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Meet the Metalsmith: Anne Praczukowski

PraczukowskiGoblets_featured
By On May 1, 2012 In Artist Profile, General With 2 Comments Permanent Link to Meet the Metalsmith: Anne PraczukowskiPermalink

Meet the Metalsmith Interview Questions

Name: Anne Praczukowski (pronounced: prajukofski)
Occupation/Titles: Artist, Retired Teacher, Founder/Former Owner of Northwest Pitchworks

How long have you been working with metal?
Since I was seventeen or eighteen. A long time.

Where are you from? How long have you lived in Seattle?
I’m from New England. A small fishing village 12 miles north of Boston called Swampscott. My husband, Edward Praczukowski, and I met at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts where I attended sculpture classes at night and he minded the office at night. He’s an artist also, and we went to Cranbrook to do his graduate work in painting. After that, we asked: What are we going to do now, go to California and pick grapes? He was fortunate and became an assistant professor at UW, where he taught art for 30 years.

Where did you go to school and what did you study?
I majored in art education at the Massachusetts College of Art. My family advised it was the “practical” career choice. As it turned out, it was. I got a teaching position at Lasell Junior College, now Lasell College, in Massachusetts. Lasell had an art department of five teachers and a great chairperson that granted her teachers autonomy. The school had a crafts program. In addition to teaching a class in drawing and design, I was the crafts instructor, and also had the opportunity to design a new crafts lab.

At Mass Art, we had to do a senior thesis, and I did mine in jewelry, metalwork, and lapidary work. I didn’t like commercial gems. My town was a beach town so I worked with beach stones. I set up something in the basement of my parents’ home and went down there in my raincoat and rain boots and did lapidary work. But I should preface this by saying the reason I got into metal work was that my friend and I went to Maine to teach crafts at a summer camp. My friend did pottery and textiles and I was elected to do jewelry and metalwork and leather. The thing is, I had never done any kind of jewelry. I’d always been more of a book person. So a week before the class, I went to the library and checked out many books on crafts. In those days, the frontispiece in the books always had a photograph of tools that were needed and listed them by name. The tools had been wrapped for winter storage and without those books, we would not have known a leather tool from a jewelry or ceramic tool. In the evenings of orientation week, we set up the lab, studied the books, and experimented with the tools. I learned to load a jeweler’s saw and made a ring and a few other pieces of jewelry. On return to Mass Art for our senior year, it was the summer camp experience that led me to choose jewelry-making and lapidary work for my senior thesis.

I went to graduate school at the University of Washington. I studied with Ruth Pennington, Ramona Solberg and John Marshall. It was a great experience working in the metals department at UW.

Silver Goblets

What type of work do you do with metals?
Well, I’ve done a lot of experimenting. Metal techniques really fascinate me. In the beginning, I did a lot of cut and file and sweat soldering, appliqué they call it. Everything was flat. Later I worked with reticulation for a while. I made necklaces and earrings, but mostly flat work in the beginning. But I wanted more dimension and I discovered forging. Oh, did I like that! That was a trigger point for learning about how plastic metal, as a material, can be. I like making necklaces and bracelets and pins and earrings. I never wanted to make more than one of a kind. I don’t really have a specialty although when I went to graduate school I became very interested in chasing.

What attracted you to working in metal and jewelry?
I like the resistance of the material. I really do. I love the tools of cutting, filing, and sanding. I’ve always liked working with my hands. I haven’t done much else other than wood, carving, and clay for figure sculpture. And of course, when you’re young, girls especially, just love jewelry. As students we attended an Art Education Conference in New York City, and of course we went to Greenwich Village, and at that time (1953 -1954) The Village was fantastic! The craft shops, the leather… really great. There were jewelry shops…. I actually bought a sterling silver bracelet. I still have it.

What keeps you interested in metal?
Of late, I have been trying to learn anticlastic raising. I went to several workshops in Ireland and took workshops with Brian Clark and Michael Good. The ribbon torc of the Celts had long been an interest of mine as I think it is one of the most astonishing pieces of the history in metalwork. Intermittently, over a three-year period, working with Brian at workshops, and at home, I’ve spent a lot of time with the hammer trying to make a torc. The work is slow and was confusing for me. It is difficult to know whether you are coming or going. For me, forging is simple, chasing is simple. People look at a Celtic torc and think it is just a piece of twisted metal. It isn’t. To me, it is the epitome of anticlastic forming.

