things I eat

roasted potato salad

On the first Monday of each month some members of EtsyMetal write blog posts around a central theme. This month the questions are, "What do you eat? What won't you eat? Do you suggest any interesting pairings? What is your favorite studio snack? Optional: Include a favorite recipe."

For starters, I don't eat anything with a face, I've been a vegetarian for 20 years. I do eat eggs and dairy products, but not meat, poultry, or fish. I'm not fanatical about it - I don't mind picking pepperoni off of my pizza, or if my eggs are cooked on the same grill as a hamburger.

fresh fruit with homemade ricotta

I don't like to cook much, so I eat takeout more than I should. Some of my favorites are Vietnamese, Mediterranean, Ethiopian, and a local place that has the best BBQ tofu burrito ever. I do make my own yogurt, and have tried a few other soft cheeses at home. I love my carbs and cheese, they are my downfall. I never eat when I am in the studio.

As for unusual pairings - strawberries dipped in sour cream and then brown sugar are pretty damn heavenly. I like a nice cream cheese and green olive sandwich every once in a while. The last time I saw my mom she served me vanilla ice cream with some crazy-expensive aged balsamic vinegar poured over it, not bad.

spring rolls

I enjoy making vietnamese-style spring rolls. There is a local Asian grocery that carries fantastic fresh tofu, and I grow Thai basil in the summer. If you've never used the dried rice paper wrappers, they are pretty simple, you just soak them in a bowl of water for 10 seconds or so to soften them up. Starting with two wrappers overlapped really helped me in the beginning.

For fillings, I use any combination of tofu, mint, thai basil, cilantro, sprouts, seeded cukes, grated carrot, scallions, or cold rice noodles. Usually I keep it simple with 3 or 4 ingredients. I mostly use prepared dipping sauces, sesame garlic and peanut flavors are good, often they need to be thinned with water.

fried green tomato napoleans

I also eat a lot of fried green tomatoes in the summer. I slice them about 1/4" thin, coat with cornmeal and pan fry (or saute, I don't use a lot of oil). They're great served with a little remoulad sauce. When I want to get fancy I make Napoleans by layering fresh mozzarella and basil between the tomatoes and pouring vodka sauce (from a jar) over the top. Yum.

Now I'm really, really hungry.

Please visit my EtsyMetal friends to read about their culinary choices:

Victoria TakahashiStacey Hansen
Ann Hartley
Cynthia DelGiudiceNina Gibson
Caitlyn/discomedusa
Inbar BareketLauren/Creative Dexterity
Beth Cyr

school

On the first Monday of each month some members of EtsyMetal write blog posts around a central theme. This month the questions are, "Where did you go to school? If you had the opportunity to go back to school, would you? Where and what would you study?"

college days

I received my BS in Social Welfare from UW-Milwaukee and I worked as a social worker with youth-at-risk for eight years. I had drawn and painted in high school and college, then I started to sew - quilts and other patchwork items - until I eventually moved into soft sculpture.

I slowly scaled back the social work to part-time and earned the rest of my living at craft shows along the East Coast. I went back to school in '99 for my MFA in Fibers from the Memphis College of Art. That was when I started to work conceptually in earnest and found my voice through my work, I wrote an earlier post about my thesis show.

tableau vivant at the Brooks Museum

Other than a short stint as a web designer for a brokerage firm I have always worked with kids, my last full-time position was in the Education Dept. at The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Now I work part-time in the Memphis City Schools doing short-term artist residencies, as well as other teaching artist gigs around the community. I love children and I love to make art with them, I love it as much as working metal in my studio.

Kindergarten Ring, 21/365, photo by Amy McSpadden

As a social worker I counseled kids and I really miss the relationships that develop when you work closely with a child over time, rather than for just a few weeks as I currently do. I have a strong interest in Art Therapy and have considered returning to school for another Master's degree at some point, Pratt in Brooklyn has a distance program that I've looked into pretty seriously.

For now I'm focused on my work (and Ring a Day). I'm preparing to move to a bigger studio and my head is filled with ideas for expanding my business next year (after Ring a Day is over, jeez). Who knows what the long-term future holds - perhaps when I'm in my 50's I will be attending Pratt Institute.

Please visit my EtsyMetal friends to read their thoughts:

Victoria Takahashi

Stacey Hansen
Ann Hartley
Caitlyn/discomedusa
Beth Cyr

Konstanze/Nodeform
Jenny Baughman
Kathryn Cole
Danielle Milller

new earrings on etsy

I just listed these sterling silver earrings in my etsy shop, they are a new design for my Elements Series.

ring a day blog & exhibition

EtsyMetal has launched a Ring a Day blog, and recently announced that the Ring a Day Project has been accepted as an exhibition for the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) upcoming Annual Conference in Seattle, Washington.

The exhibit will feature 365 rings, representing a ring a day and encompassing the full span of the year 2010. Represented work will range from ephemeral and conceptual art rings to functional jewelry. The layout will also include photographic documentation of select temporary and conceptual art rings.

Yay!