Woman vs Nature

It's that time of year when there are just enough nice days to start contemplating outdoor home repairs. I'd like to tell you that when I'm in my studio I think about the meaning of the universe and other lofty thoughts, but the truth is what I've been thinking about lately is new gutters and Drainage. My studio is in an elderly building, 94 years old, and every year when it's dry outside I try to prepare for the winter to come. I have French drains under the building, French drains around the building, and a system of grilled drains around the lot that channel rainwater into a collection box and then out to the city sewer line.

Ambition Foiled, Nancy Worden 2011

The fall of 2010 I was feeling especially smug because I had the new outdoor drains. When the first winter storm hit and the basement at the studio flooded I was angry and confused. The culprit that year was tree roots in the sewer line, something insurance companies refuse to cover. The plumbers that responded to my rescue sent out a very calm and experienced individual who explained to me it was going to cost $1000 a foot to fix my sewer line. It took awhile to sink in, but eventually I asked, "Do you take Visa?"  The experience inspired the wall collar pictured above. We gold leafed the entire frame and added some glass eyeballs to ward off evil spirits. It hangs on the wall near the door of our house to remind me that in any contest between Woman and Nature, Nature will always be the winner.

Today I went online to view the public art collection owned by the City of Seattle, especially the work commissioned by Seattle Public Utilities and Seattle City Light. They have commissioned 31  permanent site art projects and a third of those are about or in some way deal with water.  Below are some of my favorites, find their locations via the link.

http://www.seattle.gov/arts/publicart/permanent.asp?cat=6

Chimera, Ted Jonsson 1975

Raven Shouts Water, Barbara Earl Thomas 2001

 Beckoning Cistern, Buster Simpson 2002

Waterworks, Douglas Hollis 2005

New Growth

It's that time of year when the trees are budding and we are celebrating new growth.  Once upon a time I made a neckpiece that looks like an overgrown silver vine with little 14K gold ears sprouting from it.  The title of this artwork is Grafting, and for those who grew up in the Yakima Valley amongst apple orchards "grafting" refers to a method of attaching branches of different varieties to a rootstock to make a unique and healthy tree.  On one shoulder there is also something that looks like a gold walnut that is actually a small brain. The idea came to me after I read an article about how the human brain had an unlimited capacity to learn.  I envisioned a brain that could grow more ears to gain a greater capacity to listen and become a healthier mind.

 Grafting 2001, Collection of Los Angeles County Museum of Art

 Grafting is one of several artworks I've made over the years about listening.  Listening has very little to do with hearing.  Listening implies that your brain is actually engaged in what another person is saying.  All of us from time to time are guilty of shutting out what someone is saying because we disagree with the content or the intent of what is being said.  We jump to conclusions instead of taking the time to listen and and possibly learn something new.  We just tune out and dismiss it.  I hear this in everything from movie reviews to debates about current issues on television.  The skilled debaters know how to capture our attention but the curmudgeons just keep up a negative rant.  They use their professions and affiliations as a shield against anything they don't agree with.  It is an arrogant shield assuming that only your opinion is correct and that your knowledge on the subject is complete. Liberals and conservatives are both guilty from my vantage point. 

Below is an image of a necklace I made at the end of the 20th century about PTA  meetings I tried to lead where everyone talked and no one listened.  We couldn't accomplish much because there were so many people who just despised authority in any form.  People couldn't even agree about what was good for kids.  They let their egos get in the way of listening.

  Beans in Your Ears 1998

A new tactic I'm noticing is the auto-response, "I'm sorry", uttered in what appears to be sympathy.  I'm hearing this from clerks at the drugstore, hotel management, waiters in restaurants,  medical receptionists and other situations where customers used have clout.  I'm sorry has become a polite way of saying I don't care. 

 Lend Me Your Ears 1994, brooch, Collection of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

In a recent episode of VEEP,  the bride and groom at a wedding went around collecting telephones before the ceremony because they wanted their guests  to be physically and mentally present when they were saying their vows.  People cheated with hidden second phones, which sounds fantastic but I was recently on a flight sitting next to a woman with two phones. Therefore I would like to suggest

a new national holiday, A Day Without Telephones. We could write letters or visit our neighbors in person.  I would happily give up Mother's Day for a day when people actually listened.

