Thoughts from the Studio

First of all, I want to say thanks to all the kids at Fairport High School, you guys rule. I have spent last month as an artist-in residence, thanks to the enthusiasm of art teacher, John Brien, and the push by a retired teacher at Fairport, and now my devoted student, Judy Slade.

This has been the best fun I ever had in high school. Going back when you are 50 totally rocks. But it would not have been so, if my students had not brought to me their youth, their wisdom, their individuality, and their passion. I leave hoping I taught them something, but without a doubt, I know they taught me more. There is something contagious in the light of the eyes of a 17-year-old, where everything is still possible, and they know that the world is waiting for them to pluck it.

My last words of wisdom guys, I swear! Don’t let anyone tell you can’t, but more important then that, is never tell YOURSELF you can’t. Remember dreams come a step at a time. Break your dreams down into small pieces and attack them with all the energy you have. Without art in any society, that society is lost. Art speaks to the longing and desire in all of us to be the best people we can be. People who not only are productive, but people who think and feel strongly about this gift of life we have. Use it.

Now for something totally different… I want to announce an exciting new venue and collaboration in the workshop arena. I have teamed up with Marilynne Lipshutz for a new kind of workshop. Marilynne, has launched a new “Learning Center” in her studio at 34 Elton Street. This is a stone’s throw from the Anderson Alley Artists, and in the Neighborhood of the Arts. Housed in the old Love’s Candy Factory, her studio space has a gallery, workshop space and her flameworking glass studio. Marilynne is a therapist who has turned her amazing talent to glass. Art therapy, yes? And what is better for the soul then doing something creative and inspiring?

I have had a number of students over the last few years, realize, perhaps after the fact, that their flamework glass beads would be a wonderful compliment to their PMC beads they make in my workshops. So we have combined the two. In one workshop you can make glass beads, and PMC beads to combine in a bracelet. The next workshop will run the Saturday’s in January, starting January 10th. For more information email me, and I will send you the flyer. We have gift certificates available for the January workshop.

Finally, a personal ad here. I am looking for someone who might be interested in housecleaning for barter. I am looking for someone who shows great attention to detail, and is willing to barter for my jewelry or for lessons.

Christmas is almost upon us, and it’s hard not to get caught up in the festive atmosphere. One of the very real signs that my neighborhood is turning around are the number of houses with elaborate lighting for the season. Nine years ago, when I moved into this house, there was not a single house with Christmas lights. Today, there are dozens, as I make my way home at night, this testimony of hope, pride, determination, and faith, makes me smile.

Praying for peace and intelligent thinking,
Elizabeth.

The October 10th opening of my show, “The Key is Under the Mat, and Other Proof of Einstein’s Friendly Universe”, at the Genesee Pottery Gallery was a success! If you missed the opening, it runs until October 22nd, and is open Tuesday through Saturday 12-4 p.m.

There are distinct differences between putting up a gallery exhibit and selling at a craft show. I was nervous and excited about the unique challenges that it presented. Pedestals dramatically change public perception of the item displayed. As such, I had to be much more critical of my choices and practice judgment and constraint. Less is more. Period. I don’t get the chance to overwhelm with too much visual information, and I had long talks with myself about each piece I chose. To that end, having a distinct theme was truly helpful. It prevented me from packing up absolutely everything I have ever created. Believe me there were times when I was considering it. At those times it is a blessing to have a rational sidekick urging discretion and sanity. In the end there is something transformative, dramatic and alchemistic about putting a show together. After months of worry, anticipation, and list making, it comes down to an amazingly short period of time, when, suddenly there is no second-guessing, and I travel on gut instinct. The final coats of paint are applied to the sets, the actors are all dressed, and the curtain goes up, on what a few hours ago, was a scene of chaos and unresolved anxiety. What the viewer sees is something polished, tranquil, cohesive and inspiring… man, how does that happen?

