corey ackelmire

2012-01-14T20:10:00.000-06:00

More images of my charms for "Charmed III; third time's the charm". The silver one is being donated to a series of charm bracelets that will be auctioned as a fundraiser for the Pittsburgh Society for Contemporary Craft.

I'm pretty pleased with them--I think they're, ahem, quite charming.

On their way!

2012-01-14T15:19:00.001-06:00

This spring I was invited to participate in Pittsburgh's Society for Contemporary Craft's "Charmed III: third time's the charm" exhibition. I made the enameled charms you see above. Each one is approximately 3/4" high. The charms will be available for sale in the store and on their website beginning February 3rd.

Boxes

2011-12-07T11:31:00.003-06:00

If you teach metals, and you are (like me) a little obsessive about keeping organized teaching samples of all your small metaly stuff, let me recommend these AWESOME photo storage boxes from the Container Store.
Yes, they're pricey, but now the samples for my entire beginning Jewelry/Metals class are organized into this one, portable, box. And I love being organized.

Plus, they're made in the USA.

San Antonio at Christmas

2011-12-04T21:13:00.003-06:00

lights on the trees along the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

We went to San Anton last week for the opening of La Noche del Brooche; an invitational exhibition of brooches at Equinox Gallery. N and I both had brooches in it, and you can see all the brooches in the show here.

Back in the saddle...I hope

2011-11-07T18:07:00.005-06:00

It would be an understatement to say that I have been struggling to work in the studio after Italy.

First, it was because we moved over the summer, and I have a hard time getting motivated when my life is in upheaval. The other part of my problem is that I don't have a proper work space at the moment; I'm working out of our bedroom, which is not ideal.

But really the problem was not knowing what to make. I'm tired of my old work and really don't want to work with plastic for a while, so I've been searching for a new source of inspiration. The most inspiring thing I've seen this past year was the amulet collection at the National Archeological Museum in Perugia, Italy, which I mentioned on this blog in March.

You'd be hard-pressed to find the jeweler or metalsmith who isn't at least partially interested in amulets, but contemporary versions are often so cliché that I have typically avoided them like the plague.

And I'm still avoiding them. I am not making amulets.

I have finally started a project partially inspired by the sense of fragility and vulnerability of those amulets, however. My goal is to make at least 100 copper quatrefoil charms that will be altered using some simple, straight-forward method. I plan to enamel them and hang them on a handmade safety-pin.

Time will tell if these pins have the feeling I want, but so far, I'm enjoying it and keeping busy. Which is good.

Thought for the day.

2011-10-18T18:30:00.001-05:00

"—art is so persistent in all our cultures because it is a means of the culture to survive. And the reason for that, I believe, is that art, at its fullest capacity, makes us attentive.

...I also believe, curiously, that beauty, which is very often something we confuse with art, is merely a mechanism to move us towards attentiveness. You realize we all have a genetic capacity and need to experience beauty, but beauty is not the ultimate justification for art. It is merely the device by which we are led to attentiveness.”

-Milton Glaser

Charles W. Cushman

2011-10-08T19:37:00.006-05:00

Today Kirtsy.com posted a selection of photos taken by Charles W. Cushman. He donated over 14,500 photographs taken on Kodachrome slide film between 1938 and 1960 to Indiana University and the entire (at least it seems like the entire) collection is browse-able online.

The photos are so clear and colorful. There are genre headings, like Night Photos, where I found the above photo of San Francisco taken on July 4, 1940.

And subject headings like dirt roads, where I found the above: a corn field in Indiana in 1938.

If you have a couple minutes, or a couple hours, to kill online, I highly recommend taking a look.

Baking Affirmation

2011-09-26T12:20:00.006-05:00

After 3 pathetic attempts at making flaky homemade biscuits over the summer, I really needed some success in the kitchen. My most recent crappy biscuits were over the weekend, which means I had buttermilk on hand and nothing to do with it.

Add buttermilk to the need to bake something that doesn't suck and you get scones!

I found this basic recipe for Coffeehouse Scones and switched the white sugar for brown sugar, added a cup of chopped toasted pecans, a splash of cinnamon, and a generous handful of chocolate chips.

And they are fantastic.

Not a necklace person?

2011-09-24T17:33:00.004-05:00

I'm not really either.

Well, sometimes I am--it comes in fits and spurts.

But right now I'm into brooches. They're feminine, vintage-e, and they make me feel artsy. This is a new brooch I just posted in my shop. Check it out!

More Austin fun.

2011-08-09T17:49:00.004-05:00

Sunday morning we had brunch at Frank in downtown Austin. Their specialty is all-things pork, especially bacon, and hot dogs.

They had a great selection of drinks featuring, you guessed it, bacon infused liquors.

