[Jewelry making - Article 00063] - Re: [Orchid] Metalsmith's Exhibition in Print

[Marianne Hunter]

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Metalsmith EIP

    this post has been sitting in "drafts" for a few days..I've been
    following a lot of this thread, but I've been in the studio.  I was
    really taken aback by the really aggressive tone someone took with
    Andy Cooperman, C'mon folks!  This is a discussion.  We all have the
    right to voice opinions and air gripes, but let's NOT attack one
    anothers work.   Andy, my heart is out to you one this one!  It is
    especially ironic to me that this came up in light of what I had
    already been writing about a few days ago.....wearing your work on
    your sleeve leaves you quite vulnerable.  ( the meanest thing I ever
    heard someone say about my work was that it was "pretty"! It was
    such a put down to my ears that it stung for years!  ) 

    ( this is from tues or wed.)  Thanks, Donald Freidleich for your
    thoughtful letter. Thanks to ALL who have written about an issue
    that is good for us to chew on.  Thanks so much to Beth Rosengard
    for her continued thoughts on this thread and for her kind words re
    my own work.  Don, your work and mine couldn't be too much further
    apart on the spectrum..yours is so purely abstract, so understated
    as to be both bold and elegant depending on pov, and so clear in the
    voice of your materials.  We are different, but both valid  We are
    in accord on the value of divirsity and tolerance. 

    I understand the frustration of several of the viewpoints of the 
    commentary. 

    Regarding rejection: If you work from your heart, if you work
    honestly, diligently and long; if you strive for excellence
    (radical, technical whatever) , if you strive to be a unique
    voice...if you think what you're doing is hot!  it is so hurtful to
    be rejected or feel excluded!  HOWEVER!!....this is where something
    positive comes out of pain...every cloud , etc.....   Take your
    hurt, your anger ...your negative emotion and use it to temper  (
    not  soften as in general usage but to harden) your resolve  to be
    better than you were the day before.  I try to turn negativity into
    it's opposite in my work. ( the more violent the world, the more
    peaceful my work).  In light of criticism, you can try to see your
    work through the prism of that person's (competition-jury-peer's) 
    eyes and make a judgment about whether you think they are just plain
    wrong or if there is some way to find some form of inspiration
    within yourself that addresses the issue. For me the result has been
    growth.  An example in brief : for a year or two in the 80's I was
    having a  difficult time with juries.  My work ( which I thought was
    just wonderful)  was pictorial and romantic (still is) and the
    juries were looking for abstract and hard edged.  After 2 or 3 big
    disappointments I was deeply hurt, bitter and angry.  I went into 
    the studio with the purpose of making some toss off abstract and
    meaningless stuff to prove that if it  was shallow work they wanted;
    I'd make a few for the jury process and jump the hurdle. Problem
    was, I'm not wired to do work that is meaningless to me.  I ended up
    really intrigued with playing with my thoughts and images in a new
    way that incorporated both an idea of abstraction and the highly
    detailed subjective imagery so important to me.  My anger was turned
    into a huge leap forward. 

    Regarding what type of work should be shown in Metalsmith;  Every
    type!!  Let's see it all!  The weirdest, wildest, silliest and the
    most elegant, understated , minimalist ...the most extravagant,
    imaginative, innovative, technical wonders!  How could we want to
    see only what we already like?  When we go to a really great craft
    show and walk down the aisles, would we be happy if all the jewelers
    were of the same sort? NO!  We see a huge divirsity of great
    creativity, artistry, craftsmanship and hard work. If the jury has
    done their job, no two artists are alike...and that is the wonder of
    it. 

    Re: articles for working artists..Metalsmith  just isn't  that
    publication.  I think the vision had something to do with
    cultivating collectors and inspiring jewelers to stretch their own
    parameters.  The newsletter gives the "news", Ornament and Lapidary
    Journal  cover a lot of territory very beautifully and informatively
    and the Crafts Report , JCK, Colored Stone cover various business
    aspects.  you can't really ask one publication to be Vogue, People
    and Mechanics Illustrated all combined to everyone's liking all the
    time. It won't work.  Perhaps there is a new "feature"  that could
    be included every issue that covered some ground that would widen
    the magazines coverage.  But I don't think step-by-step is called
    for here. 

    Re artists statements. Well, most of them, including mine, can just
    make you want to gag if you're in the wrong mood, heartfelt though
    they may be.  i've also thought it would be funny to mix up the
    statements and the artwork just to see if any one would notice.  We
    have to write them. some of us are better at it than others; some
    are just buzz words strung together, some are interesting etc,  It's
    the work, folks, not the words that we are most responsible for. 

    Re: ART...oh, come on! we aren't really going to argue over that are
    we??  It's an angels on the head of a pin argument.  Art exists in
    two places: in the heart of the maker and in the eye of the beholder
    and you can't really argue with the position of either.  There was
    some disscusion  in the thread about art being different in our field
    than in others. I don't really think it is that different. the same
    arguments over art/craft, academics /merchants, inclusive/exclusive 
    go on in all fields. I've heard it and read it. 

    Is SNAG an snobby group for ivory tower academics to talk to
    themselves?  I admit to seeing it that way in past. What did I do to
    change that?  Not a thing. I'm not big on group participation and I
    pretty much like it alone in my studio.  I read the newsletter and
    enjoy the magazine (well, mostly I look at the pictures)  and that's
    that.  If you don't like the organization, jump in and try to change
    it, start your own,, ignore it  or be content to grumble.. I'm glad
    the organization  and magazine exists for those who enjoy it. 

    I'm really over tired, I should read this before I send it , but I'm
    just going to put it out there.	g'nite...big day in the studio
    tomorrow with work coming together...love those days! . 


Marianne Hunter 
ps Okay, so now can we talk  politics? 

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