What inspires you artistically?
I think chasing is very meditative. It is a way of resting while you travel within your mind while working. I like the quiet. I love the studio. I usually have a goal that I’m trying to accomplish. I went to Ireland to improve my raising skills as I was interested in making vessels. Brian Clark has a good way of teaching raising. It is similar to a method taught in America that is described as “pleating”. With his method, it was much easier to keep the piece centered as it was being raised.

If you didn’t work in metal what other medium might you work in?
I think probably wood or textiles. Actually, I was on my way to work in all the crafts. I’ve done quite a bit of ceramics and leather work, and weaving and textiles was next. That’s what I thought was going to be my endpoint, but I never got there. I got into metal and never left.

Favorite place to visit for inspiration?
Oh, the beach and the forest. That’s it. I grew up on the beach and Alki is very much like it. It’s very similar. In fact, that’s why we live here.

Silver Hairpiece

What’s your favorite tool or technique?
Hammer. I have many hammers. It’s amazing how many tools you gather if you just buy one or two a year.

Tasks you like least?
I would say, possibly, machine polishing. Trying to get the right kind of a finish. I’m not very adept with the flex shaft. I certainly admire people who are. But I love the hand processes, the filing and the soldering.

Do you make a living from your craft?
Except for teaching, never. I didn’t want to keep making the same thing over and over. I wanted to do one-of-a-kind pieces. I don’t have a huge production.

Well, I taught at Cornish for several years in the 70’s. I started teaching there during my final year of graduate school. They had a little jewelry department, small about seven people in a class. That was fun teaching there, I enjoyed that. But eventually I got tired of teaching. After seven years, I wanted to come home and focus on my own studio work.

When I was at UW as a graduate student I could see that the handling of the pitch was a real turn-off for the students and they would not be satisfied with the procedure or with what they could produce. I was starting my thesis in repousse – a large piece with repeated elements in a very large pitch bowl. It was taking so long that I named it “the necklace of a hundred years.” Then, I got a bright idea. I said to myself, “Those ancients that made those beautiful, elaborate, awesome works never used pitch like this pitch. They must have had a pitch that was more resilient.” I had a student at Cornish who was very interested in mixing things and thinking about what might work. We read all the old books for clues. We mixed and stirred and had very little success for a long, long time, but then one day we got what we thought was a good batch. From there we began to produce a few small batches and began to sell it to colleagues and students. All the money received from sales went to buy the supplies for producing more pitch. Then it became necessary for me to bring the production to my home studio where I continued to produce it until about 1996. This was how I started Northwest Pitchworks. Eventually, I sold the business and Northwest Pitchworks is now located in Bellingham and has a website. The pitch is sold to individual craftspeople and to jewelry and metalworking classes in schools, colleges, and workshops throughout the US, Canada, and some in Australia.

Why are you a Seattle Metals Guild member?
Because I really believe in crafts people getting together. I was thrilled when Mikki [Lippe] came and got it together. We did not have a specific metals guild here. We just had the NWDC [Northwest Designer Craftsmen]. I thought it was wonderful to see it start up. I’ve been a member ever since it started.

The Life of a Scholarship Committee

By On April 20, 2012 In Scholarships With No Comments Permanent Link to The Life of a Scholarship CommitteePermalink

Author: Ron Pascho

Part I: Tough Love – You have to Ask!

These days we talk about money a lot, but unfortunately, it’s usually about sad farewells. The Seattle Metals Guild would like to help by putting a little money back in your pocket. Now, we can’t help you if you had one too many glasses of wine at that opening last week, and put all your money down on a piece of art that costs half as much as a new car. We can help, however, if you’d like to put a little zip in your metalsmithing life by learning something from travelling, taking a class, helping a class, or finishing that seminal piece that will bring Tim McCreight to his knees.

