Once I land in a city, I tend to soak up whatever kind of history that the city has to offer. San Francisco has history around every corner. Every neighborhood has it’s own history. Pre-earthquake and post-earthquake are terms thrown around to mark the 1906 earthquake that leveled the city. Specific neighborhoods are ethnic neighborhoods–japan town, china town, north beach (little Italy), etc. The icons of San Francisco are very well known. One of these SF icons is the Golden Gate Bridge…which is bright orange.  In May 1937, a bright orange bridge was opened. This bridge connects the City of San Francisco to Marin county to the north. This is the main route to wine country and the northern coast of California (US 101 and CA 1).

Fellow artist Stephen Wagner (who has been featured in this blog before) was a chosen artist to capture some of the beauty and majesty of the Golden Gate bridge as only a San Francisco artist can. At the new GGB visitor center, his work is being featured and being sold.

posted by kate_moore
Tags: featured artists, fellow artists, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
Filed under: Blog

Spiritjoy  (spir’ it joi) n., 1. what animates joy, elation and satisfaction
2. uplifting sense of jubilance, polish, shimmer, and twinkle
3. empowerment behind Kaya Sattva’s Jewelry confections, Est. 2006

… and that is how she describes her own work.

Kaya’s got a great sense of clean lines and natural elegance with using stones like natural/rough Herkamer diamonds. Her simplicity in her work makes the beauty of the pieces stand out that much more. As an artist Kaya is fun to talk with about her natural elements of her pieces because she knows what she’s talking about.

And if you want to see more of Kaya’s work, please visit her sites HERE and HERE.

posted by kate_moore
Tags: CityArt, featured artists, fellow artists, metals, nature, San Francisco
Filed under: Blog

The art world in San Francisco is an interesting one. In my year and some change in San Francisco has cultivated some very interesting connections. 6 degrees of separation get cut to 1 or 2 very quickly. In my experience with Trickster, the degrees of separation are equally only 1 or 2 degrees of separation between artists, venues, galleries, etc. Occasionally, there’s immediate overlap where there is an artist I work with at more than one venue/gallery/etc. One of my favorite overlaps is a photographer, Julia O Test.

Julia is the Trickster photographer and fairly recently joined the City Art community showing her work. Like many of the artists in San Francisco, Julia didn’t go searching for her art–her art found her. What I mean by this is, photography started as a hobby that she started to take more seriously and eventually treat as an art.

As a part of the Trickster Art Salon, Julia (aka, Rusky) captures the chaos with camera in a unique style playing with light, movement, and whimsy.

In her own words: I’ve photographed a wide array of people, events, and styles, though some underlying themes weave through my digital artwork – darkness, surrealism, sexuality, macabre, and striking intimacy.

To find out more about Julia or to contact her directly please visit her website… HERE!

posted by kate_moore
Tags: CityArt, featured artists, fellow artists, San Francisco, show prep, Tricksters
Filed under: Blog

The term ‘Micro-Maille’ derives from Micro, meaning small and Maille, referring to chainmaille. Micro-Maille is really just chainmaille with small rings. These rings can be difficult to work with and unpleasant to find all over the floor when your pliers slip and you drop rings. I don’t work with micro-maille that often but when I do things tend to be a little more out there. Micro-maille is not based in history, it is a modern twist on the ancient craft. Micro-maille is almost exclusively made into jewelry and accessories and the softer metals–copper, sterling silver, etc. are used.

Above are three pieces that I’ve been working on over the last couple of days. Yes, when my muse actually kicks me in a direction…she kicks me. These are all a new direction with my work. I enjoy doing new and different pieces. They show some sort of progression of my work. It means I’m not stagnate and continually moving forward.

posted by kate_moore
Tags: chainmaille, costumes, keys, materials, metals
Filed under: Blog

My life is insane, I do not wish my lifestyle upon anyone. But at the same time I love the way I live. I have embraced a very San Francisco lifestyle. I have a flat to crash at and sometimes work at but at the same time I tend to live out of my messenger bag all over the city. Mostly coffee shops and galleries, meetings all over the place and oh yes I do have a smart phone (that I occasionally do stupid things with).

With my art work I’m finding myself taking a break but still showing my work all over the city. I just don’t feel as inspired and then I’ll go through a day or two of nothing but creating all new works. Very wild. But then again my attention span has shortened significantly since really getting serious with things like Trickster Art Salon and other artist groups of the same nature.

In April I have another City Art show- the theme is Tasty, we’ll see how that goes. I’m working on the slant of wine because wine is all over the bay area and we’re an hour away from Sonoma, there are wine bars all over the city, and I don’t know many people in SF that DON’T drink wine. I know others who are taking the Tasty slant in completely different directions and that is what I love about the City Art shows. We are all given a theme and told ‘take it and run with it in whatever direction you see fit, go!’

