links

Follow along with studio life on instagram.

Find my facebook artist page here.
Visit my Youtube channel for project videos.
Jeff de Boer - mentor, inspiration, collaborator, friend. Founder of LEXM (League of Extraordinary Makers), and kinetic jewellery design-house Armét Canada.
Cory Barkman - industrial artist, LEXM collaborator, designer extraordinaire.
Alberta Craft Council - professional member of the provincial craft council.
Citizens Of Craft - a great site to browse Canadian fine craft artists, my profile is here.
Vancouver Metal Arts Society--fabulous resource for Canadian jewellery and metal-workers, a volunteer-run organization forging "connection, community and opportunity". The group is Vancouver-based, but their exhibitions attract contemporary work from across the country.
make and do - Canadian contemporary ceramic work, and a Canada-wide maker directory. My profile is here.

brain food...

In Our Time - presented by Melvyn Bragg (elevated to the House Of Lords in the UK after a life-time of public service broadcasting in the arts). Available as a podcast from BBC Radio 4, subjects cover everything imaginable, from the universal to the arcane. Topics are dissected by a panel actively involved in researching the subject (not just those with opinions).
3quarksdaily - it's like having the renaissance revisited, delivered to your inbox, every day. Science, art, critical thinking... And there's always a really cool video clip - fortunately it's not always that highbrow, and that's the point: we all like to let go every now and then. Implicated by Steven Pinker as the main reason he can't get his work done.
The Edge - want to read what leading musicians, philosophers, artists, critical thinkers and many other smartypants are arguing about? They publish really (really) good books too, readable on-line under Annual Question.

Comments

will you...?

Artists write stories about their work all the time, and the greatest joy is when that story becomes important to another person. This project was about creating a piece of fan-art for a client (DP) based on their love of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter stories. DP approached Jeff de Boer because he needed to commission a very special golden snitch sculpture: the body would become an opening engagement ring-box. DP had a very special proposal in mind, and the snitch was to play a key part. Jeff and I do not usually make snitches. Jeff is a renowned metal artist and teacher, famous for creating armour for cats and mice , and collected world-wide. Jeff also has an ever-increasing body of large-scale public art projects (…with lots of news to come in 2016!). His web-site is a magical place, full of stories made real. I am an emerging metal and clay artist whom Jeff is mentoring - particularly in the skills of chasing and repoussé - and these skills were to be at the core of makin...

thanks for all the fish

It already feels like ages ago but Rainbow Trout has only been up since June 1, and the “Making Of…” video is now ready to share - hope you enjoy it. I think it is fair to state that all makers will understand the challenges of the average day in the studio: we design/make/fix/modify tools all the time—and we learn to accept that is really the entry level of committing to a life of making original work—it’s all about problem solving. And the bigger the work, the bigger and more costly the problems! But that’s where a talented team really shines - I was second camera on this project and it was a privilege to watch the many highly skilled professionals who contributed to building Rainbow Trout. As Jeff notes in the video, we won’t always be able to say what we mean clearly to someone else, and there will inevitably be different solutions to the same problem… It’s how we remedy our problems, in this case with humour and grace, that really sets the tone for success. Thank you to e...

come meet the herd!

I will be riding off to Bluerock to join sculptor Kindrie Grove, painter Jennifer Mack, metal artist Simon Wroot, and equine jewellery maker Simone Schlichting to present “Meet The Herd!” at Bluerock Gallery in Black Diamond, Alberta. We will be presenting equine art and artist demos over the weekend of July 16 and 17, 2016. Full details here: http://bluerockgallery.ca/blogs/events/meet-the-herd-july-16-17-2016 I love making equine-inspired art but it is usually a fairly private obsession as I mainly create commissions in clay - I will have new clay horse pieces, and chased metal pictures available. There will also be new ceramic work for Bluerock - large porcelain platters, small vases and covered jars, some porcelain sculpture, and a few bright bowls to gladden hearts and tables. Pieces are all hand-built and finished by me at my home studio—it takes a long time to make and fire the work, and I am now starting to build an inventory of my favourite forms alongside my vases at ...

metal is clay

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