As this was brunch, a bloody Mary seemed in order and Frank did not disappoint. Their bloody Mary is made with bacon-infused vodka, a full strip of bacon IN the drink, and a beer chaser. Delish!

Just the sort of thing you'd expect to do in Austin.

2011-08-08T20:49:00.003-05:00

This weekend, N and I went to Austin to visit N's brother who just moved into a new house. Saturday night we went to the Austin Texas Roller Derby championship bout. It was our first roller derby and we both really enjoyed it.

The Hustlers upset the Hotrod Honeys for 1st place.

Busy bees

2011-08-03T16:37:00.003-05:00

Last weekend N and I made an ottoman out of a salvaged piece of foam my mom gave us and some legs from the hardware store. Also made a couple throw pillows for the couch to match it. We, and the cats, are enjoying them.

I love him.

2011-07-30T14:09:00.004-05:00

This is a Yaka owl mask from the Democratic Republic of Congo (20th cent.) at the Menil Collection here in Houston. He's adorable.

If you ever had a reason to go to Marfa, TX...

2011-07-17T20:26:00.002-05:00

the Thunderbird looks like a really nice hotel.

Found on Poppytalk.

Charles LeDray

2011-07-15T17:09:00.009-05:00

Undoubtedly among my favorite artists Charles LeDray currently has a retrospective on view at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and N and I went to see it last week.
One of my favorite works in the show is his installation "Mens Suits." It features 3 vignettes of a used clothing store in miniature. The first area (above) is the receiving/basement room where the clothes come in.

And there are 2 display rooms; each room features an authentic drop ceiling, complete with dust on top, and a shabby, hand-made linoleum floor.

Reviews of LeDray's work usually focus on how amazing it is that he actually makes every part of the work, all the tiny clothes with working zippers and buttons, etc., and that is spectacular. But as a person trained in the crafts good craftsmanship and skill are not such novelties to me. His detail is impressive, but not the most impressive part.

This installation was so poignant and sad, mostly because of the scale. Most of us have been to dreary stores, but seeing it on this scale and looking down on it makes you think about the fictional lives of those tiny clothes and the people who discarded them and the people who will buy them. Like the reviewer in the above linked-to review says, "(LeDray) looks with infinite compassion on the belongings of the dispossessed and the down and out, the downside of the American dream."

A Commission

2011-07-07T18:35:00.003-05:00

I received a commission this summer to reset a faceted blue topaz in a similar fashion to this style of ring I made.

I was a little nervous about it because the stone has a fancy cut, and setting faceted stones is not something that was much covered in my training, which means it has taken some trial and error for me to learn how to do it.

I would have to say that I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

Last Venice photo

2011-06-15T16:41:00.001-05:00

an image into a canal.

St. Mark's, Venice

2011-06-14T18:51:00.001-05:00

St. Mark's.

A glorious courtyard in Venice

2011-06-12T19:40:00.000-05:00

A couple photos of Venetian walls

2011-06-11T21:01:00.002-05:00

I realize that anyone can and does take amazing pictures in Venice; it's just that picturesque. I saw many of those photos before I went and they gave me pretty high expectations for the city. I wasn't disappointed.

Venice Canals

2011-06-10T18:05:00.000-05:00

from my Venice set on flickr.

Ah, Venice.

2011-06-09T19:21:00.003-05:00

I have lots of other pictures of Italy, like these from all the towns we visited on the weekends, and these images of reference pictures we took- basically stuff we want to remember- but I'm going to end my Italy blog posts with images from my favorite place in Italy.

We ended our 3 months in Italy with Venice. I was excited to see it, because it is so unusual, but I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I heard the "elegant decay" description used before we got there and it is appropriate.

Above is the Grand Canal.

Do you have a ticket?

2011-06-08T17:58:00.003-05:00

...to the gun show? Well, not that gun show, but N and I did accumulate a fine collection of photos of Italian guns and weapons. See them here.

Cortona, encora

2011-06-07T18:08:00.003-05:00

We spent the bulk of our time in Italy in Cortona, a little town in Tuscany and it was every bit as charming as one would expect.

The photo is above is the view from our apartment window showing the bells of the church of San Francesco.

Fun facts about that church: built in 1245, it was designed by Friar Elia Coppi, who was the same person that designed the famous Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi.
This friar was excommunicated twice during his lifetime and died in Cortona in 1253. After he died, the church sort of 'lost track' of where he was buried until Renaissance renovation on the church dropped a beam through the choir floor revealing a body in monk's robes. There was no name, but they suspected that it was Brother Elias.
In the 1960s, researchers from the university in Perugia were able to verify that the bones belonged to a man who died approximately 700 years prior and who was between 70 and 80 old when he died, confirming it was most likely Brother Elias.

