Latest Happenings

I finally finished the Infinity piece and am extremely pleased with the way it turned out. I knew I was saving that upcycled suede for something special. I just had to wait for the design to be shown to me in a dream.

It's made completely with upcycled suede from a purse and coat I found in a thrift store. The Infinity is represented by a continuously flowing Jen's Pind weave, which is sewn into the top layer. Inside of the Infinity are butterfly wings using the same suede and black inlaid dots. To view and read more about this piece, please visit the listing in my Etsy shop.

This weekend I'll be participating in the Durham Art Walk as an exhibitor. My booth will be located at Vert & Vogue... an Eco-friendly clothing store at the Brightleaf Square Mall. I will be there both Saturday (18th) from 10am - 5pm and Sunday (19th) from 1pm - 5pm. This is a huge event with Artists spread throughout the downtown area, all within a 10 minute walking distance. The weather is supposed to be fabulous this weekend, so come on out, get your daily walk in and check out some North Carolina artists.

In two more weeks, I'll be participating in the Salisbury Cultural Arts Festival (May 2nd & 3rd). Since Ted will more than likely be out of town that weekend, a couple of great friends will be making the trip with me to help me out. This will also be an outdoors festival in downtown Salisbury, full of art, music, literature... everything you could possibly want to see. If you're in the area, please come out.

Now to get back to making more pieces... Although we all dream of selling out at a show, we really don't want that to happen. =)

Peace, Love & Happy Mailling,

Chris

Much Fun!

I had a blast this past weekend participating in the Shop Local Fair at Eclectic By Nature in Greensboro. We had 9 artists there, showing off their labors of love. The traffic was kind of slow since the Craftsman's Classic was at the coliseum and there was another festival going on, but it was worth being out there just for the company.

Outside of Eclectic By Nature in the State Street Station. It's a beautiful little strip consisting of many shops, galleries and restaurants. If you're in the area, I highly recommend going there, even if it is to just walk around.

This is my table with every piece of jewelry out for display. I've made of several of my own signs for the credit cards I accept, email list, about the metals I use, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough room to display them all. =)

Some of Angela Jamison's energy artwork paintings were displayed on the walls. She also has prints, magnets, boxes and coffee mugs. I do love her paintings and you'll probably see more in the rest of the pictures below.

This is Angela and her boyfriend, Paul. That's another piece over Paul's head. You can visit Angela and see her work at Lyndon Street Artworks.

Brittany Sondberg is a metalsmith and creates wonderful jewelry out of recycled materials, including recycled Sterling and Fine Silver. She has some awesome rings!!! It was all I could do to keep myself from buying one. She is also at Lyndon Street Artworks if you like to meet her or see more of her work.

Mariana Rodriguez-Pardy is also pictured.

Mariana makes stoneware and burnished terracotta pottery with original designs inspired in prehispanic art and shamanic traditions

Anna Waters and her Tees 4 Trees table. She has organic cotton and bamboo tees with original tree designs. I love the softness of the shirts and they're Eco-friendly.

Vicki Gabba has a self-published book of original poetry and she is also a Metaphysical Consultant. I see lots of readings in my future!

Not pictured are Scott Walden who is a singer of "Shag Rock" music. He and Vicki were sharing a table.

Also not pictured are Marilyn Schendel, owner of Ritual Waters and maker of handmade natural soap and bath products, and Cay Bowman who is a Reiki Master and also handcrafts gorgeous chakra blankets.

Most of us went out for dinner and drinks after the Fair. They're all wonderful people and we all just seemed to click right together. We're talking about having another one in July, also to be held at EBN, so keep an eye out for that information.

My next showing will be at the Durham Art Walk on April 18th and 19th. I will be at Stop #12 on the map, which is Vert & Vogue... an Eco-friendly clothing store in the Brightleaf Square Mall. If you would like more info on the Walk, please visit the Durham Art Walk site.

Until next time...

Peace, Love and Happy Mailling!

Chris

Ahhh... A Break

I've been super busy the last several weeks trying to get things ready for the NADE Convention and then the First Friday Art Show. Now that both of those are over, things can get back to a normal pace for a little while. I don't have anymore shows until April... a small one at the beginning of the month, then an Art Walk in Durham in the middle of the month, so it'll be nice to sit down at my work table and ponder how to bring my next Leather N Maille piece to life. As before with Tiger Lilly and Lace (see next post down), I can see it clearly in my mind, I just need to figure out how to get it all to work in real life. =)

It's been a gorgeous weekend here... mid to high 70's both days, and we've taken full advantage of it. Saturday I parked myself in the driveway and stained shutter doors the whole day. I'm planning on using them as part of my displays at shows, but didn't like the plain wood. I went to Lowe's a while back (last Fall) and purchased Cherry Orchard and Onyx stains to use together. It's a timely process... stain with Cherry, let dry a little bit... stain with Onyx, let dry a little bit... repeat... but it'll be well worth it for the look. I was having to fight to stain between the slats, but Ted got tired of listening to me complain, so he pulled all of them out. It's making the whole thing go a whole lot faster and it looks so much better. =) I'm wanting to get those finished up in the next few weekends since I've applied to be a Juried Exhibitor at the Lexington BBQ Festival in October and they need booth pics by May. The deadline is a pretty good motivator to get it completed.

Today we had softball practice... a mix of co-ed and women's. The sun was blazing both days, so needless to say, my face looks like a beet. It's not painful, but I know it's there. It is however, painful to look at. LOL At least I'm not a halvsie like some people turned out. You know... like Richard Dreyfus from Close Encounters... sun burned (or UFO burned) just on one half of my face. LOL I can tell I got a little more on my left side though, it's just not that noticeable. Hopefully it'll sink in a lot by tomorrow morning.

Well, I'm off for now. I'm gonna finish watching Stargate-SG1 then I'm headed to bed. I can't wait 'til tomorrow so I can start on the new leather piece.

Until next time...

Peace, Love & Happy Mailling!

Chris