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

Irwin, Einstein, and Me

The other day on our Facebook page, we quoted the fine Robert Irwin bio Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees, by Lawrence Weschler. It's an endlessly giving book, and one that I highly recommend. 

"...color in nature is made up as much from texture as it is from the actual color itself. You have a color that’s made up of, say, fifty points of light, rather than on a painting, where it may be a single smear of color. Even in a pointillist painting, where you may be trying to approximate those fifty points of light, you’re never going to get the complexity and richness which you get here in nature."

© 2014 Robert Irwin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, via the Art Institute of Chicago

Of course, my work is very different than Robert Irwin's, who is known for conjoining a deep Zen-like singularity with materials that became newly available in mid-century California: molded plastics, spray paint, reflective surfaces, and the like. He learned, seeing that it was impossible to create painted work as true as nature, that he could work with light and space to create atmospheric experiences that reached far outside of of the materiality and physical footprint of the work.

There is a way in which I want my work to do the same thing: it is a magnification of the natural world, curated as a reminder. It's not an imitation of the natural world, nor representational one. Instead it is a talisman of the organic, a gesture towards returning to nature, a cue. 

Looking around our world, tables are square, and chairs hold right angles, paper is crisp enough to cut the skin. But none of the materials which made these objects began at 90 degrees. Rather, it is all a function of mechanization and convenience; when the Industrial Revolution came, we were suddenly able to mill large amounts of trees into uniform lumber. One product could be made same as the next product, each squared-off and ready to sell. 

Like Irwin, I use new technology to embrace the organic and primal. Where he uses plastics and mirrors to reference light and emotion, I use treated wood, to create tree-strong curves. We both use advancement to honor timelessness, and time passing, simultaneously. It's an exchange and a process that makes me think of Einstein (obviously), and his E = mc(2).

Matter can be transformed into energy. Energy can indeed be transformed into matter. These are the processes of art, and of life. We do the best we can to preserve and call attention to beauty and meaning. At times that calls for choices, the will of transformation. 

"The Cuff" in hickory. Click here to learn more. 

We must remember, there is no lost matter, and there is no lost beauty: we simply evolve and people and artists to understand ways to rediscover, to embolden, to honor. I reclaim wood, and shepherd it into a new life, preserving other matter for its own organic functions. 

The amount of earth that must be destroyed, the amount of matter that becomes immediately unusable, the amount of energy expended, for one ounce of gold: it's shocking. 

So I instead prefer to pair the old and the new, to find resource in what once seemed like waste, to make the transformations smooth and graceful and dignified, minimizing impact to bring my art into the world.

There are so many ways to do this! Let us do it, on our own terms, and collectively! We must celebrate it! We must account for our relationship to nature! We must resolve to care!

New work by Gustav Reyes

Working hard in the shop for the Ingrained show at the Patina Gallery and LOOT at MAD. Check out these designs I did using wood and titanium. Woods are mixed between Cherry, Walnut and Hickory.

Curious New Brooch Design

I've been in the shop preparing for some upcoming shows (see "On the Road Again" a few posts back for a list of shows). With these pieces I was exploring space and weight. They are pretty far from anything I've created before.

Materials used are Cherry, Walnut, Titanium and Stainless Steel. All handmade in Pilsen, Chicago at Gustav Reyes Studio.

Signature Series Two Piece Bracelet

This new design is a shift from the continuous wood pieces I often do. It is made of two pieces that snap together. I also experimented with a rough texture. 

New concept

I've started incorporating titanium sheeting into some bracelets. The texture on the bracelet to the left was created by running the piece through a press with sawdust on it.

A few of the pieces feature a pearl or garnet that appear to be busting through the metal. I like the effect of this.

Let me know what you think!

LOOKBOOK Nicole Polk

I find it very cool when appreciators of the work photograph themselves or the work and post it on social media sites. So cool in fact that I asked a few of them to create an informal LOOKBOOK. The first participant was Nicole Polk - I sent a few pieces to her in Hong Kong!

This is so awesome! I love the creative way of incorporating the jewelry.


You may also check out Nicole's blog post!
http://www.jellimama.com/2013/07/08/gustav-reyes/

Monkey Mind and a Life before Mind.