April will also be a shift with my artist features. I’m very happy to say there will be a bit of Trickster/City Art cross over going on. But that will be in a future post.

until then, Cheers!

posted by kate_moore
Tags: CityArt, inner musings, San Francisco, upcoming shows
Filed under: Blog

Inspirations comes in so many forms for me these days. I have been going through the cycles of productivity and lack of inspiration. This is a down swing for me where I’m not terribly inspired to create jewelry. I’m still a creative sort. I still do all the things that I do-dance, Trickster, jewelry, etc. This sort of thing is what I have lovingly referred to as my muse being on vacation. Muses were/are 9 Greek goddesses who were in charge of the arts in their many forms – dance, poetry, history, theater, astronomy, etc. My muse is something of an internal monologue/inspiration that I can honestly say DOES come and go. I have had several discussions with friends in the artist community about personal muses. Some artists refer to their muses by gender, by name, by whatever–trust me, the list is endless.

My muse is female (or at least I’d like to think my muse is female) and drives me crazy from time to time when I want to create something and don’t have the right tools or supplies–this is usually the excuse I need to go shopping for new tools/supplies. In San Francisco, shopping trip-doesn’t always happen BUT there are lots of inspirational places to visit. There are lots of parks, parklets (parks that are about the size of a parking spot or two…where a parking spot used to be) and public spaces to sit, people watch etc.

posted by kate_moore
Tags: inner musings, muses, San Francisco
Filed under: Blog

The month of February has been a seriously busy month for me artistically, professionally, personally, and in every other way. I have one artist feature this month and I had to get her in before the end of the month! So, today being a Leap Day in the leap year I give you my artist feature for February, Love Hurts, and City Art gallery in general.

Uvonne Jones-Most has always been a creative sort. She got her start with figure drawing and taking classes to refine her technique. While in classes she discovered she truly enjoyed figure drawing and figure drawing very quickly to catch the figure with the minimalistic detail but with minimalistic detail you get primal figures and primal detail. However, when life gets in the way, certain things will creatively shift-such is the case with Uvonne. Her family came first and her art came second-a choice she never regrets. She started being creative again after her daughter was a bit older and Uvonne found her interest in figure drawing had waned. Her focus shifted to gourds after her husband gave every artists favorite (or least favorite) proposition of ‘why don’t you try (insert idea here)’ and away her creativity went. Her gourds, while very beautiful-did take a lot of space and a car accident rendered Uvonne lacking full motion of her shoulder. Out of that pain came a love of figure drawing once again. This time Uvonne decided to incorporate elements from her gourd creations into her drawings.

As a City Art artist, Uvonne is known for her figure drawings and foil elements with her drawings. She enjoys and embraces all body types with her figures and celebrates the human form.

And in her own words:

Story of a Comeback

In 2006, I was in a car accident and experienced chronic migraines. These subsequently lead to a diagnosis of fibromyalgia in 2009. At this time, it was as if I was caught in a long, dark tunnel dealing with debilitating pain. I almost thought I wouldn’t be able to do art again.

To my surprise, the tunnel led me to a new place. I had been an award-winning gourd artist, but gourds were too painful to hold. I started working with fused glass and making jewelry, something I could manage because of the small and more easily contained nature of the work. I was finding meaning and new strength through the journey as I slowly made my way through the darkness. I found renewal and new energy because of the art that was finding its way back into my life.

The Color of Healing

Turquoise has always been a favorite color of mine. It seemed to always find its way into my art: turquoise glass, and touches of it here and there. It’s a strong color that I’ve always been attracted to. The fusion of blue and green color has always had to be a part of my work. It’s a feeling of centrality and balance. This old favorite became a symbol of the healing light, the healing touch, and a force that kept me going through adversity. It’s like my life becomes right somehow when turquoise is present. It continues to find its way into my art, whether in a subtle hint of the color or as a strong and obvious presence.

The New: Paintings and Drawings

I began to work with my old figure drawings as a way to get back into painting. I realized I could paint easier on a two-dimensional surface and play with color. It was more pleasurable for me. One of the few things I could still do was keep experimenting with acrylic inks, Luna-papers, ice [glitter], colored inks, color-changing nail enamel, acrylic paints, gel pens, and different sizes of glitter. In working with paintings and drawings, I start with color and move to the design. The patterns and textures come as I carefully follow wherever the color wants to take me. The colors of the paints and drawings reminded me that one can’t have light, happiness, and growth without pain and darkness. As I embraced and accepted the pain, I found a new light that brings joy as it dances before my eyes, inside the frames, on the walls in front of you. My vision is that these paintings and drawings may provide similar inspiration and lightness for other people who have worked with their own versions of healing and courage.

To find out more or contact Uvonne please go HERE

posted by kate_moore
Tags: CityArt, featured artists, fellow artists, St. Valentine's Day
Filed under: Blog

St. Valentine’s day. In a modern setting, today involves a lot of pink, chocolate, roses, super-mushy romance, lots of proposals, etc. lots of Love. However, St. Valentine’s day has it’s origins in Catholicism. In medieval Catholicism, you observed your birthday and your patron saint’s feast day as something of a second birthday. St. Valentine’s feast day (Feb. 14) was a day to observe the things and people you loved and were grateful for that love in return…a little different from the modern set.

