My sister sent a version of this overnight. Best I can tell, this is the view from where I attended primary school.
Mood:
today is my last day in my US studio. it’s actually going ok
Studio Sale!
Melissa is leaving Seattle after 6.5 years at the start of October
I hate packing, don’t you?
I’ll be publishing a price list a few days before the event for those of you who are far a way but would like to get some early holiday shopping done 😉
xx m
1.1.2017
Images from the photo shoot and from Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, with details about the Transformations 10 exhibition
The folks at Contemporary Craft shared these images this week:
I got these and my heart swelled – I’m so proud of Tegan and her son Calder, and of everyone for coming out on the 7th of July to make these images with me. There are so many of them, which I’ve shared with all the participants, but here’s the big group one:
and one of the pairings images I sent to Contemporary Craft
Contemporary Craft sent out their invitations this week for the free and public opening of the Transformations 10 exhibition on Friday the 14th of September, (at that link you can see the Tegan + Calder pairing too) as well as for the public artist talks that happen the next afternoon with some of the exhibiting artists. I told Pittsburgh folks at SNAG months ago that I would be going to this event, and I am making good on that promise. I will see this work installed before I leave the USA, and I hope that if you’re in the Pittsburgh area that you’ll come along and share the experience with me.
Next week I will send out all of the barter jewels to my container donors for this project, so stay tuned to see what they look like – and if you sent me something, your trade jewel will be in the mail next week!
(And if you want to know what I’m on about, there’s the post about donations, the post about the photo shoot and all of the Monday-Gun Day posts to learn more about this project.)
Global Enamel News
Seeking enamel stories. Does not need to be an exhibition notice, but definitely can be!
Brace yourselves Team Enamel.
It’s Global Enamel News time once again. My deadline for copy is next Wednesday and I’m running a little late on the round-up, so if you have an enamel story to tell, I’ll take it right up to midday of that date.
Is Wondernamel happening at RMIT? I can find nothing on the web this far out, but someone must know? Will your end-of-year student shows have enamel in them, Australia? In fact, do you have a Christmas/holiday exhibition in the works, Canada? If so, please drop me a line – blog@melissacameron.net
This won’t publish until October, and as I’ve complained before, finding venue and date info of practically anything more than 2 months out is tough (except maybe airline, or Hamilton, tickets,) so I’ll take conjecture.
At this stage I have a document that has the second set of dates added to the With Other Eyes exhibition, so I’m faced with the possibility that this will become a creative writing exercise about the chipped enamelled butter dish that well-known feminist enamel person Marissa Saneholtz sent me last month. There’s a lot to say there, sure, in fact it could be quite a story, but maybe the Enamelist Society Newsletter is not the best audience for that.
You know what to do.
Monday – Gun day
Even I thought we were done with gun-days…
1.1.2017
The last post was all about the impending photo shoot of the above-titled work, which took place without a hitch just over two weeks ago. A huge ovation and a raucous Hip-Hip-Hooray! for my 56 intrepid volunteers, who modeled the 73 pieces that I had made in the previous month like absolute professionals. We worked basically by city, so we managed to get the works arrayed across our models.
I then took all the wearable works back into the studio to photograph them with the 73 containers from which they had come. After that I packed up the whole of 1.1.2017 and sent it to Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, and emailed a batch of the finished photos of the piece by the deadline, as per our contract. Then I reclaimed my weekends!
Contemporary Craft are now assembling the works of the 26 artists juried into Transformation 10: Contemporary Works in Found Materials in preparation for opening the exhibition and awarding the Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize on the 14th of September.
Now I’m working towards other deadlines. Have I mentioned that I’ll be in an exhibition With Other Eyes starting at the Ruthin Craft Centre in Wales on the 29th of September? I’m currently waiting on my first ever order of enamel decals (don’t worry, you’ll hear about it) while slowly slicing some 2mm shipping container steel.
So that’s why I regretfully don’t have any images to share of the work, or the shoot, just yet. But if you seek them out on Facebook, a few of my volunteers posted their images and thoughts. And yes, I’m still doing the editing on the pictures that I didn’t send (we shot about 680 images on the Saturday in Fremont, and I took about that many again in the studio), so I will be able to share images of everyone involved, and the whole work, very soon.
In the mean time, there was some positive gun news on The Guardian recently-there’s been more sales slumps for one of my favourite brands << you’ll be sure to shovel on the sarcasm for those last 2 words, won’t you? >>
Photo Shoot this Saturday!
I suspect it’s too late to apologise for sounding like a broken record…
Thank you to the big flock of people who have signed up already, and sorry to everyone for still harping on about this, but we’re really, really close to making our volunteer target for Saturday’s photo shoot. If you have been thinking about signing up but just haven’t got around to it yet, I’d really appreciate you (and your mates!) getting on board today.
Sign up here
This will be the only opportunity to see these neckpieces in Seattle, as the whole work (both the pendants and containers from which they were cut – 146 pieces all told) will go on display in the exhibition Transformations 10 at Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh in September. And as most of y’all know, not long after that I move back to Australia so I won’t be in the USA to organize a Seattle venue.
And to keep us all sane despite the idea behind the pieces we’re photographing, we are working hard behind the scenes to make this an enjoyable experience for everyone!
