July 2008
CMAG Officers
President: open
Vice-president: open
Secretary: Wayne Acton
Treasurer: Mandy Allen

Members at Large
Lisa Ciolli (Membership)
Linda Apodaca (Programs)
Barbara Covey

CMAG Board Meetings
Board meeting are generally held the last Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm. Members are encouraged to attend and contribute. Contact Mandy for location.

How to Reach Us
Website:
www.cmaguild.org
Write:
Creative Metal Arts Guild
P. O. Box 8946
Portland OR 97207

Newsletter
Contributions, comments,
classified ads, display ads
metal_fx@comcast.net
Lyn Simon email

Membership
Please visit CMAG's website:
www.cmaguild.org
Annual membership dues are
$60; students $30

Newsletter

The Creative Metal Arts Guild, a non-profit organization, exists to create a community for metalsmiths, jewelers and metal artists, bt facilitating communication, providing information and benefits, promoting a positive image of the creative metal artist and increasing public awareness of the artist's contribution to the community.
Editor's Comments

Well, this is our first try at the new improved email newsletter. Lyn Simon is taking over getting out the print version, which will still be available. The two will be substanially the same considering the different media and our coordination is bound to improve with practice. I'm trying to get this out the first Monday after the board meeting so around the first. Any help with getting everyone's email address is appreciated. This has got to be short cause I'm up against a 32k character limit.

The General Meeting email announcement is in hiatus for July, due to Oregon Country Fair. Wayne
Contents
Programs
Board Message
General Meeting Minutes
Alternative Materials
CMAG Bio Lee Haga
SculptOff
Craft Show Review
Announcements
Programs Go back to contents
JULY 8, 2008 - GENERAL MEETING PROGRAM

ANNUAL SWAP MEET !

MAKE MONEY! CLEAN OUT YOUR STUDIO! FIND TREASURES!

FIND THE UNEXPECTED! FIND BARGAINS! HAVE FUN!

Round up your unwanted/unneeded supplies, tools, and stones and sell them at our Annual Swap Meet. That odd something (or piece of something), the one that you can’t remember why or where you got it, could be just the thing someone else has been searching for. Leave no stone unturned. Your castaway may be someone else’s treasure.
Tools * Equipment * Stones * Pearls * Books * Metal * Solder *
Magazines * Display Items * Work Benches * Office Supplies * Art Fair
Stuff * Velvet/Cotton-filled boxes * Drawing Supplies * and much more!!

What you should bring: change, receipt book, priced goods, and your buying guests.

GRAB BAG: Please DONATE an item to the $1 GRAB BAG. The item should be in good condition, worth at least one dollar or more, and have potential appeal to most recipients. Proceeds will be for the CMAG LIBRARY. THANKS!

Our regular meeting room opens at 6:45. Come early and set up the goods.

August 12 Program: "My Favorite Tools" - Share your most useful tools, unusual equipment, or your own tool inventions at this popular program.
Board MessageGo back to contents
President’s Message

Well, it’s my last president’s message and I’m interested in seeing how CMAG will evolve during the coming year without someone to take my place. It’s clear that there is still a lot of support for the guild but that our organizational structure has to adapt to the reality of the situation. Change must come to all.

Two years ago, I experienced a “paradigm shift” in which I realized that I was no longer a student or novice in regards to my craft and while I still have a lot to learn I also have a lot to teach and give to others. This is what gave me the courage to volunteer for the presidency and boy has that been a learning/teaching experience. Now I get to redirect some of that energy back into my art and I want to thank everyone for all the support and camaraderie of the past year.

Of course, I have to thank everyone on the board and those of you who contribute so much to CMAG. I hope you don’t mind that I don’t list everyone’s name but we see them every month all over the newsletter because it’s through your work that we have a newsletter at all.

Seeing how I’ll be staying on the Board as Treasurer, I’ll be talking to you guys again soon.

Thanks again. (This is from Mandy ed.)
General Meeting MinutesGo back to contents
Minutes of CMAG General Meeting 10 June 2008

President Mandy Allen attempted to call the meeting to order by droning a didgeridoo which proved far too subtle for this group although a few members appeared to enter a dreamtrance.

