Guess who is now the Programming Director for the local arts association.  Yup. I'm jumping right in and trying to help make something happen in Silverton.  The Arts Association is centrally located in the Coolidge McClaine Park​. COVID disrupted a good thing and it's time to squash COVID and make things happen again. 

I'd love to be teaching sculpture but the space is not really suited for industrial arts but we will try and find space for that all in due time.   In the meantime... I'm busy trying to get a Spring quarter up off the ground. We have artists/teachers to meet, schedules to make, a communications plan to firm up, and classes to get posted for enrollment.  So much to do and so little time as this is 100% volunteer - so that means nights and weekends. 

We've picked it all up - our entire lives - and moved it to Silverton, Oregon! That's right and we found a perfect property to afford us the space to TIG, MIG, Plasma Cut, and all that good stuff! Anne now has a studio comparable to the space she shared with artist, Anita Wiglesworth. Dave has a nice 1500 square foot shop where he can work on motorcycles to his hearts content. The community is amazing and we are thrilled to have found our little slice of heaven. 

I've always had tremendous respect for the individuals who have grown my mind and shaped my Fine Art career: Henry Hopkins first and foremost. I will never forget that man, his friendship, and his immense belief in me and my capacity as an artist. We could talk for hours about art, the world, the community, ourselves. I miss you Henry!

George Herms really excited my mind and introduced me to found objects. He forever changed the way I look at dumpsters. He taught me how to work at scale and to not fear scale. It was because of him I learned how to weld and work with metal. 

25 years ago I started to study neon with Christian Schiess at The Crucible in Berkeley, CA.  I was thinking about using neon to illuminate my metal sculptures with it's vibrant ambient light. However, I went on to couple the neon with found objects - a practice I continue in my work today.
​
When a teacher of yours invites you to exhibit your work alongside his, you jump at the opportunity. I am thrilled to be  participating in this exhibition with Christian, and many of the amazing artists working with light that I've had the pleasure of collaborating with at The Crucible: Robert Graf, Norman Moore, Dan Cavin, and Kua Patten. 

RADIANCE
Rhythmix Cultural Works
2513 Blanding Ave Alameda, CA 94501
Opening Reception: November 13th 4:30-6:30pm
​Please come to the show!

So I am off to try something new! I've been wanting to work with concrete again. I worked with this medium a little bit when I was in college. It was a study combining concrete with fired ceramics. Now I'm looking to make a little sculpture to experiment with concrete and glass mosaic. 

I built an armature using stucco lath (also called stucco mesh, or stucco netting) and I filled it with cardboard because I knew that I wanted this to be hollow to help with the overall weight of the piece. 
​
I then did some research on sculptable concrete. There wasn't a lot of information out on the internet about this but I did find a YouTube video posted by dperry428 that worked great! This mixture actually works a lot like clay.  I fist applied a skim coat onto the piece as pictured. 
Ingredients: 
portland cement - 10 cups
fine sand - 5 cups
metakaolin - 2 cups
PVA fiber - 3/4 cup
Mix all the dry ingredients. 
Mix in the liquid (3 parts water, 1 part acrylic admix) 5 cups
​Add more liquid by hand to reach the texture and viscosity you desire for your sculpture

After the skim coat had dried, I came back and applied another layer of concrete. I intentionally left a recessed area that I intended to fill with glass mosaic. 

Once dry, I used an orbital hand sander to sand the piece. The PVA fiber threads were then burned off using a propane torch. 

I then applied an assortment of acid stains from Direct Colors. The colors I ordered in my test kit were: Azure Blue, Avocado ,Sea Grass, Desert Amber, and Coffee Brown. 

Next I created a template for the mosaic area and composed the glass pieces. 

I used white thinset so that there was the ultimate reflection of light through the glass. I worked in sections and adhered all the glass to the recessed area in the sculpture. 

Finally, I applied colorant to the non-sanded grout and grouted the whole piece. 

For years, my friends had been tagging me in posts about pebble path mosaics and I was always mesmerized by them.  In my lifetime, I have made stained glass windows, wall mosaics, mosaic stepping stones, and other mosaic items, but I had never thought to do a path. Until now...

