SisBro Design

Granted

2011-10-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

Brett Smith, The Suns of Cudd (2011), Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Brett has worked hard all year, and the installation is complete.
Here is one of the pieces in the show.
Why not go to the MCAD Gallery tonight for the artist discussion?!

Wednesday, October 12, 6:30 p.m.

finger licking

2011-03-01T06:37:00.000-08:00

Four more days until we close on our house! If anyone so much as sets a finger on those copper pipes again, they will get some unexpected brass knuckles. I will continue to evolve these knuckles into bigger and better things, but for my first pass, I'm pretty happy to be wearing this other knuckle around my pinky.
Cross your fingers that the next posts will be about home renovation!

2011-02-11T09:33:00.000-08:00

Things have been a little crazy around here. We are attempting to buy a house, settle down, open up a grand sisbro studio, and really dedicate ourselves and our extra time to cranking out the goods. So so close to close, then someone stole all the copper pipes in the basement!

We'll keep posting though!

I made a silicone mold of those knuckles and put my wax injector to use, SO EASY! Next, I mounted all those knuckles onto a wax tree. Last night, I was finally able to caste them into metal! Pictures soon..

Knuckle nuggs

2011-01-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

I finished with the next step. I carefully carved out each finger into a little knuckle gem, and hollowed each one out using a heated wire, and some wax carving tools. I want as little wax as possible in these shapes so when I cast them, I will not need as much metal, and they won't be so heavy.

chuckles

2011-01-02T09:35:00.000-08:00

As an adolescent youth, creative freedom of the self conscious reigns. I chose the unsuspecting knuckles to be the recipient of my embarrassment. I always thought I had the wrinkliest knuckles. I would go to measures such as always keeping my fingers slightly bent, in order to stretch all those wrinkly little joints out. Being older, and a little more secure with these hands, I wanted to create my next piece of jewelry from this part of my body which gave me such horror. This past week, with so much Christmas and New Years vacation, I cast my knuckles in wax! I am thrilled with all those creases and crevices!

This one's dedicated..

2010-11-22T12:17:00.000-08:00

To the one, the only, Brett Smith. The guy who puts the bro in sisbro, the one who puts the big in brother, and the dude that puts the B in worker. I want to take the time to congratulate Brett on being a 2010 recipient of the MCAD Jerome Foundation Fellowship!! He is one of 5 selected from 322 applicants. Well deserved brother! Now he just has to figure out what to do with the money (besides buying a tanning bed). I'm sure whatever it is, it will be BIG TIME! Congratulations brett!

you've got mail

2010-11-09T13:33:00.000-08:00

With no more large looming projects, we can get back to the little things.. Because that's what counts, right?
We just shipped a red hand from our webshop to the bustling city of London. Touching new continents.

ALZO..Our knit tetrahedron lamps will be lit up and on sale at the MCAD art sale Thursday Nov. 18th, to Saturday the 20th. Fuel the economy, sisters, brothers and such.

New Land of Milk and Honeycomb Salon

2010-09-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

We've finished it. Done. No more. Erin Flavin, you have your own salon. Brett and I have some time to breath for the first time in a long time. Now it is time to get haircuts and enjoy the fall. You should get haircuts too. see what we've done.

FLAVINARDO

2010-08-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

The big day was last weekend. The whole thing went off without a hitch, ending in a hitch. Flowers and Feasts made by friends, tent communities, freeman karaoke,and a beautiful dress by Ms. Annie Lee Larson. There were so many hands involved in this wedding, but only two left with new rings.

floor leaf clover

2010-08-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

We finished putting in the floors.
We got to the final keystone section and noticed that something was missing. I found that something in a patch of grass outside. Our wishes were written in sweat and blood on a tiny piece of paper, in a tiny envelope, fashioned by tiny hands. We secured the last little section floor containing some good luck for the tenant of this space.

EF + JL

2010-07-29T06:42:00.000-07:00

Bing bong ding dong!!! That is the sound of wedding bells!!!
Ahhhhh the smell of true love is in the air.. Erin Flavin and James Leonardo are joining forces through matrimony in the coming month.

Flavinardo have asked me to make a couple of wedding bands,an honor that has left me honored.

I've been given two maternal rings. Not to get too poetic, but I plan to melt these two metals together to form the new bands. The diamond setting on Erin's mothers' ring has already been sawn out and preserved, leaving a trace of the old ring on the new.. I'll post photo's as soon as I finish them.

Here's wishing a bright future for these two lovebirds.

