Southwest School of Art Gala in the Garden and Art Sale

I was thrilled to be asked to participate in a fundraising event for one of my favorite organizations: the Southwest School of Art. Their annual Gala in the Garden and Art Sale takes place on October 4 in the beautiful riverside gardens at the school's historic location. Artists for the Gala are selected by participating galleries, and the part of the proceeds of the sale go toward educational programs at the school, which will offer its first Bachelor of Arts program this year. Soon after my move back to Texas fourteen years ago, I began taking art classes at SSA, which was then called the Southwest Craft Center. Many, many happy hours passed in the fiber and metals studios on campus, as I studied surface design with Jane Dunnewold and metals with Claire Holliday, among others. It's an honor to give back by participating in this event.

Spring Flock Necklace
©2012 Vickie Hallmark
sterling silver clay, Argentium wire, sterling chain

Clare Watters, manager of the on-campus Gallery Shop, nominated my work to the organizers. The piece of choice was my Flock necklace, which I had recently committed to having available for another potential opportunity. So I designed and made a different version of the necklace just for the Gala.

Spring Warbler Earrings
©2012 Vickie Hallmark
sterling silver clay, Argentium wire

Spring Flock is similar in overall design, with again completely one-of-a-kind hand-sculpted treetop scenes. Each bird, leaf and flower is painstakingly formed with magnification. A pair of coordinating earrings completes my contribution to the Art Sale.

 Check out the jewelry from these other artists whose names I recognized among the artist participants. It's an honor to be in their company!

1. Kat Cole
2. Gary Schott
3. Alejandro Sifuentes

Contemporary Metal Clay Rings

Last week found a pleasant surprise in my mailbox: my personal copy of Hattie Sanderson's new book, Contemporary Metal Clay Rings. I'm proud to have three photos of my work included in this masterful new book.

Printed on quality paper and hardbound, the book covers all the intricacies of making rings from metal clay, including sizing issues in great detail. A thorough coverage of working with the various silver clays, including sterling, makes this book usable even by complete novices. Sometimes it's desirable to combine different silver clays in one project, or to use commercial silver components, and Hattie covers these scenarios as well. Sections are also dedicated to finishing (including Hattie's favorite rotary tool heads), and additions such as gemstones, nuts and bolts, and other inclusions as well as gold accents. Beyond the generalized information, there are six ring projects as well as a introductory pendant project. The book is rounded out with copious images of work from more than fifty metal clay artists, scattered within the text and compiled in a special gallery section.

If you are interested in making metal clay rings, this new addition to the metal clay library will answer all your questions.

Finding Creative Flow after Vacation

One of the most difficult things about traveling is returning to the studio. How do I get back into the flow of creating?

Spring Flock
greenware detail
©2012 Vickie Hallmark
sterling clay

First, inspiration from travels usually gives me ideas. Inevitably I search out galleries and museums in the places I visit, where I collect photos and names of artists to research when I return home. If I have time, I actually write in a travel journal about what I see and why I think certain work speaks to me. I note which works I like, but also which don't do a thing for me, and then I try to analyze why. I deconstruct the work, looking at technical details for little tidbits that might be useful to my own efforts. How are the mechanical connections done? Is the color palette in this piece more successful than in that one? Where is the balance between simplicity and complexity?

Beyond taking in the offerings, I extrapolate my own ideas into the work I'm viewing. If I were making this piece, would I change anything? Is something off balance? Is the scale right? How could I put my own stamp on it, if I were to give myself the challenge to make a derivative piece based on it? So effectively, even though I'm not in the studio, I'm still working. I'm making the same types of decisions, but with more freedom because they're not actually reduced to practice.

Then when I return home, I do go back and look at the notes and Google all the artists who intrigued me. That's why I blog about galleries and museums when I travel - it's my record of those inspirations, with links that I can find later to reconnect me with the inspiration.

fired sterling clay bits and pieces
©2012 Vickie Hallmark

Finally, I have to go sit down at the work bench and reconnect with my own tools and materials. Sometimes it can be hard to reach out and begin something new, so two options often seem easier: 1) finish something already in progress or 2) rework an old idea. This round I have deadlines looming, so both options are in play. I actually left work buried in carbon in the kiln because I had no time to dig it out before I left. And I needed to make a variation on my largest work for an upcoming commitment. As I sit there working, all those new inspirations float through my head, as I wrestle with how to push my own work ever onward.

Inspiration from Australia 1

A month away from the blog is the longest I've ever gone quiet. Among that time was a twelve day trip to Australia, tagging along with my husband who attended a conference in Perth and then continued to further business in Melbourne. The last time I visited Australia with him, I had a twelve year old home schooled boy in tow, so all my tourist activities were geared toward entertaining and educating him. This round, I focused on my own interests, visiting gardens, museums and galleries.

The work that most amused me during my outings was the glass art of Richard Clements, whose delightful bird sculptures fascinated me when I visited Kirra Galleries in Melbourne.  His "animals of unknown origins" were at once whimsical and masterful, mounted on the wall at eye level.

"Animal of Unknown Origins"
Richard Clements
via Kirra Galleries

Kirra also displayed work by another glass artist that I've long admired, Kristen McFarlane, who specializes in layering images and text on glass. Indeed, if the prices on everything in Australia hadn't seemed to be twice what they are in the United States, I might have brought home a small piece of hers that particularly caught my eye, set as a diptych blue daguerreotype.

Kristin McFarlane
via Kirra Galleries

Amongst the flame work included in the special exhibition I viewed that weekend were plenty of jewelry pieces, including typical beads. The most intriguing jewelry work was that of Terri Kraehe, whose necklace based on eucalyptus pods was simply stunning (and already sold). 

eucalyptus pod neckpiece
Terri Kraehe and Marianne Kerby

I find that although most of my recent work has been silver, I am still enormously drawn to glass. As I try to analyze directions for future work, I came away from this trip convinced that I need to somehow combine my glass and metal interests to produce work that is truly representative of my highest ideals. Now I just need to find time to explore the possibilities!