Wednesday, June 18, 2014 Sometimes Shop

So, some news: I moved back to NYC and had a pop up shop with friends Leah, Rachel, Monica, Gina, and Masuko. Here are some photos of said shop - it was pretty great, if I do say so myself. We're already planning the next one in December. Back to the salt mines!

Wednesday, May 7, 2014 SEEKING AN NYC ASSISTANT

Hello friends. I'm moving back to Brooklyn tomorrow. It may be short term, it may be long term, I'm gonna play it by ear. But the one thing I know for sure about it is: Datter needs an assistant. I'm moving the business over and hoping to grow it from NYC.

I think the job will be around 15 hours a week, ideally spread over two or three days. Much the same as when I posted looking for help in London last year, so the ad that follows may be familiar. The job will be working on various different things - part of it would be working on fulfilling and packaging orders, collecting items from casters and jewellery suppliers, managing some administrative aspects, and help with making and finishing the jewellery itself.

I think & hope this would be pretty useful experience for anybody interested either in making jewellery, or in running a small craft-based business. It'll be quite hands-on and you'll see and help with every aspect of the business, so I hope it'll be valuable, as well as, y'know, a paycheck.

So I need somebody organised and quick to learn - experience making jewellery is a plus but not essential. You probably do need to be fairly crafty and good with your hands, though! And you'd need to be computer and web-savvy, and if you have any other particular skills (photography, writing, etc) I'm sure we can make 'em count. Payment is going to be somewhat dependant on experience, but there'll be none of that unpaid internship nonsense.

Starting ASAP! Please spread the word. Email kaye@datterindustries.com to apply.

Oh and, UK pals, don't worry - my lovely friend Hannah is going to keep on handling UK & EU Datter orders from London, so you don't have to start waiting ages for postage and paying customs fees etc.

Friday, February 28, 2014 Brooklyn Studio Share

Hey friends! I've got some news: I'm moving back to Brooklyn. Yup. In early May. BUT, I have more urgent business: I've locked down a studio space from, like, now, because it was too awesome to pass up. So even though I'm not there, I'm looking for sharers. I'll be in NYC next week to meet prospective studiomates (and also to do other stuff), so please please spread the word to anybody who might be looking.

So here it is. I've just taken a 700sq ft studio, and I don't need anything like that much, so I'm looking to find one or two people to share it with. I'm going to be using about third of it, so there's about 460 sq ft left over. I figure the easiest way to divide it is to make two other spaces of about 230sq ft, for $460 each, but that's totally flexible. It's available from March 10th. While I'm not there you can do whatever terrible things you like to my third of the space.

I'll be using the studio to draw, run my jewellery business, draw, make stuff, draw, etc. I have a fantasy about getting a kiln and building a printing press. The space is perfectly suited to small creative businesses, but really anybody who wants somewhere to make work and needs more space than just a desk. Illustrators, ceramicists, textile artists, painters, sculptors, jewellers, designers… All good people need apply. This 700sq ft space is one-third of a way larger studio, shared with Amelie Mancini and Ariele Alasko. They've built walls & windows between the spaces, but it's not totally cut off, so we have the advantage of actually seeing other human beings! A bit of a privilege for the self-employed.

The studio will be empty when we move in, a blank slate (the photo is of it with it's current occupant). We can build dividing walls and put shelves up and anything we desire to make it a perfect work space. It's in a big old industrial building filled with artists studios. Has an elevator, daily USPS & FedEx pickups (!!! goodbye post office queues), 24h security, roof access. Wifi, of course. It's on Park Ave at Nostrand in Bed-Stuy.

The only caveat is I'd prefer not to have really loud machine work or strong chemicals in the space - although there is roof access which can be used for chemicals / solvent / spray paint / wading pools etc. Other than that, anybody interested, get in touch. Shoot me an email at kblegvad@gmail.com and let's work this out. Come make stuff with us!

Thursday, January 16, 2014 Erik Blegvad

My grandpa Erik, my dad's dad, the first & oldest & greatest of the Blegvad illustrators, died on Tuesday morning. He was 90 years old. I should be so lucky to ever do a drawing one half as nice as one of his, or to ever have a moustache so fine.

There's a lot of family legends & proud stories about him but my favourite is this: he was illustrating a crowded naval scene for a magazine, and he used his wise judgement and great wit to put a tiny boat in the distance with flags that spelled 'fuck it' in semaphore. Somebody wrote in to complain and he was fired. That's my kinda illustrator! Hats off to you, sir.

