Klewism

Bidding Anthropomorphized Angels Adieu

2011-12-13T19:12:00.001-05:00

I'm saying farewell to two of my rings. It took me a post on In Harsh Light to express the elaborate 'embalming' ceremony and memorialization which I go through every time I sell a piece- which, in effect became a memorial to my memorialization ceremonies.

In the midst of the memorial-mania, I managed to throw in images of the recently sold rings in digital photo collages.

Bye Bye Birdie...

"Bird on the Hand" Ring

Farewell, "Votary of Narcissus" Ring...

Adieu, pretties.

Klewism In Harsh Light

2011-11-29T06:59:00.001-05:00

I'm honored to the point of delirium to now be an author on the razor-wit, erudite-hipster, culture vulture "IT" blog In Harsh Light along with the founder of the feast Richard Sanchez, plus co-bloggers- Mario Munoz, Andréa Balt, & Morpiedra Vasolez.

My inaugural post "An Absurdist Vignette, or a Conversation with Richard Sanchez" seemed to go off swimmingly- smashing good fun complete with Scarface and Highlander references.

Take a look at In Harsh Light, which has recently been featured on "Freshly Pressed".

Sean Connery is truly fabulous in peacock feathers, is he not?

Pattern Play with Polyvore!

2011-08-18T17:57:00.003-04:00

Pattern Play by klewism

Daydream Contrivances

2011-07-03T17:37:00.007-04:00

The Inherent Vulnerability of Desire

2011-04-20T12:41:00.000-04:00

Diverging Correlatives

2011-04-15T14:05:00.000-04:00

An Oxymoron?

Well, yes, but...

the two words still suggest the paradox of creating artwork, deconstructing it, rebuilding it with different forms and sometimes for different functions...basically "recycling" an idea until it's become many other things with a hidden thread between them.

For example, when I sell a piece of Jewelry, I proceed to make packaging for the specific item sold. This involves photography of said item, making digital collages, then printing them. Phase 2: Choosing paints, and grabbing my Xacto knife in order to make intricate paper cuttings of the digital collages just printed...I won't even go any further than this. I've suggested several of the stages of building something, breaking it down, and remaking it in dozens of permutations from there. And so on, to reference another literary inspiration of mine, Kurt Vonnegut.

Now some multi-exposures of the custom box for the Sympathy for a Cyclops Ring.

Collage: Diverging Correlatives

Collage: Diverging Correlatives 2

George MacDonald: Unstuck in Time

2011-04-13T02:13:00.005-04:00

Being the sort of creature that loves audio books, and listens to them whenever "creating" anything [especially the genre of books old enough to be in the public domain], LibriVox.org is my lucid dream come true.
I was delighted to find this morning, in the new releases, another novel by George MacDonald. This Scotch writer of fantasy, theology, adult fiction, and children's stories, has become an abiding presence in my imagination. Everything I've been working on today has been mingled with the intense pleasure of falling into a fresh narrative generated from a mind I revere.
I'm watching the emerging ties between the half-dozen projects I've been working on today and the rich narrative, teaming with allegory.
My adulation to the late George MacDonald and long live "LibriVox.org"!

A Young-ish George MacDonald...

An older George MacDonald...

George MacDonald: wizened patriarch...

George MacDonald: Unstuck in Time.

Fodder for the horses

2011-04-09T01:49:00.000-04:00

Or brainstorming Album artwork for my friend, Richard Sanchez and his musical venture: Panda Sanchez . I'm having way too much fun with this collaboration already..."Help! I'm having too much fun!!
And now to indulge in listing some of the many permutations thus far:

Pattern & Texture, Divine & Human

2011-04-07T02:17:00.000-04:00

Nearly everything has fascinating details. The details themselves are made up of hundreds of micro-details in smaller components- a world within a world within a world- I am transfixed.

Cyclopean Sympathies Still

2011-04-05T23:13:00.000-04:00

As I bade a fond farewell to another of my rings, here is the traditional montage In Memoriam

Pattern Play

2011-04-05T15:59:00.001-04:00

A leaflet in my digital sketchbook incorporating my jewelry, photos, paintings, collages, and assorted clip art. For some, this might be headache inducing, but it's eye candy to me.

Words Will Follow

2011-04-04T11:16:00.005-04:00

No more holding back. I have thousands of images just taking up space on my hard drive. If I wait to put words with the images, it will never happen. As I should know by now, my creative process always begins with images- words and their stories manifest afterwords. So here it goes- a stream-of-consciousness blog, a digital sketchbook, a public scratch pad- and if any bit of wit or insight comes of it, it will, like nearly all my creative endeavors, be a happy accident.

Jewelry in Gestation

2010-09-03T00:18:00.001-04:00

My "Toast to Dostoevsky" Ring gets blogged

2010-08-19T11:50:00.000-04:00

Fabulous! My Toast to Dostoevsky Ring has been featured in a blog called Bling of the Day. My sincere thanks to Rame Ottone Jewelry for the feature!

Visit Rame Ottone on Etsy

Bling of the Day: When We're Sick...: "This morning we awoke to a pounding headache, a stuffy nose, and extreme exhaustion. We dutifully went to work and pushed through lunch. B..."

