Skewed

Surgery is long done, and recovery is coming along, although I feel skewed and off center. The dreaded drains will come out today, ending a 3 week penance of pain and irritation, and then the reconstruction can resume, gradually adding saline solution to the tissue expander until finally the silicone implant will go in.

Enforced sitting and non-action encouraged me to try a new technique for my pendant making, so I chose a tutorial on using the Viking Weave to mount this lovely blue green banded agate.  I have to admit, this technique requires lots of practice and coordination.  I did it twice, the second try a little better than the first, but when I completed the third version, instead of cutting it off again because it didn’t match the teacher’s version, I studied it and studied it.  Then I got an idea and made my own modifications to the technique and thus arrived at Skewed Viking.

This shiny copper piece is built on a solid wire frame, with lacy fine wire overlaid around it, capturing the cabochon.  I added a pre-made bail and lots of copper dangles; then I handcrafted a copper omega neckring for it to swing on.  I am pleased with the result, and plan to make a silver piece but I am not sure when, as its time to organize my jewelry for upcoming shows.

Here’s the piece:

Night Sounds

This gallery contains 1 photo.

I can’t believe its been 5 weeks since they discovered cancer in my breast and I STILL don’t have a surgery date. I am amazingly addicted to these embossed etchings!  I think its probably time to get out the silver … but the copper is so warm and flavorful that I am not yet ready [...]

You Never See It Coming

You never see it coming. One moment I am going in for that uncomfortable yearly mammogram, and the next moment they are calling me on the phone to give me the bad news.  And so I start my long journey through the dark valley of breast cancer.

How much there is to learn about what’s going to happen next!  For example, breast reconstruction after surgery. Silly me, I thought they took the breast out and then immediately installed a new one. Apparently it doesn’t work that way What they put in is a little balloon into which they inject a small amount of saline every week until its breast size and THEN you have more surgery to put the implant in. It takes about 6 months to get all that done. And then they surgically adjust the other breast… but they can’t ever get it to match exactly, so it will always be fuller than the new one.

Now that the initial shock and awe has subdued a bit, I am returning to making jewelry.  It’s cathartic, healing, comforting.

This piece is called Native Song. I loved the thought of a single strand of beads splitting into two and then combining again for the centerpiece. Working around the coral, I added first the mother of pearl and then the bits of turquoise. Of course, the silver Bali beads were a natural.  Holding various centerpiece stones to the strung piece, I discarded one, then the next. At last, I had a vision of creating the centerpiece out of the same beads as the necklace, and it came out wonderfully. I added a handmade adjustable chain to the end for the lobster claw clasp. Of course I had to make the matching earrings.

Native Song

Stamp and Start

The title should probably be Stop and Start, cause that’s how its been with the jewelry making, while I deal with some real life worries – - as usual.

While I deal with doctors, clinics, tenants disappearing, falling behind on their rent and giving notice to leave, I am still trying to play with this new embossing technique. This necklace took me four days of rearranging and thinking, but I am  happy with the results.

This time, I used liver of sulfur to patina the metal before I embossed it.  Those of you who aren’t Shiny Girls are probably nodding your heads and giving me the thumbs up. The reason I like this particular piece is because I was able to get the LOS tamed down and the highlights polished up. I didn’t leave the copper in the LOS solution for very long, and I used fine, fine steel wool to polish the pieces.

The antique gold is a base metal and the silver charms are pewter, plus I added the copper embossed square and rectangles. I have blended the colors of the metal to make a slightly asymmetrical  focal that is  framed by symmetrical design. The necklace is very jingly and hints of the Victorian style.  I am calling this Stamps and Roses.

Stamps and Roses

Intergalactic Lift off!

None of us really “need” more beads, least of all me.  Still,  the Pittsburgh area is not the richest bead show area.  In fact, the appearance of a bead show here is something to be savored, celebrated and supported. And last weekend was the Intergalactic Bead Show!  So, despite spending a few minutes trying to talk myself out of going, H and I gaily got into the car and drove to the show on Hot Metal Street (isn’t that a great metaphor?)

