What I'm Working On: Van Wagoner Studios

This past weekend I swung into production mode in the studio working a marathon 48 hours. I'm getting ready for the holidays and having a lot of fun with the clay.


My work is built primarily with slabs and embellished with unique photographic images. This most recent work gets away from the simplicity of a platter or the ease of a small bowl. These forms are geometric puzzles put together with many small stiff slabs of clay. Each one cut and fitted to the last until a closed shape is created.


Each form is inspired by the vernacular architecture which will be printed on it's surface. They are primarily sculptural, though each has a hole (or two) in the top and could serve as a vase–very appropriate for dried wildflowers found in the field. The vases pictured above are in-progress awaiting their barn image.

In the Studio with {beatrice + the bird}

Like many at-home artists I know, I don't have a dedicated studio space in which to do my work. I sew in my dining room, which means often my supplies are sharing space with placemats, candles, and salt and pepper shakers. (See attached photo and http://www.flickr.com/photos/66931774@N08/6086031033/) I also do the majority of my work in two-hour increments, while my two-year-old son naps. In order to stay on track in such a multipurpose space and constrained time, I try to be as organized as possible - a skill which doesn't come naturally to me, unfortunately - and I try to create a sonic environment that's conducive to working. In my case, this means listening to variety of podcasts. Here are some of current faves: If I have just a few minutes to listen (and work), I go to: The Dinner Party Download (http://www.publicradio.org/columns/dinnerpartydownload/) - These fifteen-minute episodes include a usually-terrible joke, a cocktail recipe, a brief history lesson, and notes on emerging food trends and interesting people. If I ever actually went to dinner parties anymore, I'd be stocked with good conversation fodder after listening to the DPD. The Memory Palace (http://thememorypalace.us/) - I'm a history geek, and these super-short, incredibly poignant moments of lost and eccentric American history never fail to move me. NPR's Most E-Mailed Stories (http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=4819387) and Culturetopia(http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=89697153) podcasts - Since I don't commute to work anymore and mostly drive around with a pint-sized radio tyrant these days, I never really listen to NPR anymore. With these podcasts, I can get a quick fix on my own schedule. If I have a solid chunk of time, I tune into: WTF with Marc Maron (http://www.wtfpod.com/) - Totally profane ("WTF" stands for what you think it does), totally irreverent, and often weirdly profound, Marc Maron is a comedian who interviews other comedians in his garage, along with the occasional non-comedian guest (try to track down his interview with Baltimore's own Ira Glass of "This American Life.") Even if, like me, you have no idea who have the interviewees are, the conversations are always worth a listen. Slate's Gabfest, Culture Gabfest and DoubleX podcasts (http://www.slate.com/id/2065896/view/2182767/) - Each of these is fiercely intelligent, funny, hour-long roundup on the latest political or cultural news, with a good mix of high- and low-brow content (Marc Maron has been a guest on the Culture Gabfest). Listen to one and feel a little bit smarter for the rest of the day. The Simple Mom Podcast (http://homefries.com/p/the-simple-mom-podcast/) - Blogger Tsh Oxenreider broadcasts low-key, thoughtful, and down-to-earth conversations with other low-key, thoughtful, and down-to-earth parents about everything from traveling or crafting with little kids to maple syrup-making. Simple Mom provides a little bit of perspective to sanity-deprived parents of small children. What are you listening to these days? Written by: Lily of {beatrice + the bird}

In The Studio With: Anapurna

Nobody wants to think about it, but sometimes the unglamorous side of running a crafty business rears its head. Recently, the Anapurna girls decided it was time to corral our runaway inventory system. We ruthlessly purged our inventory of old items – some to be donated to charity, some to be disassembled for components – and made sure that our inventory spreadsheet accurately reflected the actual items in our big boxes o’ jewelry. This entailed finding each piece on a printout of the spreadsheet, making sure that the name and price on the tag matched the name and tag on the spreadsheet, entering any new inventory with names and prices, and deleting duplicates, inventory destined for the scrap heap, and lines of inventory that didn’t exist at all.


It was an exhausting process – and SO boring – but worth it in the end. We were able to refine our process and make sure that our business is at its most efficient, which means that now we have more time to create jewelry and less stress about managing it!

Written by Jamaila of Anapurna

In the Studio with Maneating Flower: Fighting the Good Fight

When it comes to making letterpress flasks, I view the entire working process as a battle of wills between myself and my materials. It’s a struggle, I assure you. Never having come across another letterpress printer who primarily uses leather, nor one that makes flasks, there wasn’t exactly a how-to guide for getting it done. The result? All out war between what I want to accomplish and the materials that don’t want to do what I say.