I am one of four. Together, we are your Scholarship Committee…..and, we would love to give you some money, but you have to make the first move. Visit the scholarship section of the SMG website (http://www.seattlemetalsguild.org/programs/scholarships/), and you will find 4 grants, and 1 scholarship – each is $500. There is a separate link for each, which will give you all the specifics about the spirit of the grant or scholarship, and how to apply. I want to emphasize that the playing field is pretty level, we don’t care if you are an established metalsmith, just joined the SMG last night, wear plaid-on-plaid, or forgot to call your mother on her last birthday. The most important thing is that all of you look at what is available, and ask to be considered. The application process is longer than a tweet, but probably shorter than your last letter to Dan Savage. E-mail submissions are preferred, and may be sent to: grants@seattlemetalsguild.org. Your application must be in our hands by May 15th, 2012.

Finally, some fine print. First, what happens if you are selected to receive a grant or scholarship? We don’t ask for much in return, only that you share what you did with the membership. Write an article for the Guild’s newsletter or the blog, or give a talk at one of the meetings. Your choice. Second, there are actually two groups of people who can’t apply for all, or at least some, of these dollars – one forgetful, and one mostly unrecognized. The forgetful ones. People who don’t pay their dues and want to apply for the grant to matriculated students. It’s a pretty simple concept, you have to be a member of the SMG to apply for that grant. Dues Paid=Membership. One of those monetary sad farewells? I don’t think so. Read any Guild newsletter, you’ll figure it out. The mostly unrecognized. Members of the Board of Directors. I know it doesn’t seem fair, but unlike Congress or Wall Street, your Board works hard to avoid rumbles of insider trading. It is impossible to overstate the how hard Board members work to give you value for your membership. I’ve been there, and know there are rewards, they just aren’t monetary. To the current members of the Board, thanks for the good job, enjoy your work for the duration, and spend a little time thinking about what grant you might want to apply for after you step down…..but remember, you have to ask.

~ Ron Pascho

Passing the Torch – It Matters!

Passing the Torch
By On March 28, 2012 In Passing the Torch, Programs With 2 Comments Permanent Link to Passing the Torch – It Matters!Permalink

At the SMG annual meeting last month, teacher Wendy Woldenberg shared her thoughts and experiences with Passing the Torch: 

I began my teaching career in the Auburn School District at Auburn Riverside High School 17 years ago in Room 509. In the early years I taught classes in Jewelry Design, Fabric Design, Painting, and Ceramics. Once I completed my Vocational Certification, though, through South Seattle Community College, I was able to focus more and more on the Jewelry Classes, and about 5 years into my career, or 12 years ago, my course load was entirely devoted to Jewelry Design.

I teach 140 students every single day, which breaks down to 28 students in each of five 55 minute periods. I put in the equivalent of at least one extra entire day each week, and usually more. Not a morning person, I wake up at 5am, and usually don’t get home until 6pm.

Auburn School District has one full-time Jewelry program in each of its 3 high schools; throughout the State, there are around 20 schools offering courses in jewelry or metals design. As more and more high schools are funding jewelry programs, it is no secret that fewer and fewer colleges are. In the past decade, we went from 4 degreed programs in Washington state at the college level down to 2. But, thanks to high school jewelry programs like mine, young people are picking up jeweler’s sawframes, donning optivisors, and finding out that they can make wearable objects beyond their wildest dreams.

Student work from 2011

Brianne Kopp, Wreck'less’ - 2011.

However, being a teacher is a very isolating experience. Especially when you teach a subject like Jewelry Design. Obviously, there is only ONE of me in the whole school, and though there are two others like me in the district, we see each other only a few times a year. We certainly don’t connect with other jewelry designers often enough. Passing the Torch has been a remedy for this isolation.  It has pushed us as instructors, and it has motivated our students to look beyond high school for a career with metal.

Ten years ago, some ambitious members of our Guild began Passing the Torch as an annual exhibition and competition for high school students to show their creations. Essentially students put in a lot of effort toward creating a piece to enter in one of three categories -jewelry, sculpture, or the rotating thematic category. This year’s theme category is “Inspired by Music.”

Students create the work in their classrooms, with each school allowed to enter 6 pieces. I have usually at least ten students who create work for Passing the Torch. The students and I jury the work down to the best six. All school submissions are judged by esteemed metalsmiths the likes of Ron Ho, Andy Cooperman, Lynn Hull, and Mary Hu, then professionally hung at the chosen location. This year’s judges will be Jane Martin and Professor Keith Lewis.

