Summer Party Sunday August 27, 2023

an illustration of a metal arts educator is juggling tools (calipers, pliers, hammer & graver) in this Honoring Local Educators summer party announcement

FREE Summer Party!

Join us as we celebrate
local metal artist educators
past and present

ALL MEMBERS ARE WELCOME TO BRING FRIENDS
&
PEOPLE DO NOT NEED TO BE A MEMBER TO ATTEND

The event is outside in the gardens of Sierra Azul Nursery

Come say thank you to your favorite
educators, assistants, workshop leaders, and helpers.

The monthly board meeting will happen on-site immediately before the party (12 – 1 pm)
We welcome all to attend and participate.

We look forward to seeing each other, catching up, announcing new events, honoring our local metal arts educators, viewing the Links Project plus any new links you bring, having lunch and cake, and answering any and all questions about the guild.

Bring your own picnic chair(s). Some shade is available at our picnic/meeting site. Bring a hat and sunscreen if you’d like to walk the gardens.

ABOUT the POTLUCK

Bring a potluck dish to share with serving utensil(s).

BYOB (bring your own beverage)

You are welcome to attend and partake without bringing a dish.

Please label your dish if you have made a special type (vegan, vegetarian, kosher, gluten-free, paleo, etc.) so others know they can partake. If a dish includes nuts or shellfish, please label the dish accordingly. You may use blue tape and a marker to label the dish.

The guild will provide eating utensils, paper plates, napkins, and a cake.

Sun August 27th 1 – 4 pm
Sierra Azul Nursery
2660 E. Lake Ave, Watsonville, CA 95076
Hwy 152 across from the Fairgrounds

Pajaro Valley Art’s yearly show, Sculpture IS, will be in full swing.
Enjoy the FREE exhibit and the beautiful demonstration gardens
over Sierra Azul’s acreage. Always very impressive! 

composite image with garden overview in the background, a sculpture by Jenni Ward in the left forground, the title of the exhibit, and Sierra Azul Nursery and Garden logo

The Art of the Chisel: Chasing Workshop

Douglas Pryor and the stainless steel elephant he created looming behind him in this artist portrait

Feb 4 – 6, 2022
9 am – 5:30 pm
@ Creator Haven in Watsonville, CA

Taught in Person by Douglas Pryor

Lion piece made by Douglas Pryor

REGISTRATION IS FULL FOR THE DOUGLAS PRYOR CHASING WORKSHOP. Check your email for how to be added to a waiting list

3 day Intro to Chasing Class: The art of the chisel:

In this 3 day course we’ll be focusing on the fundamentals of chisel technique, hammer control, pitch management, and how to use design to compliment our medium. You will have the option of what your project will be after a short warm up project.

The warm up project allows us to practice with the pitch and all the tooling provided. Afterwards we will have time for a second more challenging project.

Depending on skill and comfort level I will have suggestions with more guidance to test the techniques provided in the workshop. For those who feel more comfortable with their own drawing skill set who have their own design/drawing in mind I am happy to help guide you in how we can best bring it to life in the metal. It helps to choose something that will fit in the palm of your hand, something attainable within our time constraints.

This course is short and comprehensive, run at very accommodating speed by experienced hosts. Join us for some creativity and laughs, brighten your world with your own good works.

You must be an MBMAG member to take this workshop. Everyone is welcome to join!

About the Artist

Douglas Pryor

Workshop Instructor Douglas Pryor

Douglas Pryor is a raising and chasing artist located in northern California. He began sculpting in sheet metal in 2005 by creating fully articulated steel suits of armor for full contact sports, which in fact was how he paid for college. Frustrated with the limited detail and relief that shaping stakes could provide, he began to incorporate sculpting with pitch in 2013 and felt like he had found what he had been missing. As he continues to build upon his technical ability, he enjoys making more room for narrative with his work. Each piece is an opportunity to sate curiosity and a chance to build a bridge to others in a meaningful way.

Douglas Pryor Artist Statement

As a method-driven artist, I use my compositions to explore ways to push the limitations of a single piece of material with only human power and hand tools. I take particular delight in pursuing challenging and realistic detail in high-relief metal sculpture. I use my work to explore the nuanced and evolving relationship between humans and the natural world, and the ways that we connect with ourselves and each other.

Visit DouglasPryor.com to learn more about the artist

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2022 Winter Party and General Meeting

Please join us via Zoom

See the flyer below for more information

We will be announcing new workshops and sharing what we all have been doing since we last met. Enjoy the special presentation by guest artist Douglas Pryor!

Watch your email for the zoom link

Sunday January 23, 2022

Agenda:
12:30 pm Board meeting – all members are welcome to sign in to participate & watch
1:00 pm General meeting with announcements
1:30 pm Special guest speaker Douglas Pryor

Special Guest Speaker Douglas Pryor

Douglas Pryor is a raising and chasing artist located in northern California. He began sculpting in sheet metal in 2005 by creating fully articulated steel suits of armor for full contact sports, which in fact was how he paid for college. Frustrated with the limited detail and relief that shaping stakes could provide, he began to incorporate sculpting with pitch in 2013 and felt like he had found what he had been missing. As he continues to build upon his technical ability, he enjoys making more room for narrative with his work. Each piece is an opportunity to sate curiosity and a chance to build a bridge to others in a meaningful way.

Douglas Pryor Artist Statement

As a method-driven artist, I use my compositions to explore ways to push the limitations of a single piece of material with only human power and hand tools. I take particular delight in pursuing challenging and realistic detail in high-relief metal sculpture. I use my work to explore the nuanced and evolving relationship between humans and the natural world, and the ways that we connect with ourselves and each other.