For the rest of our images from Cortona, look here.

Vespa means wasp, in Italian

2011-06-04T18:48:00.002-05:00

Not surprisingly, we saw many Vespas and other beautiful scooters in Italy. N loves the shapes and details of such things as inspiration for his work. Here are the pictures we took.

After Rome

2011-06-03T17:42:00.003-05:00

We went to Florence.

It was a welcome change, I thought. The people were friendlier, and the pace was slower.

Here is the green Arno.

And the obligatory photo of the Duomo. It's kind of busy, don't you think?

But our favorite place in Florence was by far La Specola, a natural history museum opened on February 21, 1775! It had taxidermied animals unlike anything I've ever seen before and is famous for its collection of 18th century anatomical wax models.
Here is a flickr set (by someone else) with great photos of the models.

For more pics from our time in Florence, visit my flickr set here.

Not to be morbid, but...

2011-06-02T11:54:00.005-05:00

reminders of death and the dead were pretty prevalent in Italy. Which is OK by us, 'cause we think that can be interesting.

We especially enjoyed the representations of skulls, which were everywhere.

And, as metalsmiths, we were excited about all the reliquaries, which are containers for holding all, or part, of a saint's body.

The rest of the pictures are in my Reliquaries and Skulls set on flickr.

One of the coolest places we visited, dealing with the dead, was the Cappuchin Crypt in Rome. We couldn't take pictures there, so this one is from itthing.com.

A very interesting place, to say the least.

In Rome

2011-06-01T17:16:00.006-05:00

I started telling my story of Italy in non-chronological order. We actually started our trip in February, in Rome.

I don't know if I was tired, or stressed, or intimidated by my meager language skills, but I didn't love Rome. I still have some good memories of it, like Sant Eustachio coffee , supposedly the best coffee in Rome and I have no reason to argue with that, since it was delicious.

And the Pantheon; absolutely spectacular. Completed in 126 C.E., it was originally a temple to all the gods, and is now a Christian church--probably why it wasn't destroyed during the Middle Ages. This photo is a view of the oculus (opening) in the top of the domed cieling.
It was an amazing space because it is spherical inside: the height from the floor to the oculus is a tall as the diameter of the dome and the effect makes the ceiling feel like it's simultaneously very light and open, and closing in on you. Awesome.

I also really enjoyed the Roman Forum and Coliseum. Crowded with tourists, yes, but truly impressive.
The English literature professor with the program read some poems by Lord Byron when we visited and this was my favorite section:

CXXXIX-- from Lord Byron's "The Coliseum"

And here the buzz of eager nations ran,
In murmur'd pity, or loud-roar'd applause,
As man was slaughter'd by his fellow-man.
And wherefore slaughter'd? wherefore, but because
Such were the bloody Circus' genial laws,
And the imperial pleasure. -- Wherefore not?
What matters where we fall to fill the maws
Of worms -- on battle-plains or listed spot?
Both are but theatres -- where the chief actors rot.

Italian Jewelry and Metalwork

2011-05-31T16:38:00.005-05:00

We saw tons of wonderful metalwork and jewelry in Italy. And we took many illegal photos of them.

There were pinhole spectacles in the Galileo Museum in Florence. You can take a virtual tour of the museum and look at the objects here.

A golden earring in the Archeology Museum in Perugia.

These pierced bowls from the Villa Giulia in Rome.

And, my personal favorite, amulets from the amulet collection at the Archeology Museum in Perugia. I blogged about them once, already, but it was such a cool collection that it bears mentioning again.

More images here.

Proof that it really is us who took all these pictures in Italy.

2011-05-29T21:03:00.003-05:00

Here is a flickr set of us, in Italy.

We took the above shot at the Peggy Gugenheim sculpture garden in Venice.

So, how was the food?

2011-05-25T16:45:00.003-05:00

Number one question people ask me about our trip is, "how was the food?" Well, it was pretty delicious.
I won't lie, three months of strictly Italian food gets old for Americans who are used to lots of variety, but in general, we had some pretty fantastic treats.

Like pecorino cheese from Pienza. Our favorite was the variety with black peppercorns.

And, from our favorite haunt in Cortona, Bar 500. N exclusively ate the pizza 500, which had sweet corn, roasted red peppers, spicy sausage, red onion and pecorino and mozzarella cheese.

Of course, there was gelato.

And wine and drinks galore; this is a festive sangria.

For more photos of our food treats, visit this set on flickr.

Like a party in a town.

2011-05-24T18:55:00.001-05:00

Burano Italy, outside Venice, is known for its lace production, but the most interesting thing about it, in my opinion, was the bright coloring of the houses. More photos here.