Passing the Torch has been held at Gallery One in Ellensburg, in the Gallery at North Seattle Community College, at the Washington State History Museum, at the Bellevue Art Museum, at the Seattle Art Museum. My personal favorite was last year at the Washington State Convention Center, alongside the SMG Biennial Show. The two exhibitions meshed perfectly.

The last stage of Passing the Torch involves the awards ceremony itself, my favorite day of the school year. SMG recognizes the top three students in each of the three categories, as well as three honorable mentions. The Guild makes a big deal of the awards show because it means the world to the students, their parents, and to their teachers.

But PTT doesn’t just inspire the kids. When SMG introduced Passing the Torch, I was in my seventh year of teaching, and I asked my students to submit work. That first year, the exhibit was held at the Tacoma School of the Arts, and the minute I walked through those doors, I was absolutely blown away.  Seeing the work made me realize that my teaching wasn’t going in the right direction; that I had a long way to go. In the years that followed, I pushed myself by taking more classes and changing my approach in the classroom.  The work my students started creating became better and better.

Student work from 2011

Morgan Hamm, Stud Muffin - 2011

I totally realize that many members of the Guild do not have a connection to Passing the Torch.  But, I am here to tell you that it is a model program that, if packaged for other states to use, would bring our Guild deserved recognition.  Bringing up the next generation of metalsmiths does a world of good for ourselves and for our field; the Guild should be incredibly proud of itself for conceiving of and implementing this show for the past ten years.

But don’t just take my word for it. Here are quotes from some former students whose lives and career paths were shaped by Passing the Torch:

Kyle Rees
“The year – 2004. The place – Gallery One, Ellensburg. The event – PTT Exhibition, the first public showing of my work. Since then, it has been apparent to me that I will in some way, shape or form, be involved in this industry. I have worked as a production jeweler and apprentice to Thomas Mann in the beautiful city of New Orleans. I have assisted the brilliant mind and fellow SMG member Nancy Worden. I have participated in a handful of group shows, and even had my own gallery show.
I currently am on the board for PTT in hopes that in some way, I can help inspire someone to push forward and continue their work onto something bigger.
I can honestly say that without the support of this Guild and the hard work that this committee gives every year, I’m not sure I would be as active of a metalsmith as I am today.”

Sam Pollard, 2010 second place winner in jewelry at PTT and 2011 second place winner in the Saul Bell Emerging Artist category, says, “As for Passing the Torch, to me it showed the legitimacy of jewelry as an art form; it was a privilege to see my own work in a museum, and made me feel like making jewelry is a valuable and worthwhile skill to learn.”  Sam attends Western Washington University and has applied to work for James Binnion, the Mokume artist in Bellingham.

Alyssa Gustafson, who made a beautiful necklace for Passing the Torch. “Passing the Torch was an amazing opportunity that I was privileged to be apart of. It pushed me to challenge myself to create a piece that I truly could be proud of. It helped me express myself, my vision, and share my work with others. It made me think of jewelry as a professional career choice, not just a hobby. A career where I have the ability to grow and flourish in the future.  I’m now taking jewelry design classes here at North Seattle Community College, where I continue to pursue my passion for jewelry design and metalsmithing.”

Michelle Brant – “Passing the Torch was an important part of my life, and certainly could be the point of inspiration for any young artist. When first asked to compete by my teacher Wendy Woldenberg, I was hesitant. I would enter to compete, but I doubted I could make something beautiful enough to be appreciated and put on display, let alone win an award. I was wrong. The first year I took third, which pushed me to try harder. The next year, I was honored to take first in the Sculpture category for an extremely personal piece. This competition taught me to have drive, respect and pride in my work, but most of all, confidence. Passing the Torch lit a creative flame inside me, and it continues to burn bight. Even in my busy college years, I still find time to create and grow as an artist. I doubt the skills and drive I have today would be possible without the push I received from Passing the Torch. It is an important program to continue. It presents students an environment that pushes them to take pride in their work and introduces them to friendly competition. Please continue to let student artists have the great opportunities I had.”

If you are interested in getting involved, there are a few ways to do so.