Now, that the show is up and now on it’s own, I am launching towards other projects and deadlines. As a result, I have decided, for this year, not to host my annual holiday party. My apologies to all of you who have already voiced your interest in attending this year. (Don’t forget my Summer Solstice Party on June 21st.) I do want to remind you that I am generally home for an after-the-market stop for all of you who are Public Market aficionado’s. In fact, you can stop by even if you aren’t on a quest for hydroponic arugula or brussel sprouts.

I have been offered a wonderful opportunity to work as an artist-in-the-schools, and will be at Fairport High School for three weeks this fall. I swear by Thanksgiving I will be able to venture out into the halls, while classes change, without the assistance of a hall monitor.

Selected pieces of my work will be represented by Susan Harf who is best known for her “Lifestyles” segments on channel 13. Pursuing her dream, she is hosting boutique home parties, and has asked me to come on board, joining a number of local artists who produce wonderful wearable art.

I am making a repeat appearance as a guest artist for Anderson Alley’s Second Saturday’s for November and December. November 8th I will be in the studio of weaver Mary McMahon on the second floor. On December 13th, also on the second floor, I will be in the studio of weaver Jan Hewitt Towsley. These events are a chance to view artists at work in their studios, and purchase art directly from them. This confluence of extraordinary talent is located on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors of the Fabrics & Findings Building in the Neighborhood of the Arts.

On the weekend of December 5th and 6th I will be displaying work at the Metro Justice annual “Alternative Fair” at the Unitarian Church on Winton Road. This show is always a lot of fun, and the people who choose this alternative to mall shopping are an example of the kind of coherent, educated and curious consumer that warms the heart of anyone who labors with perfected precision over their hand-crafted work.

Here’s to autumn, Indian corn hanging from the front door, brisk walks, big sweaters, and fresh cider.

Praying for peace through truth,
Elizabeth.

Have you been watching Mars? We had to carefully pick our moments with the thick and muggy weather we have been having, but it really has been a spectacular sight. To make up for all the nights we couldn’t see through this heavy layer of humidity, we got a whopper of a black out to help with spotting and observation. I’ll have to admit to being an emergency groupie. After a few hours of sitting at home, one of the few people in New York with power, I headed out to rough it with a friend.

The dilemma I did not have to fake last month were persistent visitations by bats. This is not anything unusual for a house that is 114 years old. I have in fact captured several bats over the years but oddly enough, only during the month of August. This year I did not get one but three. It was starting to get really old. I can bolster my courage once every other year or so, but every other week is something else again. Amusing queries from friends “How are they getting in?” “Aren’t you used to them by now?” and “Don’t the cats take care of them?” Answers: “They get in through the door marked ‘Bats Only’.” “No.” And, “Last time I checked the cats still weren’t flying.”

August was a summer’s delight with bike rides, more camping, cookouts, tennis and boat rides. Now it’s time to settle down and get back to work in a serious way.

There are plenty of Precious Metal Clay workshops to pick from this fall, check the “Workshops” page. I am exhibiting some necklaces at the Genesee Pottery in a show of Instructor’s work until the end of the month, check the “What’s New” page for more information. New this fall are PMC button and accessory workshops at the Weaving and Fiber Arts Center at the Village Gate.

Coming up October 10th is my show at Genesee Pottery. “The Key is Under the Mat and Other Proofs of Einstein’s Friendly Universe” opens 6-9 p.m. This show will contain some of my Precious Metal Clay work, my sterling and pieces, and mixed media.

A tight workshop schedule has placed my annual holiday home show much earlier then in previous years. So mark your calendars, right now it looks like it will be Sunday, November 2nd. If you want an invitation, be sure to drop me an email! This is by invitation only.

November 13th I will be participating in a wearable arts fashion show put on by the Schweinfurth Memorial Arts Center as a fund-raiser. Contact them at smac@baldcom.net for more information.

Practice peace,
Elizabeth.

Summer is the season we make any excuse we can to be outdoors. So when my friend Jan Hewitt Towsley, a weaver and member of Anderson’s Alley, asked me to join in on a backpacking trip, I jumped at the chance. I hadn’t been backpacking in twenty years, and I wanted to know if I still had the right stuff.