That Tuscan sun does make for a pretty sky

2011-05-23T21:15:00.003-05:00

a sunrise

a sunset

a storm.
All in Cortona. More pics here.

Oh, the animals!

2011-05-16T10:47:00.003-05:00

Italy did not disappoint on the cooky animal front. See the flickr set for my complete collection.

This little fella is an Aye-aye and was in the collection of La Specola in Florence.

Here's a cowardly looking lion from Venice.

And a cow/prairie dog thing in Siena.

Italian Signs

2011-05-15T15:09:00.003-05:00

This flickr set has pictures we took of signs in Italy, either because they were funny, or had interesting graphics.

This sign was in the Duomo museum in Siena.

This is from the Doge's residence in Venice. That's guy has a pretty impressive stream, if you ask me.

And in Viterbo, they have giant birds dropping babies onto cars. Scary stuff.

Faces from Italy

2011-05-14T18:20:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite things in Italy were the faces and figures, both religious and otherwise. They stuck them everyone. Here are a couple of my favorites.
The doll above was at the antique market in Arezzo, and was selling for 1000 euro (about $1400!).

This reliquary was in Viterbo.

A face above a doorway in Orvieto.

And this stately man is from the Camposanto in Pisa. The rest of my face pics are in a set in my flickr.

Goodbye Italia!

2011-05-13T17:34:00.002-05:00

We're back from Cortona now. We had a wonderful time, but will miss the friends we made and the beautiful scenery.

I've uploaded all 2000 or so photos we took over the last 3 months to my flickr and will try to post some of highlights here.

From Italian Walls

2011-04-24T06:52:00.002-05:00

These are the brooches I made for the end of the semester exhibition here in Italy; they are all chased and repoussed silver and are based on pictures I took of Italian walls. The walls seemed to show the best examples of the passing of time here; old elements combined with new ones, or just left over from the past.

My last bookarts project in Italy

2011-04-24T06:45:00.004-05:00

I made a box to put my travel journal, sketchbook and Italian phrasebook in. The plaque is pierced brass. It feels a little sad, as my last project before we leave, to have made a box to put my experience in.

Really real books, that I made

2011-04-06T09:05:00.002-05:00

in book arts, here in Italy.

a tradin' fool

2011-04-06T08:46:00.004-05:00

I have been trading jewelry with as many of the other artists and faculty here as I can! Above is a ring I traded with painter Holly Coulis .

These earrings were for photo teacher Robin Dana.

And this brooch was made for ceramicist Lauren Gallaspy.

Each piece is a "portrait" of its wearer, according to how I see them.

Amulets

2011-03-21T09:47:00.002-05:00

N. and I saw an awesome collection of amulets at the National Archaeological Museum of Perugia this weekend. The collection contains 3,000 objects gathered by one man in the late 1800 to early 1900s. All the objects, some very old, some contemporary to the time, were kept by people for magical/superstitious purposes.

We photographed as many as we could (can be seen at the end of this flickr set), along with the Italian descriptions for most of them, which I tried to translate using Google, but the translations are rough. Any suggestions from Italian speakers would be more than welcome!

Souvenir Badges

2011-03-20T08:24:00.003-05:00

Been making these silver pins with imagery based on snapshots we've taken in Italy. They are chased and repoussed in silver.

Largest is approximately 2" long.

For really lovely pictures of what we're seeing in Italy

2011-03-14T08:31:00.003-05:00

check out this blog being kept by the photo faculty here, Robin Dana. Her website has other amazing photos, as well.

More books

2011-03-14T08:22:00.002-05:00

Long and link stitch structure, discovered in Italy. I recovered my travel journal using this stitch, since it seems appropriate.

Coptic stitch structures; the top and bottom journals have paper that I decorated myself.

Cortona

2011-03-02T08:35:00.002-06:00

Here's a lovely sunset in Cortona. So far, it is pretty cold and windy here. We had a little snow last night and I'm hoping that's all we get because snow on the hills around here would be treacherous. I know they've dealt with it in the past.

I you would like to see more pictures of Cortona, click here to go to the set on my flickr.

Keeping Busy

2011-02-25T06:05:00.004-06:00

First thing I wanted to do in Italy was play with the white carrara marble that is in abundance here. It's very easy to carve and work with, so I started by making the weird shapes above and then decided to carve an ear because listening (to stuff I don't understand) is on my mind a lot right now.
Not sure what, if anything, I'll do with either the ear or the other pieces; I'm still thinking.

I am also sitting in on the book making class and have so far made several pamphlet style books.

It is very fun and something I've always wanted to learn to do, so I'm grateful to have the opportunity.