I did a lot of research in order to find out the best way to execute this endeavor and I documented the process that I used, here. My amazing husband started by removing the brick pathway that was there.  He excavated to a 6" depth.  The finished path would end up being 42" wide by 10' long with a curve as you'll see below.

Once the approximate shape was sorted out, we purchased 1'"x6" bender board to lay it in as our edge support.  This required more digging and backfilling in areas where the original path wasn't correct.
NOTE: When leveling, your bender board should be level across as it will serve as your guide in later steps. It should slope away from your house by at least 2% grade which we didn't have to worry about because we were already dealing with a slope.

Once you have the site prepped and bender board installed, you should fill the space with 2" of dirt, base rock, or sand. We decided to sift the dirt that we had removed and used a steel tamper to tamp it down. We didn't feel this path received enough traffic to warrant base rock. Your goal would be to have only 4" depth from the top of your bender board. We learned the hard way, I figured we'd need more, so you'll see my finished product has a lip. I think aesthetically it would be more pleasing if there were less of a lip. If I were to do another path, I would do it this way. Instead, we only filled with 1" dirt, leaving 5 inches from the top of the bender board.

Next, it's time to lay down type S Mason Mix. I worked on my mosaic dry because I didn't want to be rushed. In my research I did see that some people work on their mosaic wet.  I would have HATED to be rushed so while I didn't find many resources who worked dry, I figured I'd take my chances.  I used a guide to insure that my depth from the top of the bender board to the top of the mortar was consistent at 2 inches. This means, I started with approximately 3 inches of dry mortar. I tried to work in 2-3 foot sections so that I could kneel on the dirt and reach the areas as I laid in the rock. I used some wood pieces against my kneeler to keep the mortar level.

I purchased my rock at Acapulco Rock & Soil in Richmond, CA. I bought 1"-2" Mexican Pebble in three colors: buff, red and black. I bought these by the bag (75 pounds each) - 2 each of each color. I ended up using more red so I needed to go back and get another 2 bags of red pebble.

I used forms to help me create somewhat consistent circles. I arranged the pebbles under my fig tree where I could lay out my rocks and wet them to see their vibrant colors. As you can see in the photos below, when the rocks are dry are hard to discern their true beauty. I worked on a small piece of wood barely larger than my form which would allow me to arrange the rocks and then carry the completed concentric circle mandalas over to the path area (which was in full sun!)

I repeated this process and worked my way down the path but before moving along to the next section, I used a 4x4 and a rubber mallet to make sure that the rocks were all level (more or less) and that there weren't pebbles sticking up that would be a trip hazard later on. At night, I covered my project with a tarp to make sure that the morning dew wouldn't get on the dry mortar. I continued until all the pebbles were laid in the path area.

It was now time to wet the path. So... how much water is enough?  We wet the path until the water pooled atop the mortar momentarily. Once it pooled, we let the water soak in and stopped applying more water.  Since we wet the path early in the day, we again wet the path later in the afternoon to slow the drying process and create a stronger cure.

The mortar was left to dry overnight, uncovered. When I woke up I checked the mortar and it was hard.  I stepped on a corner to make sure that it was strong enough to continue and it was!  So... it was now time for deck mud. Deck mud, or "topping mix", is 3 parts sand and 1 part Portland cement. I poured this onto the dry path and swept it until the rocks were exposed to the depth that I desired. Once it was all filled into the gaps, I wet the deck mud.  That's it right???

WRONG!

Now it's time to clean up! I made one heck of a mess and all this 'stuff' needs to go back into their resting places. Since it was a sunny weekend, I borrowed an E-Z Up from my neighbors so that that I could take breaks and rest in the shade.

Finally... in order to maintain the 'wet' look and see the pebble in all it's glory, the entire path needs to be sealed. We have some leftover stabilizer from when we had our pavers installed, so I'm going to try with that to see what that produces. This will dry a semi-gloss. It also prevents weeds from growing in the deck mud.  I will seal the path in a week to give it time to cure properly.

The approximate cost for this project was $300.