Is Dubya an artist?

When we first heard that former Pres. George W. Bush had taken up painting, I knew it was only a matter of time before somebody called him an Artist.  For those of you who want to take a look at his paintings, I have included a link below to an article from People magazine's website entitled,

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert by G.W. Bush

An Art Expert Reviews George W Bush's Paintings   http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20804587,00.html 

In this article, the paintings were reviewed by Bill Arning, director of the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston.

Self Portrait

CAMH is a nonprofit arts organization that has to beg for funding and so the director's remarks were vague and diplomatic because he has to be.  He cautioned us not to dismiss someone's work on  hearsay or the basis of their politics, which is sound advice. Even though I think Dubya's paintings are amateurish at best, out of curiosity I decided to refresh my memory on the arts funding track record of the 43rd administration.

Vladimir Putin (looking jaundiced) by G.W. Bush

The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 and appropriations to the NEA trickle down to the individual states and the arts organizations and individuals they support. The history of appropriations for the NEA is easily available on their website:

 http://arts.gov/open-government/nea-budget-planning-information/national-endowment-arts-appropriations-history.  

The record shows that federal arts funding increased during 2000-2008 or George W. Bush's administration.  Those were pretty good years, we were all spending money like there was no tomorrow. Viewing those years from the other side of a recession makes them appear positively golden. But I digress.

 Now for the rant.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard a hobbyist or dabbler label themselves as an artist. Even more irritating is when I hear bead stringers introducing themselves as "jewelers".  My response is always, "Really? Where did you receive your training?".  DIY is not the same as making art.

I've said this before and I'll say it again.  The title of Artist is one that is bestowed upon you not one that you bestow upon yourself.  Going to art school does not make you an artist.  Taking lots of workshops does not make you an artist. Listing yourself on LinkedIn as an artist does not make you an artist. What makes an artist is a combination of formal training, the critique process, high standards and putting in the time, around 10,000 hours with the goal of achieving excellence.  It is a skill that improves with age and maturity.  Most artists start as teenagers and don't do their best work until they are in their 40s and that's only if they have been working the whole time.

Fortress by Dan Webb

If you're in the mood to see some really good art, hop across the pond to the Bellevue Arts Museum.  All of their current shows are excellent but my favorite is Fragile Fortress: The Art of Dan Webb.   Dan Webb carves wood like Michelangelo carved marble.  He's that good. Go see it.

                                                                 Woodylion by Dan Webb

                                                                                

Quit Picking on Barbie!

Here they go again, those self-righteous do gooders who are so sure that Barbie is damaging American girls by giving them unhealthy images of themselves.  A recent article in the Seattle Times described how two parent groups are up in arms because the Girl Scouts have drafted Barbie in some of their curriculum materials for little girls. "Holding Barbie, the quintessential fashion doll, up as a role model for Girl Scouts simultaneously sexualizes young girls, idealizes an impossible body type, and undermines the Girl Scouts' vital mission to build 'girls of courage, confidence and character,'" said Susan Linn, director of the Boston-based commercial-free childhood organization."  

Oh come on! My relationship with Barbie spans 50 years and I can say without a doubt that playing with Barbies did not hurt my self esteem or self image.  I also allowed my daughter to play with Barbies although she had little interest in them and as I recall mostly enjoyed throwing them out her upstairs bedroom window.

 When my daughter was 3 or 4,  I started raiding her dolls for body parts for my artwork. Because I was a working mom and I didn't have much time in the studio, when I needed an arm I just made a plaster mold of one of Barbie's arms.  In the image above, my friend Sita Das is wearing a necklace I made of little arms cast in gold and silver.  The title of the necklace is Prayer Circle and it was inspired by the events of 9.1.1. This configuration is an archetypal image in dance and visual art forms in cultures throughout the world and throughout time.  Since I'm an American and I comment on American culture, Barbie arms seemed very apropos here.  It's a gorgeous necklace and I get compliments every time I wear it.

