This and That....

I'm fiddling with the layout of the blog (obviously).  I've changed it a gazillion times in the past few days and still haven't really hit on a look I'm in love with.  Layouts are important to us "Artsy" types, and I can't seem to get this one quite right.  The cookie-cutter templates that come with Blogger aren't doing it for me, and creating my own is frustrating me to DEATH!  I'm trying to tie the blog to the overall look of my website (www.beadkeepers.com), hence the stripes.  The skull image is from my house.  One of my favorite skulls--a horse skull that I coated with copper paint and patina.  I'm going to leave this for a bit...see if it "grows" on me.

I have been happily busy lately, both with my work at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation and with my jewelry designing.  RSCF is in full baby mode, with young marmosets and antelope everywhere.  Not so good for the parrots this year--we had such a mild winter that the birds never got the "trigger" to breed that changing seasons provide.  No cold weather, just too warm all year.  So, we have NO FERTILE EGGS this year, for the first time in over 8 years.  In a way this is a good thing--our colony of red-browed Amazon parrots (the rarest Brazillian Amazon parrot) is at capacity and we are in the midst of creating a new program with organizations in Brazil and the United States to better manage the species in captivity.  In reality, we need this year's freedom to move animals and build new enclosures without handfeeding babies every 90 minutes.

And, selfishly, this works for me 'cause for the first time in FOREVER I can work in my studio more!  I've been obsessed with geodes and druzy lately, creating rings, bracelets and pendants using druzy, geodes and agate slices.  I get them from my favorite supply website, Objects and Elements.  The mini-geodes are so cool, great for rings.  I've also fallen in love with leather again, working with a great leather buckle cuff by Tandy.  The agate slices look fantastic set on leather, I hold them in place with disks of metal (brass, copper, aluminum, silver).  Simple, and shows the stone so nicely!!!  All cold-connected with micro screws.  I am cold-connecting everything these days--I'm going to have to re-aquaint myself with my torch soon so I don't forget how it works!  I did solder the little bronze baby to the setting for the carnelian druzy ring, so I'm not completely helpless yet...

I've been really blessed to work with some wonderful galleries and designers this year.  Lady Sibylla in Blue Ridge, GA is fantastic, run by super-woman Mary LeRoy.  She's been so supportive of my work, gobbling up all my new designs.  Plum Gallery in St. Augustine, run by the lovely Karen Sheridan, is also showcasing my work with great success.  I thank both for supporting me!!  Between these two and my local galleries, Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery (with Joyce Brown at the helm), and the Palm Beach Cultural Council Gallery (where I show my sculptural, non-jewelry works) I am happy to say I am well represented all around!!! 

AND, I'm working with Nunn Design as part of their 2012 Innovation Team.  Becky Nunn has been beyond generous and supportive.  I was just featured in their blog, showcasing two of my ring designs using Nunn's ornate ring blanks.  Yes, I am a busy gal and I love it!!!  I must say that my art keeps me sane.  I know many of my artist friends say the same, but I really feel that if I did not have this outlet in my life I would go crazy.  So much tragedy and sadness in the world today...expressing myself artistically gives me peace and joy, and recharges my brain every day.  That, and working and living with some of the planet's most amazing animals keeps me grounded.  I am thankful, to say the least....

This summer is shaping up to be a HOT one, south Florida is at it's soggy best.  I plan to do a bit of traveling--counting the days till I can get back to my favorite city St. Augustine, and also plan to visit my family in Michigan for a wedding and to possibly teach a cold connecting class in Traverse City.  I hope all my friends out there in cyber-space are creating and living your lives to the very best.  Remember to take a deep breath and walk outside today.  Smell the green, and marvel at this amazing planet we get to call "home".  Take care....see you soon!

Plum Gallery

As of this weekend, my jewelry designs will be available at Plum Gallery in St. Augustine!  This lovely little art haven is tucked away on Aviles Street, run by Karen Sheridan and Maribel Angel.  I discovered it on my last visit to St. Augustine a few weeks ago. 

I am so excited to be a part of this Gallery full of amazing art.  They have "First Friday Art Walks" from 5 - 9 PM, a great way to spend a Friday evening wandering St. Augustine and visiting the many ecclectic galleries all over town.  AND, don't miss "Sangria Sundays" from 2 - 4 PM--pretty self explanatory! 

