I didn't!
I
look forward to participating in the Neighborhood of the Art's "Second
Saturday's" studio open house on Saturday, March 10. This month
they are hosting a number of Visiting Artists, and I will be specifically
hosted by Richard Margolis in his photography studio, from 1-4 p.m.
This event takes place in the Anderson Alley Studios on N. Goodman
Street, next door to the Village Gate.
The
PMC workshop at the Schweinfurth Art Center, in Auburn, NY, was
a delightful success, and we are planning another for this summer
July 14 and 21. You can contact them at 315-255-1553.
Think
spring!
Elizabeth
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| February
2001 
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Some
new, and I hope, exciting changes on the website are coming as my
way of ushering in the new millennium. We will change the background
color and update the Catalog so it more accessible and easier to navigate.
I'll add some of the highlights of the year on the Artist page, and
soon you will find information on how to order with credit cards on
the Order page. The changes weren't ready for February, but should
be available for March! No one can say we were hibernating through
January. (Though the idea was tempting, and the weather almost demanded
it.) OK,
ready? Here is the ever-expanding list of upcoming Precious Metal
Clay Workshops for 2001.
I
got back from the Tucson Gem show just in time for the workshop
at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn, NY. February
17 & 24. Call Cheryl at 315-255-1553 for more information.
The
Rochester Museum and Science Center in Rochester, NY will have three
workshops. March 6, 13, & 20. April 3, 10, & 17. May 1,
8, & 15. Call 716-271-4552 for more information.
The
Genesee Pottery on Monroe Avenue in Rochester, NY will hold two
workshops. April 23, 30, & May 7. July 16, 23, & 30. Call
Margie at 716-271-5183 for more information.
Just
a word of warning, all these classes are based on minimum enrollment
so don’t wait until the last minute or the class could be canceled.
And
just to plant a bug in your ear, (what does that mean anyway!!!)
I have many workshop participants who enroll as mothers and daughters.
Think about a really wonderful Mother’s Day gift. Time with
you.
Happy
Valentine’s Day!
Elizabeth
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