And, when all other inspiration fails, I make a spoon. So here is my newest little spoon--a good size for espresso here in Italia!

No idle hands for the devil's playground here!

Italy is so Italian.

2011-02-24T07:03:00.002-06:00

N and I are having a great time in Italy.

Some parts, Rome especially, have been so exactly as I pictured them that they were almost underwhelming. But there have been many other surprises, including the fact that fewer people speak English here than I expected/hoped.

We really should have worked harder on our Italian lessons...

For more pictures of our time in Rome, click here

The Last 24 Hours

2011-02-02T11:50:00.003-06:00

So this is how it went:

N and I arrived at Austin-Bergstrom International airport at 6:30 a.m. for a 9:30 a.m. flight to Dallas, intended to connect to a flight to Philly, which would take us to Rome.

Instead (thanks to the Blizzard that Crippled the Midwest), we flew to Chicago (genius) to connect to a flight to London and then to Rome. After people laughed at us when we said we were flying out of Chicago at 5 p.m. on Tuesday (blizzard warning started at 3 p.m. and lasted until 3 p.m. on Wednesday), we called the airline and asked to be sent someplace southern, quickly.

That worked, and we flew to Raleigh-Durham for a flight to London, and then to Rome.

All told, it took 4 flights in a little over 24 hours, and a little running through some large airports, but we made it just 6 hours later than originally scheduled.

Sadly, our checked luggage was not as lucky.

'cause imma dork like that,

2011-01-20T18:18:00.002-06:00

I made my own Italian phrase book. I got the info from Wikitravel.

Coming soon!

2011-01-16T20:47:00.001-06:00

My brother's artwork

2010-12-03T18:24:00.002-06:00

These paintings were all done by my older brother, Tim.

Tim studied film at the University of Kansas, then worked as a video photographer for the network news business, and now he's studying to be a polysomnographic technician (person who tests for sleep disorders). He does these paintings on the side and I think he has a truly unique style.

New Copper Wall Pockets on Etsy

2010-11-15T16:46:00.000-06:00

check 'em out!

One last thought from The Craftsman

2010-11-04T14:01:00.002-05:00

"Both the difficulties and possibilities of making things well apply to making human relationships. Material challenges like working with resistance or managing ambiguity are instructive in understanding the resistances people harbor to one another or the uncertain boundaries between people."

--Richard Sennett, The Craftsman

Happy Day of the Dead--or Election Day, whichever.

2010-11-02T12:44:00.003-05:00

I'm almost done reading The Craftsman by Richard Sennett (it's sort of dense, so I'm taking my time). And here are a few more notable passages:

"You can teach a man to draw a straight line; to strike a curved line, and to carve it...with admirable speed and precision; and you will find his work perfect of its kind: but if you ask him to think about any of those forms, to consider if he cannot find any better in his own head, he stops; his execution becomes hesitating; he thinks, and ten to one he thinks wrong; ten to one he makes a mistake in the first touch he gives his work as a thinking being. But you have made a man of him for all that, he was only a machine before, an animated tool."
--actually a passage by John Ruskin, quoted in The Craftsman.

Regarding job retraining:
"Artisanal craftsmen have proved particularly promising subjects for such efforts. The discipline required for good manual labor serves them, as does their focus on concrete problems rather than on the flux of process-based, human relations work. For this very reason if has proved easier to train a plumber to become a computer programmer than to train a salesperson; the plumber has craft habit and material focus, which serve retraining. Employers often don't see this opportunity because they equate manual routine with mindless labor."

Hotel San Jose

2010-10-19T11:42:00.002-05:00

On November 2, N and I will be celebrating 3 years of marriage. We wanted to celebrate by staying at the ultra-cool San Jose Hotel in Austin, but they were booked on our actual date, so we stayed there last weekend.

It was sooo nice. I mean, how cool is a hotel that tacks a little poem up in the bathroom?

Back this up!

2010-10-18T19:09:00.002-05:00

N and I just supported this project on Kickstarter. Sounds like a great project.

Rolling along

2010-10-18T18:34:00.004-05:00

N and I are participating in a holiday show at the Craft Alliance and the theme is "on a roll." I made this rolling razor for it.

Here's the video:

Those are fake eyelashes where the razor blades would be.

Playing Around at Craft Alliance Gallery

2010-10-17T19:46:00.002-05:00

Probably should have posted about this on September 10 when this show opened, but N and I are featured in a 2-person exhibition at the Craft Alliance Gallery in St. Louis through the end of the month. So if you're in the St. Louis area before Halloween and looking for something to do, check it out!

Nice view

2010-10-14T09:08:00.002-05:00

This was the view from our first Houston studio. I say 'was' because the building was sold and we have to be out by October 24. Bumps in the road. But we'll figure something out.