It is always great to become a part of a new gallery, and Plum gives me another excuse to visit my favorite city as often as I can.  So, if you are in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by for an art walk or a glass of local sangria.  See you there!

Surviving the Streets of St. Augustine

This is an odd post for me, a small departure, but I wanted to share...
 

I am a 45 year old runaway.  Yes, this weekend I ran away from home.  It's a struggle, living on the streets.  The mean streets of St. Augustine.  The constant assault of local live music wafting through the air, tripping over street musicians and performers with tiny dogs dressed as pirates.  The wonderful indie art galleries and restaurants in every nook, cranny and hidden side street.  Don't get me started on the antbellum architecture or how the place reeks of painstakingly maintained Spanish history.  It's Hell, I tell you, Hell!

Just to survive I've ducked into a new little place called "Rhett's", right next door to "Scarlet O'hara's" on Hypolita Street.  Those marketing wizards!

Where Scarlett's is a multi-level, old home turned into pub-style restaurant and college hot-spot, Rhett's is a new, super-cool, upscale piano bar and gourmet dining experience.  Sort of like what I imagine Mr. Butler would also be...but that's another story.

I can hardly manage to wolf my Caesar salad with all the burbling piano music, lovely and attentive staff, and don't get me started on the saxophone guy...oozing talent and fresh-scrubbed college cuteness. 

My lovely waitress just stopped by to ask what I thought of my salad.  I so wanted to drawl, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."  Don't worry, I didn't.  But I could have!

So, I sip my beer (yes, I am not afraid to order a draft in a place like this, after all, I am a street person), and stare at the antique tin tiled ceiling, plotting my next move.  I am interrupted by the arrival of my lobster stuffed chicken breast on truffle-infused mashed potatoes.  Oh. My. God.
 

I don't want to simply eat this meal.  I want to marry it.  I want to wear it next to my skin.  I want to take it for a long walk on the beach, holding its hand.  In case you don't get what I am saying, this meal is an orgy in my mouth.  Wait, that is really gross.  This meal is...delicious.  Simply, elegantly, delicious.

If I could eat like this every day I would become one of those house-bound people who eventually make the news because a wall of their home had to be destroyed so they could be removed by crane.  And I would be grinning ear-to-ear while dabbing at the truffle oil staining my chins.

I ran away to St. Augustine because many, many, MANY moons ago I used to live here, and to this day I adore the place.  Don't get me wrong, St. Augustine, America's oldest city, has its share of ridiculous tourist-traps.  Many crap shops selling T-shirts and chocolate on a stick in the shape of an alligator, "ghost tours" on every corner, and sangria bars with exhausted locals sweating their asses off dressed as Spanish soldiers, grinningng through gritted teeth at drunk, fanny-pack wearing families from Wisconsin taking their pictures.  But, as I sit under a painting of the Battle of Atlanta, sipping cappuccino, I marvel at how hip little places like Rhett's coexist with the Nation's Oldest Drug Store and Ripley''s Believe it if Not!  Somehow, St. Augustine has managed to grow up, while still retaining it's core personality.  Kind of amazing, really.

By the way,  I am totally getting into this whole runaway street person thing.

I was about to say that my dining experience was marred by the arrival of a huge party of really loud people seated right next to me.  I was, until the woman in charge of the group came over to me and apologized in advance for her boisterous group, and offered to buy me a drink to make up for it. God, I love St. Augustine!

Holy crap, I just realized that after it gets dim in Rhett's, they give you menus that LIGHT UP WHEN YOU OPEN THEM.  I can't stand it. You crazy kids with your fancy toys.  God bless you, no more squinting, or lighting your menu on fire because you held it too close to the table candle in a vain attempt to read it.

Back to the charm that is St. Augustine.  One of my favorite memories is of walking down a side street one evening after a great meal, and hearing laughter and music coming from a hidden courtyard.  The yard was surrounded, as many are, with an ancient stone wall.  I peeked over and found a group of locals, off work but still dressed in their Spanish period costumes.  They were relaxing, drinking beer, and cranking some great tunes.  They saw me and immediately insisted I join them, a total stranger.  Of course I did, and had a great night getting buzzed with soldiers, pirates, and wenches.  Totally awesome.

That is why I run away, as often as I can, to St. Augustine.  And you should too.  Living on the street has its advantages...

So, Rhett's, I'll let you carry me up that gigantic winding staircase anytime.  Really, you can, because I am so stuffed I can't walk right now.