rabidrabits

A New Year, A New Beginning

Getting through the holiday season was both fun and challenging.  Since the last post, I have put up three additional shows, and taken the last two weeks off to re-paint the gallery and studio, and open a new look for 2012. While talking with an artist, who shows in the Gallery, We discussed how vivid colors "pop" in paintings, when the back ground is strong.  So with this in mind, and drawing on my experience living in Mexico for 7 years, where color is the name of the game when painting your walls, I made a bold change, adding color to both walls and furniture.

In August of last year, we also made a change to my studio, moving it from an outside location, to a room ajoining the gallery, so that I could interract with visitors, and keep working!  The result is I get a lot more work done, and its a great set up for studio tours.  You can to to www.rabidrabitsgaleria.com to see the gallery blog.

I continue to add new designs to my hollow heart collection.  the latest....a tiny birdsnest, with three pearl eggs inside the heart with a shuttered window

I have found an interesting way to work with non-precious metals by etching and patina, and other mixed media touches.  here is frida Kahlo on the back of a pendant with an ancient chinese coin

The front is a silver heart with wings, with Frida's favorite saying.  I love making these, as each becomes a one of a kind story piece.

I love making boxes with treasure inside.  this one has a cuttlebone cast heart with a sapphire wrapped in 22K gold.  A 50th wedding anniversary gift.

When I can, I am taking workshops in ceramic sculpting techniques.  This is a sculpture of my bassett Hound, Sebastion (Seabass).  this is his favorite pose....sleeping.  next I will sculpt him begging for food.

This seems to be a labrador at peace.  I never know what is going to come out of the clay, so it is so fun to see the finished product.

the expression is in the jowles.  I think this is a memory of Marmaduke.  I loved that character growing up.  It made me want my own Marmaduke!  this one is loads easier to take care of

This is the only thing I have seen my cat do lately, so she makes a great model.  She keeps this pose for hours on end.

this happy robbin bounces with the slight movement of walking on the hard wood floors.  It helps that the house was built in 1905, so there is more bounce

This heart totem is the latest in my totem creations.  I have 2 more waiting to be fired, and I am contemplating a tiny stack of hearts...

to go along with my tiny stack of birds.  this piece stands about 6 inches tall, and is all about Love, as the quote is from Emily Dickinsons Poem, It's all I have to Bring Today.

 
I am reminded that it is time for dinner, so more later, when I have more fun art stuff to report.  I have been painting with some wonderful art friends who get together and paint once a week, so I will post some fun from that front.  I live in a great town for art and artists, as there is always a way to flex your creativity muscle!

Studio Tour Preparations

 
Rabid Rabits Galeria just hosted it's favorite show, Sacred Spaces III.  The first show of Sacred Spaces was hosted in my gallery/studio in Ajijic Mexico.  It was so incredible with the imagery, and the blessing that was performed by a local Shaman and dancers, so I have to continue the tradition.  here is an altar in the entry of the gallery, which was constructed with 3 of my friends.  We asked artists to contribute something to the altar, and also visitors to the gallery are encouraged to put somehting on the altar, or leave a note on the board in back of the altar....so it grows daily

 
Sugar Skulls and Sugar Virgin of Guadalupes adorn the gallery in the spirit of the celebration for "Dia de la Muertos", or Day of the Dead, which is celebrated in Mexico

 
My contribution is a beautiful nest, which is about the most beautiful piece of art you can experience in nature...definitely a sacred space, which holds my grandmothers pearl rosary
Pictures of family and art made for the altar...
In the main gallery I had the honor of showing two artists, who are mother and daughter by relation, and each so talented.

 
This is a piece, which is two artists, combined together.  Alix Christian is a wonderful local artist, who is a painter, in encaustics, as well as an assemblage artist.  the birdie just had to be in the piece, and is a piece by local artist Carolyn Douglas.

 
A little case in the entry holds some of my pieces that I would think fit into the Sacred Spaces Concept.  I am working on a series which has original Milagros from Mexico.  Milagros translates to "Miracles" in English, and has been used to request help from our saints nad virgins in altars and churches.  I am also making boxes, which hold a special piece of jewelry, or where a piece of the box can be worn. 

 
This is a piece called "Destiny", in which Babette the rabbit is an actor in a scene, though she is unaware of her role....the story is stamped into copper in French, and reads..."Babette knows she is destined....each night, during her dreams, the ears become wings, all through the night she flies herself between the stars"..

Sacred Spaces Show Opens

 

Sacred Spaces III

Rabid Rabits Galeria

530 Kimbark St, Longmont, CO

(303) 774-8336

www.rabidrabitsgaleria.com

 

Opening Sunday, September 18, 2011, from 11 a.m. til 3 p.m.

Show runs from Sunday, September 18 through Sunday, November 6, 2011.

With tragic world events and the pace of every day challenging us to remain positive, keep-up or step aside - Our sanity, balance and humanity may hinge on retreating to our own Sacred Space. 

What would that space resemble to you?

Please join us at our Opening for the Sacred Spaces III, Sunday, September 18^th from 11 a.m. til 3 p.m., where we asked our artist to create art with this very idea in mind.  We have created a special altar and all are invited and encouraged to contribute to our Sacred Space.  Whether it be a photograph in honor of a lost love one, a note of thanks for good fortune, a request for intervention in the outcome of an event, or a message of Peace, we welcome your contribution to our public art installation.  Everything you contribute can be returned to you at the end of our show on November 6^th.

Thank you for supporting and being a part of the arts.  Be sure to check in on our website, www.rabidrabitsgaleria.com

Summer in the Studio

 
 
It is my first summer in this studio, and I am finding it a wee bit hot.  For this reason, I am planning on relocating my studio into the gallery, so that I can work in the studio while I interract with the visitors in the gallery. 