Well, here are some of the things I zenned on after I got home from the Adirondacks: First, it IS possible to live without your curling iron and makeup for four days. (This can only be accomplished if you do NOT take a mirror.) Second, you do not need to pack jewelry-making supplies on a backpacking trip. But, you can’t have too many socks. Washing your hair in a freezing mountain stream is NOT like the commercials. Hot food, no matter what it is, tastes like heaven. Duct tape CAN be a fashion accessory. The only things worth their weight in a pack are bags of wine. Mosquitoes do not follow the rules of the Geneva Convention. Leaving blood on your skin and wearing it like tattoos is a sign, I’m just not sure of what. Watching chipmunks suck up strings of spaghetti is better then anything on cable. It’s astonishing how excited you can get about a freshly dug outhouse. And surprisingly, spontaneous outbursts of “Kum by ya” around the campfire are not as universally accepted by your fellow campers as one might think.

It was a great trip and I give a real heartfelt thanks to Jan, Mike, Fran and Tom for making me feel like part of the gang. I haven’t been so dirty and had so much fun in a long time. (Photo credit to Tom Meade)

I’ve got one more Precious Metal Clay workshop at the Genesee Pottery starting August 2. The new fall schedule should be completed by the end of the month, so be sure to check the “workshops page” for new listings.

A sneak preview of things to come. I will be in a one-person show at the Gallery at Genesee Pottery this October 10th. I am putting out a call for any of my past Pottery students, (and by now there is a legion of you!). I would very much like you to donate a piece of YOUR work for my show. Get in touch with me, by email, or contact the Pottery. You all have made such exciting pieces I thought it was time to give them some public visibility, as well as allowing me to say thank you for all the energy and excitement you have given me over the last three years there.

My June auction had a surprising result, I had no winner! (I wondered at the wisdom of ending it right before the July 4th holiday…) So just let this be a reminder, the next time I run an auction, a $10 bid could get you a pair of 14k gold earrings!

If you have any heirlooms you are planning to pass down this holiday season, and they need to be adjusted or repaired, don’t wait too long. And remember you can stop by on your way back from the Public Market on Saturday’s!

Praying for peace…and honesty,

Elizabeth

July 2003

I am happy to announce that the winner of my first website auction was Gail McElroy. She placed the winning bid of $200 on the $350 turquoise bracelet. Congratulations Gail! Thanks to all of you who participated in the auction, the response was really remarkable. As a result, I have decided to run a few more auctions. Check the “What’s New” page, and send me your email if you want to be informed when new auctions start.

I am currently taking names for the next PMC workshop here in my studio. I do this democratically, picking a date, in this case, sometime in July, that accommodates the most people. Email if you wish to attend, and include the weekend date that works best for you. Remember these workshops are scheduled to run all day. Check my “workshops” page for more information.

We have had a remarkably unseasonable spring. The rainy, cool weather is such a contrast to last summer’s heat wave, that one can’t help but think that the old saw “If you don’t like the weather in Rochester, just wait a while” is actually fairly accurate. I have been enjoying this weather enormously. The air smells fresh, walking and biking in cool weather is so enjoyable, and the garden looks like a jungle. I have never seen leaves on my plants grow to this size, and I daresay if this weather keeps up, the size of the plants might actually start to feel a bit threatening! True, my sun worshipping friends are grumbling, and my dirt basement will start oozing primal life any day now, but I just think of this as a trip to Seattle without the airfare, then I hunker down in a big chair at Starbucks and have a latte.

This month I said good-bye to my dear cat, Maggie May. Left behind by the renters next door six years ago, she arrived in my household abused and starving. But she refused to say “uncle” and despite her small frame, she took on all comers once this was her domain, and she quickly became the alpha cat here. In the end, even cancer had to wait in line. Last July I was told she didn’t have long. Five months later, the vet was astonished that she was thriving, and said “Then a miracle has happened in your house.” Now buried in the garden, with a hydrangea planted in remembrance, I’ll see it every morning when I am making coffee.

