:discomedusa:

PET project

i keep coming back to these photos on the website of sculptor miwa koizuni

especially to the PET project ('making something from nothing...'),
an increasing collection of marine organisms crafted from plastic bottles.

i am always excited to see artists successfully using trash (or any creative use of our industrial nutrients.)

i think it's really upsetting that so much is wasted; we worry about running out, but we don't think much about what we throw out!

(also on miwa's site: make a kite from shopping bags- it really flies!  instructions here)

opportunity for artists:

lark books seeks images of original work to feature in the gallery of Fantastic Plastic by David and Robin Edgar. (info here) to be released in Fall 2009.

'Fantastic Plastic will capture the artistry of recycled plastic. From fun and funky to elegant and thought provoking, all sculptural forms will be considered and all types of plastic innovation will be welcomed.'

coffin couches

there's something so satisfying in seeing something done well; doubly so, in my opinion, if it is done with an environmentally conscientious mindset....

(and don't forget your sense of humor!)

take the coffin couch, for instance:
an elegantly crafted piece of furniture, incorporating a recycled coffin.
there is so much attention to detail involved in this stylized design, including six cast iron heavyduty legs embossed with the universal bio-hazard symbol. 

(naturally, it makes me think of six feet under ('every day above ground is a good one')
...what a great show!!  highly recommended, if you haven't already obsessively watched this HBO series)

team davey/booth

my sweetie finally bought his tig welder! 

(granted we'll need many more tools to fully enjoy it....)
hooray, more tools!!

thus dawns the age of collaboration and a more serious studio! it's about time!

here is one of his first jewelry designs, a stainless steel ring to go with my 'annelid' series.

shown with one of my new ring designs, compound eye ring, fabricated from an up-cycled clip on earring (limited edition of 4, two remaining), for the etsymetal insect challenge.

modeled by the fabulous alaraca, an important new friend i met as an etsy customer half a continent away

thank you, sandra, for all of your support!  xoxo

stay tuned for more stainless steel jewelry, furniture, and accessories!

pinball publishing

(is it weird to covet a publishing service?)

i am completely enamored of pinball publishing (here in portland), and look forward to getting some high-quality, eco-friendly promotional materials printed, using soy-based ink and recycled papers.

i met founders laura and austin whipple through our mutual midwife (the highly recommended ellie legare);
not only are they lovely and welcoming people- whom i really want to support!- their products are seriously impressive! 
(one example being the first in their series of designer cards: hare illustration by brent wick- printed with gold and black ink on recycled chipboard stock...luscious!)

seed magazine

photo: neri oxman (materialecologist), by noah kalina

if you're looking for some brain food, check out my new favorite magazine, Seed magazine.

Seed is a smart and stylish modern magazine with 'a passion for science and ...(the) advocacy of science literacy around the world.' 

apparently, they've been around since october 2005 (order back issues here), but they caught my attention a few months ago (thank you anne!) with the headline: 'the future of science...is art?'

the current issue, 'the  design issue', continues to explore the developments in art and design as it relates to the advancement of modern science.  (hooray!)

my own interest has always been split between art and science
(i plan to go back to school for something bio-chem-related when the bean enters kindergarten...)
expect many more science geek posts here as i renew my interest in reading up on modern science. 
thank you, seed!!

pandora radio

there was a time when i used to go music shopping regularly, and built up a modest yet enjoyable itunes and cd library.  which has been more or less stagnant for years now. 
enter pandora radio.
what fun!  you simply enter the name of an artist you like, and pandora creates a playlist based on the qualties of your choice, cross referenced with their 'music genome project'.
(you can guide the selections with a thumbs up/down)
lately, my favorite stations have been 'lovage' and 'rodrigo y gabriela.'
your recommendations are welcome!

stonewood

no joke- my parents have listed their house for sale!

