This is one of the works from Kris Patzlaff’s “Tribute to Trinidad” series. (Submitted)
Since retiring several years ago as an art professor at Cal Poly Humboldt, fine metalsmith Kris Patzlaff has stayed busy “living my most creative life.”
Patzlaff is a featured artist this month — along with ceramicist Natalie DiCostanzo — at the Arcata Artisans Gallery, 883 H St., Arcata. She’s exhibiting a new collection of artwork — including jewelry and mixed-media assemblage — that delves into the idea of place and the mementos one collects along the way.
“I have explored this concept in the past and wanted to revisit it again. It really resonates with me,” Patzlaff said. “I have done quite a bit of research on memento mori jewelry and cabinets of curiosities. I am a collector and display my natural collections in small drawers, much like the cabinets did, in my home.
“Contemporary jewelry, like lockets and charm bracelets, are evidence of jewelry playing a role in documenting time and place through the 20th century. This also informs my work,” she added. “It is my intention that the pieces I created will also evoke memories.”
One set of art pieces being showcased at the gallery right now are part of Patzlaff’s “Beach Findings” series.
“One of the pendants in the ‘Beach Findings’ series consists of beach glass and abalone, a memento of beachcombing, hung together as charms,” she said. “I think this is a universal experience and I am bringing these beach findings together to evoke that memory in others. I want them to feel like these objects are their own.
“Another piece in that series,” Patzlaff added, “is a collection of small beach agates sandwiched in between watch crystal faces and another under a photo lens. Agate hunting is part of our local community. There are many people who in engage in this activity and it hold memories of time and place.
She continued: “(In) one of the jewelry works entitled ‘Tide pooling,’ I am using a specimen of chrysocolla that reminds me of the rocks on the beach where anemones attach. The metalwork is textured to look like anemones, sand and seaweed.”
Many of the beach items used in her jewelry are from the local and out-of-the-area seashores she has visited.
“I collect wherever I go,” Patzlaff said. “In some of the work I am using shells collected from the Outer Banks and agates from local beaches.”
The watch crystals used in her jewelry provide a “window” to view through and “in turn a sense of intimacy with the objects or images they hold,” she said.
Patzlaff’s assembled mixed-media works are also constructed of found and collected objects and are being featured alongside her jewelry at Arcata Artisans in a series called “Tribute to Trinidad.”
“My mixed-media pieces give me the opportunity to share a narrative. Jewelry is more difficult for people to see a story,” she said. “My mixed-media pieces utilize some metal and techniques that are traditional to jewelry making. My skill set allows me to manipulate materials to do whatever I need them to do. I use images to help tell the story.”
Her imagery is often influenced by her surroundings and the wildlife that inhabits the coastal town of Trinidad where she resides.
“I feel so blessed that I live in Trinidad,” Patzlaff said. “The sounds of the ocean, the small community, the relaxed atmosphere, create a perfect environment for art making. The town has changed some over the last 30 years, but there is a resonance of being able to do what you do.”
Another constant in her work is the use of a technique called roller printing, which is a hallmark of Patzlaff’s jewelry.
“There are many pieces that have roller printed metal,” she said. “Roller printing is a textured surface that I regularly use in my work. I have been using this technique in my work for the last 24 years. I studied printmaking in undergraduate and graduate program while getting my MFA in jewelry and metalsmithing. Printmaking is very process driven and I love process, so it was a natural to combine my jewelry making with that process.
“The way I create my plates is like intaglio printing, except a much deeper etch,” Patzlaff said. “This allows the embossing to be very pronounced on the metal. I finish the surface with a patina, and subsequent polishing that accentuates the drawing. I am attracted to the mark making quality when creating the plates for printing. It is very meditative. The resulting surface is richly embossed, adding another dimension to my work.”
Patzlaff is a founding member of Arcata Artisans. According to the Arcata Artisans website, she was a self-taught metal artist before graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt) and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Illinois Carbondale in 1987.
“After graduating I started a studio practice, selling my work at major art and craft fairs and galleries across the country,” she said. “My love of teaching led me to teach workshops and classes part-time at College of the Redwoods and HSU. In 2000, I accepted a full-time position at HSU heading the Jewelry and Small Metals program. I also served the university as chair of the Department of Art and interim associate dean of the College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences. Retiring in 2019, I was awarded with the opportunity to return to my studio practice.”
For more information about the artist, go to https://www.arcataartisans.com/artists/kris-patzlaff.
Other featured artist
Natalie DiCostanzo — the other featured artist for November at Arcata Artisans Gallery — is a longtime ceramicist. DiCostanzo says that although she will occasionally use a potter’s wheel, most of her pieces are constructed with slabs of clay that have been rolled flat with a rolling pin. She also likes to make impressions on the clay while it is soft and plastic. Then, after the clay has become rigid, the parts are assembled into the final piece, such as a mug, vase or other type of vessel.
Arcata Artisans Gallery is owned and cooperatively operated by its 22 local artist members, who work in a wide variety of media, including photography, glass works, fiber art, ceramics, metalsmithing, woodwork, painting, printmaking and jewelry. The gallery is open every day. For more information, go to www.arcataartisans.com or call 707-825-9133.