Obscene? Really?

2010-10-13T17:02:00.003-05:00

So I entered this piece in the faculty show at my school and apparently someone complained that they find this "obscene." Really? Evidently, they see some relationship between these brushes and tools used for "female pleasure." WTF? One friend's response was, "well, they're plastic and have brushes," but that sounds more like a female torture device to me. I guess I have some things to learn...

A dying breed?

2010-10-08T19:39:00.003-05:00

Will Odell

Jemma Daniels

Adi Toch

As a person who makes and occasionally sells holloware, I have often encountered the prevailing attitude that making holloware is not a practical way to make a living in this day and age because it is too time-consuming to produce and people will not pay for it. But today I received the most recent edition of Goldsmith Magazine and it included a link to British Silver Week-2010.
This is evidently a show entirely of people making (and selling!) silver holloware. There were some really lovely pieces and above are a few of my favorites.

I guess there are still people out there doing the hard stuff!

2010-09-19T21:00:00.001-05:00

Video, as promised.

More from The Craftsman

2010-09-19T18:34:00.002-05:00

Sooo, it's been a busy couple months around here because N and I just moved to Houston, Texas!

I accepted a teaching position at Houston Community College and I am very excited to be here; though adjusting to the heat and the traffic has been a challenge!

In any event, I had to take a break from reading The Craftsman by Richard Sennett while we moved. I just picked it back up and I am ready to post more tidbits of wisdom that I've gained so far.

"Inarticulate does not mean stupid; indeed, what we can say in words may be more limited than what we can do with things. Craftwork establishes a realm of skill and knowledge perhaps beyond human verbal capacities to explain it..." p. 95

"The desire to do something well is a personal litmus test; inadequate personal performance hurts in a different way than inequalities of inherited social position of the externals of wealth: it is about you." p. 97

"The machined object, like the parent, makes a proposal about how something might be done; we ponder the proposal rather than submit to it." p. 103

"...only someone who accepts that he or she is likely to fall short of perfection is likely to develop realistic judgments about life, to prefer what is limited and concrete and so human." p. 104

Pedi-pistol

2010-07-23T19:59:00.001-05:00

Newest rattle. Video forthcoming.

Nearly perfect lunch

2010-07-22T16:43:00.003-05:00

Locally made sourdough toast with butter, fresh heirloom tomato from the farmer's market, fancy cheese from Whole Foods and a special treat of chanterelle mushrooms--Delicious!

The Craftsman

2010-07-22T12:53:00.003-05:00

I'm finally getting around to reading Richard Sennett's book The Craftsman. Since I checked this book out of the library, I have decided to record some of the more interesting (at least, to me) segments from it here so I can refer to them in the future. And maybe someone else will find them useful, too.

"'Craftsmanship' may suggest a way of life that waned with the advent of industrial society--but this is misleading. Craftsmanship names an enduring, basic human impulse, the desire to do a job well for its own sake. Craftsmanship cuts a far wider swath than skilled manual labor; it serves the computer programmer, the doctor, and the artist; parenting improves when it is practiced as a skilled craft, as does citizenship."
p.9

Another treasure

2010-07-22T08:43:00.004-05:00

My job gave me a gift certificate in honor of my 6 months of service, so I used it to buy this sweet little vintage beaded bag.

Now, if only I lived in Hollywood in the 1930s so I had someplace to take it...

Treasures

2010-07-19T14:22:00.002-05:00

I just got a great work table with metal drawers--the kind with the butcher block tops, such as would be seen in any metal or wood shop from the 1950s or '60s--from the Little Shop. Inside one of the drawers were all these cool keys. I mounted them on a scrap piece of wood so I can hang them on the wall of my studio.

Mm-mm good, and easy

2010-07-13T20:44:00.003-05:00

Tried my hand at homemade chicken tikki masala tonight. It was a fairly straight-forward recipe and pretty darn tasty, though I would cut WAY down on the salt the recipe calls for.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Prep Time:
30 Min
Cook Time:
50 Min
Ready In:
2 Hrs 20 Min

Original Recipe Yield 4 servings

Ingredients

* 1 cup yogurt
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
* 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
* 4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
* 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
* 4 long skewers

* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 2 teaspoons paprika
* 3 teaspoons salt, or to taste (I only used 2 of these 3 teaspoons, but it was still too salty)
* 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Preheat a grill for high heat.

3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.

4. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 3 teaspoons salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Christmas in July

2010-07-07T08:34:00.002-05:00

N and I just returned from spending the 4th of July in Texas with his family. They have a tradition of giving white elephant gifts for a Christmas in July exchange. I picked up these two beauties at the Little Shop Around the Corner. They were a pretty big hit.