A special guest in attendance was Laurie Hall who jocularly introduced herself as an emissary from the Seattle guild. As ever, my apologies for misspellings of names.

Membership renewal time is upon us once again. Forms are available and all members are reminded to fill out the form in full. There are some changes there regarding the newsletter and email addresses are increasingly crucial. Regular dues are still sixty dollars, cheap!

Spring Show reports that the wrap up meeting Sunday at Moan Mozeico’s studio was ‘lovely.’ The new steering committee consists of Mona, Judy Acton and Debra Carus. They have the first meeting tentatively scheduled for late June, contact a committee member for details, members are welcome.

The Museum of Contemporary Craft and the Guild Circle will be conducting the second annual PDX Block Party July 13th, 11 am – 6 pm and so far we have three volunteers but a couple more wouldn’t hurt. CMAGers interested in demonstrating can contact Mandy Allen. In this connection there is apparently a demonstration bench misplaced which was constructed by Greg Wilbur. (The secretary has no personal knowledge here and the reports are somewhat speculative so far.) If anyone knows about this would they please get in contact.

The July program will be the annual Swap Meet, which has swapped places from August with the New Member Showcase which used to be July. (New member showcase has subsequently been postponed. ed.) This is an ever popular and well attended program where all sorts of useful items may be procured (or disposed.)

Board elections were conducted. Wayne Acton will continue as secretary, Mandy Allen will become treasurer and Lisa Ciolli (membership) and Linda Apodaca (programs) will continue as Members at Large joined by first time board member Barbara Covey. The vacancies at president and vice president were noted and bemoaned and exhortations for someone to come forward were again fruitless as was a last minute attempt to draft Dangling Chad for the position.

The Aaron Faber Gallery of NYC sold several jewelry pieces of Lee Haga’s at their recent ‘Pan Pacific’ show and also took one of her shibuichii cuffs to the S.O.F.A. New York exhibition, where it also was sold to a client. … Cards for catalogues from Rio Grande of Albuquerque, who is a Spring Show sponsor, are available from Margaret Frison. These were to have been distributed at the show but her illness prevented that. They have an ID number for that event, to gauge the benefit of their donation. … Tips for cleaning pop up canopies were solicited but, aside from the magical effects of washing them with CMAG tee shirts, no ideal nostrum was uncovered.

In keeping with the evening’s program, Mandy unveiled mini tee shirt pins, of which sufficient number to equip the entire membership can evidently be produced from a single garment. Tee shirts are selling like hotcakes and still only $10.

The evening’s program “Alternative Materials and Pin Swap,” was presented by member Carey Smith. Carey has a long background in teaching the jewelry arts and began his presentation with mention of several luminaries in the history of jewelry as art and sculpture rather than apparel, illustrated by photographs and examples of his own work. He continued with some exploration of the philosophy of this approach and the reasons he finds it rewarding. Carey uses a multitude of nontraditional materials in his work including teeth and beans and bb’s and alligator skin, and he brought a table full of items and examples, but he is particularly fond of plastic and he proceeded to explain and demonstrate a variety of kinds and the uses to which he puts them. In the final portion of the program, members (who’d created a plentitude of extemporized pieces for the evening, which had been on ostentatious display since before the starting didgeridoo—well done) pored over and exchanged the insouciant creations.

Respectfully submitted Wayne 13 June 2008
Alternative MaterialsGo back to contents
Alternative Materials and Pin Swap, June ‘08

For eight years part time and two years full time to earn an MFA in jewelry and metalsmithing, then thirty-two yeas as a metals instructor, I never really had to earn a living selling jewelry.

My teacher and mentor during those first ten years was Stanley Lechtzin at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. In an art school setting, he pushed art always…wearability and making a living were not part of the program. A saying of his still echoes in my head, “Make your work so that it can stand alone.” (In a showcase)

He would also require monthly assignments to do along with our other ongoing projects such as “make a piece that when looked at the viewer wants to touch it.” So all fourteen of us used fur, plastic, feathers, bristle, etc., on projects along with various precious metals. I remember being at a party and seeing another Tyler graduate, Albert Paley, whose wife was wearing a huge neckpiece of sterling silver, Delrin®, and optical lenses, so heavy I could see a red impression on the back of her neck. (But it looked fantastic.)

