Jen Lobo

Chroma Theives my favorite piece by Jen Lobo an artist from Pasadena, California.  I find her perspective refreshing and subject matter unique.

Street Art

This past weekend I had a fleeting thought of searching out Banksy's recent street art in the Los Angeles area.  He is right, this tank about fifteen minutes from my home looks a bit like an elephant.  Besides he would know since he painted a pachyderm in September 2006.

On My Must See List

Those fabulous Rodarte girls Kate and Laura Mulleavy have their first solo exhibit on the West Coast titled States of Matter at MOCA's Pacific Design Center annex just minutes from my home.  The work is installed as a series of interrelated conceptual vignettes, both static and in motion, the installation portrays garments as charged sculptural objects. 

Rodarte made a lot of noise in recent years with their high fashion avant garde designs which use unique materials and fabrication methods.  Also on display will be their original ballet costume designs for the film Black Swan.  The exhibit is on view through June 5th.

Nervous System

Awe inspiring Nervous System use advanced technology and algorithms to simulate and mimic forms from nature and produce the most amazing intricate jewelry using high tech equipment.  Their research and process is very interesting and I might find myself reading their entire blog.

insectes éthérés

It arrived.  Last week.  The most amazing hammer in the world.  Okay that is a bit of an exaggeration but not by much.  What is it you ask?  Insectes éthérés is a custom engraved macro spiculum hammer for jewelery fabrication.

How did this happen?  It is sort of hard to explain how one falls in love but it went something like this.  I took a workshop led by NC Black, they teach micro forming for jewelry fabrication.  I made my first spiculum, then a furry bracelet and other cool shapes and jewelry bits.  The spiculum hammer was my favorite tool of the workshop.  I thought it was the most unique of the tools used for micro forming and when you look at the hammer shape you know it is something special.

Then I took an engraving workshop from NC Black.  While I did a good job for a beginner I am years away from being proficient.  The teacher, Les Byrant, was amazing.  An excellent, patient teacher with a great sense of humor and a huge amount of creativity and talent.  You can see Les' work on his website Le Graveur De Vol or on his etsy page Fluffy's Corner, be sure to check out the Bad Kitty cuff bracelet.

So I fell hard and wanted Les to custom engrave a hammer for me and I requested it to be in the theme of a cabinet of curiosities. 

If micro forming metal sounds appealing to you, I highly recommend NC Black's workshops and you can find dates for a workshop near you on their NC Black website or their updates under NC Black on Facebook.

So here it is, insectes éthérés with a beautiful Wenge wood handle, and the last photo is that of the first spiculum I made.

Art Forms of Nature

One of my go to books.  Ernst Haekels' illustrations of bizarre sea creatures is an artist's dream.

Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel – born February 16, 1834, died August 9, 1919.  Duplication of his work has been prolific recently as his work is now in public domain.  Ernst was an eminent German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor and artist.  He discovered, documented and named thousands of new species.  His publication Kunstfomen der Natur (Artforms of Nature) included over 100 detailed and colored illustrations of animals and sea creatures.

Jizai Okimono

I had the opportunity to see these amazing Japanese Jizai Okimono in person and move their incredible bug parts.  The life size metal bugs are intricately made of many small pieces assembled together with articulating legs, antennae and movable wings.  The copper colored wasp in the middle has a stinger that retracts into it's abdomen!

Jizai Okimono were created by the Samurai armor craftsmen and the art emerged in the late 1800's when the Samurai class was eliminated and the bearing of swords banned.   

 

 

Amazing Minerals

These amazing, detailed minerals in watercolor and gouache were painted by Viscount Alexandre-Isadore Leroy de Barde in 1813.  He was just in his 30's and already well recognized as a virtuoso in his 20's.  The mineral painting, shell painting below and another of birds in the series were purchased by Louis XVIII and are in the Louvre Museum in Paris.  In later years Leroy de Barde opened a private museum of natural history in Paris.

Reading List

The Ultimate Jeweler's Guide, I checked this out from my local library. Yeah I have a library card!  The instructions were concise, clearly written step by step, easy to follow and great photos.  This one just moved to the top of my Amazon list.

Claude Verlinde, my new favorite artist.  Evocative eye candy. 

Art Nouveau is inspiring me again.  Alphonse Mucha's drawings and jewelry is stunning.

For my love of art and nature, The Painter as Naturalist.

Insect Robots

Elegantly executed using a combination of gears, parts, springs and insects.  Mike Libby has created Insect Lab.  His recently published book touches on his process and includes photos of his finished work.

This one is definitely on my book list.  www.insectlabstudio.com

Light and Color

Last weekend I visited the SUPRASENSORIAL: EXPERIMENTS IN LIGHT, COLOR, AND SPACE exhibit at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.  One of the exhibits was a three compartment space lit with green, red and blue tones.  Transitioning from one space to the other and feeling the sensations related to color was an interesting experience.  The exhibit is in place until February 27th.