- Join our Passing the Torch Committee! We are a fun bunch! We need help especially with setting up the exhibit and planning the ceremony.
- Come to the Opening event –Friday, April 13, and take a road trip to beautiful Ellensburg. We will tour the Jewelry program at Central Washington University in late morning, and enjoy the Passing the Torch awards ceremony and exhibit, which goes from 2-4pm that day.
- Spend a day in my classroom as a visiting artist.  Come in, show your work, and talk about what it is like to be a jewelry designer. This has enormous influence over the students, and is another way to connect them to the real world.

The Art of Business: Interview with Gwen Gyldenege

By On February 23, 2012 In Interview, Workshop With 1 Comment Permanent Link to The Art of Business: Interview with Gwen GyldenegePermalink

Author: Peg Gyldenege

Why get online?

Having a professional presence as an artist online is not about sharing what you ate for lunch or how angry you are at the customer who jilted you. It’s about sharing your art, what inspires you and connecting to your patrons. It’s a way to catalog your work into a portfolio and to make it easy for people to find you and learn about, then buy your work.

Continue Reading →

Gemstones: Fact and Lore

Gemstones
By On February 6, 2012 In General With No Comments Permanent Link to Gemstones: Fact and LorePermalink

Author: Suz O’Dell
www.tribalzonestudio.com

I have always been curious about rocks.  Gemstones and minerals fall into this category.  Many cultures, modern and ancient believe in the magical and healing qualities of these materials.  I have attempted to describe many of the stones I use in my work and added the folklore if available.

Alexandrite 

Fact:  Variety of Chrysoberyl.  Is named for the former czar of Russia, Alexander II, and was first discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia, supposedly on the day of his birth.   The mineral exhibits the color green by sunlight and red-violet by artificial light.

Lore:  Enhances the rebirth of both the inner and outer self, providing impetus to expedite the changing of one’s world while producing the qualities of expansiveness, creativity and awareness.

Amber

Fact:  Amber is a fossilized resin and is usually golden to yellow-grown in color.  Some amber has been found to contain red, blue or green hues, and well as a milky butterscotch color.

Lore:  Amber cleans and purifies the system of the wearer.  It is believed to be beneficial against fatigue and depression.  Amber brings joy to life.  Amber warms the heart in literal and figurative sense and is believed to be a good remedy for colds and flu.  Amber was also believed to provide magicians and sorcerers with special enhanced powers.

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Julie Blyfield: Balancing Act

Julie Blyfield Vessel
By On January 30, 2012 In Artist Profile With No Comments Permanent Link to Julie Blyfield: Balancing ActPermalink

Author: Stephanie Tomczak
www.stephanietomczak.com

“To be a studio jeweler is to be both a dreamer and a maker. Poet and engineer.”  - Margaret West

I was instantly drawn in when Julie Blyfield began her lecture, at the 2011 Symposium, with this quote. As a young maker, just getting started in the field, I found Julie’s lecture incredibly motivating and I was very excited to have the chance to sit down with her and ask her a few questions for the SMG blog.

Julie lives in Adelaide, Australia, where she is living her dream as a full time jeweler. It was 17 years ago when Julie quit her job as a secondary school art teacher to persue more time in the studio. “This wasn’t something that people just did, I quit a good, stable job, we had just bought a house, my friends and family thought I was mad!”

It seems that Julie has been able to make this dream her reality by maintaining balance. She divides her time in the studio equally between “bread and butter” work for retail stores, exhibition pieces and custom orders. She also treats her jewelry as a 9 to 5 job and tries not to work on the weekends. “When I was younger it was easy to work long hours and let jewelry start to take over. But I learned quickly that I couldn’t maintain that life.” I mentioned to Julie that as a young maker the leap of becoming a full time artist is very intimadating, to this Julie said: “We all have to earn money somehow, would you rather spend your time working in a coffee shop? Or in your studio, making bread and butter work and developing your skills?” Great question and when I look at it that way I have to say it is an easy answer.

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Welcome to the Blog!

Aaron Barr
By On January 10, 2012 In General With No Comments Permanent Link to Welcome to the Blog!Permalink

With the launch of the new website, we’re introducing a brand new feature: The official Seattle Metals Guild Blog!

Here you’ll find articles from the newsletter, product reviews, upcoming workshops and more!

Interested in writing for the blog, or just have a great idea for a post you’d like to share?  We’d love to hear from you!

Contact us at submissions@seattlemetalsguild.org