St. Valentine’s day was also a day for poets, minstrels, and troubadours to really pull out the best of their repertoires and sing and play their hearts out to the subjects of their words and music.

In a more modern setting and with my jewelry, lots of swarovski, lots of rose quartz, lots of garnet, lots of ‘pretty’. In years past I have made special lines for v-day. This year, not so much. My excuse, I got really busy, still am busy, don’t see busy stopping any time soon. But I’m good with busy. Busy means I’m not bored.

These are some of St. Valentine’s day jewelry from years past and present. Some of these pieces have sold a couple I still have and keep showing until they sell (the point is to find homes for my pieces…yes).

posted by kate_moore
Tags: inspiration, religion, St. Valentine's Day
Filed under: Blog

I’ve made lots of jewelry over the course of the last 9 years. Mostly I make necklaces and earrings…sometimes matching sets of necklace and earrings. As an artist who does sell my work and works to sell my art (figure that one out…) I have to work within societal rules of commerce…yep, economics. Buying and selling of supplies and finished product. My selling prices reflect many things–my supplies, location I’m selling, my time, my efforts to get people to notice my work, etc. Necklaces take a decent amount of my time and a decent amount of my supplies. Earrings take a small amount of my supplies but a more detailed amount of my time. While being smaller than a necklace, a pair of earrings have to be matched in appearance and weight.  So, more attention to detail is given to a pair of earrings than a necklace. And a matched set of necklace and earrings is given even more attention to detail to make sure all three parts to the matched set are matched in stone color/weight/etc.

These are past sets that I’ve done. Almost all of these sets were not random-I planned these out before I started. I don’t do matched sets that often but when I do I know exactly what I want to do it becomes a matter of getting the right stones in the right order with each piece.

posted by kate_moore
Tags: cabochons, Celtic Knots, chandelier earrings, earrings, series
Filed under: Blog

With the new year most people make new years resolutions. Mine was/is to simply take better care of myself. For those who know me personally, this month has been an interesting roller coaster of coming back from a dark place in my life. I felt like I had lost a lot of myself in the tangled mess of trying to be what others wanted me to be and not really being me. With the new year came new opportunities for my jewelry work, my ‘jill of all trades’ skills including this blog. But for now, I am still in transition finding myself in a city with no shame and an art community that I’m working to get more and more involved in.

In today’s economy I’ve got to be creative in my means of survival. As of this June, 10 years ago I graduated from high school-6 years ago for university. The graduation speeches consisted of ‘go forth and take over the world’ OR ‘you generation is doomed’. My generation was raised with certain expectations, some of us hit the mark, some of us fell short. I haven’t entirely figured out where I fall in the spectrum. Many of my generation are staying in school longer, working at least 2 jobs to survive, living with our parents, and very unsure of what to do with ourselves. The old rules about career building do not apply-changing careers an average of 3 times in a lifetime is now 5+. The Mrs. degree does not get you very far. And I for one want better than that. I came back to San Francisco a year ago with hopes and dreams. This is not an easy path but it is one of my choosing. I have learned a lot on the long and winding road. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

My jewelry has always been a reflection of needing to keep my hands busy because I am my father’s daughter in that respect–he builds boats, I make neck armor (chainmaille). The evolution of my work has been years of being able to recognize imperfections in technique and practice improvement. My chainmaille has come a very long way with very simple weaves. This is mostly out of creating the ideas that are in my head. Creating something elegant and beautiful with a material that throughout history has been worn in battle.

My beaded jewelry has been a staple in my repertoire simply because I enjoy working in stone just as much as I enjoy working in metal. I’ve always worked in semi-precious stone. From the very beginning I didn’t like the idea of working in glass – though I have no problems with working in high quality glass (fused mostly) and swarovski crystal. Hematite has always been a staple in my stone work. Anyone who knows what hematite looks and feels like knows that it is a metallic black and heavy. The chemical composition of hematite is FE2O3 (Iron and Oxygen) so yes, heavy.Garnet has also been a regular favorite of mine. The red/black color combination has always appealed to me. I also have done a lot of Garnet/Amethyst (purple) pieces.

Many of my inspirations come from history, religion, and even popular trends. Yep, I do follow the trends-if my work doesn’t sell, I can’t buy supplies to make more jewelry…the brutal cycle. But I also create my own interpretations of popular trends. However, I enjoy creating classic pieces that are fairly timeless that will survive the trends and be wearable with jeans or the little black dress.

So, My internal transformation has been one of getting back on the path that I feel I feel off, back to my jewelry, back to working as a ‘Jill of all Trades’ in the SF art community, and back to my creating. My external transformation has been one of taking better care of my appearance and looking more like the 28 year old artist that I am rather than the lost 18 year old that I feel like from time to time.

posted by kate_moore
Tags: Behind the Scenes, inner musings, Jill of all Trades, San Francisco, thought process
Filed under: Blog