 Here's a photograph of one of my favorite necklaces, entitled Diamonds and Lust.  In this situation I again used the Barbie arms mold and electro formed the gold-plated arms holding silver dimes shown above. This necklace addressed the cost of Seattle's baseball stadium, Safeco Field. In the center of the necklace is a box in the shape of a baseball diamond and it is stuffed with money. There are large mabe pearls set on beads made out of silver quarters to look like baseballs. On the backside of the necklace the beads are pierced to spell out PLAY BALL. This was intended as commentary on the ludicrous amounts of money that the team owners of the Mariners saw fit to spend on the stadium and the taxpayer money that subsidized the construction. The necklace lives in a museum in Amsterdam.

This 3rd necklace is entitled, Casting Pearls Before Swine, Barbie volunteered her arms again for this illustration of a frustrating situation I experienced while curating an exhibition.  The necklace is made of copper with little pearls set in the hands of the arms, mother-of-pearl buttons on one side of the beads, and the letters that spell out the word SWINE cut into silver quarters on the other side of the beads. This necklace graced the cover of American Craft magazine in 1999.

Mattel's Barbie has been a popular toy for 55 years. I am a former Girl Scout and I like Barbie.  I'm proud of the Girl Scouts for sticking up for their relationship with Barbie. Don't we have more pressing issues to worry about?

Smart Cookies

This month, the Girl Scouts are celebrating their 102nd anniversary. Julliette Gordon Low, their founder, held the first Girl Scout meeting in March 1912 with 18 girls in Savannah, Georgia. She was inspired after meeting the man who originated the Boy Scouts, Robert Baden Powell.

Juliette Gordon Low with two Girl Scouts

 I started in scouting when I was in the 2nd grade at WW Robertson Elementary School in Yakima, Washington. Another girl's mom was the leader, but the group met in the basement of our house.  I got to wear a special brown dress with a little beanie and I still have my Brownie pin from those early years.  At age 9, we Brownies "flew up" and became Intermediate Girl Scouts which meant a green uniform, a little patch in the shape of a pair of golden wings and a different pin.  I still have them all.

Two Girl Scout pins and a Brownie pin

 What was the point of all this?  Besides keeping us out of trouble, Girl Scouting has always been about building self-esteem, learning skills and building community.  My mom was always working or in school so I think she thought of it as free child care and a good influence.  My very first camping trip was organized by my Girl Scout leader. She and her husband took us camping when I was in the 5th grade somewhere up in the Natchez area and I remember we learned to make hobo stew in a tin can with aluminum foil on top.  To me this was a whole new world as my father came from the East Coast and thought that anybody who would choose to sleep in a tent was out of their mind. After my parents split up, the Girl Scouts became an important way for me to meet new friends when we moved to my grandparent's farm near Quilcene, Washington.  I sent my own daughter to Girl Scout camp from the age of 9 through her sophomore year in high school.  She learned all her boating skills there, canoeing, kayaking, sailing, sail boarding and made lots of good friends.

First Lady Hilary Clinton with Girl Scouts

On Sunday, February 23, 2014 I read an article in the Seattle Times that I just had to share with you.  It turns out that an enterprising young Girl Scout in San Francisco sold 117 boxes of cookies after locating herself outside of a medical marijuana dispensary.  When other Girl Scouts and their moms heard about it they decided to follow suit and have been recording greatly improved cookie sales.  One dispensary in Arizona has even used the cookies as a sales incentive; buy at least a half an ounce of pot and have your pick of a free box of Thin Mints or any other variety of cookie the Girl Scouts are offering.

A Girl Scout working on her Gold Award project.

 I didn't stay in scouting long enough to earn merit badges but I loved the little icons and what they stood for. The imagery on the badges is constantly evolving along with the different skills that girls learn now.  Could somebody please tell me what in the world this icon represents?

