Fall/Winter 2006 - Mendocino Art Center

Besides jewelry, Jima does a lot of other things creatively.He found that being creative in any direction helps him becreative in other directions.“Taking photographs or drawingor making jewelry helps me do any one of those things better.The energy and the focus and the method that you use tolet yourself be creative is the same, whatever the material is,whatever the stuff you’re working in.“The other thing that seems clear to me is that creativeenergy is not something I can turn off or on at will.Sometimes it comes. Because I’ve done it for so long I can gointo my studio and make really interesting and beautiful jewelsany time—but I’m not always creative. I’m repeating variationsof what I’ve always done. It can be beautiful and it canbe slightly different and it can be wonderful, but it’s not…Creativity to me is taking a risk and jumping off and doingsomething new. It’s something that comes through me and Ican’t turn it off and on. I can sometimes set the stage so thatit happens. When I’m lucky, I’m “ready” when that energycomes. It is very much “Seize the Moment.” It’s like a gift. Itry to be ready and I work a lot. After some three and a halfdecades of making jewelry, I still relish going into my studio!It’s the thing that keeps me calm.”Jima still likes doing shows, because he likes selling thethings he makes directly to people who are going to wearthem. “That’s an important aspect of it to me. There areadvantages to going back to the same show every year. I getto see pieces that are one, five, ten and twenty years old. Acouple of years ago I saw a necklace that was twenty-eightyears old! It was such a treat! Somebody was wearing it andstill enjoying that piece. She came up to me and said,‘Do youremember this?’ I looked at it and it was so different fromwhat I am doing now, but it was beautiful. It looked like ithad been dug out of a middle-eastern archaeological dig. Itlooked ancient. It was avery interesting experience.“Another valuableside effect of being ableto see things over theyears is that jewelry getsworn, gets abused, and Iget to refine the engineeringtechniques. I cansee really fast things thatare not working, thingsthat are wearing too fast,mechanisms that don’tfunction. That’s a valuableaspect. It’s alsopleasant to watch how pieces can pass down through threegenerations, like from a grandmother to a mother to adaughter. I like the feeling of being able to make things thathold together long enough to be passed to another generation.”As part of his ongoing and varied work at the ArtCenter, Jima will teach a jewelry workshop, November 10-13,focusing on making the mixed metal beads that he startedcreating after moving to the coast. A detailed description ofthe class can be viewed on the Art Center's website(www.MendocinoArtCenter.org) or in the fall catalog.For eight years, Jima has also been the organizer of thetwo annual fund raising art fairs at the Center, one in midJuly and one coming up on the Friday and Saturday afterThanksgiving, November 24 and 25. This is the 47th year forthe fairs, which showcase high quality art and fine crafts withparticipants who are local, regional and from out of state.The fairs are always well attended, fun and successful.One other aspect of his Art Center involvement is hiswork with the digital arts program, which he has been apart of from almost the beginning. Currently he hosts aweekly open studio in the computer lab helping visitors withdigital photography, Photoshop and computer graphicswork, the Internet, and is basically available to be of assistancewith computer use in general. The open studio happenseach Wednesday evening from 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm andcosts $8.00. Jima will also offer a four day workshop onPhotoshop use for digital photographers in the spring of2007.To see more of his jewelry work and thatof his wife and partner Carlie, and to checktheir upcoming show schedule, visit their website atwww.mixedmetaljewels.bigstep.comTo communicate with him directly about classes, digitalopen studio or the annual art fairs, email him atjima@mcn.org.11