craigslist

catskill homes for sale by owner

Unique 4-5 bedroom round (36 ft. diameter) cordwood masonry home, plus a 24 x 24 rustic mountain cabin retreat (no water or electric), wonderful 15 acre hardwood forest (cherry and maple), 3 acres of lovely meadows with a pond, blueberry bushes , and a labyrinth!

my father attended a workshop at earthwood building school,  then he and my mother spent the next 15+ years building and living in this special home.  it was a very magical place to grow up!  i once hoped to return there to live, but now i look forward to building my own space someday...

if you (or a friend) are lookng for a secluded, creative property in upstate ny, plan a springtime visit to 'stonewood'!

velvet studio: london

yay, i recently completed my first wholesale order!
for the newly opened velvet studio and art shop in the heart of camden town. 
(an affiliate of the french velvet studios in lyons and grenoble)
check out their myspace page for more information and photos!

velvet studio
35C middle yard
camden lock market
NW 18 AF London UK

it took forever, but giulia and olivia have been so cool about everything!
their shop looks great! 
tattoos, piercing, scarification, jewelry, paintings, clothes, dolls, and more!
sady, i can't imagine when i'll be in london next!
(wishing you much success, ladies! thank you for your support!)

touching warms...

i'm so glad i  went to the museum of contemporary craft (portland, or) to catch the end of "touching warms the art," a hand-on exploration of tactilely stimulating jewelry....
the jewelry was a lot of fun to examine,
and for added entertainment, the gallery set up a flickr album of visitors modelling and playing with the jewelry.

(there's me loving  some amazing felted baubles by maru almeida of seattle.)

my friend cristina dias, from massart metals, exhibited a series of her wearable rubber sculptures.
our senior year, cristina made bracelets inspired by carnivorous plants, using the same silicon rubber technique. 
such great colors and texure!

check out cristina's new esty shop: rubbersprouts.etsy.com!

i also tried on this pretty piece on the right, by a fellow etsymetal member, moira k. lime

old friends, new etsy shops

yes, i am totally obsessed with etsy!

not only has it allowed me to make some semblance of a living selling my jewelry, but i have also met so many wonderful people- customers as well as other artists.

i am an active member of both etsymetal (a juried group of metalsmiths from around the world) and pdx etsy (local portland etsy members).

i've been encouraging all of my crafty friends to get on board and open their own shops...

please take a moment to check out the creative business endeavors by some of the wonderful people i know in real life! 

luxville (also luxville.org)
(top right)
handscreened goods by beth d.
(love love love you, beth!)

graven fragments
(middle right)
fine jewelry by jessica m., a dear friend and former upstairs neighbor

rrejman
(right)
jewelry (gauged and otherwise) and photography by the lovely rama rejman

rubber sprouts
(below, LEFT)
funky rubber jewelry by cristina dias, former massart metals classmate

dirty mary
(below, RIGHT)
punky armwarmers by the fabulous meghan b.


   

also,

(from previous posts)

essential monsters
silk screened goodies with dark and unusual images
by tracy d., friend and former manager

modern radar
cards, bags, and more by tamara g, friend and former co-worker

great work, gals!  good luck with etsy & everything!

design*sponge

the other day, rubygirl (fellow jeweler friend) and i attended the portland 'biz lady meet up'- a workshop organized by grace bonney, founder of the immensely popular blog design*sponge.

grace has worked as a freelance writer for many top magazines, and is a superlative public speaker!
she shared a wealth of public relations and marketing tips in her presentation geared towards independent designers.

the secret to having your design published in the magazines of your choosing lies in these four steps:
1. know your product
2. know your publication
3. make a press kit
4. make contact

grace's inside knowledge reveals many important tips specific to design-oriented magazines, though i imagine much of this information could transfer into the realm of fine art, possibly the music industry, etc

even better, she posted her notes online!
thank you, grace!

and thank you, shannon, for finally getting me out of the house! 
(check out rubygirl's work (right) online!)

