Fused Flower Pendant Workshop

I am both a metalsmith and a mural painter. The two could not be more different, but I’m making it work by dividing my year into outdoor painting season and indoor metalsmithing season. It’s as simple as a cup of iced tea or a cup of hot tea. When it’s time to hunker down and everyone gets the urge to bake… I hope some will come to my shop and make jewelry instead. I love to teach, but more than that, I love watching others embrace possibility.

I have been outfitting my shop with tools, lighting, heating, and everything I can think of to make it an inviting and productive space. I have had nine students who have been kind enough to share what’s working for them and what upgrades I need to make. Last Spring my workshops were going great and then suddenly the weather changed. I was invited to paint seventeen murals for the University of Colorado Denver Campus. Suddenly I was hiring sub-contractors and planning schedules, and driving to Denver to paint! I love my life and my jobs. As an artist, it’s common to pivot to accommodate all the possibilities, so that’s what I do every day.

I’ve been tinkering around to find the best metalsmithing class for beginners and I think I’ve found the one! I’ve always thought that silversmithing should begin with melting metal because when I was in school we spent three years trying NOT to melt the metal. Not melting the metal is hard to do when you don’t know the signs and the only way to know when the metal is going to melt, is to just DO IT! So, this fall I’m offering a Fused Flower Pendant workshop for beginners. We’re diving right into torch skills and melting heaps of scrap metal.

Please visit my website to sign up for one of two spots in each class! If you don’t see what you need, please contact me and I will try to accommodate all requests.

Fall!

When everyone gets the itch to bake, make jewelry instead!

Name Change! It's rolling out slowly...

Good morning Friends!

I hope everyone is enjoying the freedom that comes with vaccinations!  I ripped that mask off and did all the things from Grad Parties to Public Transportation.  It’s been weird, fun, all the things.  It feels a little bit like falling from the nest and learning to fly and because I embrace this change with such fervor, I am changing my business name too!

This is not such a huge reveal to everyone as it is a way overdue change for me.  My business has grown to encompass so much more than metalsmithing and I have been applying for public art commissions and finding the “Metalworks” just doesn’t cover all that I’m doing.  I’m now J.C. Milner Artworks online (changing that officially with the SBDA may be a bit more challenging than buying a new domain, fingers crossed). 

This is a scary thing to do after 22 years in business as J.C. Milner Metalworks, because some may not be able to find me when they need me.  I also have a ton of online content that now leads to a broken link.  I’ll suffer some loss from this, no doubt. 

Of course, this means, new email address, new business cards, new website, new domain, and new social media.  This will all be happening this summer.  For now, please email  jcmilnermetalworks@gmail.com , share my website at www.JCMilnerArtworks.com, and visit my Instagram at JCMilner_Artworks or text me at 970-227-2345.

I will launch new coloring pages and works on paper October 1st, Charity Brooch will still happen September 2021 (send me an email if you’d like advanced notice).  Metalsmith classes will be available in my workshop in Loveland, Colorado year ‘round on a one-on-one basis (more information can be found on my website).  Wall sculptures can be found at Abbey Lane in Creede, Colorado and Chemers Gallery, Tustin CA.  More to come!

Thanks for letting me be authentically ME! Love you all.

Jennie (J.C. Milner)

Works on Paper (Sale begins Monday 10/5/2020 at 5PM)

I’ve never done this before, and I better just do it before I think too much about it. I have never sold my daily studies (or sketches from my sketchbook). I’ve had offers, but they are usually studies for bigger projects, or a warm-up, or something I just need to work out before I move on to making sculpture that I intend to sell. I’ve never given them the credit they deserve. They have always been private because they are purely experimentation.

Nothing like 2020 to step out of my comfort zone and make some of these daily drawings available for purchase. They are all original art and no copies will be made unless otherwise noted. I think artwork that is created during crisis in incredibly hopeful and spreading hope can only be a good thing.

These works on paper have been created since March 2020. Every day that I make it into the studio, I tape a piece of archival paper to the clean table, and I start moving around the paint. It’s a calm moment in my space, when the sun is coming through the window and the music is playing. Sometimes I have videotaped the creations (yes, some of these works have corresponding time lapse videos (see IGTV). I’ll teach this process someday, but for now, it’s a sketch to begin the day.

