One of our guests this past weekend was René Roberts, seen above, wearing Now she is the moon. René is a fellow artist and collector. She has two of my brooches, from a one person show I did at Art and Soul Gallery, in Mill Valley, in 1995. I was delighted to see her, and to see "my" brooch. We met during the opening of California Metals North, where we both had work. I don't know if this is still the case, but in the 90's it was unusual for jewelry galleries to tell you the name of collectors, so work often disappeared when it was sold. In theory the gallery could contact the collector later, to borrow work back for a show or photos. But some didn't seem to keep much paperwork, and of course galleries close over time, some much quicker than others. I don't know if any of this has changed, but it's wonderful to see a favorite piece, one that I thought I would never see again.
This incredible object is René's "Warming Trends" from the Metal Works North show. It is electroformed, a technique I admire, think of as mysterious, and know very little about. But searching on the web for René I found several discussion groups where she was mentioned as a master.
Another favorite image from this past weekend. So many people like trying on the spectacles, I'm going to make a flickr gallery when I have time to go through all the photos.
