Underwater Marvels Propel My Art
Yesterday the coastal town of Half Moon Bay was overcast and cool; nice weather to spend the afternoon in. The Personal FX Gallery is a great space; the building also houses a wine tasting store, and the Courtyard Gallery. The center of the building is a very nice couryard. Kathy of the Personal FX Gallery is very nice and had nicely displayed my C Glass necklaces.
The recycled bottle glass pieces at Personal FX Gallery really catch the light when worn, so it’s hard to photograph them and do them justice. Below are some pictures where I tried different methods. In the picture of “Arrow” it’s almost impossible to tell that the brown section is transparent, albeit dark, glass.
A friend gave me a great idea: use a light box below the piece. So, one of these days soon, I’m going to try that with some modifications to see if I can get consistently good glass shots. Compare the picture below to the one in the last post and you can see how much of a difference back lighting makes. The museum putty used to keep the piece upright casts quite a shadow in the bottom of the piece.
Sherry Cordova will be stopping by the Personal FX Gallery at 643 Main Street in Half Moon Bay, CA, on Sunday Aug 23rd between 1 and 4 pm for the glass jewelry show.
Three of the five C Glass necklaces, which can be seen anytime at Personal FX Gallery, are shown here. C Glass necklaces are created with a special process I developed to combine recycled bottle glass and recycled fine silver.
Fellow art jeweler Fran Grinels and I had a wonderful evening at the Lireille Gallery on Friday August 7th. We were amazed at the turnout for our first ever artists’ reception as featured artists.
Most of the pieces seen in the case remain at Lireille Gallery. The work on the black velvet pad is my private collection of pieces I have created over the last ten years that is either a personal favorite and/or has been published in a book or calendar or received recognition.
The “Reflections” and “Swirling Schools” pieces have been enjoyable to create over this past month, and I’ll be writing a blog post soon with pictures of some of the steps involved in creating them starting from a SCUBA dive and sketches drawn at the beach.
Emerging art jewelers Fran Grinels and Sherry Cordova are very excited to be the featured artists at an artists’ reception in Lireille Gallery of Contemporary Jewelry and Art at 3980 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA on Friday August 7th, 2009.
Sherry Cordova and Fran Grinels will be at Lireille from 5:30 to 8:30 pm along with finger foods, wine and people enjoying the Oakland First Friday Artwalk. Come meet the artists and talk to them about their newest work, their inspirations, and help them celebrate their first ever gallery artists’ reception. While you’re there take a look at the wide variety of art jewelers’ works at Lireille.
Lireille is located near the corner of Piedmont and Monte Vista Avenues, kitty corner from a Wells Fargo Bank. Behind the bank the city has provided a parking lot, or take a look on the nearby streets for a spot.
Sherry Cordova will be showing new work in her “Oceanic line” which was inspired by a recent SCUBA diving trip to Loreto, Baja California Sur.
Fran has created some very cool ‘mobius’ rings which she will be showing in addition to other work already at Lireille as seen below.
In addition to works for sale, both artists will be showing some pieces from their own private collections.
For more information, visit Lireille.com, SherryCordova.com, or FranGrinelsDesign.com
During the month of June 2009, the Menlo Park Library in Menlo Park, CA hosted an exhibit of jewelry, books and tools from the Metal Arts Association of Silicon Valley. Three of my pieces are shown above, and one is just below the sign (inside the gold colored wire necklace) in the photo below. The first time my work was exhibited at the Menlo Park Library, was when master filigree artist arranged for an exhibition of filigree work in the same cases.
Three of the four pieces of Sherry Cordova Jewelry on exhibit this time were made from recycled bottle glass and recycled fine silver. The fourth piece also had a center piece of recycled fine silver, surrounded by sterling silver.
Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised when my artist’s copy of “500 Knives” by Lark Books was delivered. My “Khanjar” letter opener (page 267) slices open envelopes very well, when it’s allowed to see some action. After making it, I decided it was more of a display piece. I need to make myself a letter opener that I am less protective of.
The book contains photos of some amazing works of art, masquerading as very functional knives.
After forgetting my recycled bottle glass display materials, I improvised an earring display borrowing materials local to Mendocino, CA.
I had hoped that it would be a unique display in the gallery shop of the Mendocino Art Center, and luckily it is. Since this is the first time my work has been for sale in Mendocino I wanted to make sure it looks nice.
Wednesday June 24th, good friend and jewelry artist Fran Grinels and I purchased some display cases and set them up at the Pacific Art League Gallery on Ramona St. in Palo Alto, CA. Above is a picture of the cases. My jewelry case filled with my necklaces, earrings, and rings is on the left. Below is another picture of the cases, in the second photo my jewelry case is on the right.
I’ll be at the Pacific Art League Gallery Friday June 5th for the First Friday Art Walk. Ten Palo Alto galleries participate in this monthly event.
The event coincides with the opening of a a juried show “Birds and Bees, Fur, Feathers, and Fins” which will run for the month of June in the main gallery.