listening in the studio II

lisa mitchell is stuck on repeat...

everyday oddity

i was cutting a really ripe tomato with a pretty dull knife on the counter. the cleanup resulted in this pretty/somewhat creepy photo. thought i should share.

thanks for looking,
Lynn

a shoutout to the 8/0's

these photos show some of the hours of sawing i have been partaking in with my 8/0 sawblades (a.k.a. the love of my life). i have always loved my jeweler's saw but particularly enjoy sawing as tiny as humanly possible. it's kind of scary how much joy these blades bring me. anyway, the objects below show some samples with various pigments for the final piece i am working on which will eventually be a necklace i think. {process shots of the cutting at the bottom.}

thanks for reading, I will eventually post the final piece.Lynn

listening in the studio

i have developed a habit of always having to listen to something while working in the studio and i thought it would be fun to share what is playing...

also, i am secretly learning conversational spanish. (entiendo un poco de espanol.) last night alissa came downstairs thinking that there was a mysterious spanish speaking intruder in our home. nope, just me practicing my spanish pronunciation with dr. paul pimsleur while sawing at the bench.

have a good weekend,lynn

gray michigan

i made this piece a few months ago but wanted to photograph it outside. the weather in michigan is just too gray and icy and muddy right now. there must be a way to take advantage of the ugly, right? this slightly creepy pink garage behind our house is lovely. thanks to alissa and liz for freezing their butts off even though the photos turned out slightly questionable...

{the piece is very much and very simply about people and how i imagine all the small things between us that make us feel part of something.}

thanks for looking -- lynn

More Charms!

A few little sweater links also on their way to Pittsburg...
and in case you were wondering, these little things are made of :  sterling silver, steel, and wool thread

For more info on the Charmed show and its participants,  please see the post below.

Hooray for first posts!  I'll bring more with me next time..

- Alissa

Charmed

I recently sent these off to Pittsburgh for a show at the Society for Contemporary Craft.
{they are made of sterling silver and hand-cut suede}

Charmed: an exhibition of artist-made charms and charm bracelets:

January 19-February 27, 2010
Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA
www.contemporarycraft.org

participating artists:
Bob Ebendorf
Robert Longyear
Margaux Lange
James Thurman
Jen Townsend
Marlene True
Rob Jackson
Robin Kraft
Ana Lopez
Victoria Altepeter
Mary Hallam Pearse
Kathryn Osgood
Brittany Sondberg
Erica Stankwytch Bailey
Allyson Bone
Vince Pontillo
Adrienne M. Grafton
Lynette Andreason
Bryan Peterson
Tavia Brown
Autumn Brown
Talya Baharal
Tim Lazure
Renee Zettle-Sterling
Colleen Heineman
Rachel Ketzner
Sarah Holden
Stacey Webber
Lynn Batchelder
Raissa Bump
Alissa Lamarre

{Thanks for reading}
Lynn

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}