The badge is called On My Way

Support the Girl Scouts. Buy a box of cookies on your way home from the drug store.

True Love Story

There are days when I hate my job. I'm talking about the days when the computer is wacky and the phone is ringing constantly and we run out of propane 10 min. before the gas company closes. Fortunately, those days are offset with truly golden days when I know that my studio has created something really special.  What follows is a true love story.

 Chris and Elizabeth had been partners for 16 years.

 During all that time Elizabeth told her family over and over that she was never going to get married.

 Then the Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act and she and Chris started thinking about how easily the unthinkable can happen.  In 2001, their beautiful daughter Tessa, perished in a freak accident so they knew not to take anything for granted.  They started planning a secret wedding and asked me to make necklaces that would symbolize this important rite of passage. 

I swore to secrecy, but I had to let the people in my shop know. A total of 9 different women worked on these necklaces;  I came up with the design, Chris had a picture she had taken of Elizabeth and Tessa and Elizabeth had a picture she had taken of Chris and Tessa. My assistant Sarah Owens made the silver boxes and designed the clasps, Angel O'Leary scanned the originals and adjusted the scans in Photoshop, Tracie at Panda shepherded the new prints, Carol Frances engraved the words on the reverse, Midori Saito polished the completed silver constructions, and my daughter Avery Reed ran around the city of New York to find just the right color of cord. 

 The reverse is just as beautiful as the front of these open lockets,

 and in a special cavity, locks of hair from Chris, Elizabeth, and Tessa are intertwined forever.

The necklaces have interchangeable cords for formal or casual attire.

 Chris and Elizabeth were married on November 2, 2013 and they somehow, magically, assembled their families at the courthouse without anyone realizing they were going to a wedding until it began.

 I am so honored to have been chosen to make their family heirlooms. 

This is as good as it gets for me.

 Happy Valentine's Day!

Long Live the King!

Elvis in 1957

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi.

 At 10 years old, Elvis received his 1st guitar, an inexpensive model purchased by his mother at the Tupelo Hardware Store.  His father, Vernon Presley, worked odd jobs and in 1948 moved the family to Memphis, Tennessee hoping for better prospects.  In Memphis, Elvis was exposed to the music that was happening on Beale Street; black rhythm and blues and gospel music.  The influence of that music and the people he met in Memphis can't be over emphasized.  Due in part to where he grew up and the people he had access to, he became the hottest entertainer America and the world has ever known. 

Everybody loved Elvis.

 I was born in 1954, just when his career was really taking off. 

 My parents were not Elvis fans: my dad had a big jazz band collection and my mom listened to Broadway show tunes. They were just a little too old to be screaming teenyboppers when Elvis hit his stride in 1956.  The 1st time I heard his music, I was  a college student listening to the radio in Ellensburg, Washington.  In the 1960s and 70s, KXLE, the local radio station, played country-western during the day and rock from 7 to 9 at night.  I think the 1st Elvis song that I noticed was In The Ghetto and I also remember hearing my favorite Elvis song of all time  Kentucky Rain. 

 Three of  the fabulous costumes Elvis wore on stage in the 70s shown here in the room at Graceland that is completely covered in gold and platinum albums.

 Custom jewelry made for Elvis, including the belt buckle which was presented to him by the International Hotel in Las Vegas, in recognition of his breaking all Las Vegas attendance records with his 1969 engagement there. 

 When Elvis died in 1977, everybody mourned.  In 1978 I moved to Athens, Georgia for graduate school and in the spring of 1979 a group of us went to Memphis for a conference. We made a pilgrimage out to Graceland and took a group photo by the gates (I was holding the camera).  It wasn't the tourist attraction then that it is now. In 2006, I returned to Graceland and did the whole tour with hundreds of other people. By that time I was more acquainted with his larger body of work and understood his contribution to American culture.  What was so special about Elvis?  The music critic, Lester Bangs, wrote in his obituary published in The Village Voice on August 29, 1977,

 "Elvis was probably the last thing we all are going to agree on."

 Amen to that. Long live the King of Rock 'n Roll.