My garden has a number of favorite spots for me, and one of them is the alcove where Buddha sits. He is a cement statue I found on the curb, and I have repeatedly mused that simply discarding Buddha in the trash has got to be really bad karma. But in my garden, Buddha has lots of pals. I often look out my window and find one of the cats sitting next to him, and the squirrels love to sit on his head, making him look more like Davey Crockett then Buddha. It always makes me laugh.

Life has its mysteries, its lessons, and its joys. It’s easy to focus on the hard lessons, and dismiss the small pleasures as just being that, small. But if you see them at all, if they register at all, then they have not been small at all. Every day we get little Valentine’s that remind us of the sweetness of life, and all we have to do is open the envelope.

Praying for world peace,
Elizabeth.

May 2003

Bigger isn't always better. The organizers of the Lilac Festival are figuring that out. This official christening of our wonderful spring weather beckons people for the sole purpose of wandering over lilac-covered hills and smelling the flowers. For a while it looked like this quaint tradition of bucolic bliss might get mired down with all the expected trappings of other festivals. Ultimately, the last thing you might go to the Lilac Festival for was to smell flowers. But, in the last few years there has been a concerted effort to ramp down the noise and clutter, and remember what this is about, and I am glad for the move. It really is OK to savor an experience without a sugar waffle in your hand!

I've surrendered to a little spring fever myself. I decided to put my spring turquoise bracelet up for auction, so do check the "What's New" page! It will be an exciting two weeks, and it just might make wading through all my spam email worthwhile. If I get a good response, I will continue this with other pieces. This auction is being announced by email, so if you didn't get a notice, and want to be on the list, please write.

For a while I had discontinued the Precious Metal Clay workshops I was conducting here in my studio, and only teaching off site. But there has been a lot of renewed interest, so I am scheduling workshops here about once a month. The exciting news is that with new PMC3 I am able to conduct the same workshop I teach off site during three evening classes, in one full day. That is because the PMC3 fires much faster, and at a lower temperature. We work in the morning, I fire the kiln while everyone goes to lunch, and then we are able to finish our jewelry the same day. Check the workshop page for more information.

The response to PMC3 has been really positive. All my students have gotten wonderful results embedding faceted or cabochon garnets, peridot, moonstones, faceted CZ's, and dichroic glass in their work. The syringe of paste-textured PMC3 is fun to use, and really gets you to loosen up. The resulting organic designs are amazing.

You can still purchase PMC from me after attending workshops. The firing fee for PMC3 is just $10 for one firing, which allows you to fire up to four 25-gram packages of PMC3. Because of the time difference in firing original PMC, the firing cost is still $20.

Look here next month for the name of the lucky bidder!

Praying for peace,
Elizabeth.

April 2003

What's not to love about spring? The robins are back, clothes are flapping on the line, and everyone is out in their yards racking and passing hellos over the fence. Suddenly there is a rush of activity everywhere, and my April is going to be full of all sorts of interesting events.

I'm going to be talking to high school students about the arts in Auburn, New York. I like these outings because it's refreshing to talk to the upcoming generation, not only to expose them to work and ideas that are new to them, but it keeps me tuned in to what's on the horizon.

I am doing a workshop with the girl scouts so that they can earn their jewelry badge. I have to say, the badges they can earn these days are a lot more exciting then the ones we worked on when I was a scout a million years ago. I still remember that the scout leaders were a lot more comfortable having us earn our housekeeping badges, learning how to clean the oven and make perfect Jell-O, then they were with trying to figure out how to get our camping badges. In the middle of Milwaukee, camping was a tough one, and I remember them taking us to a city park, heating up charcoal in a grill, making somores and calling it good.

I had the good fortune to meet a wonderful woman, Patty Dilcher, who is the Senior Artist at Fisher Price Toys in East Aurora, New York. She asked me to exhibit some of my work at their corporate office for the month of April. How fun is that? I am looking forward to conducting a Precious Metal Clay workshop there in the future. I can't wait to see what a bunch of toy makers come up with!