megarobot

i am thrilled to announce that i am now selling my work at mega-robot!
mega-robot encompases robot piercing in portland as well  their online shop.  both shops have a phenomenal collection of piercing and gauged jewelry, as well as ethnic tribal jewelry. 
the local designers' section currently includes jewelry by dave rodriguez (below left), heart of metal (center 2), and myself.   with a special section for jon (the owner's) amazing adornments: angry god jewelry (below right).

las vegas
april 20-25, 2008:
look for jon at the APP Conference (association of professional piercers), representing angry god, myself (discomedusa), and other expanded earwear designers!

jewelry jumble

i finally sorted out all my stock after vending recent shows (a rare appearance at crafty wonderland- a monthy event at the doug fir, plus another event, organized by luscious soap-maker ScrumptiousSuds)

thought i'd share some scenes from my jewelry box:

i love that AelisLaurel

(deviantart friend-jeweler, designer of rocklove jewelry: jewelry for the femme fatale)
comments:

can I shrink myself, get naked and roll in this pile of jewelry?  It's my favorite thing... a batch of silver inventory.  *swoon*

my thoughts exactly!  yum! 

rebecca deans

hooray! 
my dear friend, rebecca deans, finally has her webpage up and running!
rebecca works with silver, gold, and fiber to create jewelry and sculptural objects.
her designs are often based on mathematics, and she uses both traditional and modern technologies in their construction.

her work was recently shown at velvet da vinci as part of the earrings show (with yours truly!- it was such a treat to visit and see ourselves in a gallery together!)

she is currently showing new work as part of the new west coast design exhibition, also at velvet da vinci. (through feb 17)

visit rebeccadeans.com for more lovely images!

roger thomas glass

lately, i have been too busy even to play freerice!
(let alone blog, call friends, clean my studio, respond to emails, and so on through endless admissions of shameful negligence)
i am rearranging my childcare situation so that i may go back to work for roger thomas (glass artist) twice a week, and also try to spend at least as much time in my own studio! 
it's a welcome change to have a regular baby-free schedule! 
roger is such a wonderful person to work with, as is the studio manager, jenny.   
here are some examples of the glass (and labor!) intensive wall mounted 'vitreous mosaics' (fused glass paintings) we help him create:

roger currently has an exhibition at PISMO Aspen (through january 17).  visit his website for more images and gallery listings.  if you are interested in learning more about glass fusing, he will be teaching a series a workshops around the country (and sometimes abroad).

freerice

my favorite new online activity: freerice.com

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

sadly, my online scrabble friend, rebecca deans
(amazing jewelry coming to a webpage here),
and i have been too busy for our regular game. 

in the interim- if i have any chance of ever besting her!- i'd best be sharpening my skills!

freerice is
a diverting and addictive vocabulary game. 
with each correct answer, sponsors pay for 20 grains of rice to be donated to a hungry person.

freerice is the sister site of poverty.com

udubop

yay, more self-promotion!  it's a little doodle i made for the flash class i took last year (see my other videos on youtube) 
music by my talented father, bassist john davey: 'udubop' from his album soundbites, featuring brian melick ('uduboy') on percussion, and a host of other talented musicians on the rest of the tracks.
(this track is my favorite- i hope he does more along these lines- maybe a whole album with uduboy?)

also, check out his new album globetrotting: you are here, featuring brian melick (percussion)and steve gorn (indian flute, etc)
available for purchase (cd or mp3) via cdbaby and itunes

my all-time favorite album of his (so far!) is  9 views from the bridge, a  'chamber jazz' ensemble featuring dennis turechek on classical guitar, and amy merrill on viola...you can download it via itunes (type in '9 views from the bridge') or buy it directly from the source <email>

happy listening!

holiday new-ness

discomedusa: 2007 holiday season

i 've been working really hard to make new styles and stock for this holiday season.  some of the new pieces will only be available at the two events i will be vending this month:
crafty wonderland super colossal holiday sale
12/16, 11am-5pm
111 NE 11th Ave. in Portland, OR
(full bar!)
pdxetsy last minute holiday/solstice sale
12/22,  PSU campus by the farmer's market
(more details soon)

also new:  the fabulous custom-made gift boxes on the right will be available to customers at my in-person shows only!

for the rest of the world, do check out the latest in my etsy shop!

happy holidays!