I try to be in tune with my physicality. During times of stress and upheaval it is difficult to do so, although, I'm realizing that it is the most important time to be connected. A few years back, I began researching the Toltecs, an ancient civilization. They believed that humans tend to have a "monkey mind" - a constant stream of consciousness that lacks direction. A monkey mind, leaves you at a stand still. 

Monkey dressed in the guise of the Aztec/Toltec god
Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl, the Wind God.

Monkey mind prevents our bodies from guiding us. Our biology, which I believe is also where God exists, is the 'life before mind'. Before mind we existed to create and to project our existence into the physical world. I believe that conformations of our modern existence has sabotaged us from following this innate, biological and even Godly desire.

Recently I had been spending many hours in thought with a furrowed brow, desperately searching for the answers. I was looking outside of myself. Then, one morning, I was somewhere between unconsciousness and consciousness (sleeping and being awake) when I had a realization, a calm feeling. I realized that because I was putting too much thought into it the issue, I was not allowing my own biology to guide me. 

It is hard to trust instincts that seem to be suppressed by almost everything we see and experience on a daily basis, however if you quiet your monkey mind, you will be free to enjoy your own biology and allow yourself to live a life before mind. 

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/

Ingrained at Patina Gallery

Allison and Ivan of Patina Gallery in Santa Fe, New mexico have been supporting my work for over 3 years! I am so grateful for their continued support and appreciation.

I am honored to be featured in my first show at Patina Gallery called "Ingrained" also featuring wood turning artist Liam Flynn. The show should be an incredible display of the ways in which wood can be formed and crafted.

I've been asked to create a collection of pieces from the Signature Collection. (Photos)

Are you in the Santa Fe area during October? The show opens on October 4 and runs until October 27.  Catch the details at patina-gallery.com.

New Brooch Design by Gustav Reyes

This month I have some free shop time since I don't have any shows! I'm excited to go in different directions with the work. Check out the new brooch.

When Form Functions by Gustav Reyes

Modern forms give way to impeccable functionality in the collection of bent wood jewelry by Gustav Reyes. Reyes' handmade pieces exemplify subtle sophistication. 

Commercial by Flashpoint Academy Students

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2FK1C_jy50

Form & Function

I'm coming out of a short period of creators block and really getting into the rhythm. Pieces like this are satisfying. Not only is this piece beautiful and elegant, but also maintains a perfect balance of form and function.

The old design adage - KIS(S): Keep It Simple (Stupid)

Smithsonian Craft Bound

The Smithsonian Craft Show is coming up at the end of this month in Washington DC. Until then, I'll be in the shop. Check out the new design I developed today. SmithsonianCraftShow.org

Fashion Photoshoot featuring my work!

Check out this fresh photos for a fashion spread in DList Magazine out in Seattle! Stylist Jenascia Chakos has incorporated my work in the past but she really highlighted it in this shoot! She made the work come to life! Thanks to all who collaborated!

Coming Full Circle with Dark Rye

Coming Full Circle from Dark Rye on Vimeo.

I've never felt like more of a rockstar than during this project with Dark Rye - an online magazine and division of Whole Foods.

In early October, I was whisked away to Brooklyn to enjoy a beautiful evening of amazing food, drinks and the coolest people. The festivities were followed by four days of intense filming for a video that highlights my company Simply Wood Rings and how I became a wood jeweler.  

The experience was rewarding in many ways. I feel extremely honored to have my art acknowledged by creative and thoughtful people. (ie. Caitlin and Kelly of Dark Rye - Thank you!). Each of us came from different perspectives but are working towards the same fundamental existence. 

An existence where our passions are an integral part of our lives. As a society we've moved so far away from creating our own existence. We are shuffled into a routine that doesn't enrich our lives, but only feeds the machine. I have been there in my life and now I see the importance of rejecting those ideas of how we should live and live in a way that feeds the soul. 

Below are a few examples of the salvaged wood rings I have created over the years. I incorporate found materials as a way of giving new life to discarded objects and imbedding meaning into each ring I create. I've used wood from such things as xylophone keys, baseball bats, childhood swings and dino bone.

Available at SimplyWoodRings.com

Visit 

DarkRye.com

SimplyWoodRings.com

GustavReyes.com