Getting the printing process to work at all was my toughest battle. See, leather doesn’t like being printed on. Most normal printing inks don’t dry on leather, except for water-based ink which dries nicely but runs when you get it wet. This isn’t exactly a desirable quality when you’re making a product meant to hold liquor. After a full year of experimenting with different inks, and at the suggestion of some sweet (albeit confused) commercial printers, I found the perfect ink. Me 1, Materials 0.



I have similar stories with my adhesives, my threads, my tape, even the size of my leather panels, and through these I have emerged victorious. However, there are some times when my materials completely kick my butt.

Winter apparently isn’t a good time to print if your studio is set up in an unheated garage. This isn’t because you’re more or less freezing, it’s because different viscosity inks don’t mix when they aren’t warm. They look like they mix, they feel like they mix, then you roll a slab and your beautiful teal ink is has giant transparent splotches in it. These splotches transfer to your brayer too. I pretty much freaked out at this one and thought I was going to be out of commission for a while. Warming up the ink fixes the problem, but the stress and worry this caused me was definitely a score for the inks.

Another huge problem I had was with registration of multiple plates. While I may have won the war with this one, I sorely lost the first few battles. In general, leather is hard to work with, especially when it comes from old clothing. It’s worn in spots, fuzzy in others, and really loves sticking to ink but not always to the backing paper used to keep it stable. The first time I tried registering two plates it went so horribly wrong. Nothing was working out. The results weren’t predictable, so anything I did to compensate for the misregistration didn’t help. Apparently the stretchiness of the leather was partially to blame, and each piece of leather stretches differently from every other piece. Talk about major frustration. The second attempt wasn’t as bad, but I had problems with the leather shifting on press. Recently I fixed both of these problems with a better jig and enough spray adhesive to choke a small planet. Yes, these are fairly obvious solutions. No, I do not ever do things the easy way first.

Overall, I feel like I win the vast majority conflicts with my materials. I’m sure the score is really about even by now, but my failures force me to keep trying and eventually I wind up with a better product. And while I may spend most of my days cursing and covered in glue, ink, solvents, and tape, I seriously love every second of it. And that’s a victory right there.


Written by Ned of Maneating Flower

In the Studio with Bowerbox Press

It seems like there's always a deadline looming for Bowerbox Press. This year we've had multiple print exchanges, the American Craft Council show, and the Baltimore Museum of Art Print Fair. But, that deadline seems to make working easier (if sleeping impossible.) It helps to have a little extra push, otherwise it'd be so easy to eat up all the spare time (spare time- ha!) reading, cooking, or gardening. It's hard to work a full-time job and then come home and be creative, but having a project that *has to be done* makes the work come easier most of the time. The latest deadline was for the BMA Print Fair, which was more of a self-imposed deadline as I decided that what was really needed was a companion print to the Raven of last year. So I bought another plank of aspen, sanded it, and started carving- less than two weeks before the show!

I find that it's easier for me to work in stages- I'll start with the border, or the text- carve all that out roughly, and then go back with the small and extremely sharp Japanese carving tools. They're like samurai swords in sharpness. I always have a little fear of starting to carve the bird itself, but once I start I get lost in the carving and just GO. And, a few days later, it's ready to start printing!

Written by Bowerbox Press

In The Studio With Found Studios

For the past eight months or so I have hosted a group of 5-6 artists in my studio every other week for a night of food, wine, and sharing of creative energy. This has taken on the form of a somewhat informal workshop.


Here's the group working on a silk screening project

We decide in advance who will be "leading" the group and that person is responsible for gathering the materials needed for their particular week or weeks as we often need more than one week to cover a subject. So far we have been led in the following: clay (we made butter dishes), silk screened tee-shirts, knitting 101, collage greeting cards, felting, a smidge of sewing, and linocut printing.


This is a "final product" from the silk screening class

This has been a great way to get me out of my routine ---sometimes rut---- by exposing me to a variety of media and techniques. Even though I had already dabbled in most of these there is always much to learn and re-learn! We also shoot the breeze about where to get supplies & upcoming shows/exhibits of interest. I'm fortunate to have a nice, big studio space in my home and it feels good to share it.


Here's a picture of my empty studio

Selfishly I benefit from the feedback I get from these crafty gals as I always have a new painting on my easel or project up in the air that I can run by them. And the food....did I mention the food? Last summer we were bringing stuff from our gardens! YUM! Sometimes I get so carried away with the contributed food that I forget we've gathered for the purpose of craft!!


Final product from linocut printing

Written by: Found Studio

In The Studio With Here Kitty

Hi there! I'm Cat of Here Kitty.

Ever since I was a little girl I've loved taking things apart. Broken radios, watches, and clocks were my favorites. Then, when puberty hit and I became the tallest girl in class (which made me feel awkward) I started fixing things and putting things together.