Here is a list of the material used in this project:
1"-2" Mexican pebble (8 75# bags)
Mason Mix (60#) - 8  bags
Deck Mud (50#) - 1 bag
1"x6"x20' bender board

Running July 8th - August 30th, the "Annual Carnegie Arts Showcase" exhibition will showcase new work in a variety of media by California artists in the Central Valley.

This show will be judged by:
Susanne French, ceramic artist& Art Gallery Director, Merced College Susan Stephenson, painter & Assistant Professor of Art, CSU Stanislaus Young Suh, photographer& Associate Professor of Art, UC Davis

The show will be held at the Carnegie Arts Center which was once the historic Carnegie Library which opened in 1916 and was built by Andrew Carnegie. It served as the City of Turlock’s library until 1968 and has been used as an arts center since 1979.
Central California Arts Showcase
Carnegie Arts Center
                   250 N. Broadway, Turlock, California                      

For the past week or so I pulled out the sewing machine and starting researching mask designs.  It was becoming apparent that they were in high demand and my Amazon order was not going to come before the ordinance requiring them would be put in place.  After a fair amount of trial and error, I made some masks that I felt were comfortable and effective. I chose the Olson Mask Pattern because it was designed by medical professionals to be used when other surgical and N95 masks are not available. 

​Luckily, I had lots of leftover fabric from making baby quilts so there was no shortage of thread, material, and fabric. All I needed to purchase was elastic and I guess I pulled the trigger at the right time because it was pretty easy to source. Once I had masks made for my family (pictured: my brother, sister-in-law and nephew) I reached out to the friends and neighbors who lived close. ​

After making about 50 adult and children sized masks, I decided it was time to post on Nextdoor that I was making masks. People were scrambling and I was happy to provide masks to my neighbors for free.

Since I myself am high risk, I had a technique that worked well. After establishing with the first few responses that I needed to know the size: adult/child and the gender (male/female) the requests were being made in that format.  When I had made the masks for that person, I put them in a Ziploc bag with their name and sent them this note: 

I have made your masks. I’m at <address>. Please text me to <phone number> when you plan to come over and I’ll set them in the Buddha’s hands on my front porch.

Many people commented on the plaque mounted on my steps asking me where I got it. I let them know that I had it custom made.  I never thought that this message would be so important then during a global pandemic.  Truthfully... it's about as political as I like to get. 

To my surprise, neighbors began leaving me gifts in exchange for the masks. John left me amazing Meyer lemons from his tree and so I made lemon bars for my high school art teacher Mattie who is both a neighbor, my mentor, and a dear friend and her wife Sharon. 

I met a neighbor named Carol who left me grapefruit from her garden. I hadn't had grapefruit for years... dare I say a decade?? and they were AMAZING.  I met a woman named Gai and she had some lovely strawberry starts that she shared and my husband Dave planted them in our garden.  I met a lovely lady named Karen who picked up her masks and noticed that I loved flowers and succulents and came back with a beautiful hanging plant for my porch. 

Michaele, a nurse,  reached out asking if I could make a dozen for the Alzheimer's Center in Berkeley and so I made those and she insisted on contributing so she bought me some thread which by now I was running low on. She later came back asking if I could make some more for the staff at the center. There was a lady named Joanne who took her masks and left behind a lovely almond pastry she had made. Then there was Ellen who left the most magnificent roses in a jar... and Antonio who left me Columbian chocolate and four tomato plants he had started from seed. ​

I worked during the day - grateful to be employed by Stanford University and made masks at night and on the weekends. I have made over 300 masks and have forayed into on to make surgical caps for my friends and family who are nurses. So needless to say that I have taken a bit of a break from the studio. As an artist producing sculpture, I can say this... right now... my community is my sculpture. 

Note from 7/21: During the pandemic, I made over 600 masks for my community. Wow!

In today’s fast paced, consumer driven world, how can we as artists, slow down and show others how to look at things differently?

Jennifer Perlmutter Pop-Up Gallery is hosting an art exhibit featuring re-purposed and up-cycled material that has been given new life and Mitre Saw was selected for this show.

Join me at the opening!

Small Footprints
Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery
3525 Mt. Diablo Blvd.
Lafayette, California
March 26 - April 11

Please come to the reception!
Thursday, March 26, 2020,  5:00pm