Lament for "Late Winter Freeze"

2010-08-11T13:51:00.000-04:00

It's odd that I should regret selling one ring so intensely, but this rhinestone encrusted multi-finger monster of a ring keeps haunting me; Especially now, with fall on the horizon. Here's a tribute to "Late Winter Freeze" Ring:

Fun with black, gold, and gunmetal...

2010-07-14T16:11:00.000-04:00

I'm going through a "subdued" phase with my jewelry color palette...

Klewism Meets the Magazine Cover

2010-06-23T12:17:00.000-04:00

I'm elated to see my "Augury of Spring" Necklace on the cover of the Summer 2010 issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings. The image is exquisite, and the model looks divine and I am, in short, giddy with pleasure.

Au Revoir, Biomorphically Hinged Bracelet!

2010-04-08T16:18:00.002-04:00

This pretty darling sold today...a mixture of joy and sadness for me...I shouldn't worry, it's going to a good home and it's also an inanimate object.

Jewelry Deconstructed

2010-03-29T15:19:00.000-04:00

There's a thrill in photographing one of my own paintings, cutting up the photo, & collaging it into a new context. Now to start playing with my jewelry...

2010-01-19T15:59:00.001-05:00

Installment #3 of the Cheeky Chimera Collection-

As implied by the title, these earrings are dripping with a glam rock glittering excess that still, somehow, stays both classy and elegant. How miraculous!

In fact, these earrings embody my notions of a Cheeky Chimera: a fantastical monster composed of vignettes from dreams and waking life...

Each earring is unambiguously different from it's mate, and still clearly belonging to it.

Hammered brass wire is intermixed with freshwater pearls, rhinestones, Swarovski crystals, and glass beads, and several accent details from recycled costume jewelry.
Chains dangle from each earring, adding graceful movement and accentuate a slender neckline.

Though loaded with panache, the earrings are amazingly lightweight!

See them in my shop: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38865186

Introducing The Cheeky Chimera Collection

2010-01-17T21:37:00.004-05:00

Resolutions '09...how did I do?

2009-12-30T09:22:00.008-05:00

I started this about a year ago on January 6 with a list of New Year's resolutions. Time to evaluate my success.

Here it goes:

manage time better *ehhhh...I didn't make much progress on that one.
$ - make more of it * I did, in fact, make more $ in '09 than in '08....good job!
$ -manage it better too *Well, the jury's still out on that one.
exercise everyday * I did prodigiously well on that one- up until late November...oops.
eat some fresh vegetables, for heaven's sake! *I purposely left that rather vague, and did eat fresh veggies on rare occasions- success!
do laundry weekly (the monthly method just isn't cutting it) *No comment
make ART daily (yeah, that's a tall order) * That's a highly subjective one- but I made far more artwork than eat veggies.

Now, time to photograph previews from the Klewism Winter 2010 Collection. Think cold, icy winter white rhinestones and silver juxtaposed with fiery clusters of color...

Sublimated Embroidery Needle Brooch

2009-12-22T05:06:00.003-05:00

Ball Bearing, Transfigured & Transported

2009-08-20T16:47:00.000-04:00

The Ball Bearing Transfiguration necklace is about to be transported to New South Wales (as if it weren't enough to be transfigured).
It sold today, which is fabulous- of course, but I'll miss it nonetheless.

Speaking of color

2009-08-06T08:17:00.004-04:00

And yet another instance of synchronicity in the Universe! All my talk about color yesterday, and, behold, I sell the Any Color You Like ring the very next day.*

*note: referring to today.

Have you ever watched "The Wizard of Oz" with the volume all the way down while listening to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon"?
Isn't that a required right of passage into adulthood?

One of the highlights of that experience, for me, is when the song titled "Any Color You Like" begins as the 'horse of a different color' makes his appearance in the Emerald City... Synchronicity!!

This ring is EVERY color you like: purple, burgundy, teal, green, navy blue, sky blue, gold, and a few shades that are somewhere more ambiguous on the color spectrum.

This one is a size 7.

I have a special fondness for this ring, remembering heavily incensed evening ceremonies repeating the time honored ritual of superimposing the Dark Side of the Moon over The Wizard of Oz...

Goodbye, Polychromatic Scintillation...

2009-08-05T19:36:00.004-04:00

Today I sold a custom made ring that really captures my current spell of color- mania, as the title suggests. I take it that Klewism is going to be playing bold games with color combinations this season...Hell, I'm just going to go with it.

Here is the ring with it's etsy description:

I started the ring with the intention of using almost exclusively green and red accents against the brass or copper of the ring structure (while still avoiding the "Christmas tree" look).I confess, my intentions of sticking to a highly selective palette were soon forgotten and I got lost in the ensuing debauch of hues that followed...An Ultramarine freshwater pearl, a bright teal nugget of turquoise, Swarovski crystals, semiprecious stones, seed beads and other Czech glass beads with an 'aurora borealis' finish, are combined in surprising juxtapositions of matte and gloss, rough and smooth, transparent and opaque, subdued and vivid. In short, my modest ideas for a ring with reds and greens, evolved into a scintillating carousal of color.