These are some photographs I took of his study, in lieu of more words because if there's one thing I ain't it's a eulogist. Just - bye Grandpa. Thank you for the good times.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013 Interview with Metal Magazine

Read all about it! 'It' meaning 'me'. I did an interview with the good people at Metal Magazine, and they sent an actual real live photographer to take some pictures of me in my studio. Here's a few of the photos, and you can click through here to read the interview. All your Kaye Blegvad questions answered.

Photos feature sneaky previews of work-about-depression and more-ceramic-heads and more-ceramic-cats and just, work-that-hasn't-made-it-to-the-blog. One day.

All credit to the photographer, Philipp Ammon.

Monday, September 23, 2013 Studio Assistant Needed

----Thanks everyone! The response has been amazing. I've found someone now, all my problems are solved!----

It's time! I've been running this ol' jewellery business for two years or so now, and it's been awesome, but it's also gotten a bit out of hand. I can no longer run it as a one-woman show: I need an assistant, or an intern - basically I need some help help help.

Interested? Or know anybody who might be? Send 'em my way.

I'm looking for somebody either one day a week, or, better yet, two half-days a week. It'd be working on various different things - part of it would be working on fulfilling and packaging orders, collecting items from casters and jewellery suppliers, managing some administrative aspects, and help with making and finishing the jewellery itself.

I think & hope this would be pretty useful experience for anybody interested either in making jewellery, or in running a small craft-based business. It'll be quite hands-on and you'll see and help with every aspect of the business, so I hope it'll be valuable. Last thing I want is someone stuck doing something tedious.

So I need somebody organised and quick to learn - experience making jewellery is a plus but not essential. You probably do need to be fairly crafty and good with your hands, though! And you'd need to be computer and web-savvy, and if you have any other particular skills (photography, writing, etc) I'm sure we can make 'em count. Payment is going to be somewhat dependant on experience, but there'll be none of that unpaid internship nonsense.

And needless to say, you'd need to be based in London. My studio's in Dalston/Hackney Downs.

Shoot me an email if you're interested. Let's make some stuff!

hello@datterindustries.com

Monday, July 1, 2013 Inside the Roquebrune flat

Here's another drawing I did in Roquebrune. I really love this flat. Every item in it seems carefully chosen. I took a lot of photos of the interior too, they show it much better than my drawings could. Paintings by my grandma, my grandpa's bicycle. Drawings and artworks given to them by their friends. Miniatures (my grandma loved them). Simple, subtle, functional objects.

Sunday, June 30, 2013 My grandfather's French art supplies

Some more drawings from France. A couple of things I found in the flat, that belong to my grandfather. I thought both of them were rather touching little artefacts. He's an illustrator (over 100 children's books under his belt), and is quite particular about his art supplies. Many of them were labelled like this. I used his ink to draw these - sorry Grandpa! Hope you don't mind!

Friday, June 21, 2013 New Datter collection, new lookbook, new website

News! Actual news!
I've been working flat out on all this for a while, but now it's finally done: my jewellery now has a new collection, a new lookbook, and a new website to put it all on. Praise the lord! Go have a gander if you feel so inclined - it's all now on the mega-official datterindustries.com

And one other thing - Datter now has it's own blog, over on the famous tumblr. So while I'll occasionally post big jewellery related news here, all the little bits of process, snapshots, etc will now be here. Join me. You'll get amazing content like this photo of me making jewellery:

Friday, May 24, 2013 Interview with Need Supply Co

Guys! Are you starving for more information about ME? Your troubles are over! I did an interview with the wonderful folks over at Need Supply Co, and it is text heavy and full of Blegvad. Check it out here.

Monday, May 13, 2013 Mum at the Oxford Botanic Gardens

A follow up to my last post about my ma, as it's US Mother's Day today. My lovely mum has been exhibiting her work at the Oxford Botanic Garden. The show just finished, and these are a few photos I just got developed. They're grainy and don't do the work justice (expired film) but boy, these paintings look good.

Sunday, March 10, 2013 Mum's studio

It's mother's day, which seems a good time to post these photographs. I took them at my mum's open studio a few months ago. She's a painter, with an incredible eye for pattern and colour - not to mention, y'know, an amazing mum and general badass powerful woman. So this is a tiny tribute to her and her work. Here you go. Thanks for everything, mamma.

You can see more of her work on her website, chloefremantle.com. When I look at it I actually can't believe how prolific she is. Somebody give this woman a contract to design all the textiles, art, and wallpaper for a palace somewhere.

Here's another photo from her studio building: it's huge, but I like it. The shared phone in the corridor between many studios. Evidence that artists work here.