So for those thirty-two years as an ivory tower artist and the past twelve years, I never stopped “playing” with various alternative materials in my work.

Many of our current members also create using non-traditional materials: Joe Apadacca did some gold on steel and some carborundum grain backgrounds; Mandy Allen’s anodized aluminum; and Mel Stiles’ cast resin and steel, among many others.

Our guest at the meeting, Laurie Hall, studied with Ramona Solberg, considered the grandmother of found object jewelry in the Northwest.

Of all the alternative materials out there, plastics are one of my favorites. They’re inexpensive, easily available, and have wonderful flexibility, toughness, translucency, and or workability. There’s acrylic, vinyl, polyester, polycarbonate (Lexan®), polyethylene, Delrin®, nylon, and Teflon® to name a few.

I think most of us in the guild don’t get to feel the passion we once had with playing with various materials in our day to day, so much time spent in competing in the world market and surviving. So the second part of the program was to have a pin swap. The idea being to go outside the box, stretch a little, but most of all PLAY. Get in touch with the part you love – no worry about material cost, precision, salability, copyrights—Let’s make pins to have FUN! And swap with those made by other members.

I had a great time – and hope you did too. Should we swap pins next year?

Carey
Pics from the June meeting. Go here to see more meeting pics
CMAG Bio Lee HagaGo back to contents
MEMBER PROFILE : LEE RUMSEY HAGA
By Linda Apodaca

Lee Haga figures that her life can be divided into four distinct, successive chapters. First were her years growing up in an affluent family in Wilmington, Delaware in the late 40’s and 50’s. Her father was a chemical engineer who became an executive for DuPont Company, developing textile fibers, such as Dacron and Teflon. Her stay-at-home mom guided Lee’s socially proper, country club upbringing. After being a debutante, Lee was ushered off to Vassar College, a women’s college in upstate New York.

Lee enjoyed art, painting and sculpture classes and was an excellent student. But she was never taught to think of art as anything but a pastime. By the end of her second year Lee was feeling very bored and suffocated at Vassar. The imposed social correctness she felt was very phony as if all the women were supposed to fit into one mold. The dual message she got was to be smart and work hard at school; but to also be very sure to find a husband, preferably one who would be rich.

Bits of news filtered through to Lee about happenings in California; the free lifestyles, hippie scenes in the Bay area. She was intrigued and curious and persuaded her parents to let her go to UCLA for summer art classes. She went and never returned. The second chapter of her life had begun.

Lee and her California roommates took weekend trips to San Francisco packing their hippie outfits to change into when they arrived on the scene. Mary, one of her roommates invited her to return with her in the fall to share an apartment at UC Berkeley. Lee applied and was accepted into the architecture school. Her parents were very upset.

Up to this point Lee had led a very sheltered life, but Mary and Berkeley changed all of that. Mary was very worldly and opened Lee’s eyes to the whole spectrum of the world of Berkeley; partying, Vietnam War protest riots, draft dodgers, etc. It was a wild time. But through it all Lee took wonderful art classes; design, sculpture, welding, ceramics, photo, etc and stayed on the Deans List. The question always lingered in her mind as to how she could make a living with her art ,and it was a long time before it was answered.

In Berkeley she acquired a radical, activist boyfriend Rob. Together they went to Europe for six months traveling in a VW bus, camping and staying in youth hostels. When they returned, Lee graduated from college and was financially on her own.

In 1974, with Rob gone and Lee having returned from a second six month trip to England and France, she returned to San Francisco. She lived with friends, did some design work and worked with a caterer. In a short while she had her own catering business. But she finally grew tired of it and wanted something different. She still could not figure out how to make her living in the art world, her ultimate dream.