We hope to see you there!

The February 2022 DOUGLAS PRYOR WORKSHOP IS FULL
Check your email for how to be added to a waiting list

3 day Intro to Chasing Class: The art of the chisel:

In this 3 day course we’ll be focusing on the fundamentals of chisel technique, hammer control, pitch management, and how to use design to compliment our medium. You will have the option of what your project will be after a short warm up project.

The warm up project allows us to practice with the pitch and all the tooling provided. Afterwards we will have time for a second more challenging project. Depending on skill and comfort level I will have suggestions with more guidance to test the techniques provided in the workshop. For those who feel more comfortable with their own drawing skillset who have their own design/drawing in mind I am happy to help guide you in how we can best bring it to life in the metal. It helps to choose something that will fit in the palm of your hand, something attainable within our time constraints.
This course is short and comprehensive, run at very accommodating speed by experienced hosts. Join us for some creativity and laughs, brighten your world with your own good works.

Visit DouglasPryor.com to learn more about the artist

Summer Party Sunday August 21, 2022

flyer with a sun, a blue sky, and details of the summer party 2022

Please join us for our Summer BYOL (Bring Your Own Lunch) Party!

See below for more information

Pajaro Valley Art Center’s yearly show, Sculpture Is, will be in full swing, as well as the beautiful demonstration gardens over Sierra Azul’s acreage. Always very impressive! 

With the pandemic, we are suggesting wearing a mask if you’d like to keep yourself or others safe.

Bring your own lunch, plates, utensils and picnic chair

We’ll be having the monthly board meeting immediately before the party (12 – 1 pm) and we welcome all to attend and participate

We will be sharing what we all have been doing the last year and a half, there’s a Summer Swap, and there’s a Summer-to-Winter Re-Create. We look forward to seeing each other (in person!), catching up and announcing new events, having lunch, ….

Do you have a piece of jewelry or sculpture on hand that you’d like to swap out for a piece by another guild member? Then check out our SUMMER SWAP

Is there a sad half-finished piece that has been staring at you from your bench waiting and longing to be finished?  You pick it up, turn it over and put it down again.  You know it has life and wants to be whole. The SUMMER TO WINTER RE-CREATE is for you.

SUMMER SWAP

Bring a piece of jewelry or sculpture to the Summer Party that you are willing to swap out. If you bring one, you will go home with one.  We will number the items and have people pick a number ‘out of a hat.’  You will go home with the metal art piece that corresponds to the number picked!

SUMMER TO WINTER RE-CREATE

Bring an unfinished piece to the MBMAG Summer party. If you bring an unfinished metal art piece you take home a different piece to finish.  How it works: Each piece will be given a number. A fellow metal artist member will pull a number ‘out of the hat’ then take the corresponding piece home and finish it. The finished pieces will be brought to the Winter Party and returned to the original artists. At the Winter Party the pieces will be displayed for all to see, and the original owners can don their new piece of jewelry!

Let the creative juices flow.
Your Challenge Team,
Annette Nemes and Toni Danzig

Date: Sunday August 21, 2022 from 1 to 4 pm
Location: 2660 E. Lake Ave (Hwy 152 across from the Fairgrounds), Watsonville, CA 95076

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR METAL ART FEAT. GEORGE POST

Photography for Metal Arts seminar with professional Craft Photographer George Post

Live online via Zoom

The first session of our new series will cover best known practices for metal art photography presented by professional craft photographer George Post

Free to members

Date: Sunday, June 13, 2021
Time: 2:00 pm PST
Free to members
Check your email for the Zoom link


ABOUT GEORGE POST:

George Post is a freelance photographer, based in the San Francisco Bay Area with a client base of individual artists and craftspeople who work in a variety of 2D and 3D media. Many of them sell their creations on the craft-fair circuit, using George’s photographs of their work to jury into the more prestigious shows throughout America. George does some purely commercial photography as well.

A Life Member of ASMP, the American Society of Media Photographers, George also enjoys photography for his own artistic expression. He has a special fondness for colorful, unusual subject matter, and his archives include an eclectic mix of landscapes, cityscapes, astronomical, meteorological, geological, and biological images.

TENTATIVE WORKSHOP OUTLINE

Types of subject & Orientation

  • Hanging – Pendants, Necklaces, Earrings (Post vs. Wire, Fishing Line Frame)
  • Tabletop – 3d Objects, Jewelry with camera on tripod
  • Copy Stand

Lighting

  • Hot
  • LED
  • Flash
  • Polarization

Backgrounds

  • Paper including Gradient
  • Slate, Stone, Glass
  • Formica, Acrylic, Duralar
  • Obtaining Total White

White Balance

  • Gray Card, Cube, etc
  • Camera Menu
  • Custom White Balance
  • Correcting with Software

Arrangement and Composition

  • Optimal camera angle
  • Positioning Jewelry – Skewer, Rubber-tipped tool, Squeeze Bulb
  • Earrings: Side-by-Side vs. Staggered
  • Groups & Ensembles
  • Hidden Props, Putty & Wax
  • Framing – Tight vs Loose, Square Crop, Stretching Rectangular to Square

Shoot-to-Memory-Card vs. Tethering

Digital Image Processing

  • Photoshop and ACR
  • Lightroom
  • TIFF vs JPEG
  • Special Sizing & Formats (for jurying & online sales)

Hiring a Pro

  • Recommendations & Word of Mouth, Google, Ads
  • Hourly Rate
  • Rights Granted