MOREBFOREANDAFTOR

2010-07-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

Hey! It's cushion time! Are you sitting there wondering "hmmm... I wonder which one is before, and which is after?"
Well, let me clue you in.. I'm not into flowers, UNLESS they are on a bed, a garden bed.

pillow peeple

2010-07-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

These pillows are stacking up in the hallway. Whatever free time is left (i.e. waking up too early, going to sleep too late)is spent ripping seams and sewing through my finger.. It will feel so nice to get all these done.. But that floor installation is calling!

after

2010-07-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

that chair was so gross to fix. I have a new layer of disintegrated foam flesh now.
Now there are only 12 cushions to go..

before

2010-07-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

This poor thing has been through two cats.

ramalamalamakadingadinga dong

2010-06-22T07:21:00.000-07:00

Things a coming together, literally. We have 15 boards hand stained and poly'd, ten more to go! Since we are waiting on our routering robot friend, it may be about time to get to work on some re-upholstering. It's been a long time since I took out the old sewing machine, hopefully I didn't break all my needles on the garden bedding for NLMH..

peekabro

2010-06-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a huge endeaver.. We met last night despite the glowing yellow/orange-tornado-watch sky to stain these massive pieces of plywood.
Our first run on the c&c router came out, we are pretty excited about the results.. 1 down, 5 stained, and about 20 to go before we can start installing them!

cheap ideas

2010-06-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

Flooring.. Flooring can cause multiple headaches, in a sister and a brother, not only from caustic varnishes, but from cost. In an attempt to save money, and we're talking cheaper than IKEA, we've decided to lay down plywood in the space for our refinished floors. But that is not enough for us, NO WAY! We're currently testing out techniques to add a little somethin' somethin' of our own onto the plywood, including, but not limited to, stain and routering. So far, we're super happy with the results, and can't wait to see the entire space transformed!

Don't worry, the above photo includes routering without a jig, the final won't be as jiggly.

peakaboo

2010-05-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

Summer is definitely here, and I know, I know, we've been terrible (worse than terrible) at blogging, but we have been working nonstop.. It was almost a seamless transition from NLMH to this new project. Speaking of...

So, remember that really super top secret project that was mentioned earlier? We're going to let you take a glimpse of it. I'm not going to say much, but we will update as progress is being made!

Look at the beautiful canvas we've been given to work with!

Blech.. Yeah, ok, it's actually a hideous canvas right now. Maybe as we work, you can guess what we are making ;D

Last weekend, we made the super craigslist score! We nabbed all these old science cabinets from a school remodel for cheapcheap! Brett and I were SO excited both at the aesthetics of them, and the amount. We plan to use these cabinets and drawers meshed with our own designs, both to save on money (we've got a tight budget on this one) and to be able to bring in the warmth of older wood into the space. I can't wait to start building in warm weather!

look at DEM KITES!

2010-04-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

Today was such an amazingly pollinated perfect spring day. What better way to spend it than to load up the car with a bunch of tetrahedrons, and head to the como zoo!? I was able to kidnap the QUEEN OF QUILLS herself, emily snyder, to help me photograph the remainder of the NLMH landscape. There were a lot of eyes on us and our crazy "kites". Pretty great, hearing someone else's vision.. Not a bad idea, really. This is one of my favorite shots from today. Many thanks to emily's long long arm!

2010-04-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

As the days grow longer and warmer, time is becoming scarce. We are busy playing around with pixels, nodes, and codes, and will hopefully have a finalized website and store up in the near future!

Also dear friends, our time at the soap factory is coming to an end. We've planned an EXCITING DAY of activities and festivities that we would like to invite you (yes YOU!!!) to!!

Please come celebrate spring, new beginnings, and show endings with us! The action starts at 1:00pm and goes till 11:00. Bring a potluck item, some undies to teye-deye, yourself (and maybe some earplugs). A full day schedule is HERE!! We've even invited a couple of !!HOOLIGANS!! to join us, all the way from PORTLAND!

See you soon?
xoxo es and bs

thinking of toobers

2010-03-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

The weather is finally starting to take a turn for the warmer here. Time to shed the sweaters, and put on some things that don't necessarily keep you warm. Like a knitnecklace. As the snow melts away, there are some exciting new projects sprouting out of our ears!!! We can't wait to share the super TOP SECRET developments! But for now, you'll just have to wait, and adorn yourself in knit toobers, fringe, and more.

2010-03-10T22:09:00.000-08:00

i was really hoping to get some more projects posted this week, but the time has crept up on us, that's right.. vacation time!!!
brett and i are hopping on a plane tomorrow to sunny LOS ANGELES!! where we will see such sights as sunny LOS ANGELES!! maybe ride a horse, see some jurassic technology, sneak a caress of a soundsuit, join unarius, expose my skin, and attend our dear friends' art opening at SYNCHRONICITY SPACE. can't wait to hang in cali w ALarson Ecarlson and Aanderson. we'll be back, and refreshed next tuesday, and ready to post much more from our noggins. TILL THEN. HELLO CA!
So. Planes get canceled. Dreams get crushed. It happens.. We had a nice long weekend of braincations. It's time to get back to work, too many ideas, and one more event at the soap factory to get through. HELLO MN!

thinking of fringe

2010-03-04T21:42:00.000-08:00

Getting back to the basics, The New Land of Milk and Honey inspired a few more jewelry projects to bubble up.

