Sewing Machine Collection

This is my latest fun project, repairing two antique Singer sewing machines.  I have always loved sewing machines, since I was a kid.  I have my Mom's machine, a Kenmore, two Singer and two more machines that I will show images of below.  I don't sew with the machines but am intrigued with the machines themselves and how they work.  The two Singer machines sew beautifully after I have been working with them. They run very smoothly and quiet.

This is the machine that kicked off my love for these things.  It is the Ambassador and is nothing special except for the fact that it belonged to my late Mother and I watched her sew with it.  Do the sounds, smells and memories of this machine create my fascination?  Or, was I already fascinated upon arrival and was only recognizing a part of me? 

This machine is a clone machine that was made after World War II.  Parts of the machine were made in Japan by workers and industries that once made armaments.  The machine is called the Sew-matic and looks to be a clone of one of the Singer machines.  

The label on the machine states 
De Luxe Sewing Machine 
Made in Japan.

The Model P-1 machine was sold under the J.C. Penny brand name Penncrest.  It is a three/fourths machine that would be a good starter machine for someone learning to sew.  I had hoped my kids would be interested in sewing machines, but no luck.  The machine works great and the sides fold up to form the case enclosure.  

Next is the Kenmore, complete with its wooden cabinet.  I just fell in love with the aesthetics of this machine.  Despite the stiffness of the lines on the body, it nevertheless embodies a straightforward honesty in it's design.  The stiffness conveyed without ambiguity that the machine meant business and could carry out that business of sewing for as long as needed.  The machine works perfectly and came with a collection of attachments.  

This is the Singer Featherweight, and it has it's own large table that was especially designed for the machine.  What can you say?  This is certainly one of the most adorable machines ever.  The Featherweight does not do fancy stitchery, but what it does do is sew flawlessly.  

The last machine in my collection is the Singer 201-2.  This is a brute of a machine whose appearance belies that fact.  From sheer fabric to leather, the machine can sew on almost anything.  It is soooooo smooth!  Working on this machine is almost tantamount to working on a watch mechanism.  There is a very high level of craftsmanship evident in all of its components.  I will be using this machine to sew projects for my VW Westfalia Vanagon.  I cannot wait!  So, I won't.

Happy New Year!

Today I received an e-mail from Karen, who handles the office here at Charles Pinckney Designs.  She also from time to time advises me on a variety of things.  As many of you already know, I like to present my supporters with what I call my spiel when a piece of mine is collected. That is, if time allows, sometimes there's just not time.  Anyway, the way it goes is that I take your hand in mine and look at you while saying this:

I thank you for investing in me and my future works.  I just wanted to take a brief moment to tell you how sincerely I do appreciate you.  I know that you enjoy my work and for that I am grateful.  I, however, also know that neither you nor anyone else is in 'need' of anything that I make (this is not food) to breathe one more second in this world.  So, I do appreciate you very much. 

Well, today Karen sent me a version of my spiel that she had tweaked.

This is how she tweaked it.

I want to take a moment to tell you how sincerely I appreciate you and to thank you for your patronage.  I know that you enjoy my work and for that I am grateful.  However, I also know that neither you nor anyone else is in 'dire need' of anything that I make to survive, except in the regard that art feeds our soul and stimulates our imagination.  I wish you the very best for the coming New Year and hope that I see you once again in the future.  

My reaction after reading it was that it's not my voice.  I would not say the rest of the sentence after the word 'survive'.  Not that I disagree with the thought.  It's just that to my way of thinking that part of that sentence is me making a case for why you or anyone should 'buy' my work.  If a patron wishes to express that sentiment then wonderful, I can embrace that.  It is not appropriate, though, for me to tell anyone why they should buy my work.  I do believe that Art feeds the soul and stimulates our imagination. To tell you that my art does that crosses a boundary and enters a realm that I believe belongs solely to the viewer of the art, not the maker.  It is for the viewer to decide what Art feeds their soul or stimulates their imagination.  It's just not how I'm wired.  Anyway, I thought you all might enjoy a peek into some of the perspectives that I feel shape the artist that in turn shapes the work.

Thank you for your time.  If you have been, thank you for reading.  

Comments are always welcome!      Charles

EMMA Collaboration 2014

The first week of August I attended the EMMA International Collaboration that is held every two years in Saskatchewan, Canada.  This was my second EMMA.  Only one hundred artists from around the world are invited to come together to work in collaboration, teaching one another new skills and sharing creatively in the fabrication of art objects.  At the end of the session an auction is held at the Saskatchewan Craft Council where the objects are sold to patrons in order to fund the next event.

