I am delighted to announce that I will be teaching two, weekend workshops in November and December respectively. There is a lovely art and community center right around the corner from my home. I am looking forward to getting back into the studio and refreshing my jewelry and metal skills.
Kids = Germs
This was me and my dog all weekend... Couch Potatoes!
Everyone knows that kids get sick. That also means that their teachers get sick. From what I have been reading it takes new teachers years to build up their immune system, on average three to five years. And every school sort of resets it, and you have to get used to the new germs that the school exposes you too.
Over all I have been doing pretty well, a few very minor colds since January. But this weekend that all changed. I worked in the schools a four times last week. On Friday, as soon as I sit in the car on the way home, I felt sick. The moment you let your guard down and probably the first time I sat down since noon, it hit me.
By the evening I had a fever, chills, aches, the works. I spent the weekend with a pretty good flu. I have never had a flu like this. Every day I would have a different symptom. I don't know if I got more than one illness that the kids have but it got me good.
In honor of this here are some simple, and obvious tips on how to build up your immune system:
1. Vitamins! - Get some sun or take some Vitamin D! Find a good multi vitamin that has a nice variety, and as close to 100% of the Daily Dosage of as many as possible.
2. Sleep regularly - That means different things for different people, but going to sleep at the same time and staying asleep for as long as possible. Try going to sleep an hour earlier, every little bit helps.
3. Relive Stress - Try something new! Never taken a yoga class? Do it! Always wanted to go to a local park but have never had the time? Make it!
The Final Installment of Bard's Saturday Sessions
The third and last class from Bard's Sunday Sessions was held at Jewelry Arts Inc. on 49th St. Their studio is beautiful with lots of light and a great staff. We learned some basic techniques and got to hammer all our aggression out into a pice of metal which is always therapeutic. And I learned a new soldering technique. The director of Jewelry Arts showed soldering from the bottom of the seam up. Logically it makes sense. The solder will always flow towards the heat so if you are heating from the top why not flow from the bottom instead of trying to angle the flame awkwardly at the bottom while really just heating the top. I tried it and it worked well but I definitely need a little practice to make it more intuitive.
Below find some of my texture work and all the lovely hammers I got to play with.
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Thank you Bard and Jewelry Arts!
A Tour of The Met's Jewelry Antiquities
The class I signed up for with the Bard Graduate Center had its second session yesterday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We had a private tour of some of the Met's Jewelry from Ancient Egypt, Hellenistic Greece, Etruscan, Ancient Rome, and Early Celtic Civilizations.
Pectoral and Necklace of Sithathoryunet ca. 1887-1813 B.C.E.
We started out with this Egyptian Pectoral and Necklace of Sithathoryunet with inlayed with carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and garnet. Sithathoryunet was a princess in the 12th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. The beads are arranged in a symmetrical pattern, however because the stringing material was not found it is unknown how the beads would have been strung.
Gold and Amethyst Girdle
This was not part of the tour but it was probably my favorite piece, also from Ancient Egypt. The Gold Lion Heads are stamped, hollow and then soldered together. The stone bead is amethyst.
We then moved on to the Greek and Roman Wing where we stopped in to see some incredible Greek Jewelry. The fine details are enlarged to see the granulation and loop in loop chains. The Greeks liked to layer lots of floral motifs, human figures, and decorative elements all made from fine gold sheet, granulation, and wire.
We moved to the Etruscan Jewelry Case where we were able to see some of the finest Granulation and Filagree ever to have been created. What appears in the center of the first gold disc is actually supper fine granulation. Even with today's modern technology, no one has been able to replicate the granulation quality of the Etruscans.
The tour ended in the Hellenistic Treasury with these matching armbands. The two figures were made from Repusee and Chasing. At the top of the figures there are a series of loops for the bands to be attached to the clothing so it does not slip off the wearer.
This experience was fantastic. To hear a doctoral candidate speak about the jewelry right in front of the tour was inspiring. There are very few people who choose this field of Art History and it is so important that people continue to investigate it because there is still so much to learn, especially from the Etruscans.
Thank you Bard for setting this program up! It has truly been inspiring.
Shopping for Supplies
This weekend I went fabric shopping with my college roommate Charlotte for her senior collection. We stopped at Elegant Fabrics, Daytona Trim, and Mood. Even after living in New York my whole life I have never been fabric shopping and it has been on my list for a long time. It was a fun little adventure and a great time to catch up. I got to meet little Swatch the Mood mascot! That little dog has no idea just how famous he is. She picked up tons of samples, and I got some supplies for this years recycled leather earrings.