The place was jam-packed, and those bead frenzied women weren’t budging from in front of those tables for anything, so it took longer than usual to navigate.  To my credit, I didn’t spend a lot of time at the huge bead-draped tables except to pounce on a pricey strand of oval kyanite beads, each of which will make a coveted pendant.  I didn’t even paw through the Bali silver or gold filled strands because of the prohibitive price. But lo and behold, I did find a process to make embossed jewelry components, and I am so glad I went. I am still experimenting, but here’s the first jewelry piece to emerge.  I am so excited!

This is made of copper, with embossed, colored squares, aventurine and lapis rounds, antiqued copper bead caps and an adjustable chain.  The earrings were patinaed and colored.

Copper embossed necklace and earrings

Gunmetal: ready, aim, fire!

Are you like me?

For several months, I have been pondering doing some gunmetal colored jewelry, but just never really took the initiative.  I do this sometimes, think and dream of what I could do but then never actually take the initiative and do it.

I picked up a gunmetal colored component here and there, but nothing seemed to be going together… until last week, when I was finishing up my FMG order and decided to see if they had any gunmetal components.

Well, they did.  It didn’t take long for the order to come, and now I have several gunmetal pretties.  So at last, the idea and the actions have culminated into my first gunmetal piece.  Whether this proves to be a successful line is still to be determined, but I had fun, and that’s what counts.

Here’s the piece:

 

Work in Progress – Art Show Booth

As I sit getting packages ready for 2012 show jurying, I thought I would stop and look back over the years of juried shows I have done. I will be the first to admit that I am not the best organized, money-is-no-object artist in the world.  But here they are, 6 years worth of booth development.  I know sometimes it helps me when I can call up pics of other artists on the web, so now its my turn to help provide some inspiration. Click on the small image to see an enlarged version.

Pictures are from 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009-10, 2011

It Just Takes Time

At my last visit to my mother in the nursing home, I gave her my watch to wear until her watch could either be repaired or replaced.  She goes nuts without a watch on her wrist! Thus I was inspired to dig a few watches out of the “dead batteries” drawer and get someone to put new batteries in them.

I spent several days contemplating how to create a 4 strand watch, using the tiny holes on the top and bottom of the watch and then finding just that perfect color and design combination.  At last, I was happy with my plan to start with beading wire and then switch to elastic. I studiously assembled the creation; however I did not crimp or knot the ends, just in case…   And true to Murphy’s Law, the watch didn’t fit.  The two inches of elastic simply didn’t allow enough stretch to get the watch over my hand.

Since I had already spent a ridiculous amount of time threading the wire through the spacers, I decided I would just go ahead and add a conventional clasp.  However, the trick was to get just that perfect length where the watch would fit comfortably without doing that nasty roll thing on the wrist.

I found the solution in a miscellaneous findings box:   a toggle clasp with three loops to provide adjustment.  I like the result, the watch fits nicely using the second loop, and it doesn’t roll.

It just takes "time"

Just my kind of winter

I really have to say that if i could design my own winter, here in western Pennsylvania, this one might be close to ideal.   A little snow, a little bit of frigid and lots of mild.

However, H says that I will be sorry come summer, when we are deluged with all the bugs that didn’t get killed by two weeks straight of freezing weather.  Not so great   Shall I pray for a couple frigid weeks here in February? I hear that in other places, the weather is really bad, with lots of snow and sub zero stuff. So to you, I send my sympathies… but at least you won’t have many bugs this summer. 

I’ve known that I need to replenish my dichroic glass pendant stock that was sold in last year’s shows. But I was uninspired with making the same ol, same ol.  Sitting studying my dichroic cabs, I had an idea of outlining them with Swarovski crystals, so this is how they came out.  I like them, even though the cabs are irregularly shaped.  I love pulling out the colors with the crystals, so I think I will make more of these.

These dichroic cabochons were made in house, channeled and then wrapped with twisted argentium silver wire.  4 mm Swarovski crystals were then strung on the wire, along with some accent beads.

I need your opinion!

Please share so I can get more opinions?

I have been staring at this necklace since I made it a week ago.  Sometimes I think “Its ok the way it is” and then I will think “Oh it needs something on the left side.”

So I decided to ask YOU – what do you think?  add a cluster or two of crystals on the left side?  or leave it as is?