And yes, those are real frogs.

The Fruit of my Labor

2010-06-28T09:13:00.001-05:00

All of this has finally resulted in my first tomato of the season.

Last Class

2010-06-23T08:12:00.002-05:00

My last class at Mobot was the Victorian Garden walk. Very interesting to learn about the origins of Victorian Gardens and the plans that went behind making our own version. This is the most traditional spot in the Victorian Garden and features a statue of Juno from the days of Henry Shaw.

Distraction

2010-06-22T20:18:00.003-05:00

Made a big silver jewel ring, instead of working on what I should be doing.

New ring

2010-06-16T09:23:00.000-05:00

Available in the shop!

Perks of the job.

2010-06-16T09:14:00.002-05:00

At the Botanical Garden, I also work at the Little Shop Around the Corner, which is an upscale resale shop that raises money for the Garden. It's an interesting place because we get such a variety of things donated.
The best part of working there is that I can get first dibs on some cool stuff, like this fun quilt. I love the kitschy embroidery and it's entirely hand stitched!

Junebug likes it too.

Trails and Tribulations

2010-06-13T17:17:00.005-05:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I tried a new display at my most recent craft show. I have struggled alot with craft show display for several reasons. First, my work is small, but not jewelry so I can't display it like jewelry, and copper can be kitschy if one is not careful. I also have some requirements for my displays, which are that they must be inexpensive, versatile, easy to transport and store, and easy to set-up/tear down. Of course, I would also like it to look good.

The first thing I tried were these folding screens that I bought from Store Supply Warehouse. They were inexpensive and easy to store/transport.

But they fell over in the wind too much. My main problem with them is that they simultaneously made my booth look cluttered, because you can see through them, and empty, because you can see through them.

For my next attempt, I used the screens in combination with pedestals and wall panels we built. This looked better, I thought, but the pedestals were a pain to assemble at the show and they were tippy. It was also difficult to hang the panels from the tent sides.

So this time I tried probably the most obvious solution that for some reason, I had never considered before. We used folding tables on risers, covered them with fabric and built small pedestal-like shelves for the table top to create levels. It was inexpensive, easy to set-up and take down, versatile, and the booth didn't look empty. I was pleased.

There will always be room for improvement, but I feel like we got alot closer to a solution with this display.

Circus Flora!

2010-06-11T10:25:00.003-05:00

Last night N and I went to St. Louis's own Circus Flora, a not-for-profit, locally run circus that has been going on every June in St. Louis for 24 years. It was fantastic!

Above are the St. Louis Arches, a group of acrobats that run the only circus school in St. Louis.

This year's circus has the theme of Don Quixote. It really was everything a circus should be! If you live in St. Louis I hope you will help support this fantastic event.

*All photos taken from the Circus Flora website

More Awesomness

2010-06-08T09:34:00.003-05:00

The other cool thing I got at the craft show this weekend, though this was not a trade, was this cute and funky bud vase by Pennsylvania artist Jake Johnson. I put some dried lavender and globe amaranth in it and it makes me happy.

Awesomness

2010-06-07T16:49:00.006-05:00

So the craft show this weekend didn't break any sales records, most likely for anyone involved. But I did get to try out my new booth display and met some great people, including the super-adorable jewelry artist Janice Ho of Hannibal, Missouri. The best part is that she and I traded and I got the awesome earrings you see above and this fun necklace:

All in all, a successful weekend!

Craft Show!

2010-06-03T10:41:00.003-05:00

I will be selling my copper metalwork this weekend at Webster Grove's Art and Air.

It is FREE to attend, begins Friday evening from 6 to 10 p.m., then Saturday 11 to 10 p.m. and Sunday noon to 6 p.m. There's music, food, art and again, it's FREE!

Hope to see all my St. Louis friends there!

Commissioned Spoon

2010-05-18T19:35:00.001-05:00

Just finished this jam spoon for a commission. It was hand forged from sterling silver and is 5" long.

Seiwa-en

2010-05-06T08:34:00.002-05:00

Maybe the best thing about working for Mobot is that I get to take classes for free.
Tuesday night I took the walking tour of Seiwa-en, the Garden's 14 acre Japanese strolling garden. It is the largest garden of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. It's my favorite place in the garden because it's so peaceful and cleanly kept.
It also happens to be where my favorite mossy knoll can be found.

I may have gotten carried away...

2010-05-05T18:19:00.003-05:00

I have 36 containers on my back porch right now--I'm growing cherry tomatoes, basil, peppers, lettuce, sage, rosemary, lavender, mint, stevia, strawberries and dill. I'm excited about it, though.

Hanging strawberry garden...hopefully.