My hope is that you’ll see something that brings you joy. I hope you see something in them that I don’t see, or relate to what I’ve written about the intention of each one. Sometimes color is all it takes… that delicious red might be the only language necessary.

Enjoy these sketches. I certainly have enjoyed making them. In fact, making them keeps me hopeful that life will continue and get infinitely better day by day.

Charity Brooch is a Success!

I would like to thank everyone who bought a brooch and shared my sale! I like to give 50/50, but I couldn’t do that this year because well, 2020! The good news is that we raised $70 for Thompson Education Foundation together and Medtronic doubled our donation! All in all we were able to give $210!

This feels like a win-win, homeless youth in Loveland will get tools and supplies that they need and I can pay my studio rent for a few months! Thank you sincerely.

In the next few weeks, I will also upload works on paper that I’ve been making in my studio while I grapple with the pandemic and the politics. I’m ready to sell these originals and I will not make prints of any of them. Each are original hand-painted works, unique in their own way and special as all heck.

I have moved from sketching in a sketchbook to a daily practice of abstract expression. I have never sold my sketches, until now.

I’ll post again when they are loaded and ready to share.

Thank you!

Jennie

Charity Brooch is Back!

What is a Charity Brooch?

I make tiny house brooches, then I pick a favorite charity, usually something that helps kids, my community or the world. This year I have picked Thompson Education Foundation. Loveland has an interesting problem, voters who refuse to increase school funding! TEF helps fill the gap by identifying the needs of the teachers and filling those needs.

But, how do you get your hands on your very own, tiny, one-of-a-kind wearable sculpture? At 3PM on Tuesday, August 8th… go here: http://www.jcmilnermetalworks.com/shop and pick your favorite! Give one as a gift, keep one for yourself, hang one on the wall, or hang several on the wall in a row and make a neighborhood! You can have as many as you want!

Each house is a part of a larger mural. I cut them up and save the best parts with the best detail. I cut them on the band saw at Loveland Creator Space, sand them, seal them, and attach them to the black and white strips. The trees next to each house (the metal parts) are all steel. Each brooch has a pin back for wearability, but it’s been placed so that the brooch will hang from a nail on the wall just as easily. These can also be gifted and used as holiday ornaments!

Please share with friends! See you at 3PM Tuesday!

Now I'm sure I've used every color!

Mural painting is one of the best things I’ve ever tried to do! It’s such a challenge in every scenario. Heat, cold, rain, height, equipment, how many deep knee bends are humanly possible in the course of a week? I could go into detail about every aspect, but then I’m reminded that roofers, house painters, and construction workers would laugh at me and mock my inner child whining about too much exposure and fear of heights! I’m empowered and humbled simultaneously. Every project could be better, but every project is better than the one before. I’m proud of the work I’ve done and I have been exhausted in a way that doesn’t feel human. Every article of clothing I own has paint stains including my rain coat and new tennies!

I’ve poured paint into my purse and into the hair of a small child. I have believed in myself in ways I didn’t know were possible, like “sure, I can build a borrowed scaffold for the first time AND climb to the top!” It’s just what people do. They take risks where the outcome is worth it!

I think what brings me the most joy, is watching people paint for the first time after hearing them say “I can’t.” Did you know that kids under the age of seven are almost always certain they can!? Using our hands is part of being human. Knitters, chefs, painters, bakers, sculptors, dancers, all use our hands in ways we may somewhat take for granted.

My take-away from these events? Never Assume. Ask questions. Get involved. Be your true self.

I’ll leave you with this beautiful quote…

"I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live." – George Bernard Shaw

International Sonoran Desert Alliance Street Art Festival

I was invited to paint in April at the Street Art Festival in Ajo, Arizona. Ajo is a cool place, just a small town that was built around a mine between 1912-1920, but is surrounded by federal BLM lands, Organ Pipe National Monument, Cabeza Prieta Wildlife refuge and the most bio-diverse desert in the world! Ajo is also located 40 miles from the U.S./Mexico border. This border is the deadliest stretch of land for migrants and refugees to cross. Lack of water and exposure claims almost 150 lives per year. I decided to go see for myself what kind of Samaritan work was being done on the border & paint a mural for the town to celebrate the effort to save lives.

