Some semblance of a studio, originally uploaded by antigenre.

Well, after a full day of packing, another day of travelling, and yet another of receiving all our worldy possessions from the lovely folks at Carey Moving & Storage, Levi, a very spooked Frist and I have officially landed in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The apartment is just as cool as I remember it from our jaunt down here in May. The whole building seems a bit like the Dolphin Hotel from Haruki Murakami’s A Wild Sheep Chase, which is OK by me. The town is noticably more vibrant now than it was then, as well. There’s a neato gallery just down the road from us that I’m going to hit up in the near future to see if they will carry my jewelry, and the bar across the street from us has just re-opened. The band playing there tonight was the Piedmont Boys, and I was told that they do, along with some originals, mostly 80′s covers. I forgot that that would probably mean country/western/blues from the 80′s, and not, say, Tears for Fears.

The studio is slowing coming together. I have wonderful light and plenty of space. No more spraying silver dust and debris all over the couch, the living room table, the carpet, the cat…

New inspirations and new ideas abound.

The Palmetto Apartments - Our New Home

It’s been an eventful week:  I hit 500 sales on Etsy, went apartment hunting in Spartanburg, SC, went canoeing on Lake Carnegie in Princeton, found a tick in my armpit, and finished my jewelry class at the 92nd Street Y.  So, a bit of good and a bit of bad. 

The tick I was rather unhappy about, and I’m not sure if I picked it up while out and about near the lake, or if it hitched a ride back from the south (a similar one briefly landed on me there, too).  I’m sad that my class has ended; I was getting a lot out of it.  Because it was an independent study course, I didn’t learn a lot in terms of new techniques, but it did help to refine what I already do know, and it allowed me to experiment with more complex and challenging designs. 

On the flip side, sales in general have been fairly good this month, despite the ongoing economic saga, and it was nice to reach that numerical goal of 500 in my main Etsy shop.  The trip to Spartanburg wasn’t exactly a saga, but it was a fairly intense three days.  After being shown a sizable collection of houses, townhouses, condos and apartments, Levi and I decided to sign a one-year lease for an apartment that is probably the nicest place I will ever live.  Seriously.  No joke.  It is huge and beautiful.  The photos on the website linked above (click on the photo) don’t do it justice and actually make the various units look rather grotty.  I promise I’ll post our own photos when we get there.  I’ll have my own studio space; Levi and I will have plenty of room and won’t get in each other’s hair.  Hell, we probably won’t even be able to find each other! 

In the meantime, we’re here in Princeton for another two months that promise to be just as eventful.

Jewelry Porn, originally uploaded by antigenre.

Jewelers and metalsmiths, admit it – you’ve drooled over these books! I discovered this series in my jewelry class at the 92nd Street Y and went right out and bought the lot of them. FYI, they’re much cheaper on Amazon than they are at the Marketfair Barnes & Noble. They are great sources of inspiration and, along with my class itself, have forced me to think a bit about the direction my work should be going in. It is definitely time to start getting some advanced training, refining my style, and developing a cohesive body of work.

Levi and I will be leaving New Jersey toward the end of the summer (this I have some mixed feelings about), and I will no longer have access to all the resources of NYC (this, I’m NOT happy about at all!). We’re headed to South Carolina, so I’ve spent a bit of time looking around for schools and other institutions in the area that offer training in metals and jewelry. Oddly enough, the Carolinas seem to be full of crafty types, and there are a number of respectable schools within a few hours drive of where I’ll be living. One in particular is the Penland School of Crafts, which offers eight-week workshops in a number of fields. Haywood Community College of Professional Crafts is another nearby option. So I have some decisions to make and some money to save up, but these are very exciting possibilities.

Geode Earrings, originally uploaded by antigenre.

Nu metal?  Not really, but a new shop devoted exclusively on my metalwork. I’m happy to announce that MetaGenre is now up and running! Recently, I’ve been taking a metalsmithing course at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan and have been learning and developing new skills and techniques. I wanted to create a space where I could showcase these and focus on new directions in my work.

AntiGenre, of course, will still be around and will be the home of my mixed-metal pieces, along with my vintage bead and freshwater pearl items. New pieces are being added to both shops on a regular basis.

In other news, I will be at Communiversity in Princeton on April 25th, and at Art Star Craft Bazaar in Philadelphia on May 30th and 31st. Please come and say hello!

The SETI Project?, originally uploaded by antigenre.

No, it’s a bunch of rings that I’m taking to The Market NYC this Saturday! I’m so excited about doing my first show in New York and am working away getting tons of pieces ready. Two new collections will be making their debut, as well. I’ll be sure to add the new items to my shop as soon as possible.

The Market NYC is a place for clothing, accessory and home goods designers to showcase their wares and is held every weekend at two locations in the city. I’ll be at the Mulberry Street spot from 11:00 in the morning to 7:00 at night. Take a look at the link below for more information. See you there!

The Market NYC

1.  Beachchik  2. JWLeGrand  3. LunarLounge  4. Siriusfnord  5. EtceteraMedia  6. Seth Rolland  7. Jean Pelle  8. ArtIs3Letters

I love the idea of having a home filled with beautiful handcrafted furnishings and decor.  My personal taste is all over the place, so I imagine that someday I’ll have a rather ecclectic collection of artwork and furniture.  This particular collection encompasses so many styles and features that I love – the modern lines and warm glow of Seth Rolland’s table and Jean Pelle’s candle holders; the clean, geometric shapes of  Lunar Lounge’s love seat and JWLeGrand’s concrete sink; the vintage (but not overly girly or frilly) look of the letter plaques from Beachchik, a fellow EtsyNJ member; Etceteramedia’s use of sturdy, industrial felt in their pillows; and the innovative designs of Siriusfnord’s glass bowls and Art Is 3 Letter’s Map on a Stick series.

I do hope you will check out the shops and websites of these talented artists!

Recycled Sterling Silver Discs

I’m not really into New Year’s resolutions, but this year I did decide to make a greater commitment to using eco-friendly material in my jewelry.  To this end, I’ve started buying most of my sterling silver from Hoover & Strong, a company that has been providing eco-friendly, recycled precious metals to jewelers for decades.  While I do still have a lot of material from other suppliers on hand, I will be restocking these with their more environmentally-friendly counterparts as they run out.  I am already using the recycled silver in many of my pieces, including my Constellation Earrings, Galaxy Ring, Skyline Earrings, and several other items.  I’m happy with how the silver looks, and I feel good about using something that is a little less harmful to the planet.

In other news, I’ve finally gotten around to updating my shop at Big Cartel.  I like the different formatting options there, as well as the reasonable monthly fee.  Click HERE to take a look at the whole shop!

Swag!, originally uploaded by antigenre.

2009 got off to a good start with a trip to a taping of the Martha Stewart Show on January 6th! I met up with some members of the EtsyNJ Street Team at a Starbucks in Manhattan, and we trundled off through the cold to the Chelsea Studios and waited to get inside for the morning taping. The show was terrific (you can see almost the whole episode here), and meeting other team members for the first time was great fun!

The Mario Badescu products in this photo are just some of the free goodies everyone in the audience received. The bath gels are my favorite, but as someone whose hands are ravaged by work and weather, the handcream is perfect for me!