2010-04-27T16:23:00.002-05:00

Filled this hanging produce basket with strawberry plants today. I'm a little concerned about the baskets withstanding the weight of the plants and dirt and water, but it was worth a shot, so we'll see.

And growing, and growing, and...

2010-04-20T12:55:00.001-05:00

My seedlings are doing well I think. I was going to transplant them to pots this week, but the weather cooled down so I'll be waiting.

Gearing up

2010-04-19T18:16:00.003-05:00

I'll be participating in Webster Grove's Art and Air craft show this June, which means I have been working like a dog in the studio trying to make stuff--alot of stuff, since my inventory was getting a little light.
My arms are feeling it.

The video of my most recent grooming tool study

2010-04-18T19:04:00.003-05:00

see the still images here. This study features a tool designed for foot grooming and mascara brushes that I attached to chains so they could swing freely.

A little cactus with a pink flower(s) on it.

2010-04-13T16:11:00.001-05:00

To be honest, I bought this while it was blooming, so I can't take credit for them. But I hope I can make it do this again!

Lovely

2010-04-10T20:51:00.003-05:00

This beautiful tree is blooming a couple houses down from me right now. Does anyone know what kind of tree it is?

My own, private, Idaho.

2010-04-08T18:49:00.003-05:00

*Pictured: the dozen (surviving) spoons I have made since 2004

In graduate school, my advisor once referred to the spoons I'd made as "my own private Idaho." I understood that to mean that I made them only for myself, although I recently learned that is also the name of a movie staring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves.

Anyway, I couldn't argue with her because it's true that I can't submit the spoons I've made to exhibitions; they aren't special enough. And I can't sell them either, partly because I don't want to part with them, but mostly because they take too long to make and people won't pay what I would have to charge. I don't blame them--I couldn't spend $75 or $100 on a single teaspoon.

I nonetheless feel compelled to continue making spoons, despite the material costs and time involved. I have felt guilty about doing it at times because it seems like I should be spending whatever studio time I have on "serious," or at least money-making, work.
Then, a couple weeks ago I decided to work on some self-portrait sketches while I watched TV in the evenings. That made me think about artists who have done hundreds or thousands of self-portraits over their careers. I've started to think that since I'm not really a 2-D artist at all, spoons are sort of like self-portraits for me.
They represent a simple and relatively uniform subject that can be interpreted in thousands of different ways. Making spoons by forging is difficult and though I've made many more than the ones pictured (the bad ones get scrapped) I still don't feel like I'm very good at it.

I know painters can exhibit their self-portraits and I'll most likely never have an exhibition of my spoons, but there's still something I want to learn about making them. And I keep thinking that someday, maybe I'll be glad I spent my time this way.

Grow, Baby, Grow!

2010-04-01T17:34:00.005-05:00

Baby lettuce, that is. These are my lettuce seedlings and I'm pretty proud of them. I think they look good enough to eat! ;-)

Evolution

2010-03-26T17:46:00.002-05:00

The starting piece was a little over 3" long, and about 5/16" thick. It took about 15 hours, spread over 4 days to finish.

2010-03-14T19:48:00.002-05:00

Went to The Butterfly House for Morpho Mania this weekend. Here're some pictures my brother took.

New Sculpture

2010-03-04T14:36:00.002-06:00

The handle is called a "foot machine" and it came with different attachments for trimming one's feet. The brush heads are from mascara brushes--I've recently started noticing the strange shapes and styles of mascara brushes. They spin around when the handle is turned on.

The Incomparable City Museum

2010-03-03T16:53:00.003-06:00

At least, I can't compare it to any place I've been. Except maybe Disney World, but at the City Museum you can climb on ALL the stuff, which cannot be said about Disney World.

The top two images show views from the top of these massive spiral staircases inside the building. If you survive the hike up the, I don't know, dozen or so floors, you take a spiral slide back down.

The bottom image shows how some of the walls have been tiled in old metal printing plates. Such a cool idea.

Visiting this place is like getting to pretend you're in the movie The Goonies, and that has real resonance for anyone my age.

A Micro Harvest

2010-03-02T12:08:00.001-06:00

I'm finally able to harvest some of my tasty micro greens. I ate these with a little rice vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. I feel healthier already.

Introducing my New Website-

2010-02-14T12:58:00.003-06:00

Thank you to my wonderful husband!

www.coreyackelmire.com

It may not be spring outside...

2010-02-08T13:28:00.002-06:00

But I have tiny green things growing inside!

Meet my micro greens, growing happily in our basement thanks to the florescent light hung by my loving husband.

Special Order

2010-02-04T08:46:00.001-06:00

Mailed out this necklace, designed to match these earrings, to a woman in California this week.