My Blog

Melissa Kolbusz & Ecojewelry

Alexis — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 19:51:28 GMT

Years ago, when I was sculpting from found objects, I noticed an attraction to rusted metal parts and thought I could save myself the stench of falling into dumpster brew (found at the bottom of dumpsters and unavoidable when dumpster diving for found objects to be used in one's art) by incorporating new industrial parts (with a rust patina) in my work as well. So off I went to Home Depot, and inadvertently, I stepped into a brave new world of ecodesign. Along the way, I discovered a brilliant cadre of likeminded ecodesigners. Eventually my journey took me further down the road towards traditional sculpture and painting, and I forgot about the ecodesigners. Ironically, my journey has taken me full circle, and now I'm working on a career as a professional jewelry designer. So, I was racking my brain, trying to remember that artist who does funky jewelry from rubber washers, and I found her! She's Melissa Kolbusz, a Chicago jewelry designer and friend of the environment who designs gothic and ethereal jewelry from recycled industrial parts. 1. "elliptical envy", alternator wire and electrical component necklace by Melissa Kolbusz 2. "trampoline", steel choker by Melissa Kolbusz Speaking of ecofriendly jewelry, Leo DiCaprio's new movie, Blood Diamonds (featuring Djimon Hounsou, in all his glorious, chocolate perfection. *Sigh*) brings light to the horrific reality of conflict diamonds (which are mined and sold to finance wars, especially in Africa). Mining in general, even of precious metals, tends to wreck havoc on the environment and the health of the miners. I was woefully unaware of this fact until I stumbled upon GreenKarat, a Texas-based online company, founded by Matt White in 2003 when he couldn't find an environmentally friendly wedding band for his bride. After reading the GreenKarat website, I became alarmed and felt myself spiraling towards the environmental extreme. (I try to avoid extremes otherwise, I could easily be living outdoors, wearing sackcloth and eating locusts). Besides, precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum are too valuable to discard, so all precious metal is recycled. Further, I plan to use Precious Metal Clay in my work so this will answer my concerns. But, I still plan to give a portion of my income to environmental nonprofits. When you attend a liberal arts college that has a rich tradition of environmental activism (like Evergreen), it's impossible to escape thinking about how your choices (both personal and business) impact the environment. However, time and experience have taught me to balance the demands of commerce and industry with pro-environmental art production processes.

Zero 7 - Home

Alexis — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 17:57:32 GMT

I just discovered this band, Zero 7 after surfing Seattle.tribe.net. I don't know anything about them, but I love the sound of this song. It has a very ambient, downtempo sound. Very tranquil & beautiful. I'm craving a veggie scramble so I'm off to the market to get some groceries so I can nosh & quaff. Here's the link to their web site, which I'll have to check out later: http://www.zero7.co.uk/ <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ljEgVfC8zEw"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ljEgVfC8zEw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Organizing my Jewelry Design Studio

Alexis — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 17:28:32 GMT

Yesterday afternoon, I put Mocha Socialite, my other blog to bed. I'd stopped posting for about two weeks (although it felt like two years) to re-examine my focus and spend some time on other goals (like establishing my art jewelry business and this blog). After resolving the issues that were preventing me from blogging, I returned to posting with a feature on the delightful socialite/fashion publicist Bonnie Morrison of KCD Worldwide. This week, I continued my quest to convert the dining room to the kiln room. Marc has stood by in the most amused manner wondering how I'm going to reshuffle the dining room's contents throughout my apartment. (Just wait and see, mister)! My sister called yesterday to remind me to purchase a fire extinguisher and make sure my smoke detectors are operable. (She's very maternal). Although she's glad that I'm buying a kiln rather than using a blowtorch, she's still (unneccesarily) concerned. My goal for next week is to send off my MFA applications to my top 3 schools, and to buy my jewelry tools, beads, and precious metal clay (PMC). I just adore metal clay. After lemon drop martinis, the personal computer, and the internet, metal clay is one of humanity's best recent inventions. Speaking of martinis, a few of the gang dropped by to help me move furniture around, and I made a batch of lemon drop martinis and Saumon Mariné. After everyone left, I turned off the lights and was mesmerized by the twinkling street lights and my daydreams. I daydreamed of the day I learned about jewelry designer Mish Tworkowski whose witty, elegant designs make me sigh contentedly. Tworkowski's design philosophy appears to be a mixture of old-fashioned New England gardenphilia (don't you just love making up words?), 21st century cultural curiosity, and technological innovation. He's one of my design heroes. When I discovered Mish, I thought, five years from now, I want to be like him. As I stood in my doorway of my nearly bare art studio, I thought, if I work hard and am blessed with a career like Mish's, maybe in a few years some kid will think, five years from now, I want to be like Alexis Pierre-Louis.