today, oh today.

after finding our basement filling with smoke this afternoon, i thought our house was on fire.

all of my possessions, objects, jewels, etc. flashed before my eyes.
liz scrambled out of the shower trying to gather herself and the cats...

i called 911. swarms of fire trucks and cops came within moments, blocking our street.

apparently our duplex-mates were heating plastic or resin or something dangerous on their stove and forgot about it. {completely insane.}
personally i burst into tears.

i'm just glad the house is still standing, except everything smells like burning.

{be safe this holiday}

lynn

our home studio

we have been blessed with an old home that has multiple unnecessary rooms to the everyday person, but very very necessary to us. we have 2 living rooms. so what better place to set up a studio but the largest room in the house? it is also nice because the room can be separated by two sets of pocket doors to stop the kitties from entering or to muffle the sounds of hammering while your roommate is taking a nap on the couch in the next room. it's helpful.

anyway, the studio is a little tight with the three of us in there, but very functional. as long as you have the essentials, a bench (or table), bench pin, hand tools, an acetylene torch, and a crock pot for your pickle, you're good to go. (a decent chair is also pretty crucial - one that goes up and down - we bought chairs over the summer one day and it improved our lives more than i can say). you can do a lot with very little equipment. sometimes it seems like limiting your available materials or processes can help you discover little tricks or experiments that yield some interesting results. i like to think of it as a challenge.

{here is a photo of our studio {kind of a mess, but necessary}}

{my bench}

    {alissa's bench}

{sewing corner by day, photo booth by night}

{thanks for reading!}
Lynn

thinkin' about spring travels

i am going to dinner this eve with some fellow kalamazoo metalsmiths to discuss our travels to Houston for the Society of North American Goldsmiths conference '10.  I know it seems far off (March--am i the only one that feels like it's getting earlier and earlier every year?), but it's still something to get excited about in advance.

i have personally been to the past four conferences (chicago, memphis, savannah, and philly). It all started in Chicago with a little push from my fellow classmate who basically signed me up by asking if i had a credit card and then 'conveniently' and subsequently lending me his laptop with the registration page all ready to go.  Thanks again. 

i think i was like 19 or 20 years old.  can't believe i saw ted noten as the keynote speaker (i'm pretty sure he smoked a cigarette on stage), karl fritsch spoke (i remember a brief explanation on sling casting), and ramon puig cuyas - all these iconic artists - i had no clue what i was seeing or what art jewelry even was back then (not that i have a clue now)... but i was pretty awestruck by the curious world of jewelry, and have not ceased to be since then.
so if you've never been, go.

Lynn {of bezhu studio}

well, it's winter all right

with the first michigan winter storm (some may call it a blizzard) we couldn’t help but get jazzed about making paper snowflakes. and as we all know paper snowflakes lead to mini christmas trees which lead to fake snow (thanks to liz, it was repurposed from fake spiderwebs from halloween!) which somehow eventually leads to animals in sweater vests (coming soon).

{Zazu...aka zazi, zuzu, zazzles, etc}















 






{alissa and liz putting up some lights while i was out in the snow storm being a stalker of my own home}
  



 












 




{living room}

{paper massacre! the only thing i have really crafted so far this week. yikes}

{our studio pets}

{slightly maniacal looking liz with snowmen}

happy holidays!

Lynn {from bezhu studio}

let's get acquainted

 

















{greeting card made from 1960's reader's digest}

i would have loved to have written sooner but the studio started taking over my life last week. jewelry, yes always, but also holiday cards. it’s safe to say i was obsessed. so, every first friday here in kalamazoo there is an art hop. this month i was able to set up a table to sell my wares (jewels and cards) at the exquisite corpse studio located in the park trades center downtown. the december art hop is always the best, and it was snowing here in the mitten so of course that added to the charm.

also the gallery had a show up of small works called WEE! (great title i thought) which Liz and i both had pieces in– Lizzie’s is on the flyer–check out their site^

{what has come over me with these almost sickeningly cute cards, i blame christmas cheer, & the strong desire to use colored pencils}

these cards as well as other recent production jewelry can be purchased on our new etsy site --
www.bezhu.etsy.com

seasons greeeeeeeeeeeeetings,

Lynn {of bezhu studio}

so it begins...

Bezhu studio is the place where we work. We also sleep here, eat here, tend to our two huge cats (which are basically small mountain lions), and occasionally when we’re feeling particularly sassy, we push aside the soldering bench for small dance parties.

The house/studio (a metals and jewelry studio) is in Kalamazoo, Michigan and is really in a duplex. Which means our neighbors (the people whom we share a wall with) have to hear the incessant sounds of hammering and undoubtedly are wondering what exactly is going on when they drive in and see through our living room window the three ladies running around like mad scientists in aprons with safety glasses, torches, and bowls of various liquids.

We intend to use this blog to show (individually and as a trio) what we are working on, what we are looking it, and to encourage a conversation.

Please check back for upcoming posts…

[Lynn, Alissa, and Liz]