So her next choice was graduate school at San Francisco State College. She was good at languages and decided to study French and become a teacher. She was living on $200 a month, did various graphic art jobs and an managed an apartment building. However, she did notice a lost wax casting class offered at the DeYoung Museum Art School, so she enrolled. The teacher was great and the metal work resonated with Lee so much that she took it for three semesters. She soon realized that French studies had lost out to her fascination with metals. Shortly thereafter she got a 2-year goldsmith apprenticeship in Sausalito at a jewelry store, and 6 months later was put in charge of the casting department. She worked on many interesting jobs, incluing Marvin Gaye’s gold Number One pendant, commissioned by th Pointer Sisters.

The third chapter in Lee's life happened when she married Doug, a painter/sign maker, in Oakland. Daughter Selene was born the next year. But Doug owned ten acres on the Oregon coast and wanted to move there. Lee was not thrilled at leaving civilization to move to a rustic, primitive, farm life, but she finally relented and they moved to Neskowin. They lived their first year in a leaky tent and a drafty cabin. It was rainy and cold and they had little income. They began to build a house , while living in a barn on their property, and Lee managed to make simple jewelry to sell in Lincoln City. Just down their road was Neskowin Valley School where they got jobs as custodians and as teachers of art and French. In the barn Doug set up his sign painting business. They were getting by but Lee felt very isolated.

After learning of jewelry classes being offered at Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, she drove to Portland once a week to take the class. Over the next two years of studying with Joe Apodaca, she learned many new skills and techniques for metal, including shibuichi, and 'the class changed her life.' She also took Heiki Seppa's 1986 workshop at OSAC in anticlastic/synclastic forming .Both techniques she still works with today. At that time she and Doug also had a small gallery in Neskowin.

The fourth chapter began after 15 years living at the coast. Her marriage had just ended so she and Selene moved to Portland to start a new life. Lee was able to get a jewelry teaching job at Multnomah Art Center and also went on to get the job teaching metals at Mt.Hood Community College where she has been head of the program for 15 years.

She makes jewelry with a Japanese/ Asian flavor . She likes texturing different metals, doing cuttlebone, 'broom' , and experimental casting. But she also does a lot of fabrication. She has a line of cast Japanese iconographical images. She has done the Japanese Garden shows for years and sells at Riversea Gallery in Astoria. Last month she was invited to show her work at Aaron Faber Gallery in NYC which also took her pieces to the SOFA show. She has done the ACC Baltimore show 3 times She has her earrings featured in the 500 Earrings and Japanese Patina books. and such magazines as Lapidary Journal, AJM, and Art Jewelry.

Sculpture Build OffGo back to contents
Clackamas Community College's Sculptors Build Off!

Regional and nationally known sculptors gathered at the Clackamas Community College in June for a three-day "Sculpture Build Off." CCC welding students worked alongside the artists, with donated steel, to create large-scale sculptures in a timed event.

The Build Off began at 7:30 am on Friday, June 13. Sculptors could work from 7:30 am to midnight on June 13, 14, and 15. When the clock struck 12 midnight on Sunday, the artist's work was done and the sculpture was theirs to keep.

The event included artist's demonstrations including metal shaping and working with stone and concrete. The 'Public Area' featured a silent auction for previously completed works.

The Build Off is the creation of Reed Rothchild, a welding instructor at CCC, and metal artist.

Go here for a larger article on this event.
Craft Show ReviewGo back to contents
Craft Show Critique

When I first moved to the Portland area I knew very little about the local craft venues, so I researched what shows to apply for by looking at other CMAG member websites and seeing what shows they were doing. As a result, I am doing several shows for the first time this year and I thought it would be a good idea to write down my impressions of them. Then I thought, “Why not share my impressions with the rest of CMAG?”

Let me stress that while I have enough experience to feel comfortable doing most shows I do not consider myself an expert. I have been selling at the Portland Saturday Market for the past three years so the other shows I do are ultimately compared to that. This is not meant to be a comprehensive review like you would get in a show book but rather my personal observations on factors that are important to me.

