Think Small, Make Small.

So hi there! I make jewelry, that's what I do but it's not all I do. See, about once a year in the summertime I get an offer to be in a group show and I always say yes because, phhf! The deadline is so so far away. This brings us to last week when I realized the deadline was, like, NOW. Oops? Okay, so time to make art, and in this case, small art. Small like, 3x3. Small art is really good for me because I work small anyway and I'm comfortable with it. This is why I picked jewelry and metalsmithing as my major and not sculpture. For some reason, at VCU Sculpture Dept = Big Art and I am just so not down with that.

Anyway, what I make is tiny little collage box things with found objects. I have a huge bin full of random bits - vintage photographs, rusty bits of metal, old stamps, rocks, shells, mica, wooden boxes, keys, that kind of stuff.

My first step is to sort through all that foolishness and find a few bits that I really like, though sometimes I will start with a photograph and then create a bit of a story around it. It's kind of like putting a puzzle together without knowing what the finished picture is supposed to be. (Also, the pieces don't always fit together, but that's what pliers are for.)

Blah blah blah, am I still talking? Sorry, I did actually document this process with photos so maybe I'll stop boring you and start posting images.


It's important to start with a really messy work space:


See, totally not kidding about the mess:


Then I start messing around with my bits and seeing what goes where. I already had a 3x3" box and a sassy photo of my grandmother that I wanted to use:



Here's the layout I decided to go with. The photo, a bit of handwritten note from the back of another vintage photo, a small key, a stamp, some brass sheet metal, and mica:



I added a cool bit of rusty found metal to frame it. I was pretty settled with this layout but hadn't yet discovered there was no good way to glue the key down on top of mica:


I added a copper nail inside to hold the key. I decided I didn't like the top piece of mica - it concealed too much:


So, away it went. Here's the finished product:

Here's the back:


And another photo:


It's hard to take pictures of small stuff, but hopefully you get the idea. Anyway, if you're local and you want to see (and purchase) some fantastic tiny art, please come to the opening on Friday! Here's the info:

and

are pleased to present ...

THINKSMALL4!
4th Biennial International Miniature Invitational Exhibition
Artists' Opening Reception
Friday, November 2, 2007
7:00-10:00 pm
Free and Open to the Public
Eighth Blackbird encore performance at art6

Exhibition Catalog!