Samaritans just do what is natural. They help those in need. They choose to NOT ignore their neighbors’ needs and do what they can every day to locate those suffering in the desert, bring water and food to them, and give them first aid. Seems very simple to me, but our government has actually charged Samaritans with felonies for doing this work. Scott Warren of Ajo, Arizona was facing 20 years in prison for aiding migrants who were dehydrated and lost. His trial resulted in a hung jury. Four of his jurors wanted to convict!

There are so many things we need to be doing about this situation. My skills are painting and caring about people. I also have a big mouth and haven’t stopped talking about Ajo since I returned. Maria Singleton (an Ajo homeowner and Samaritan who lives part time in Bellvue, Colorado) is the reason for my visit. She has a wonderful way of expressing the plight of the Migrants while also allowing us to find ways to get involved in our own ways.

We have prepared a talk about how art can open hearts to having conversation. It was well received at Artworks Loveland in June and many have gotten involved and requested that we do it again. We’d love to talk to your classroom, your church groups, or your organization. Art has a way of gently opening up the cracks where preconceived notions like to hide. There is no cost for this conversation, we just ask that you donate to Nomoredeaths.org.

Thank you!

Every year I pick a charity and start making brooches and ornaments. This year I picked one very close to home, my studio at Artworks Loveland. Artworks Loveland is a place for artists to work, learn, and for everyone to get inspired. We have programs every month connected to our two Contemporary Art Galleries that engage the community in discussions about studio practice, inspiration, business, and more. It’s not unusual to see 120 middle school kids working on a found-object sculpture project in our large gallery, or photo students learning about dark room photography. It’s a lively non-profit that does a LOT on a dime. Artworks goal this year is $5000. This also helps keep my studio rent low!

The Brooches have a long history. I made my first Charity brooch for a pin swap give-away at The Colorado Metalsmithing Conference in 2016 (I made my first brooch ever in 1996)! They have been in auctions, for sale at parties, given as closing gifts from realtors, and last year they helped children in Aleppo. Next year I would like to open up the Charity Brooch Movement to all artists! Stay tuned for that.

Meanwhile, it feels good to wear your art and even better when it reminds you that you supported a living local artist AND a great charity! Please shop my sale all week long and tell your friends about it. Community means a little bit more when we build it together and make it irresistible!

Point Segment Angle Line

The Colorado Metalsmithing Association and Artworks Loveland would like to invite you to Point Segment Angle Line - a Metalsmithing Invitational curated by Melissa Laugen and Alexandria Forsythe. This show opens Friday, October 12th at 6PM and will be up until November 27th. We are pleased to showcase a handful of the finest of the Colorado Metalsmithing Association Member’s work.

There are many opportunities to visit the show including STUDIO TOUR Saturday:
October 13th and Sunday October 14th 11AM-5PM AND Saturday, October 20th, and Sunday, October 21st 11AM-5PM.

Artworks has 28 Studios, so plan to spend an hour or more to see it all.

Please also join us for the Artists’ Talk on October 25th from 6-9PM with John Sullivan (soldering demo) and Haley Bates (Colorado State University Metalsmithing Professor) and a short intro from The President of The Colorado Metalsmithing Association (that’s me!).

If your school group would like to tour the show, we’d like to put you on the calendar and prepare for your visit. Please email bre@ArtworksLoveland.org.

Colorado Metalsmithing Association

Artworks Loveland

Curfman Gallery - Five Locals

One of the beautiful things about public art is that it’s meant to live outside, or move around to many locations! The mural I painted in June at The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities Insight On-Site will be moving to The Curfman Gallery September 25th. I am very proud to exhibit at Colorado State University where my husband and I graduated and my daughter is currently enrolled.

‘Drowning in Prescriptions’ is meant to be a mirror to the viewer. What is your relationship to Prescription Pain Medicine? Have you been ignored by the epidemic? How lucky you are. Or do you have your own story to tell. Tell it! Look at the person next to you and tell that story. Tell it again and again and again. Every time something gets out of our grasp or bigger than an elephant in a tiny home, it gets that way by our silence. Let it out.

Opening Reception: Thursday, September 25th 2018, Curfman Gallery, Lory Student Center, Colorado State University Campus, Fort Collins, Colorado. Five Locals will be on view from September 25th through November 2nd, 2018.