NEW WORK: ARC + AD IDEM Pendant

ARC + AD IDEM 3-piece pendant on silver wire with magnetic closure.

Studio Visit: Dominique Bereiter

Last week, I had the great fortune of a visit from the jewelry artist Dominique Bereiter. Dominique has been following my work for some time, and invited me last spring to speak at the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG), where I had a wonderful time.

Dominique and a friend visiting from Baltimore voraciously and joyfully descended upon the studio and wanted to see and know about everything in it. We had a great conversation about the genius of primitive man and my recent experiments with shou sugi ban, the Japanese wood burning technique I recently blogged about.

Dominique's lively eyes lit upon a newly finished piece: a necklace made with AD IDEM (Norm Sartorius) wood and a piece of cold bent hickory. I was able to get a couple of pictures before she and her friend waltzed off to continue their Chicago artist touring.

I'll be working on this iteration of the collection, and will share as I finish more pieces. I love the marriage of the rough, colorful, hand-worked chunks, to the sleek, cool hickory. 

And I'll look forward to seeing Dominique at the next Baltimore American Craft Council show! 

In the meantime, check out her beautiful work. 

Shou Sugi Ban: Japanese Wood Burning Technique

Shou Sugi Ban is a simple, beautiful wood burning technique designed to naturally preserved wood and historically used in Japan for wood siding. 

Wood begins raw, as with the in-progress rings below:

Then you apply flame with a torch, clean and sand the wood as desired, and treat it with linseed oil. I like to use lacquer, sometimes, too, to seal the ring and reduce the lovely but agressive burnt-wood smell. 

Here's a before-and-after:

And the final product:

I like using Shou Sugi Ban because it's a natural finish, and one that mimics the self-preservation of a tree in a forest fire: it's the last line of defense, and the particular way the wood burns creates a barrier between the flames and green, live wood. 

It's this kind of natural strength I like to honor in my work, through my materials and processing, whenever I can. 

This particular ring is part of the AD IDEM series. 

Want to translate this technique into a home project? Check out this Apartment Therapy tutorial!

Planning for the American Craft Exposition (ACE) 2014

I love the American Craft Exposition, because it gives me a local opportunity to connect with artists from all over the country. So much of a show is talking to other artists, getting ideas, feeling dynamic.

And the ACE show is also awesome, because proceeds support breast and ovarian cancer research and care at the NorthShore University HealthSystem. And doing anything to contribute to support a cause like that feels really important.

Though the show isn't for another few weeks -- August 22 to 24 -- I'm already preparing for what's sure to be a great event: updating the catalog, making new statement pieces, and hauling out the display gear.

Below, find some shot of in-progress work. Then, come visit me at ACE to see the finished product!

The details:

American Craft Exposition
Open to the Public

August 22 to 24, 2014

The Henry Crown Sports Pavilion Northwestern University
2311 N. Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208

Head to the site to purchase entry tickets. 

raw materials for the AD IDEM series

AD IDEM rings waiting to be worked

the edges removed to make the Oval Cuff
become a statement necklace in-progress

New AD IDEM Rings: Installment #3 - BURL Edition

Sometimes a tree grows in the regular way. And sometimes it grows a burl. For the most part, it happens in response to some kind of trauma: the tree's cells divide in a wild manner, making beautiful aberrations. Like humans, trees can emerge stronger after the slights of the world.

These new AD IDEM rings feature slices of burl: let's always have room in our lives to honor the special, the weird, the unexpected. As artmakers and as people we must open up to the world's possibilities!

New AD IDEM Rings: Installment #2

The oak tree stands
noble on the hill even in
cherry blossom time

(a haiku by Basho)

All AD IDEM, all the time, as of late. These three one-of-a-kind rings are made of hickory--the remnants of bent wood from my bracelets--inlaid with purpleheart and rosewood. 

These rings honor the joining, the ethics and honesty of woodworking. I look to the tradition of Japanese joinery, particularly: elements measured, cut, planed, and sanded in a precise manner. Here I'm celebrating the idea of this elegant function as minimalist adornment. 

New AD IDEM Rings: Installment #1

Lately in the studio I've been focusing on these one-of-a-kind AD IDEM rings, which incorporate the hand worked scrap of Norm Sartorius, who sends me boxes of same from time to time.

These rings rely on the idea of Norm's mark-making, of connecting our practices and honoring the material and the hand that makes the marks. 

Joan Didion said something surprisingly relevant:

"Writing nonfiction is more like sculpture, a matter of shaping the research into the finished thing. Novels are like paintings, specifically watercolors. Every stroke you put down you have to go with. Of course you can rewrite, but the original strokes are still there in the texture of the thing."

We are all makers, together, negotiating the physical world with the grandness of the abstract in tow...

A D I D E M

O F   T H E   S A M E   M I N D


I have always been the type of person who can pick up scraps and discarded materials and create something interesting with them. Since I was a child, I was carving swords and toys out of scrap wood and branches I found laying around.

Nothing has changed as I've grown. I love scavenging through old materials and scraps and creating something new! This has and will always be a very stimulating and fulfilling experience for me.

Every once in a while, I receive a contact from the brilliant wooden spoon artist, Norm Sartorius, asking if I'd like a shipment of scraps from his shop. Norm's work flips the concept of form and function on its head by taking a very functional object, the spoon and creating a piece of art out of it. After he is done carving, the spoon is now a decorative piece of fine art and craft. I like the idea of taking a simple thing we often take for granted and placing it on a pedestal. We need to do that every once in a while. Be aware of the objects that allow us to perform everyday tasks.

This idea also relates to the belief that objects that we use everyday should be simple and beautiful. I create lamps with this idea in mind. My lamp design plays on the same concept of form and function, as norm, however in a slightly different way. I always strive to create functional pieces that could easily be mistaken for sculpture. The difference is that I want the piece to be used as well as appreciated for their form.

I've been continuing the Ad Idem collection since 2011. The majority of the work is in the form of rings. I incorporate the discarded material that Norm shares with me. They become an homage to the minds ability to produce an unlimited number of ideas, thoughts and concepts and to the ones we actually take to heart. The whisps of consciousness that stay with us.

Here is the first of the Third Edition of the Ad Idem Collection. Thanks to Norm Sartorius.

See more pieces from this collection on my Facebook Page
http://www.normsartorius.com/