New Website!

For anyone who still checks this, I've moved to a new website below:

http://kimberlyshaffer.wixsite.com/home

Feel free to browse around there, and drop me a line!

- K.

Sleeping on Planes

I'm getting back into tablet drawing and it feels good. Currently working 2.5 jobs, and definitely need the art for balance. 

Even though the blinding-white noise on airplanes makes it hard to sleep, I seriously miss traveling right now. 

Buggy Origami

This weekend I volunteered at a children's museum for a Halloween event teaching kids about all of the good and "bad" bugs out there!

For my station, I taught kids how to make origami true bugs. This is the "sucking" bug group which includes bed bugs, water bugs, cicadas, and garden pests such as leafhoppers and aphids.

Along with a fun chance to interact with all sorts of kids in Halloween costumes (Buzz Lightyears and vampires abounded!), this was great drawing practice.

I wrote and illustrated all of the materials distributed in my class, including this bookmark. I printed it out in neon cardstock, as well as white for the littlest tots to color in lieu of folding origami.

And as my first (super fun!) origami instruction project, I drafted up the pages below, too.

Feel free to print out (download links below images) and use as you like!

Bookmark 
(download)

Origami True Bug Instructions

(download)

True buggy bugs and other art projects

A sketch.

Lately I've been buuusy! School's done, and work is piling up. I'm buckling down for the winter but in spare moments working on:

- enamel earrings (I have a kiln, hallelujah!)

- leatherwork (tooling buttery smooth leather is a dream)

- a little bit of digital illustration for biology outreach programs (e.g. a "bad bug" exhibit for Halloween)

and

- large ceramic bowls for Empty Bowls, a charity event for fighting hunger.

I'm turning 100 pounds of porcelain into giant blue-and-white illustrated bowls.

Illustrations will likely involve monsters, robots, and bugs.

Look for progress pictures soon. 

:)

Quail

If you're lucky out here, you can spot these whizzing across the road in single file, or hear them cawing to each other across the mountains. 

Also, I am a fan of birds with bouncy hats like these.

Cute Insects

Starting to sketch out native Arizonan flora and fauna to connect with my roots here.

Return for Art and Science

It's been a long time.. but I'm excited to be back!

The past 9 months have been filled with hard work in graduate school, and in 2 weeks I'll be receiving a business master's degree!! So excited to graduate, and put all that knowledge to good use.

Bonus illustration: sketched this based on a vintage photograph of a geisha, with extra botanical details added in for good measure.

More, mostly digital illustrations to come!

Woodburning and Music

Update: NEW ALBUM! 


This is a multi-year collaboration between my friend Mike Granger, myself and several Austinites. Give it a listen!

http://rcpz.bandcamp.com/album/practical-knowledge

----------------------------------

Thanks to my friends Chris and Melissa, I am the proud owner of a woodburning tool!

 I've picked it up fairly easily-- it writes like a pen and makes my workroom smell like winter. Which makes a nice escape because this time of year in Phoenix, you step outside and instantly burst into flames. If anything, it's a good reminder to wear sunblock.

Here we go..

Burning in the outline:

(the zombie is for a different project)

And filled with acrylic glazes:

 Pine panels, acrylic, wood stain. 3.5 x 5.5"

Inspiration: the blinking lights atop South Mountain that I see from my backyard)

like here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_greatest/6300617229/in/photostream/

Another outline:

And more color:

In conclusion, I sort of love woodburning. Expect to see more in future posts.

And don't forget to pick up some nifty new music here:

http://rcpz.bandcamp.com/album/practical-knowledge

Thanks!

--Kim--

Ptarmigan Party Pendant

It's been a whirlwind month, filled with lots of goodbyes (friends leaving for the summer), plenty of work, and lots of plans for more art collaborations here in Phoenix!

Here's one of the last pieces I was able to finish before the end of my spring jewelry class.

It's a copper and leather pendant which doubles as a bottle opener for my friend Peter, scientist-artist-musician extraordinaire who is researching ants with the Smithsonian this summer in Panama. He's the guy behind this band which you should definitely listen to: http://ptarmigan.bandcamp.com/

My parting gift:

Leather and copper; acid-etched, pierced, domed, soldered, with patina.

and Peter:

Party pendants are serious business.

And so is his music. Seriously, check it out. I don't know one person who doesn't love the stuff.

http://ptarmigan.bandcamp.com/

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'NSex Opening Night

At long last, here are photos from 

the collaborative art and science show I helped with earlier this year.

Next Wednesday we will be attending a reception at the Arizona Science Center

 to celebrate the first annual Arizona Science and Technology Festival!

All pieces were hand-formed with paperclay, underglaze, and low-fire clear glaze. After firing, they were carefully mounted and hung onto a scaffold we build from salvaged desert wood.

(one of the informational blurbs we mounted on stands and placed around the sculpture)

The artist-scientist-sculptors:

 Left to right: Joshua Gibson, Kimberly Shaffer, Morgan MacCallum, David Bradley, Brett Seymoure (top), Lisa Taylor (bottom), and Peter Marting

Silverwork. 2

Rings, sterling silver, 2012.