On May 31 and June 1st, I did the Wilsonville Festival of Arts at Town Center Park in Wilsonville. It is a fundraising event that supports the work of the Wilsonville Arts and Culture Council. It is a two day show running from 10am to 6pm on Saturday and 10am to 5pm on Sunday. It had 75 craft booths, a small food court, and a performance stage. It was very family oriented festival and no alcohol was sold. It was all handmade and juried with an application fee of $5. The booth fee was $100 for a 10x10 space. No electricity was available. No percentage of sales was taken.

You could set up your booth on Friday before the show or early Saturday morning. I found the load in and set up very easy with plenty of parking and easy access to the site. Once the show started, there were lots of volunteers to watch your booth for breaks, and the artist hospitality tent was the nicest I’ve personally seen, with plenty of good snacks, water, and coffee. A sixteen page, full color program was distributed at the show and around the area prior to the event.

After talking with one of the organizers I felt that they juried the show with care, working to keep a balance of categories. I felt that the overall quality of the work was good and in keeping with a handmade-only show. Vendor and customer surveys were distributed and overall I definitely felt that they respected the vendors and were intent on improving the event for everyone.

This was my first year and the weather was not ideal. The crowd was small but steady. I made sales that were comparable to what I’ve been doing at the Saturday Market. For more information go to www.wilsonvillearts.org or write Wilsonville Festival of Arts, 30951 SW Riverlane Rd., West Linn., OR 97068.

I will be compiling a list of shows to publish later in the year and I’m accepting any suggestions for inclusion. Also, if you have any opinions or tips about a show, please send that to me as well at mandy (at) allenmetalarts (dot) com.

Mandy Allen
AnnouncementsGo back to contents
'Your Dues are DUE'

Annual membership dues for CMAG's are due on July 1 of each year. If you have not yet sent in your dues, please do it TODAY.

You will find a renewal form here which you may be able to print. You can either send your dues by mail or bring your payment to the meeting on July 8. Dues are $60 for regular membership and $30 for students. Your dues - as well as your participation help to maintain CMAG's vitality.
Spring Show Dates

The contracts are signed and deposit paid for the 2009 CMAG Spring Show and Sale. The annual extravaganza is scheduled for April 24, 25 & 26.
OREGON COUNTRY FAIR- JULY 11,12,13.

OCF is celebrating its 39th year offering the finest in handmade crafts, entertainment, food and information sharing. Our members Wayne & Judy Acton and Greg Wilbur are longtime participants. It takes place near Veneta, about 15 miles west of Eugene. It is a unique and great experience. Tickets are not available at the show but must be purchased in advance. Visit their comprehensive website http://www.oregoncountryfair.org/.
SNAG has initiated a project to create a comprehensive listing of artists who give workshops in the jewelry and/or metals fields.The project outcome will result in a publicly available resource, residing on SNAG's website; providing a central list to assist those interested in finding artists to teach workshops. The initial resource will be developed by Fall 2008 with updates posted on a quarterly basis.

If you are interested in having your information listed, please contact SNAG volunteer Lauren Murray at laurenmmurray@gmail.com with the following items:

  • Name
  • Contact information (including website and email address)
  • Brief list of workshop topics
Jewelry Competition
(sponsored by A is for Artists Gallery on Bainbridge Island)

Two cash awards of $1000 each

Application Deadline: July 15th
you do, the actual entry item is due August 15)

Application can be downloaded at
http://www.aisforartistsgallery.com

info (at) aisforartistsgallery (dot) com
206.842.2434
123 Bjune . Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110

Contact: Suzanne Arkless 360-830-2141 or msg. 360-621-0315

MONTHLY MEETINGS & PROGRAMS


WHEN: General CMAG member meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month. Door opens at 6:45pm, meetings begin at 7:15pm, and adjourn by 9:15pm.

WHERE: Room 34 at the Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Highway Portland 97219.

WHAT: Meetings consist of a general business and a short break with refreshments, followed by a program which may be a demonstration of a technique or tool, a slide presentation, a panel discussion, or other presentation of interest to CMAG members. The CMAG Library is open before the meeting and during the break for checking out books and magazines.

WHO: Meetings are open to CMAG members and their guests.

CMAG Webpage