Affectionately known as 'Emma', this biennial weeklong residency takes place in the heart of the Boreal Forests of Northern Saskatchewan. 

Artists are challenged to step outside their usual practice to explore different media, techniques and subject matter.  Professional artists skilled in working with wood, blacksmithing, metal fabrication, forging, painting, fabric, leather, bark, stone and other media are invited.  The artists move around the group to work with each other, asking someone to add something interesting to a project or asking another how to solve a problem with an unfamiliar medium.   New techniques, ideas and inspiration are shared throughout the week.

This year one of my projects was to collaborate with the team that made this clock.  My contribution was to make the pendulum from telescoping brass and copper tubing and an old 1920's pre-vinyl record made from wood fiber and other material that I cut and carved to shape.  The record was at least 1/4^th inch thick, very different from the vinyl records we are more familiar with now.  I think the name of the record was 'Good Bye Sunshine Hello Moon' before the label was removed.  

I worked on several other projects, as well, but we were so busy that I didn't take any photos.   It was especially hectic at the end of the week as we tried to get our work completed.  

These are the Blacksmiths forging a relief onto some hot iron for a table that was completed later. Great teamwork! Timing was critical. These guys are from Great Britain, New Zealand, Hawaii, Saskatoon and a Kiwi now residing in Canada. A better group of people you would be hard-pressed to find.

This is Te Rangitu Netana from New Zealand, an amazing graphic artist.  He had never met an African American before and I had never met a Maori.  We were instantly friends.

This is the Tiny Shiny group of Jewelers, Greg Wilbur, John Wirth, Myra Perrin, 'Mary' Podiluk, Melody Armstrong and me.  As with the other work locations at EMMA the amount of skill, talent and problem solving that went on in this space boggles the mind.  Hell of a group and I was honored to be a part of it.  

  

The Emma Lake International Collaboration grew from a series of wood workshops organized by Michael Hosaluk through the Saskatchewan Craft Council in 1982.  Since that beginning, the EMMA International Collaboration has become a catalyst for worldwide creativity in the arts and several collaborative EMMA events across the world have emerged. 

For more artist information and images visit http://www.emmacollaboration.com/.

Thank you for reading!  Please send me your comments.  Charles

I really love what I do for a living!

Thunderheads.  Forged and fused sterling with pearl.

I really love what I do for a living.  Last week a client of mine from some two decades ago appeared in my studio with six pair of earrings purchased from me over the years.  She asked me to clean and polish them and remove some wonkyness from the pair with long dangly wires.

Earrings.  Glass crystal and amethyst beads and sterling.

I found myself drawn into a wonderful opportunity to inspect my work that had been in use for more than 20 years!  It was amazing.  I was humbled to discover that the owner of these pieces actually cared enough about her earrings to bring them back to me for a little cleaning.

Japanese Earring.   Copper with polka dot snowflake pattern, sterling and gold-filled wire.

Right off the bat I noticed that all the earrings still had the original ear wires that I had made.  I was told that none had ever come undone.  I still make my own ear wires, and that was satisfying to know that they are holding up well.

  

Faces in the Window.  Copper, titanium and fused sterling.

The Faces in the Window pair still had all their dangles, even though they were a bit bent.  All the elements continued to perform as intended. That discovery alone gave me a great sense of satisfaction as an artist and designer.

Lanterns.  Sterling, glass bead and pearls.

Whirlpools.  Sterling, copper and gold-filled wire.

The effect of seeing samples of my work return to my studio after such a long time validated to me the time and effort and thought processes that went into the fabrication of each of these creations.  I am very grateful for the opportunity to work as an artist, doing what I enjoy doing each day.

'cross the Tracks

Across the Tracks 

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This piece is titled  ‘cross the Tracks.  I spent my youth in a small southern town with a population of less than 4000 people.  I would expect that there are as many divergent views of the South and all things Southern as there are people expressing views.  The story of this piece, however,  expresses only one view, that of mine as I experienced life as a young black child of the late 50’s and early 60’s. 

‘cross the Tracks represents a perspective that I gained during a time of political and social isolation in that small Southern town.  It was a period of growth and development for me that, while taking place in the  midst of  a segregated world, did not taint me with the prevailing oppression. 