The New Land of Milk and Honey

2010-03-02T22:21:00.000-08:00

And the New Land of Milk and Honey is now a reality.

Thanks to all who participated, special thanks to Adele and David Smith.

second photo by Rachel Mosey
last two photos by Sam Hoolihan
fashion by Annie Larson

video by Adrian Freeman

knitnightlight

2010-02-26T08:36:00.000-08:00

Finally these little knit mountains came together to illuminate our landscape for the New Land of Milk and Honey.

NLMH Garden Bed

2010-02-24T15:17:00.000-08:00

The New Land of Milk and Honey yielded garden gnomes and garden beds galore.

harvest time

2010-02-15T10:59:00.000-08:00

we have light

2010-02-10T22:44:00.000-08:00

And In the New Land, they said

2010-01-28T12:37:00.000-08:00

New rib of rib and rib

2010-01-25T21:22:00.000-08:00

construction is slowly turning our bodies into burly winterized lumberjacks,
from the inside out.
Except...
Brett may very well have broken his first bone.
At the tender age of 32,
he has given the new land of milk and honey his rib.
Sister remains miraculously unscathed.

Cold Constructs

2010-01-19T05:41:00.000-08:00

The world is frozen out there,

but the building must go on.

Sisbro spent a constructive day at the soap factory yesterday.

Frozen broken bits, and ice patches on twobyfours mean nothing to us!

New Lands

2010-01-09T10:51:00.001-08:00

The lapse in time has not been in vain.

The smiths are busier than ever beeing conceptors,
and soon to be constructors for the new land of milk and honey.
FEBRUARY 20th APPROACHES FAST.

2009-10-09T10:36:00.001-07:00

2009-10-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

2009-09-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

2009-09-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

2009-09-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

2009-09-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

2009-08-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

new studio new stuffio

2009-07-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

new molds=new family jewelz
new space=new ideas
we are finally settling into our new studio space in the
basement of the new sis-house.

Two moves in two months
leaves two tired grumps.

It's been a while, but new projects are
on the way..

sister Birthblaze

2009-07-03T20:18:00.000-07:00

he did it yet again..
Do you want to experience the splosion?

DON'T SLEEP ON IT

2009-05-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

here we are, working with WACTAC.
as the first group to go, we directed the group to create
their own product to stock the shelves of our 3hr sisbromart.

u save big $, u save big $, when u shop sisbro

2009-05-15T07:11:00.001-07:00

join sisbro tonight

California Building

6-9 pm

WALKER ART CENTER

TEEN ARTS COUNCIL

art-a-whirl event

check back soon to see the results of the event!

good news. new goods.

2009-01-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

L33t PRO

Eleet leet 1337 31337
Copper etched memory card necklace created for the SooVac holiday craft fair!
available at SooVac and Etsy.

*you can put this necklace in your camera, but don't come crying to us when it breaks your camera*

pop goes the shop

2008-12-12T18:27:00.000-08:00

ceramic jewels are now living in the MNfashion pop-up boutique for the holidays.

In downtown Gaviidae Commons, skyway level near Neiman Marcus.
open November 21, 2008 - January 10, 2009.
Stop in and get some!!

Juxtaposition Gate, check.

2008-11-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

broken backs. battered bruised brains. frozen freedom finger fries. torqued thumbs and tongues. flattened phalanx.

don't judge a SISBRO by their gait.
do judge a SISBRO by their gate.

Salutations

2008-11-08T22:41:00.000-08:00

The juxtaposition welder weilding continues.

It has been a productive week indeed.

Photos soon! In the meantime, a salute.

squint

2008-10-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

We cranked out some Bush and Mccain pinatas for the Nomad Pub (below our studio) on the night of the drunk dead. ZOMBIE PUB CRAWL IV

open studio jams 2oo8 highlights

2008-10-12T20:39:00.000-07:00

she cleaned up real good.
here are a few images from the occasion.

United States Postal Service Present Delivery

2008-10-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

inspiration in the form of * HOOLIGANSHIP * and a birthday, produced:

1 pizza fanny pak, 2 pizza slice necklaces, and 2 swankdollar vested hoodies
for the party starters portland chapter!

what de is going on in this posttttt???

2008-09-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

yes. we are hard at work. well oiled machines. sewing machines.

project intercept is well underway.....