 
Two friends from Mexico dropped in on my in the past month, and brought with them their work, which I will be showing in the gallery, as well as gifts.  this is a beautiful parasol, that I had to leave behind in Mexico when it became damaged.  Knowing how much it meant to me as it was gift from a very good friend, My friends all got together, and recovered it in pictures and paint.  It is a wonderful piece of art, reminding me of my friendships, and of an area that I had spent 7 years of my life.

 
Allenda also brought me this piece, made by an artist in Tonala.  It is Diego, riding a bike wih Frida on the back.  in the basket in front, are rolled up paintings of Frida's, as well as paint brushes, and artists tools.  Now if I can just find a little bottle of tequila, they would be on the perfect ride!

 
I have been busy in the studio trying to come up with alternatives to silver and gold, which are continuing to go up on a daily basis.  here is a beautiful ancient coin from Japan.  (The origin might actually be from China).  I added a few antique brass bells, and a couple of crosses from my work.  this was a piece I designed and wore on a recent trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico.  It is on a long piece of adjustable leather.  I plan to make a mold of the coin, and re-create it using Bronze Clay. 

 
Try as I may, I just cannot help but to use silver in my work.  here is panel bracelet, that is just plain fun.  usually my pieces tell a story, but the links in this piece were designed as I went. 

 

The saying on the back of the frog panel..."I had to kiss a lot of princes to find...The Perfect Frog".  (No reference to my husband.)  My thinking was...in the old tale of the princess who kissed a lot of frogs to find her prince...what if she then decided she preferred the frogs!

 

 
This bracelet was the product of a PMC silver clay class that I recently taught.  In this class we create panels for linking together for a bracelet.  It was a lot of fun, and I just love how this piece came out.

 
so much texture and pattern...

 
I casted a heart, using the process of cuttle-bone casting.  I then created a mold to be able to recreate this piece, as I loved the natural striations of the cuttle bone.  here it is, set in a ring, with a 1/4 karat diamond.  It is titled "Wild at Heart". 

 
I am going to create a series of sculptural rings, using the original sculptures I create out of cuttle bone castings and PMC.  here is the heart on a band, which reads "AMOR"

 
I sculpted a bee out of the silver PMC, and then created a mold where I have casted an 18K gold bee, using broken chains, and various gold pieces of jewelry, that I had stopped wearing.  I am now casting a these for clients, who send me their gold, to re-purpose into a bee, a bird, a cuttle bone heart.  why trade in your gold for a fraction of it's worth, especially if it keeps going up in value...DAILY. 

 
This is a 14K gold cuttlebone cast heart.  I added a couple of AAA Thailand sapphires on 22K gold to give it some sparkle.   I love the cuttlebone casting process, which allows you to have a one of a kind miniature sculpture, with the beautiful natural patterning from the cuttlebone on all sides of the pendant. 

May showers???

 
 
Finding balance is next on my agenda.  This is a difficult time to be a jewelry artist, as metals are at an all time high, and can increase more than 20% in a given week.  so, I have been taking a step back and designing jewelry from less expensive metals.  Brass, bronze, copper and found objects.   A friend recently told me how an artist needs to evolve....so in the coming months I hope that is just what I will do!  this is one of my few new pieces that keep to the gems and silver.  This is a nice long piece for the summer.

Busy in the Gallery

The "matters of Heart" show has come down, and art is trickling in for the show opening on Sunday.

birds abound

 
I am taking a totem sculpting class from artist and friend Katy Diver...

 
 
First there were three birds...

 
Then 4 more..

 
Then it occured to me that there needed to be 24 with a pie for the making of "Four&Twenty".  I am still working on the pie for the base, and yet another totem with anything not bird...

 
Katy is a wonderful sculpture artist, who's work in clay is 2 dimensional, and 3 dimensional

 
you can see her work, and sign up to get notification of the latest workshops she teaches at www.katydiver.com

 
The gem show was a couple of weeks ago, and as soon as the next gallery show is successfully opened, which is this sunday...I will be back in the studio creating.  here are incredible natural agates and an incredible vibrant green Chrysoprase

Lots of Activity at the Studio and Galeria

I have been balancing being in the studio, and runnings the gallery now for 5 months.  I am ready to start giving workshops...but first, a look at what the Gallery has been up to

   
The Show, "Matters of Heart", opened with a great., well attended opening.  you can view pictures of the show by going to www.rabidrabitsgaleria.com.

 

three strands of ancient roman class, rough cut into discs, and strung on silk.  spacers are made of ancient beads, which have been hand drilled.

 
ancient glass with a beautiful green AAA Thailand Sapphire drop....

 
Bee "Happy".  from the journey charm series.  the hook in front allows you to add your own charms as you want to.  maybe a lost earring, your grandma's ring...

 
"Monster".  who doesn't feel like this some days?

 
These are fine silver earrings, with a 24K "Kum-Boo" finish.  Beautiful aqua marines dangle from hammered sterling wires

 
Two bees...or not to bees.

Rabid Rabits Galeria Show

 

Running the Gallery has certainly been fun, and quite an adventure trying to figure out how to juggle getting my art work done, as well as setting up shows for the gallery.  what incredible artists I meet, and it is wonderful to be surrounded by such inspiration and energy

visit www.rabidrabitsgaleria.com for more show information, and to see the art in the gallery.

 

Holiday shows

 

This is my second year participating in the Boulder Winter Solstice Show, which is being held at the Boulder Public Library.  This is a show of 36 artists from Boulder County.  The show is beautifully set up and run, with two days of sales and meeting the artists.....really great prices on the art!