Clockwise from top left:

1. Saint-Exupéry inspired

2. Mobius

3. Hammered

4. Lost wax cast

Excuse the dry hands, I've been pulling weeds and gardening in the heat a whole lot recently!

Silverwork. 1

Hand-formed and pierced ring, sterling silver. 2012.

Simple.

Sterling silver, gold hexagonal finding. 2012.

This one's from earlier in the spring -- I like the contours of the abdomen and wings!

Pen, 4x5"

Experiments in Jewelry: Part 1

I've decided to try out jewelry-making this year and am loving it!

 It encompasses so many things I like about art -- complete creative freedom and learning new, exciting processes. This year I've taken several classes and learned acid-etching, lost-wax casting, piercing, and a tiny bit of enameling.

 The chemistry and physics (acid and fire!) and preciseness of it all, as well as the potential for lovely handmade gifts, have me hooked.

To make sure I have the basics of assembly down, I've been making necklaces for family and friends. I can definitely use as much practice as possible with wire-wrapping, coordinating colors, attaching clasps and spacers and clamps. 

Here's one necklace made for a cousin, using glass beads, vintage wood beads, and brass:

I'm really looking forward to using my own images in jewelry, though. Remember the paper cut-out of the rabbit I did in January? (it's below)

The original is large -- about 10 inches long -- and very delicate. It's been tucked away into a drawer where the battering of life can't reach it.

But I can still enjoy the image! After a bit of digital updating to shrink it down to a 1-inch square then acid-etching it into copper, I now have a rabbit pendant.

It should last for ages without breaking!

In the months to come, I'll be experimenting much more with acid-etching, more elaborate piercing and enameling, and forming pieces into three dimensions by hammering, soldering, and bending.

I'll have to strike a balance between starry-eyed wonder at all the possibilities, and the elbow grease and band-aids inevitably involved when sanding, sawing, and filing.. 

For the bug-lovers: I'm still working on ant research on the side, and plan to use plenty of insect images in my jewelry work, too!

A cidada pendant, for good measure:

Until later,

Kim

(And a song for the send-off: the Canadian band Little Scream has a lovely piece titled "Heron and the Fox" here: http://www.myspace.com/officiallittlescream)

Sound and Light

Two porcelain pieces..

Flower bell. Porcelain, copper, coral bead. 2012

Luminaria. Hand thrown and carved porcelain. 2011.

The candle-holder holds one comfortably nested tea light, and when it does, the whole thing glows gently and sends flickering dots onto the walls. 

The first was a gift to a friend, but I couldn't bear to part with the second. It's still one of my favorite pieces!

Familia

Here is a little family of porcelain bells that I pulled from the kiln today. 

The ringers (also porcelain) will be hung from the inside. From the test clinks I think they will sound quite nice!

Bells, Coleman porcelain, 2012.

More papercuts -- desert to deep sea

A few more papercuts before I head out:

a California poppy

Papercut, 2011.

and a lantern fish:

Papercut, 2011.

The poppy was technically never finished, but I much prefer it in this state, blossoming out of a plain sheet of computer paper. 

The lantern fish I sliced from a sheet of notebook paper -- appropriately college ruled, but empty. I've thought of using sheets of my actual notes for things like this. But would that be offensive? I've always held education sacred...

Papercuts and Watercolors

I've been working on a number of new pieces recently, including the following little papercuts and watercolors. All of them are six by six inches, to fit the theme of the annual 6x6 fundraising exhibit of the Eye Lounge in downtown Phoenix (March 16 to 18). 

This week I'm leaving for Asia for about a month, but will still be making art there, as well as hiking about, spending time with family, and consuming large amounts of amazing Taiwanese food. I can't wait!

For your listening pleasure: Alexis Harte's new album 6 Spoons of Honey. I especially like "Please Come Out" and the fact that the cover has a bee on it. 

Salvador the bird says:

Enjoy!

Papercut, 6x6.

Papercut with colored card inserts, 6x6.

Pen and ink, watercolors, 6x6.

Watercolors, 6x6. Inspired by road trips (L) and apical meristems (R).

'N-Sex Exhibit Opening: Success!

On Friday evening, more than 230 Phoenicians came 

to the opening of our ceramic insect exhibit at the Eye Lounge!

Here's the flyer in case you're looking to visit during the 1-month exhibit (until Feb. 15). 

We're expecting many more visitors on February 3, which as a First Friday brings thousands of people through local art galleries in single night.

A huge thank-you to all of our supporters, 

a slew of familiar faces from Arizona State University's School of Life Sciences, 

Social Insect Research Group, and School of Art. 

And much gratitude to David Bradley, 

Phoenix ceramic instructor, sculptor, and Eye Lounge member 

who initiated this entire project, contributed all of the raw materials, 

and organized the artist-scientist collaborations!

Please do visit if you get a chance. I'll post more pictures,

but it's definitely better in person!

--Kim