Open Studio FALL 2oo8

2008-09-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

CELEBRITIEZ INC. presents Studio Jams 2008
September 20th • 1:00–6:00pm
501 Cedar Ave. S. • 2nd level of Nomad World Pub • Mpls
FREE

Studio sweat has lasted for days. The space between summer and fall has been filled with new wares and precious objects. The Magic Garden has dissolved with the heat of summer. STUDIO JAMS 2008: FALL SESSION will bear the recent work of SISBRO, Swank Dollar, Josh Journey-Heinz and Aaron Ridgeway; a true cornucopia of multifaceted merchandise and other collectibles. What will you see?
SISBRO (Erin & Brett Smith): new jewels, porcelain prisms and pendants

Swank Dollar (Annie Larson): fashionable skorts, lacy things, various dresses and other fancy wearables

Josh Journey-Heinz: collaborative illustration book "DON'T SMOKE DRUGS" and Knifeworld LP's

Aaron Ridgeway: works in progress, womb suits, general

A smattering of miscellaneous TBD items will also be available for purchase, hire or basic viewing. See the space where we have worked for days, with stacks and piles and friends for miles. Enter through gate to the left of the Nomad on Cedar Ave. There is plenty of fence for your bike, or metered street parking for your car. The Nomad has reported that they will be opening the bar for the duration of the open studio just in case you require a beverage while you peruse. We do not accept major credit cards, CASH ONLY PLEASE! (price range from $30.00-$150.00) We hope to see you soon!
Sincerely,
CELEBRITIEZ INC.

Models Gone Wild

2008-08-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when our model for juxtaposition enters the pit, and this is the soundtrack that Sisbro hears while the whole thing goes down.

new obsession

2008-08-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

diy music box..
neck noodles..
lovely red-heads..
safariwear..
stay "tuned" for the masterpiece.

Juxtaposition PART deux

2008-07-26T20:47:00.001-07:00

2008-07-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

porcelain gems are now @ soovac! get them while you can! I'm working on a new collection!

BluDot photoshoot

2008-07-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

LOOK @ BRETT CONTEMPLATING LIFE AS WE KNOW IT WHILST CLUTCHING A PILLOW FOR DEAR LIFE!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!

This was one of the out-takes for the BluDot 2008-2009 Catalogue, taken by Dan Monick.

We make it up as we go along..

2008-07-15T15:01:00.001-07:00

from paperwork to solderwork. Here is our scale model, soon to be made life-size.

Juxtaposition

2008-07-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

Original concept proposal for the new interior of Juxtaposition Arts in NE minneapolis.
Visions of crystals dance through our heads.

sister Birthdaze

2008-07-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

now, who's gonna top this one?? last week, brett was hard at work, unbeknownst to me, making a birthday cake, IN THE SHAPE OF A PIZZA!!! I am speechless. The box said "pizzaman".

WALKER ON THE GREEN

2008-06-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

What, you may ask, is brett doing here? Catapulting? Catacombing?
First and foremost, I would like to point out the lovely hoodless zip-up sweatshirt that brett decided to wear on this chilly-minnesotan-summers-eve. Where did he get this sweatshirt, you ask??
Ahem..
I believe HE STOLE IT FROM HIS SISTER!!!!!

Secondly, I would like to point out the home-made lever that was made to compound earth into triangular tiles of different depths/angles. I would be lying if I said that the dirt didn't come from the exhumed grounds of a cemetery. Next time you need an excess amount of dirt, you know where to go!! 20% portland cement to 80% mud/sand/clay mixture, and you get a durable, stabilized-rammed-earth concoction that would make even the most skilled cro magnon green with envy.

Third, THANK YOU MOM AND DAD, YOU WERE SO MUCH HELP. Look at our dad grinding and burning the midnight oil! Our 101 yr old grandma came out and hit the ball around a little..

WALKER ON THE GREEN:artist-designed mini golf
open may 24th-september 7th

VOLTAGE: FASHION AMPLIFIED

2008-06-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

This is MUCH MUCH MUCH overdue...
namely because of all the projects we have been doing back to back.
prepare to be inundated with said projects!
JEWELERY FOR SWANK DOLLAR by annie larson.
tapes. hair. glasses.
and oh, how dem models wear it all. buy them @ that stuff and this stuff. for MC/VL

a little bleach, a little spraypaint, a serger, and some ferric chloride go a long way.
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Voltage 2008, originally uploaded by marcosparco.

FIN.

SISBRO and KnifeWorld work some magic

2008-04-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

MODELS + DIORAMAS+COOL PEOPLE
+
CAMERAS+COMPUTERS
+
GUITAR+DRUMS
+
3D GLASSES+VINYL
=
GOOD ALBUM

http://www.myspace.com/yourfavoritebandknifeworld
http://www.roaratorio.com

Sister and Brother have been Birthed into Blog

2008-04-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

HI MOM