JEWELS * The Big Move / Name Change
It occurred to me, oh, roughly 1 week after coming up with it for my Etsy shop, that the name 'The Muses Jewels' was about as lame as it could get. It's long and clunky, and doesn't roll off the tongue nicely at all... it even has a built-in grammar error, depending on how you read it. My distaste for it has been growing ever since, and has now reached a point of deepest loathing...What was I thinking? (not much, clearly). And but so, in the interest of cohesion, I had to name pretty much everything else related to my jewellery The Muses Jewels somethingorother... websites, emails, business cards, logos... And so every time I started to pluck up the nerve to change the name, I was faced with the amazing amount of details involved, and the fear of having to start over from scratch and all the work I've done so far being for naught.
But the desire for change won... and so I'm re-baptizing everything related to my metalwork simply: Norsola Johnson :: Metalsmithery. I like it. My name, which is logical enough, and 'Metalsmithery', which is just a fantastic word. I'm not entirely sure it's generally acknowledged as such (spell-check doesn't seem to approve), but I'm standing by it... makes perfect sense to me.
I think my new logo is pretty nifty too... very much in the spirit of the Viennese Secession, from which I draw a fair amount of inspiration...
And so here you have it... official notification of address changes:
New website (still very much under construction):
norsolajohnson.com
New Etsy shop (also still being filled and polished):
norsola.etsy.com
New email: metalsmithery@gmail.com
Old website (will stay up as I tinker with the new one):
themusesjewels.com
Old shop (still open, and will remain so for a little while):
themusesjewels.etsy.com
JEWELS * a bit of time in the studio...
i finally got a chance to spend some time in the studio and came up with two new pieces, incorporating awesome stones i've been meaning to set for ages...
a gorgeous amazonite (from quebec - bonne st-jean! - hmm... it actually looks a little fleur de lys ish)... set in a cross between the chaos symbol and a sea creature.
chaotic oceanic
and more from my inner goth: a quartz-veined red jasper set in my most beloved creature...
the blood is the life
Music * Land Of Kush * Monday and Tuesday at Sala Rossa
We kushters (kushies? nubians?) are launching our album, 'Against The Day', Monday and Tuesday, March 23 and 24 at Sala Rossa...
Should be very very good times...
The album has gotten some great reviews already... you can read them here and here and here and here and here.
March 23 and 24, 2009 at 8pm Sala Rossa 4848 Blvd. St-Laurent, Montreal Info. (514) 284-3804
Ride To Conquer Cancer
I've recently signed up for The Ride to Conquer Cancer benefiting the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. It’s a cycling journey from Montreal to Quebec City - over 200 km - taking place from July 10 to 12. Funds raised in the ride will support breakthrough research, exemplary teaching, and compassionate care at the Jewish General Hospital. In order to participate, I need to raise a minimum of $2500, and so I'm starting my little fund raising campaign...To know more about the ride see here.To help me raise some funds, you can sponsor me here.If you'd like to ride too... join our team! the Revolutions Per Minute.
I also plan to make a line of bike inspired and recycled bike parts jewellery, all proceeds of which will go to the ride.
If all goes well, I should have them up in my Etsy shop by mid-april.
*The trouble with multiple personalities...* a random rambling update...Once again, despite best intentions, I've left this blog to gather dust...Not for lack of news or things to prattle on about, but due to lack of time and, most significantly, the frozen state caused by too many personalities.How I envy those with a singular passion and drive... those who discover a calling early in life and stick to it, eventually growing into masters of their craft or trade.Financial crisis caused me to find a day job, which turned out to be the most fantastic thing... it's a great job in a great place - an outdoor gear co-op which shares my values and ethics. Working there has reawakened my dormant climber/mountain goat personality, and so now all I can think about is mountains, and my beloved Ama Dablam, and what it will feel like to sit on her flanks, wind biting my cheeks, staring out at a sea of peaks, couloirs and ridges and the endless space above... the solitude...tranquility...
So any time off from the co-op is spent climbing, planning, training, reading... seeking out the best ways to acquire the considerable skill set and funds necessary to attempt such a climb... and everything else suffers... cello barely played... jewellery studio left mostly empty... emails left unanswered.. blog, flickr and etsy shop ignored...Meantime, I have new music pieces running in endless loops in my head, jewelery pieces sitting half-made on my bench, an online jewelry shop that is garnering zero sales, an urgent housing dilemma to deal with, a bike ride to benefit cancer research to raise funds for, kyudo arrows left un-shot, a cat with serious follicular challenges... and the list goes on...And so I'm left frozen... incapable of basic decision making, let alone constructive action... and unsure which Norsola I am at any given moment. I think I need a P.A. or perhaps a therapist... or one of those 'life organizer' whathaveyous. There has to be a balance... a way to give time and attention to all these passions, without drifting off into professional dilettantism.And so, my belated new year resolution will be to find that balance.to be continued...
And so here you have it... official notification of address changes:
