Above is a picture of my selling space at the Tucson gem fossil show I have been selling at for over 20 years. My mother lives in Tucson so began showing up at gem show time in Jan each year.
I acquire some products to utilize in my art at the show. |
Miles artwork
In general, I not only create the art, but find and cut the raw materials, make and assembled the beads. Design and cast all metalwork, including pendant caps and clasps. Not always, because I need a low end bread and butter product I can sell for less money. I specialize in Alaska materials since this is where I live. Link to my bio Bio. P.S. - working on some videos for YouTube I can have links to here. Right now just wildlife and my cat, but working on some 'how to.' All videos
Is a link to videos I created showing wildlife footage i took, my home, about me, some how to stuff for working ivory and wood, reading from my books and keep adding new footage |
Metal castingMost caps you see on pendants are metal I carved in wax and then lost wax cast custom to this piece. I do all my own work and do not send any out nor have any employees. I used to hand saw metals, each one of a kind hand draw and cut. I wanted to explore 3-D so explored the casting. I discovered I can carve an original, make a rubber mould for the wax and am then able to cast a hundred copies. Tough each cast tends to be unique because I mix my own metals and the metal mix is different for each cast. Likewise the cast wax figures can get combined, or added to a seperate wax cap and then cast.
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Custom woodI specialize in Alaska wood that has no commercial market, which makes it unique in the world. Much of Alaska wood is beautiful but not hard, so needs stabilizing to take a polish and be hard. I tried many methods and settled on a product called cactus juice, which is as thin as water and stays this way till cooked. I often use dye to bring out the wood pattern more. I make pendants belt buckles bolo ties, knife sheaths etc from this wood
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Stone workI specialize in Alaska rocks I find cut polish myself. I live subsistence so spend a lot of my time on the river. I support this by looking for unique stones along 1,000 miles of river system. Some orugh rock I trade for with natives, and some rocks I Aquire at the Tucson gem show each year when I go to also sell. I used to buy the cut rocks but they can be very expensive and not quite what I had in mind! I cut rocks leaving a natural outline and so it is reversible. This helps the material be unique to me.
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See the videos
I have more information in my bio under the home page. bio All the art I do myself by hand. I work stone, wood, metals, as well as paint. I specialize in Alaska materials with outdoor themes. However my mother lives in Tucson Arizona and when visiting her I began doing the Tucson fossil mineral show. I sometimes hand pick 'cool materials' from around the world. I cut and polish most of my own rocks, wood and the metals are salvaged and recycled from barge propellers and old waster pipes.
Background
I was considered artistic from the age of 5 years old when I made the news for my paper made turkey . I was given my own art room in high school and told to stay away from the classroom, I was on my own and practically lived there. . Out of high school the Vietnam wart and the draft was on so my parents suggested I join the navy so as not to get drafted in the army and go to war. When I got out of the Navy at 19 years old I wished to be alone for a while, so did not choose to continue a formal education. I never considered this a disadvantage, but as an advantage. I was able to explore art uninhibited, with no stops and no concept of 'can not.'
In the wilds I had little time for art as I was in survival mode. However I was developing skills as I learned how to make repairs on my equipment. This gave me skills later on in mixing mediums. This wilderness life gave me confidence to get off on my own path, and gave me experiences to express through the medium of art. I had something to say and show! I have seen, lived with the wildlife I use as my subject matter.
Technical
I worked b y hand a lot making wood block print cards all my life. I had to learn to draw well first. My knife blades in particular require I draw once and get it right. There is little chance to erase. I acid etch the steel. This requires drawing on the wax coated blade. No chance for error! Where the steel is exposed the acid eats the steel. The wax is called 'resist' ad stops the acid from reaching steel.
Stones
I find along the river need to b e cut on my rock saw. I wished to custom cut stones because I was not satisfied with what I could buy. I cut stones with a free form natural shape and make the stones reversible. Thus pendants can be usually viewed from both sides and I do not have to hide the back in a standard setting. This adds to a unique look identified with my work.
I have more information in my bio under the home page. bio All the art I do myself by hand. I work stone, wood, metals, as well as paint. I specialize in Alaska materials with outdoor themes. However my mother lives in Tucson Arizona and when visiting her I began doing the Tucson fossil mineral show. I sometimes hand pick 'cool materials' from around the world. I cut and polish most of my own rocks, wood and the metals are salvaged and recycled from barge propellers and old waster pipes.
Background
I was considered artistic from the age of 5 years old when I made the news for my paper made turkey . I was given my own art room in high school and told to stay away from the classroom, I was on my own and practically lived there. . Out of high school the Vietnam wart and the draft was on so my parents suggested I join the navy so as not to get drafted in the army and go to war. When I got out of the Navy at 19 years old I wished to be alone for a while, so did not choose to continue a formal education. I never considered this a disadvantage, but as an advantage. I was able to explore art uninhibited, with no stops and no concept of 'can not.'
In the wilds I had little time for art as I was in survival mode. However I was developing skills as I learned how to make repairs on my equipment. This gave me skills later on in mixing mediums. This wilderness life gave me confidence to get off on my own path, and gave me experiences to express through the medium of art. I had something to say and show! I have seen, lived with the wildlife I use as my subject matter.
Technical
I worked b y hand a lot making wood block print cards all my life. I had to learn to draw well first. My knife blades in particular require I draw once and get it right. There is little chance to erase. I acid etch the steel. This requires drawing on the wax coated blade. No chance for error! Where the steel is exposed the acid eats the steel. The wax is called 'resist' ad stops the acid from reaching steel.
Stones
I find along the river need to b e cut on my rock saw. I wished to custom cut stones because I was not satisfied with what I could buy. I cut stones with a free form natural shape and make the stones reversible. Thus pendants can be usually viewed from both sides and I do not have to hide the back in a standard setting. This adds to a unique look identified with my work.