SCRAP action

just wanted to share some of the great shipping supplies i found recently at  SCRAP !
SCRAP(the school community reuse action project) is a local (portland, OR)organization that collects donated materials from industries and individuals and sells them back to the community for dirt cheap.

in my daily life, i strive to minimize my environmental impact (though not truly as much as possible, as a result of  laziness, hypocrisy, etc...but that's another post!)

i would like to carry my ecological conscientiousness through into my art, but that's a little trickier, as i generally just work with silver....
therefore, i seek out recycled and reclaimed materials for my shipping and office supplies, as well as for my craft show displays.  here in north portland, i can visit SCRAP and the ReBuilding Center on a regular basis.

sadly, i have already run out of the padded envelopes shown above  (those silver ones were particularly exciting!)  so i'm back to the regular padded manila ones...boring and evil, i'm sure.  i did have one customer who specifically requested a re-used envelope, which was inspiring.   hopefully more people will catch on, re-using and requesting recycled shippers for the holiday season and beyond...!

gauged glamour

photo (with permission)The Girl Behind the Secrets by suzi9mm

more about my fascination with gauged earwear...

i'm not interested in fads or shock value.  i simply love the aesthetic of bold jewelry in stretched earlobes.

i've slowly stretched my own holes to a 3/4" over the course of seven years.  i've been hanging out around that size for another 5 or so years.  i started designing and making my own jewelry  7 years ago, while i simultaneously managed the jewelry end of Chameleon Tattoo in cambridge massachusetts while attending massachusetts college of art.  i particularly enjoy both outrageous glamour shots of models with expanded stretched piercings, as well as an understated style that makes you look twice.

i want to take this opportunity to promote two businesses, both run by extremely knowledgeable folks(as well as personable, beautiful, intelligent, etc...!)

angry god productions

jon bachman has 10+ years in the body piercing industry. 
moreover, he is an impressive self-taught jeweler/craftsperson.
(and also one of the sweetest and funniest people i have ever met!

jon hand-sculpts traditional and modern earweight designs, and has them cast in both silver and bronze. 

his work continues to inspire me to make plugs and weights.

be sure to check out his website, as well as that of ROBOT, his piercing parlor in portland, oregon.

 

organic jewelry
erika skadsen began making body jewelry in 1992 (and continues to outline her experience in a well-written bio here)  she is now the proprietress of Organic Jewelry, a wholesale and web-retail business selling the finest handmade body jewelry, crafted from natural materials-  some of which is made in-house, along with pieces which have been made by other talented craftsmen.  erika is dedicated to the quality of her products, as well as to the pursuit of knowledge.  check out these fantastic research papers she wrote (two of the many, many reasons she totally rocks):

Basic Wood Anatomy and Behavior
by Erica Nicole Skadsen
(April 2007)

and...

Wood Hazards:
A Guide to Potentially Dangerous Hardwoods
for the Piercing Community
(Co-written by Erica Skadsen and Michael Sims, Third Edition)

 

new gauged earwear

my main interest in jewelry making was born from my obsession with expanded earwear.  however, making a custom pair of plugs every few months wasn't enough to justify my studio expenditures, so i've been expanding my line this past year to include 'regular' earrings, rings, necklaces, etc.
(all available in my etsy shop)

lately, i've been working on a series of pieces that satisfy the middle ground between the two directions my work has taken... gauged earrings from 14g-8g. 
for those with large gauges, these can be worn through eyelets, or alone as weights. 
for other customers, 14g isn't too much of a stretch!  (or they can be custom ordered with 18g earwires)

plus, it seems that there's a large population of folks who have already stretched to this size, or who have shrunk their piercings and are ~10g by default!

