Humboldt Arts Festival and North Coast Open Studios

The 1st (hopefully annual) Humboldt Arts Festival has passed and it was a great time. Two fabulous days of local bands and performers including Samba Amore, West African Dance, the Ya Habibi Dancers, New World Ballet, Strix Vega, The Bucky Walters, and many more kept the foot traffic consistent. The sculpture garden and ceramics demonstration area was awesome. Eel River Brewery was there with four local organic brews and 19 local vendors including the NCMAG offered up a taste of plentiful creativity that the North Coast has to offer.

A big thanks to Geoffrey LaLonde for putting together some fabulous promotional materials and designing a really incredible logo. A big thanks also goes out to everyone who came out to support our local arts community.

And after pausing for a deep breath.... North Coast Open Studios begins this weekend, June 5th & 6th from 11-5pm. If you are in the area please come out to check out the members of the North Coast Metal Arts Guild in action. Four other artist in the Buhne Building (207 G street, Eureka, CA...above the Art Center) will also be open for the event including Frances Kuta Fine Art, Representational Oil Paintings; Karen Merry, Watercolor, pen and ink; Michelle Murphy Ferguson, Oil paintings of landscapes, still lifes, and figures; and Simone Smith, Portraiture, surreal digital montages and mixed media pieces. Check out the North Coast Open Studios website for more information and an artist directory. Hope to see you there!

Reliquary

One of the most important aspects in forming the NCMAG was a desire to inspire, support and learn from each other, a need to branch out from our own studio practices and communicate with other working artists. From the very first meeting we knew we wanted to have "assignments", projects that challenge us artistically and intellectually. Today each member scrawled an "assignment" onto a piece of paper and one was drawn at random:

Wearable Reliquary
-Hollowform fabrication
-Must incorporate at least two metals/materials
-Must use one "new to you" technique

Presentations including research, models and/or drawings are due at the next meeting with projects due for completion on Monday May 31st. Pieces will be up for viewing during North Coast Open Studios June 5-6 and June 12-13 from 11am to 5pm.



So What is a Reliquary?

Reliquaries are often associated with religion. For example, in Christianity they were used to encapsulate the bones or possessions of Christ and the saints, were usually made from precious materials and were often believed to have miraculous powers (Victoria and Albert Museum).

One contemporary jewelry artists working with reliquaries is Becky McDonah, from Arizona State University who celebrates the ordinary and mundane from the act of applying lip gloss to the chore of watering the lawn in her work pieces: "Moistutane: A Reliquary for Chapstick" and "Hunting Nightcrawlers: A Reliquary for Dirt".


For Further Reading:

The Trophies of the Martyrs:An Art Historical Study of Early Christian Silver Reliquaries
Epehemeral Fang Reliquaries: A post history

NCMAG at North Coast Open Studios

The North Coast Metal Arts Guild is proud to announce our participation in the Twelfth Annual North Coast Open Studios. Members of NCMAG will be showing work at 207 G Street # 119 (Buhne Building Artist Studios) on June 5-6 and June 12-13 2010 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
This is a great opportunity to share in the studio experience of local jewelry and small metal artists.

Featuring:

"Ring Menagerie: The Ring a Day Project" by Erin Austin