My world as a young boy was warm and protected, rich in creative investigations about human relationships, nature, and the personal strengths of  the people around me, the hands that nurtured me.  The thoughts and inspirations that shaped me so long ago are vibrant underpinnings of my work today.  ‘cross the Tracks is a celebration of growth and personal perseverance.  The titanium axel in the center of the piece represents the toughness of the resolve developed there.  Personal success can literally occur anywhere under any condition.  ‘cross the Tracks can represent a place of despair or, as in my case, a place of hope and victory. Celebrate resolve.

The pendant is fabricated of sterling, titanium, copper, bronze, ebony, six rubies, three freshwater pearls and egg shell matrix.  Dimensions: 1.8 x 2.5 x 0.8 inches.

'Cat's Cradle' Pendant

At the end of July I will board a plane and travel to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada to attend the EMMA 'Unplugged' 2012 International Collaboration.  About 100 artists from Canada, the United States, New Zealand and the United Kingdom will converge the evening of July 29th for the Gala Reception of the Decoy Exhibition.  Held at the Saskatchewan Craft Council Affinity Gallery, the exhibition will contain works of the participating artists and will initiate the beginning of the International Collaboration. 

I have submitted a pendant titled Cat's Cradle as my Decoy entry for the Exhibition.  It is made of forged titanium and fused sterling.  The dimensions of the pendant are 2.6 x 2.25 x 0.6 inches. 

Cat's Cradle is a series of string figures created by an individual or between two people as a game.  In this game it is possible to form many different shapes using string that is supported by the fingers.  I am at once drawn to the imagery of weavers using their hands to create cloth.  I have always felt an interest in and awareness of where we all "come from".  How are things passed along and how do they fall away?  It is a puzzle, much like the cat's cradle, of how the pattern that is made is repeated and changed.  I liken our ancestors to hands manipulating the strings of their succeeding generations in order to create us, the patterns.  In my piece Cat's Cradle, we are at once the silver representing the string.  We are also the hands creating pattern.

Thank you for reading.  I look forward to your comments.  Charles

Wildacres Retreat

I have recently returned from teaching a workshop organized by the Florida Society of Goldsmiths at Wildacres Retreat in North Carolina.  It was a week for metalsmiths and besides me, the instructors were John Cogswell, Betty Helen Longhi, Zachary Noble, Juan Carlos Caballero Perez and Jean Stark.

I don't know about anyone else, but I like to wait a while before I write about an experience.  When the heat or passion of an experience subsides a bit, the memories can become more clear.  Some of the details that helped to create the moment can be understated or left out altogether when recall is attempted in the full tilt boogie giddy-up-go heat of the moment still swirling around.

That all being said, I am going to tell you about the five-day class that I taught at the 2010 Wildacres summer workshop for the West Coast Florida Society of Goldsmiths.  Preparation for the workshop for me was tough, as usual.  I never know where to draw the line.  Invariably I leave something behind that I wish I had remembered to bring.  This time I forgot a sheet of copper that I wanted.  Along with the numerous materials, extra metal supplies and general hand tools, I decided to take my own saw frame, torch, solder and flux.

Check-in at Wildacres was a snap, followed by a wonderful dinner and comfortable accommodations.  The views were extraordinary out over the valley and the temperature cool compared to home.  Next came the orientation and my meeting with students.  I was informed at dinner that two of my students were unable to attend at the last minute, thereby leaving only four students in my class.  In the end it turned out to be really great to have a small class, but at that initial moment my thoughts were screaming "Oh, krieke!"

Unlike most workshops where the objective for the week is to learn something about the manipulation of materials, my class was more about helping the artist identify his own sense of expression.  The workshop was titled 'Finding your own style'.  Once the awareness and goals were identified for each of the students, then we set about identifying the things that could transform expression, that inner voice, into a tangible and solid object so that others might 'see' the artist's voice.

Is this a difficult thing to do?  Oh, don't get me started!  If this were not such a gratifying experience in the end, it would not be worth the initial effort that is required.  I am both thoroughly exhausted and rejuvenated at the end of classes like this one.

Crucial to the success of this sort of venture is trust among those of us in the room.  There is usually an outpouring of all kinds of personal data that we use to home in on our own voices that creates an atmosphere of intimacy in my classes that typically is not found nor required in other workshops.  It is within this special atmosphere that we become aware that not only is there a language for each of us, but we each can have access to it.  All it takes is trust.