whatever the case, i am really excited by these new styles and hope that others will be, as well!
(see the 'expanded earwear' section of my shop for a currently available styles)

modern radar

the first person i'd like to tag as a 'rockin' girl blogger'  is tamara g., the multitalented proprietress of modern radar. 

we worked together for a while, fancifying the jewelry end of chameleon tattoo.  (i miss you awfully much, tamara!  what good times those were!)

tamara has an innate talent for design, and also studied formally at massart  (studio for interrelated media-SIM- i think?) 

an aspiring textile artist, screen printer, and experimental musician, tamara is an all around DIY goddess!
her blog, build me a nest,  is a great place to visit for DIY ideas, pretty pictures, samples of work in her etsy shop, and art/fashion recommendations. 

for example, her brilliant revival of a vintage table by means of wood grained contact paper!

(just one of the many reasons i love you, t!)

ashley akers

i was recently tagged as a 'rockin girl blogger' by ashley akers, another talented etsymetal gal!

(thanks ashley!) 
now i need to tag five more r.g.bs, eh? 

while i'm working on that, check out ashley's fabulous silver/pebble jewelry and other industrial/organic loveliness at her etsy shop.
(ashley, have i ever told you how much i love your work?)
also, get a behind the scenes peek at ashley's work and her world on her blog.

nanopod

'ritual adornment for the undiscovered tribe'


one of my favorite (ok, my very favorite!) fellow etsymetal member
and kindred biology fanatic is tosca teran of nanopod: hybrid studio.

 

tosca has been working with metal and computers for over 20 years.  she currently lives in toronto, ontario, where she is very involved in the local art scene, teaches workshops and classes, runs a gallery, and continues to make gorgeous (mind-blowing!) jewelry and small sculptures.

on the right is a ring from the 'Descent to Perelandra' installation, for which she also wrote and composed the music (with Andrei Gravelle)

visit nanopod's etsy shop for fabulous glass and metal biomorphic ornaments, as well as  haeckel-inspired silkscreened clothes and accesories.

(i ♥ nanopod!)

etsy: metal and more

i made this etsy treasury list last night and wanted to take the opportunity to share with you some of the talent to be found on etsy.com.  etsy has been a fantastic resource for me in terms of marketing and selling my work (my shop), and networking with other people who share my interests. 

check out my fellow metalsmiths at our new etsymetal webpage! 
browse other portland DIY artists/crafters on the pdxetsy street team profile!
support stay-at-home/work-at-home moms- visit etsymoms' site!

**warning**  may be addictive!

ovum

hey, i finally made something new!

a fabricated hollow sphere, cut away, and cut through.
based (loosely) on cross-sectional investigations of the female egg.

this piece is a one of a kind exercise in fabrication technique, and will live in my private collection. 

visit my etsy shop for more industrial/organic jewelry!

pretty plasma

plasma: an ionized gas,
the fourth state of matter

familiar to us as lightning and novelty plasma spheres from the 80s

plasma is considered to be the most common form of matter. 

from wikipedia:
Some estimates suggest that up to 99% of matter in the entire visible universe is plasma.^[6] Since the space between the stars is filled with a plasma, albeit a very sparse one (see interstellar medium and intergalactic space), essentially the entire volume of the universe is plasma

plasma converter

that last post (plastic ocean) was such a downer, it's time to report on something more hopeful! 
this article was published in Popular Science a few issues back:

The Prophet of Garbage
Joseph Longo's Plasma Converter turns our most vile and toxic trash into clean energy—and promises to make a relic of the landfill

basically, this fellow invented a machine that uses plasma (intensely hot, ionized gas)to break trash down into its molecular components.  supposedly this machine can process anything except for nuclear waste.  the by-products: steam, syn-gas (a hydrogen &carbon monoxide mix which can be used for fuel), and a glassy slag can all be utilized (i.e. sold for profit).

