I [heart] Roller Derby necklaces

As an after thought I made these necklaces for the show using salvaged vintage jewelry pieces and skate keys that I'd been sitting on for a while.

Eye of the Tiger

Penalty Box

Honky Tonk Stomp

Blood, Sweat & Tears

Derby Matrimony

I [heart] Roller Derby: Feminism on Wheels

I recently had the reception for my very first solo show at Blackbird Tattoo & Gallery.  I chose to create an ode to my favorite sport and some of my favorite ladies in the world, the Nashville Roller girls.


Artist Statement:

The women of roller derby are tough, but graceful; strong, but elegant; aggressive on the track, willing to take and inflict pain, and yet gentle & supportive of their derby family and willing to give of themselves to the community.  All of these coupled with the savvy and determination that it takes to start up and maintain an organization like a Women’s Flat Track Derby league are only just a small part of what moves me about this sport and the women who participate in it.  Women from every walk of life sacrifice their time, money, mind and body to participate in a sport for nothing more than that, sport.  They are not paid, they are not given endorsements or accolades, they merely want to be better than they are, to compete and have fun doing it.  I find myself enthralled with these larger than life women, their personalities and their abilities. They often take on alter-egos, or at the very least, monikers before they take to the track, which for me adds to the mystique.  To me they are like super heroes, dressed for battle, but without sacrificing their personal style, sexuality and femininity.   To my knowledge, never has there been a sport that belonged so completely to women, having no male counterpart to lead people to automatically disparage and diminish it as the “girl’s” version and therefore somehow watered-down or inferior. 

I have chosen to create representations of some of the players using vintage dolls, as I enjoy the juxtaposition of what is traditionally considered to be a representation of not only female beauty and frailty, but of the expectations of what they should be and want for themselves.   Rarely do you find such a pure representation of feminism and empowerment as you do in modern roller derby.  Not only do they carry the responsibility of training themselves, keeping themselves healthy and achieving their competitive goals but they take on running the business end of such a large and complex operation.  It is not merely fishnets, lipstick and brute strength; it is business acumen, tenacity, creativity and know-how.  These ferocious amazons give of themselves in so many ways for the entertainment of the masses, but they are so much more than athletes & business women to me.  I find them to be patron saints in a woefully under-populated pantheon of female role models.

Britches N' Hose

Leann Crimes

Maulin' Monroe

Lady Fury

Demoness

 

Four Leaf Roller

Hildabeast

Suzy Ho'Maker

Ramb0 Samb0

Jennifer Smith

Hair baubles and general up-cycled shininess...

Necklace made with red coral and a vintage wooden fishing bob

hair clip made with vintage finding, a vintage button and a salvaged metal tassle

made from a pair of vintage rhinestone buttons

hair clips made from computer processors

made from wooden leaf finding, a paper flower and a vintage, lithographed tin butterfly

hair clips made from vintage bird brooches

bobby pins made from vintage, single earrings

bobby pins made with vintage Disney's The Black Hole V.I.N.C.E.N.T. charms

bobby pins made with vintage, fabric rose earrings and wooden leaf findings

bobby pin with vintage dogwood blossom pendant and wooden leaf finding

peacock earrings made with vintage deadstock pendants and sterling earwire

REtune Nashville starts THIS SATURDAY!

The charity auction and concert that kicks off the official start of the REtune Nashville project is this Saturday Oct. 23rd.
Below are some not-so-flattering pictures that I took of my piece before I turned it in.

Fanny's Choice VI

It's time for the Fall Fanny's Choice and I have LOADS of new items for sale.  Gorgeous dresses, fancy coats, skirts, capes, jackets, the list goes on and on!  I have fur, leather, velveteen, silks, and more...

I'll also be selling my upcycled jewelry as shown in the previous post, so come on out and see what the Nashville vintage world has to offer!

Fall 2010 Jewelry items

Flowers & Iron  $125

Yet again I have shirked my larger artistic responsibilities to play in my boxes of shinies.  I have reworked a couple of pre-existing pieces much more to my liking and made a few from scratch.  Please look them over and let me know what you think in the comments.  I'm pretty new to jewelry making over all, so I'm trying to learn as I go. 

I love Scotch! Scotchy-scotch-scotch! $60

I <3 Motorheads  $65

Guns Don't kill People, I Do $50

detail of the Junior NRA medal used in Guns Don't Kill People, I Do

Light as a Feather $60

Detail: This utilizes a vintage Coro brooch that is still intact so that it can be secured to your clothing if needed.

South of the Border Down Mexico Way  $65

Art Nouveau Waterfall $75

If you have any questions about the items used I will answer them as best I can.  Thanks for looking1

ReTune Nashville

I am extraordinarily honored to be participating in the ReTune Nashville project.  For those of you that haven't heard, ReTune is a non-profit formed to aid uninsured musicians who experienced losses during the flood.  "How do they plan to do this?" you may ask.  Well, by collecting ruined instruments from musicians all over Middle Tennessee, sanitizing them (that flood water was NASTY!) and redistributing them to local artist to turn into visual art pieces to be auctioned off.  I was lucky enough to be accepted to participate with the likes of Manuel (yes the fancy, rhinestone, cowboy suit guy), Jason Lascu,  & folk artist Bebo, as well as some personal favorite of mine, Jeff Bertrand & Jessica Hill!  This by no means a complete list of artists, but this is!  I am excited and more than a little bit daunted to be in the company of such well known and talented folks, here's hoping that I don't embarrass myself!
I am still hard at work on a piece entitled, "Shattered, but Unbroken" involving the remains of a mandolin, an octave of piano keys, some bass strings and some bits of a couple of violins.  While it was heartbreaking to sift through the rubble of other people's lives when selecting these items, seeing all of the potential and knowing that so many people were lining up to help made my heart swell with pride!  I love this town, it's rich musical history and our volunteer spirit!
Speaking of volunteer spirit, ReTune could use everyone's help spreading the word about their cause and the upcoming art auctions.  They're also still looking for sponsors for the event so if you or someone you know could help out in that capacity, please go here.  Tickets for the event have gone on sale, here, so go get you a few and come see what is sure to be a fantastic night of live performance and gorgeous art for a fabulous cause.

To give you a taste, the video  below is from artist Randy Purcell who has made some truly stunning pieces of functional art!