I don't remember how I got into making jewelry. I guess I have my mother and sisters to thank. If they lost an earring or a necklace came apart, I was the one to see. I took it a step further, started creating my own pieces, and I haven't stopped. There's no better way for me to unwind than to grab my tools and see what happens.


I can set up shop anywhere, but my favorite spot is the vintage table that I "borrowed" from my little sister. I have a box and drawer for everything. That way everything's within reach when I'm inspired.

My favorite metal changes from day to day, and I have a vast collection of vintage keys and beads to chose from. Not everything turns out as planned, which keeps me humble, and I've had quite a few happy accidents along the way.

Rest assured, I put a lot of thought and love into all of my work!

post written by herekitty

In the Studio with YJennings

When I'm working on a piece of jewelry, it's usually really early in the morning or really late at night. I turn on my favorite station, www.xmradio.com or SPA - NEW AGE to be exact. I was just listening to Elixir for Sunsets, by Phobos and the CD is Buddha Cafe. Imagine that!! These soothing tunes help to inspire me to create. Here is a piece that I made while listening to the wonderful relaxation station.

Written by Yovetta of YJennings

In the Studio with Doxallo Designs: a short story

Ever have one of those days (nights) in the studio?
Where everything you touch either melts, cracks, or somehow just ends up garbage?
I know we all do, but I have to be hoenst, I haven't had one in a really long time.
Or at least not to this magnitude.
Truthfully, I'd call comedic error but there was nothing funny about it.

Not even remotely.
Except possibly my persistence.

When every shred of evidence suggested I should turn off the tanks, put down the pliers, and just step away from the bench....I failed to listen.

So I melted more.
I burned my finger.
I pinched my thumb in a pair of scissors.
I got my specs stuck in my hair.
I created a lot of scrap.

But I just could not walk away.

At first I was sad - then frustrated near tears.
Then I was mad.

You see, I only get ONE night dedicated to the bench. I may be able to grab some other time here and there over the week - but Tuesday night is my ONE guaranteed 'me' time to create. To try to alleviate my brain from a weeks worth of designing, and dreaming and planning. But a clean schedule is no guarantee of clean work - or any work at all. There have been times when I have begun aching to get to my bench by Sunday night and when Tuesday rolls around I am DYING to dig in...and then I get there...and then....it strikes.

Some weird sort of performance anxiety.....where I go blank.
I freeze up and just stare at all my lovely tools and stones and metal.

In reality, last night was a little bit like that. I had cleaned off my bench over the weekend and I arrived there last night and thought "hmmmm, what to do, what to do..?" I didn't have a clear objective. Well, I might have had an objective - but it involved LOSing and polishing already finished work and I just ummm, well, decided to ignore that and turn my energy in a different direction.

Big mistake.

So I wasted more than an hour fiddling with a prototype box. . . before deciding I just wasn't meant to make a box last night.
Then I decided to use a stone that I bought earlier this month -- pulled some materials and made a bezel. Ooops, a little small - hammer it on a mandrel to stretch it.... errggggg, ok, it fits. Grab a piece of leftover sterling that had a lovely texture on it.
Flux, heat, apply solder....great. Cool and quench.

Inspect.
RATS. Bezel popped open just a tad -- ok, easy fix.
Heat, flux, solder........ARGH!!!
Melted part of it.
No big deal, do-overs are relatively cheap at this point.

Grab metal, measure bezel big enough this time, snip, file, solder, quench, grab a different backplate, heat, flux, solder (yea, yea yea lather, rinse, repeat blah blah blah)...great.

ouch, gap under bezel. Tiny one. Fix it. No problemo.
Flux, solder, yadda yadda....oh NO!
I wasn't watching my flame - melted a tiny bit of the top of the bezel.
Hmmmmmm, stop, inspect. Measure stone.......
OK, was going to shave it down anyway. Quench, dry.....ok...not bad. (so tired.....)
Clean up backplate - carve decorative edge - grab some metal wire for ring shank - solder.

OK, success. FINALLY.
But wait.

Howzabout adding a little sparkle. Some visual interest...
Yeaaaaaaa, how about a little faceted stone up there somewhere?

*rummage* *rummage* oh look - a sparkly little blue sapphire - 2mm - It's PERFECT!

I know I need to be careful now - lets go to some easy solder (lower melting temperature).......
drill hole, apply solder, balance setting just so...heat.

melt setting. Clean up hole, grab new setting.....apply solder, heat.... reposition setting, heat...reposition setting, heat, repeat
And then, just shy of throwing the whole thing across the room. . . .

Success.

Grr, why doesn't it FEEL like success ? ? I left the basement around 10:30 half promising never to return.
In reality though, in the end, my perserverence won out. Once cleaned up, it looks pretty good.

Actually, its better than just 'pretty good'....
My completed ring.

It may have a few issues. (I have issues too)
I think we were meant for each other.

Written by Janice of Doxallo Designs