Next Event, Ventura County Pride! Saturday, August 27th at 248 E. Main Street, Ventura

I am participating in the Ventura County Pride Art Show Benefit this weekend in downtown Ventura.  Ventura County Pride 2011 is a series of events including entertainment, a family-friendly picnic and festival at Mission Park, a pride march through downtown Ventura, and art shows at the WAV and Arts on Main 242 E. Main Street.  All of my jewelry will be on display at 248 E. Main Street right next door to Arts on Main in the heart of downtown Ventura where the studio of Scot Saunders will be under my supervision until 9:00pm.   Please stop in and treat yourself to baked goods and maybe find a special gift for yourself or someone you love. Jewelry prices range from $10 - $60 and 30% of all sales will benefit Ventura County Pride.   I hope to see you there!

Ventura Harbor Village's "Arts in the Park" was a great success!

Thanks to everyone who came out in support of Arts in the Park at the Ventura Harbor Village last weekend!  I was pleased with the sales at my first art fair and I am inspired and motivated to continue with this challenging and rewarding endeavor.   Twenty one of my beautiful creations sold!  Most of these can be reproduced, so please let me know if you see anything you would like to order.  Custom orders are always available as well.

Free Earrings!

Become a follower of this blog and be entered to win a free pair of hand-crafted earrings!  First 30 followers are eligible.  If you share this blog on Facebook you will be entered in the drawing twice, doubling your odds (you must be a "Friend" on Facebook, so please send a request).

Once the winner is randomly selected, he/she will have the opportunity to select a pair of earrings from the entire collection and I will ship them at no charge.

Additionally, each purchase you make will result in an entry to my 2011 Holiday Drawing for a chance to win a free necklace!  This could be a great gift for yourself or someone else.

Each purchase your friends/family make will result in both their name AND your name being entered in the Holiday Drawing.  Please be sure to mention who referred you when making purchases.

What's in it for me?  Increasing my network will increase exposure to my artwork.  The greater exposure my artwork has, the more likely I will be to sell my work.  So please spread the word by passing on links to my blog  http://jamiedanielson.blogspot.com/
and website  http://www.jamiedanielson.com/ .

Thank you and GOOD LUCK!

~Jamie

Wearable Art

Living on the boat and no longer having access to a studio has resulted in a redirection of my creativity- TEMPORARILY!  Until I acquire studio space with kilns, etc., my primary creative outlet will be jewelry.  I created over 40 necklaces, bracelets, and pair of earrings which are now on display and available for sale at Red Brick Gallery 315 E. Main Street, Ventura, CA.  This collection is entirely beach-themed using all-natural materials such as sea glass, shell, coral, abalone, freshwater pearl, wood, and semi-precious stones.  Prices range from $10 to $75 and custom orders are being accepted for men, women, and children... I'll even make a collar for your beach-bound hound if you'd like.

Response to my jewelry (or wearable art as I like to call it) has been enthusiastic. I have sold 3 necklaces right off my neck in the past 2 weeks and was even stopped by a pedestrian on Main Street in downtown Ventura to ask where I bought the necklace I was wearing. I'm very optimistic that this new endeavor will be rewarding and financially fruitful. In keeping up with the momentum of my productivity, my next step is to develop business cards, professional images, packaging, a website, and an Etsy account. For now, here are some amateur photos I took of some of my work.

Website is up & running!

The last entry I made was over a month ago and I have been quite productive in that time.  Here are the highlights:

I finished my most recent sculpture and titled her "Leader of the Sheep".   Over the course of production she evolved into a composite creature, like much of my work does. Part-human, part-bighorn sheep, she embodies all of the qualities necessary to lead any group of followers. In reflection, I recognize aspects of these qualities in myself.

My artist website, http://www.jamiedanielson.com is up and running!  I feel like a legitimate, real-deal artist!  I'm super happy that my domain name was available.  It wasn’t available the last time I tried to purchase it, so it seems now is the right time.  I built the website through weebly.com.  Super easy and user friendly.  I highly recommend.

I ordered prints of my artwork for my portfolio and WOW did they turn out nice!  I went through Image Source in Ventura and suggest you use them for any professional printing you need.  Excellent product quality and customer service.

I presently have artwork up in two exhibits:

“Contemporary Ceramics” at the WAV in downtown Ventura is a group show featuring ceramic work by 3 professors, Amiko Matsuo, Matt Furmanski, & Tom McMillin, 3 CSUCI alumni, Andrew Cummins, Kenji Webb, & Rebecca Tice, and one CSUCI student…ME!  
“Annual Art Exhibit” at CSU Channel Islands is the annual juried exhibit on campus.  My installation piece "Transcendence" was given prime real estate right in the front and center.   

Please see the NEWS page on my website for further details and upcoming exhibits: http://www.jamiedanielson.com

I  participated in Ventura West Marina’s annual Spring Sale and sold 4 necklaces.  You guys didn’t even know I was a jewelry designer, did you?  Yes, it’s true.  It’s a whole other endeavor that I’m not ready to go public with yet.  You’ll be the first to know when I do, so long as you continue reading my blog J

I attended CSU Channel Islands Honors Convocation and received a fancy red cord to wear around my neck during commencement. I also received the right to write “Cum Laude” next to my BA degree on my resume.

Finally, David and I saw Prince in concert at the LA Forum!  The main reason we went was to see the opening act, Esperanza Spalding, the 2011 Grammy award winner for Best New Artist.  She made history by being the first jazz musician to receive the award.  She’s also the first jazz musician to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony and the youngest music professor at Berklee College of Music.  She plays the double bass (that gigantic beast of an instrument!) and electric bass.  She’s an amazing musician and is setting a new standard for true talent in music today.  Follow this link to a video of her performing at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-rWNAQx1ZE&playnext=1&list=PLB8180F5724D31143