truly, the only way the paradigm will shift from environmentally toxic to friendly will be if there is financial incentive to do so.  this technology is particularly exciting not only because it offers a much cleaner way to dispose of our waste, but because it creates enough energy to power itself, plus all the marketable by-products.  St. Lucie County in Florida is building a 100,000 sq ft facilty which will soon test the plasma converter technology on a grander scale.

one criticism of the plasma converter is that the glassy slag, which can supposedly be used in construction, home tiles, etc, may contain heavy metals.  which could come into contact with ground water and so on.   so nothing's perfect, but maybe we're on the right track at last?

my two cents?  that someone should build a fleet of plasma converter barges to float out into the plastic ocean and start processing all the crap there.  seriously!  think about it- the plasma converters would generate enough power to support their own operation, plus amenities for the crew.  plastics are hydrocarbons, so there wouldn't be a problem with heavy metals in the slag.....  hopefully some combination of rich people and scientists will come upon this same idea!

 

plastic ocean

"A vast swath of the Pacific, twice the size of Texas, is full of a plastic stew that is entering the food chain. Scientists say these toxins are causing obesity, infertility...and worse."

yeah, this is really disturbing.  i just read the article 'plastic ocean' in best life magazine.  i strongly recommend everyone read this account of the state of plastic pollution in the world's oceans. 

i only hope that the world can pull together to undo the (massive amount of) damage; otherwise it may be 'children of men' without the possiblility of a hopeful ending...

some particularly chilling excerpts:

"...This swath of sea contains six times as much plastic as it does plankton"

"You could take your (blood) serum to a lab now, and they’d find at least 100 industrial chemicals that weren’t around in 1950."

"Except for the small amount that’s been incinerated—and it’s a very small amount—every bit of plastic ever made still exists"

etc...

more links about plastic in the ocean here.
things you can do to help at we are what we do
information on banning plastic bags

essential monsters

that last post about strange attractor led me to thinking about the stylish lovers of oddities, insects, and ocean life at essential monsters (i miss you tracy!)  do check them out- they just launched a gorgeous new website!
(also, you can find essential monsters on myspace, if you're into that sort of thing...i grabbed the eyecatching image above from their photos there. amazing!)

here are some of the highlights from the new catalog:

you get the idea: creepy crawlies, skeletons, octopus-love, jellyfish, amputees, etc...

(i especially love the tote bags: 'distressed cotton canvas ... prewashed with hand frayed detailing.' each bag comes with a set of three thematic pins.  so pretty and useful! i'll certainly be back to get one of those!)

strange attractors

strange attractor
(chaos vocabulary, continued.)

' An attracting set that has zero measure in the embedding phase space and has fractal dimension. Trajectories within a strange attractor appear to skip around randomly.'
(mathworld.com again)

(above: a dejong attractor from postulate.org)

also,

'Strange Attractor:  Celebrating unpopular culture'

'...we declare war on mediocrity and a pox on the foot soldiers of stupidity. join us!''

wow!  i'm so excited to have found this site!  strange attractor's website is plastered with jellyfish, radiolarian-looking things, and other oddities. apparently, this strange attractor is a publisher of interesting oddities, as well as a uk resource for events and music.

here's a blurb about their third jounal:

Trip in a Vicorian time machine; wig out on psychoactive fauna; swing to the sounds of Martin Denny and the sex poetry of Arthur Koestler; ponder the occult roots of modern art and the literary kingdom of Redonda; gawp at the history of extra-uterine conception and recto-genesis; marvel at the house of dolls and the subterranean domain of Joseph Williamson; and more, more, more...

 

(fun blog, too: 'further:strange attractor & beyond')  i think i'm a fan!

the chaos game

quantum chaos computing
(aka 'yay, pretty fractal pictures!')

[above image] created using the CRAY supercomputers available at the Minnesota Supercomputer Institute and Uppsala University of Sweden.  <source>

 

when i was in seventh grade, i did a math report on 'patterns in nature'; in eighth grade, my topic was 'fractals'.  i remember painstakingly typing pages of basic into the school computer and marvelling that the lines of incomprehensible code could render such a fantastic image.

these topics have been of recurring interest to me over the years.  but rather than pursue the (doubtlessly more lucrative) understanding of how computers use code to create commands and images, i instead remained captivated by the intricacy and perfection of random and repetitive natural forms. 

(above: a fractal fern generated by the chaos game)

i was zoning out on the internet just now and paid a visit to MathWorld.com,"the web's most extensive mathematical resource."  (it's a lot of fun...check it out!)
i was brushing up on my fractal facts and found a some great terms that i thought should be shared.

the chaos game

' An algorithm originally described by Barnsley in 1988. Pick a point at random inside a regular -gon. Then draw the next point a fraction of the distance between it and a polygon vertex  picked at random. Continue the process (after throwing out the first few points). The result of this "chaos game" is sometimes, but not always, a fractal."

the sierpinski triangle (right) is the result of imputting n=3, r=1/2.

mi-mi moscow

those of you who know me know i don't usually go for conceptual art,  but with one look at this flying frog (ring), i became completely enamored of the russian power-artist duo mi-mi moscow (mila kalnitskaya & micha maslennikov). 
i first saw them on myspace, attracted by their striking avatar (bottom), but didn't really explore their work much past the flying frogs. 
today, i had a rare bit of free time and decided to relax by researching artists i like.  and now i've been totally sucked into their world!  see for yourself: mi-mi moscow have a gorgeous webpage, chronicling their collaborative work, as well as both mischa and mila's solo careers (since 1987).

i love their whimsical and outrageous style- a blend of intricate mechanisms, organic shapes, simple lines, innovative use of material, etc. all with an overarching display of wit and cleverness.
(and their presentations surely don't suck- those white painted bodies?  stunning!)

(p.s.  the frogs lived happily ever after.  in the lap of luxury, even.)

fuh2

taking a break from bringing you the finer things in life, i present to the hummer h2!  as seen through the lenses of more than 4,000 people who feel as i do: the hummer h2 is the ultimate poseur vehicle; it sucks in more ways than i have time to list right now; and people who drive the h2 are ignorant douchebag jerkoffs (ahem, pardon me!). FUH2.com is 'home of the official Hummer H2 salute.'  i highly recommend taking a peek at their submissions gallery, if only to be inspired by the sheer volume of images.

500 earrings

Yay, it's finally here!  500 Earrings, a new lark books publication, features a wide array of jaw-dropping modern earring designs.  i just received my copy yesterday, and feel so freshly inspired by all the talented metalsmiths/jewelers. 
(including <ahem> the photo on the left, by yours truly, on page 53)
i simply love it.  every self-indulging jewelry afficionado should have a copy.

fordite

i can't believe i'm only hearing about this now, when the supply is pretty much gone (forever!)

'fordite' is a synthetic stone, made from layers of oversprayed automotive enamel, back in the day when cars were sprayed in the factories by hand.  the excess 'rough' was salvaged and has been worked into cabochens or beads.

the resulting 'stones' look like technicolor agate, with brightly contrasting bands. some, like the sample on the left, have a satisfying wabi-sabi aesthetic.

i've seen similar striated creations made from polymer clay, which i don't find particularly compelling. (though i am attracted to studio enamelled and glazed surfaces such as the example above.)

what makes fordite so interesting to me is its history and recycled nature.
<insert long-winded diatribe about artists/artisans/crafters lessening our environmental footprint here>

for more information about fordite, as well as some cabs made from reclaimed bowling balls, check out fordite.com.