max and the siamese twins.

max & the siamese twins is a new book out now featuring a compilation of conjoined twins by contemporary artists that accompanies a short story about a man named max dating a pair of conjoined twins. of course i'm in love! & also in the book!!! my 'shared heart' twins are alongside some of my favorite artists including jennybird alcantara. you can pick up this lovely hard cover here.

xoxo

Ma Vie En Rose

amberella sugary & sweet gallery & boutique that opened up near us in the piazza is having their first opening July 9, 10 & 11. The show, titled french for 'my life in pink', features 4 artists, several of them, including myself (!!!) are local philly painters with the addition of LA power house kime buzzelli. i'm super thrilled to be showing with her along with kris chau, who's been one of my long time inspirations! derek ihnat from curating space 1026 fame and fellow fecal face writer is showing with us ladies too. owner amber lynn is having a slew of special events over the three day opening including a harp player, an opera singer, pink vodka &&& hand rolled cotton candy from the machine we fired up last week. delicious.

if you're in town stop by!

xoxo

i am writing to you with my eyes

now that my intense jewelry assembling has slightly subsided, i'll be focusing  more of my attentions to my upcoming solo show at mew gallery this august. i'm very excited to be showing there again as i had my very first show there (outside of a bar or boutique) last summer and the ladies who run it are absolutely amazing and have supported me from the start!

the show will be called 'i am writing to you with my eyes' which is a line of text i found while i was re-reading frida kahlo's diary recently when i was stuck in bed. i began to think how artists, specifically a few of my favorite female artists have done this by revealing intimate parts of themselves through visual images, such as self-portraits and photographs. i also thought of one of my favorite poets, anne sexton, who i feel also does this in written texts because her language is so visual and intensely personal. and so, the idea for my show began sprouting all the while i was exiled in my bed with frida's diary, a book of diane arbus photos and anne's complete poems. 

i've begun to collect imgaes of vintage cameras for reference, such as the one above, which is really a tiny tiny working camera from Japan after WWII. If you have any images of vintage cameras, please please send them over to me! at jlschnabel@gmail.com.

1st anniversary of blood milk and first giveaway!

this week marks the very first anniversary of my jewelry line, blood milk. i have always believed that jewelry serves purposes far higher than ornamentation; that the pieces you choose and wear become your talismans. for these reasons, last year, i wanted to try my hand at furthering my artistic pursuits of creating paintings and fictions to making things that people could actually wear against their skin. 

it is important for me to create the anatomies of my jewelry with vintage and antique elements as i have always been interested in the memories these haunted items have. each time we own and use something, i believe a part of ourselves, particularly our emotions, and our era becomes imprinted on it. i feel this belief is especially potent in pieces that are older or charged with spirituality such as vintage rosary beads and animal bones i purchase mainly from native americans, who often use bones in their jewelry for spiritual purposes. the addition of semi-precious stones and knives are meant to illuminate the idea of the jewelry being psychic armor, as the stones carry special meanings and soothing powers while the knives are meant to quite literally protect its wearer or serve as a metaphor for it.

 by adding these layers of age and spirituality by way of the surrealist spirit of assemblage is then coupled with my romance with language as i often create histories for the pieces based on literature, mythology and histories both real and exaggerated. each piece begins from the same place all my other work is rooted; the dark and complex feminine experience and the duality of our inner and outer landscapes, as the jewelry serves to be worn outside the body but meant to resonate with our inner lives. it is from this focus that I choose the name of 'blood milk' ;the idea of our life forces having a macabre tone as well as one that is nurturing and rooted in the female body. 

so! i want to say thank you to every one who has ever bought a piece of jewelry from me or has given me encouragement, or has read my blog, its been an amazing year! to say thanks i want to also offer my first giveaway...... a custom piece of blood milk jewelry. the winner and i will communicate their interests and beliefs and i will make a special piece for her/ him  based on these conversations. the winner will be chosen at random on Saturday, June 6th. To enter, just leave a comment to this post!

xoxo

twin love

two different prints of mine featuring conjoined twins were selected for two different treasuries at the same time....as always i have twins in my split brain!

Philly City Paper

my love woke me up this morning at 5:30 am with frantic phone calls telling me i was in the Philly City Paper! if you look closely, my name is on the cover next to the 44!

my show is only open for two more days!