For the last time – photo shoot details at-a-glance:
– 7/7/18, 8am – 12pm
– Meet at the parking lot under the Fremont Bridge (not next to the Troll – the one that opens)
– 8am-9am sign in
– 9am-12pm all 73 people in 73 different gun-shaped pendants stand together for the shoot (if we finish early we all go home early)
– You wear something comfortable with dark top-half and no logos, I loan you a pendant to wear for the morning
– Drinks and snacks provided
– Kids, families welcome – but no pets please.
Monday – Gun Day
Jewellery is meant to be worn. Please come wear these pieces for a few hours
1.1.2017
55 places. 62 incidents. 66 guns. 73 people
It’s take one month of drawing, drilling, sawing and slicing to make a portrait of each of the 66 guns used in fatal incidents on January 1st, 2017. These gun outlines are made in metal, plastic, fabric and paper, from containers sourced from the 55 places in which these acts of violence occurred.
Now we are seeking 73 people to wear the outlines, small and large, while we take an image to help tell the story.
Please come and stand in for the people we lost to these guns on that day.
Register here
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Seattle – come help me out on 7/7/18 for a few hours. It will be fun, promise 😉
Sign up here
A huge thanks to everyone who has already signed up for the photo shoot on the 7/7/18. I’m back to tell those of you who haven’t that I need a lot more volunteers to help create a truly arresting image. I’ve made a poster (above, link) with all the details that I’d love for you to print and display in your shared studio, office or other place where cool people hang out! (FYI – I’ve already papered Equinox and Pratt Studios, and a big thanks to the others who have obliged me by posting it in their shared studios.)
AND in exciting news – I’ve managed to secure the services of local film-director Miri Stone, who thankfully has a lot more experience at this than me! She’s going to keep us all on task and motivated, and help us make the best image possible.
As far as volunteers go, I have just over a quarter of the sign-ups that I’m seeking. If you’ve been meaning to sign up please do so here, I’d really appreciate it, and if you’re going to be out of town you can do me a huge favor by forwarding on this email to someone who has yet to receive it.
And to those of you curious about progress on the artwork – my deadline for receiving containers was last week, and I’m currently at 49 pieces totally completed for the shoot, with 4 more awaiting cleanup on bench this morning. The last of the containers are still coming in too, so I’m on schedule to finish by the end of this week. Phew 😉
Photo shoot details at-a-glance:
– 7/7/18
– Meet at the parking lot under the Fremont Bridge (not near the Troll – the one that opens 😉 )
– 8am-9am sign in
– 9am-12pm all 73 people in 73 different gun-shaped pendants stand together for the shoot (if we finish early we all go home early!)
– You wear something comfortable with dark top-half and no logos, I loan you a pendant to wear for the morning
– Drinks and snacks provided
This is going to be a fun and once in a lifetime experience, so please come join us!
Some more about the project here and especially the shoot here
I Want YOU!
To come help me photograph my new artwork that charts one day of gun violence in the USA.
Hello dear Seattle friends and colleagues,
Many of you have already had an email from me seeking containers to realize an upcoming artwork. I’ve been hitting the studio hard, and now it’s time to reveal the work and make a beautiful photograph of the finished piece!
I’m looking for a big number of volunteers – 73 to be exact – to be the talent in group photo, with everyone wearing one work. No experience necessary! All you have to do is come to the location, sign a release form and be given a pendant on a chain to wear. Then you’ll stand alongside 72 other pendant-wearers, while I take an epic group photo.
The shoot will take place from 8am – 12pm on Saturday July 7th, in Fremont. We will meet in the parking lot under the Fremont Bridge – (obvs on the north side – and please don’t plan to park there!) The first hour will be sign-in and jewelry put-on, and then down to business. We will be under cover and have coolers of water and snacks on hand. There will be a few simple stage directions – stand there, look here, straighten the jewel, that kind of thing.
Please use the sign up form here to register your interest so we can get an idea of numbers.
Do invite your friends and family, and children are of course welcome (just remember to sign up each person individually), and feel free to pass this email along to anyone who might be interested. But please no pets.
Fashion tip – smart casual, logo-free with a darker shade single-color on the top-half. A plain dark top and jeans works great, as does anything that you’ll be comfortable in for a few hours.
Questions? Please email me blog@melissacameron.net and I’ll get you in touch with the lovely Natascha, my photo shoot admin hero.
The vibe is going to be fun – somewhere between flash-mob and principal photography shoot – so please come along, enjoy the camaraderie and help me make a really memorable image of my biggest artwork to date!
Thank you all,
Melissa
Jewellers who puppet
Sound and Shadow – online premiere!
I mentioned that there could be a chance of seeing our recent shadow puppet performance online. Well, dreams DO come true… (please season that last phrase with liberal amounts of sarcasm, yeah?)
The puppet performances are, in order:
Kirk Lang and Aran Galligan:
then Melissa Cameron and Aran Galligan:
Or if you have an hour of time, the whole show can be seen in this successive list of youtube links:
It hurts a little to watch. We’re very enthusiastic amateurs. That said, the banjo player Aaron J. Shay (see the full version for his interludes) clearly knows what he is doing.