It's Complicated....

Today's creation.  Okay, this is a complicated design. I wanted to make something that speaks to my frame of mind recently, which has been rather dark. This ring is called "Poisonous Thoughts", and is created using a tiny porcelain doll head under a glass dome. A black flower blooms from the head, accented with a highly toxic seed from a vine that grows on our property. My intent was to visualize capturing and containing my black thoughts--essentially imprisoning them, but allowing me to see them so I will remember not to let these thoughts and emotions overwhelm me. Whew...and you thought I just made pretty jewelry...

Embarrassment of Riches...

I must say, I was feeling pretty down in the dumps these past weeks.  The holidays and hideous world events sort of sucked the life out of me.  Then, I wake up to wonderful virtual support.  First, a great comment on my blog, then, I find a favorite ring design of mine featured in Jewelry Making Daily, AND today MaryAnn Carroll featured my designs using her GORGEOUS enamel copper discs in her blog, Love My Art Jewelry.  If that isn't enough, this cold full moon is just overwhelming.  Thank you all so much.  I feel ready to sit down and create something to show my appreciation...something related to this moon, perhaps.  I'll keep you posted....

Great Way to Start the Day...

Woke up this morning to find one of my rings featured on the Jewelry Making Daily blog! My Party Hat Ring, created here for Nunn Designs, features a gorgeous ornate adjustable ring blank in gold by Nunn, layered with lots of colors and textures in brass, aluminum, enamel and more. Topped off with a lovely purple enamel dangle. This ring is super-fun and easy to make. Check out the step-by-step instructions on the blog, and make one for yourself! A party for your hand….and who doesn’t like a good party?!?!

 

 

Holidays, Get Thee Behind Me!

I know that the holidays are a time for family, food, giving, receiving, and fellowship. They are also a time for stress and chaos, so I am glad to be on the other side of Christmas. Especially this year, so full of tragedy and pain for so many. I’m not sure our country will be able to truly celebrate this season for a long, long time.

 

So, we reflect, stiffen our spines, and move on. Searching for beauty in the madness, we must somehow energize our souls and replenish our spirits as best we can. Art, in it’s infinite forms, has always been a tonic to sooth my battered psych. A way to refresh my mind and bring inspiration when none seems possible. Art, and the ability to express myself through it, has saved my sanity on more than one occasion.

 

Yet, this time, this time we live in, weighs so heavily on me now. I am struggling to find the spark, to put my hands and heart to work again. The furious flurry of creative activity leading up to Christmas was exhilarating and joyous for me. From my hands I created thoughtful, beautiful gifts, and found myself exploring new designs and mediums with ease and inspiration. Not so now, and I am having a really tough time re-starting my “engine”.

 

I have commitments and deadlines and promises to keep. I have been so lucky and blessed to be chosen to continue as part of Becky Nunn’s 2013 Nunn Design Innovation Team. I have projects that will be published in the coming year, something that has never happened for me before working with Becky. I am so thankful (and a bit terrified!).

 

My goal is to try to begin as fresh as I can. Today, I attack my workspace to simply clear it and organize. If that is all I accomplish today, that’s fine. I hope that each day I will be a little clearer, hopefully a little lighter in spirit. I will not push, or stress myself right now, no matter how I long for that feeling—that magic when time blurs, hours fly, and suddenly you hold in your hands something entirely new and beautiful. It will come, I hope, soon.

 

I would like to hear from other artists…how you deal with times like this, when it seems impossible to see beyond the chaos. Please share, and I wish you all the very best in this coming year. Peace for us all….

 

 

In the News...

Just a quick note and a link to an article that just came out about me in our local newspaper, The Palm Beach Post.  I am a member of a cooperative gallery in Lake Worth (Clay Glass Metal Stone), as well as a new member of the Palm Beach Cultural Council.  I have been showing my sculptural works in the Council Gallery (Uniquely Palm Beach), and they featured me as part of a series showcasing artists in the retail Gallery housed within the Council's brand new home in the Montgomery Building, also in Lake Worth.  I was so flattered, and actually can stand the photo taken, so it was a win all around!!  Thanks to Laura Tingle and Nichole Hickey of PBCC, and thanks to Randall Lieberman and Damon Higgins of the Post.  I hope this and future artist profiles will bring a new audience to this great little gallery featuring 50+ local artists!!  If you are in the Lake Worth area, please stop by for a visit.  The retail Gallery is full to bursting with amazing art, and the exhibits are breathtaking as well.  Definately worth your time!  Be sure to stop by CGMS Gallery as well, right next door to the Council!!

The Lost Tutorial...Image Transfer

Hello all!  I've been getting some emails and requests for my image transfer tutorial, that at one time lived on this blog, but then the Internet ate it.  So, I've found it, and republished it here.  You can also find it at ArtChix Studio, a wonderful website full of fantastic image collage sheets, ITS solution, and about a billion other things you will HAVE TO BUY (including a new line of ADORABLE miniature wood cuts perfect for mixed mediapalooza). 

I hope the tutorial works for you--image transfer is so fun.  Explore texture with this--burn the edges of your paper first, sand bits away when finished, go nuts.  I'd love to see what you create--feel free to share images of your finished works with me and I'll post them here!

Artist Shout Out - Desert Talismans

Okay, let me start by saying that this artist makes me positively GREEN with creative ENVY.  I love everything she does and have stalked (I mean "followed") her on Etsy for years.  Dawn Wilson-Enoch of Desert Talismans creates stunning jewelry using native stones, leathers, found objects and cast silver and bronze.  She makes her own molds for casting from natural materials (like thousand year old trees and stones) and has such a deep love for her native New Mexico landscape--totally reflected in her work.  She has inspired me so much--I know you will feel the same.  Take a peek at her Etsy shop and prepare to be amazed.  So glad I discovered her, and so worth sharing.