It has been a whiiiiiiile since I've done any BearHunt-related writing.

So, it's about time! Lots of fun stuff has been going on at BearHunt lately. Some new developments:

• a new workspace! check it out:

• a new "about" section on the ole' Etsy shop...a wonderful new feature that Etsy has recently instituted! There you'll find a bit more about the BearHunt story, & some fun pictures too! Check it out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/BearHunt/about
• a whole new TYPE of jewelry altogether! BearHunt now has earrings! I'd love to know what you think about them!

That's about it for now! Slowly but surely, there are a few more views on the Etsy shop, a few more "likes" on Facebook, and a few more ideas bouncing around in my brain! 

So...further up & further in!

Phew!

It has been QUITE a week for Bear Hunt's production team...more commonly known as me, Mom, & Dad. It has definitely been a week to live out that whole "collaborative art" thing that I discussed in my last post.

Thanks to the tireless efforts and encouragement of my friends and family, I feel ready and excited for tomorrow's big Indie Arts & Music Festival (if you are somehow reading this and haven't already heard about it on Facebook, Twitter, bearhunt.etsy.com, or instagram...I congratulate you for being one of the few human beings who lives successfully off the grid). Just as a reminder/shameless plug, it's tomorrow from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at 4523 Woodlawn (also known as The Shoppes on Woodlawn - located in the Hillcrest neighborhood).

One more note that has popped into my tired brain...

How do you, as a person who creates, put a price on what you've created? I don't mean this in an immodest way, as if my art cannot be bought (ha!), but in an honestly inquisitive sort of way. I found it VERY difficult - how can I be appropriately humble about what I've created, in tune with the market, and aware of the proper value of my time/work/creativity?

Any thoughts are welcome. Like, seriously. Please. Because there's a reason I'm writing this at 4 a.m. - pricing was DIFFICULT!

Thank you :)

you + me = better art.

One of the ideas that so often circles around the artistic brain is collaboration. It's a sort of communal buzz word, I think.

In my work of late, I have been privileged enough to experience a TON of collaboration. In fact, I would say it's a cornerstone of my work. It's almost unfailingly true that my ideas are benefitted by the input of another. And yet, this collaboration is a kind of double-edged sword.

There is something in us that so desires partnership with other people in our art. But there is another side of us that feels invalidated if anyone else has something to do with our work. I think the former is the "higher road" - that's the stance I'm trying to take, anyway. I know why the latter fact springs up in me: pride. Fear that I'm not a "real" artist. Desire for complete (and bitter) autonomy. Insecurity about what I can - or cannot - create on my own.

Collaboration is certainly my higher road. It makes for "higher art"...and it makes for a better me.

My favorite days are the ones where I'm outside with my drill press, thinking about what's next in the world of bear hunt...and I hear my dad come tromping down the stairs to help me. 

new listing!

A new listing tonight - hooray!

Hopefully this will be the first of many rings to be listed! Check it out, and feel free to respond...if that means buying, great! If that means commenting, also great! If that means criticizing...eh. Just kidding!! Constructive criticism is always welcome :)

http://www.etsy.com/listing/95851535/elvis-ring

Welcome to the BearHunt blog!

Hello lovely friends!

This is just a little blog for thoughts on art, on "making", on inspiration...and, obviously, on BearHunt!

Last weekend, I was privileged enough to view the Menil collection (menil.org) in downtown Houston - wow, wow, wow! Have you ever experienced a place that makes you feel more like a soul than a body? That's a rare feeling in our world - so often I find my culture (and, more often than I'd like to admit, myself) consumed with notions of image, appearance, and the worth thereof. To walk into a place and feel the "soul" of me begin to overpower the "body" of me is a life-giving experience.

I feel inspired....but still working out how to bridge the gap between inspiration and process in my art.

I found myself particularly inspired by the surrealist and modern wings of the collection. There was one particular surrealist painting that was like a storm of color - purples, blues, pinks, blacks. What appealed to me most was the random sense of beauty. It was so easy - so effortless - so like the beauty we see in nature. And there were several modern pieces that struck me - HUGE, solid panels of color that existed so boldly, so shamelessly, so staunchly. Those translate more readily to my own process - look for rings inspired by them soon!

A few final thoughts:

What is it about museums that make us whisper?
What is it about a ringing cellphone in a theater that seems so unholy?
What is it about art that reminds us we are primarily souls?