A Klewism Necklace in Creepy Queen Magazine...

2009-08-04T10:33:00.002-04:00

Yes, How I love free surprise publicity! Thanks, Creepy Queen for including me in the article, "Scary Splurges".
Being fond of the slightly macabre, I take no offense at the adjective 'scary' referring to my necklace.

Here's the link to the article:

http://www.creepyqueenmagazine.com/apps/blog/entries/show/1496374-scary-splurges-

Of plumage and Exoskeletons...

2009-01-09T01:51:00.012-05:00

I was asked this morning where I get my inspiration for the color schemes in my jewelry. That's a big question involving mood, environs, music, literature, bugs, and birds.
Let me explain the 'bugs and birds' part, because that probably sounds odd.

Bugs: I mean specifically beetle types that have brilliant iridescent exoskeletons. I could stare at them for hours if they happened to be dead, and consequently unable to fly away from me. "Even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these"- I use that praise Jesus so aptly appropriated to the lilies and extend it to exoskeletons, if no one objects. I've used resin-preserved Stag Beetles and "June Bugs" in pendents and earrings so that I can go around sportin' an exoskeleton too! Why should bugs have all the fun?

Birds: Specifically their feathers- vividly iridescent and ever-changing in movement and light. The very structure of the feather enhances the depth and brilliance of the colors perceivable in it. I have had a mania for peacock feathers since I was a young child. The jeweled tones of a peacock feather have been motifs in my paintings from the first, and now in my jewelry as well.

So, a big 'thank you' from me to all those birds and bugs out there, inspiring color schemes for people like myself.

Circa 1799

2009-01-07T14:38:00.014-05:00

The romance surrounding my oldest earthly possession is palpable. It was found in the early 1980s by my uncle who was renting a historic house in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The house was a known 'hang out' for writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne and his contemporaries.
To heighten the romance further, the book was discovered in a 'secret' closet whose entrance had been concealed in such a way as to look like a wall. The irregularities of this wall were quite noticeable, and my uncle was curious. With permission from the homeowners, he carefully made an opening in the wall and discovered an antiquarian's fantasy: the closet was full of antique manuscripts and books dating from the mid 18th through the early 19th century!
The homeowners were generous enough to allow my uncle to keep several books from the stash. My uncle passed away about 8 years ago, and I inherited a good portion of his impressive library.
And the oldest is this one- "Ode on the Death of MR. Thomson" by M. Collins. I'm too ignorant of the subject to know if this is truly an esoteric piece of poetry, and I'm completely unacquainted with Mr. Thomson and M. Collins...nice fellows, I hope.

The inside cover of the book bears the following text (as far as I can decipher)in exquisitely fluid cursive:

Lucretia Burr Sturges

Fairfield

Connecticut

1799

While the front page perversely declares the owner of the book to be "Lucretia Ann Watson" of Plymouth (Massachusetts?). It's probably safe to assume one name is pre-marital and the other post-marital.

I can't describe the awe I feel touching this volume that was touched, signed, and read by a woman who was probably already an adult 210 years ago! A woman whose physical body has been dust for nearly as long... And yet this small fragile object of cracked leather and yellowing paper is still bound, readable, and tangible.
I am forced to contemplate my own mortality.

OK, enough of my melodramatic musings on the transient quality of human life. Now to decide how to incorporate the story of this relic into a piece of narrative jewelry or painting. There's a challenge!
I'll just chalk that onto my list of New Year's resolutions.

I resolve to make resolutions

2009-01-06T16:40:00.010-05:00

Resolution #1: Make a list of resolutions for 2009.

OK, so here's a draft-

manage time better
$ - make more of it
$ -manage it better too
exercise everyday
eat some fresh vegetables, for heaven's sake!
do laundry weekly (the monthly method just isn't cutting it)
make ART daily (yeah, that's a tall order)

Success! I've fulfilled my resolution by making a list of resolutions. Is that cheating? No, it's just playing with words.

And now for the second item- the time management one... The time I waste thinking about how long it would take to devise a time management template is itself a prime example of time mismanagement on my part.
However, the relationship between time-use and my jewelry making process is much more complex than simply aiming for 'efficiency'. Part of the magic of sculpting wearable art is, for me, the way a project evolves over the hours spent working on it. Granted, I am in control of how long I take to make anything. But there is, nonetheless, an intuitive voice that says 'keep going, keep going'.
Working in an isolated environment in the wee hours of the morning makes it easy to follow the intuitive voice while ignoring the sensible prodding of my brain's left hemisphere to'wrap things up and move on'.
I don't see myself ever becoming essentially pragmatic, but I am willing to adopt some logical parameters in my creative process. A few little tiny parameter.

A recent example of my choice to ignore my 'inner logician' is obvious in the necklace "La Belle Epoque Meets Klewism" . I thought I was finished with it and wore it several times, but that intuitive nagging never stopped until I incorporated the little wire 'snake' that was just sitting on my work table. That little nagging intuitive voice was right again I think.

So, I resolve to gain enough managerial practicality to do well in the world without smothering my inate propensity to take things 'over the top'. That's a start.

I'll think about the other resolutions later...