I will also be participating as a guest artist in Anderson Alley's Second Saturdays Event. For those of you unfamiliar with this event, the artists on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors of the Fabric and Findings building, (next to the Village Gate) all open their studio doors on the second Saturday of every month. This informal atmosphere is a terrific way to meet artists, see how they work, and purchase work directly from the artists themselves. I will be joining weaver Mary McMahon on the 2nd floor. I will be there with all my Precious Metal Clay equipment so that people can actually try the new PMC3 themselves by making a bead or a button. I will be firing these right on the spot, so that you can take a piece home with you when you are finished with your tour of the studios. The day starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m. Come down and make your own pure silver PMC charm, and find out what all the fuss is about! For more information about Second Saturday's you can visit their website at www.artsrochester.com

I end this with hopes for peace and understanding. I still think that education, communication and open minds are the keys to our future. We are a global village now, and it isn't enough to be proud Americans. It's time to be proud earthlings. Our brothers do not just sit within these arbitrary borders, we have kin everywhere, we need to take care of each other, and learn how to listen. Our way or the highway jargon is a thing of the past.

Praying for peace,
Elizabeth.

I know we are really supposed to hibernate in the winter, hunker down and wait for spring, but that hasn't been the case for me this winter.

I have actually felt rather invigorated to be living through what, not so long ago, was considered a regular winter for Rochester, NY. We have had such mild winters for so long, that us northerners have forgotten how to drive in snow, have lost our ice scrapers, and are put out at the notion of shoveling our driveways. But I have enjoyed the crisp air, being able to wear my really heavy sweaters, and relax at the end of a long day, and a longer drive home, and pour a glass of red wine and watch the snow dance outside the window.

Being a December child, winter is my season. I revel in it. I love its unique challenges, and how it reminds you that weather will not be controlled by any man. We occasionally need to be reminded of the need to adapt and not control.
It's an interesting study in human nature that people complain about winter, instead of seeing it's beauty. Skies that have just released ten inches of snow, thrill us with a crystalline blue that no summer sky can match. The stars at night are so bright that you feel as if you could reach out and touch them, and properly bundled, a walk in the snow is unbeatable. The sculptures of snow are everywhere to be admired and commented on. Like how does my clothesline, a thin piece of rope extended the entire length of my backyard hold a perfect six-inch cylinder of snow for days at a time?

I remember a surveyor apologizing for the bad weather we were in, and I said, there is no such thing as bad weather if you are dressed right. He beamed his approval. My coat of choice is an old, men's black topcoat I bought at my favorite rummage sale. I love it for a number of reasons. It's long, so my legs are covered. It's bulky so I can layer underneath. And I paid three dollars for it. It was actually made here in Rochester, and is called the Highland Park, which is so cool, because it's one of my favorite places to walk. I feel like I walk in history when I wear it, reflecting the beauty of that Olmstead park. And it's obviously durable, to have lasted this long. I have no idea how it was treated when worn by the original gentleman owner, but this coat gets a beating from me. Take my "civilized" walks through Highland Park or Mount Hope Cemetery, for example. I am prone to acts of total juvenile behavior, and if I suspect that Ed is being too serious, or not responsive enough on a walk, I stage elaborate heart attacks, falling dramatically to the ground, and stay dead until such time as I feel I have received adequate CPR. It tests a coat for sure. Now could you have so much fun without snow or a great coat?
Even shoveling snow can be a delight, when you decide that being "helpful" requires mandatory snow angels.

Ages ago, I watched the seasons turn in Los Angeles, and it was one of the most depressing years of my life. There is just something about snow men decorations on the lawns of pink stucco houses in Beverly Hills that just doesn't feel right.
I guess I am a traditionalist, but the changing seasons, as the changing of weeks and days, help us anchor ourselves in where we are. My web guy who just moved to Florida will laugh at all this by the way. He loves the idea of Christmas in shorts.

See you next month,

Elizabeth