word's out -

well, the cat is officially out of the bag... 

and i couldn't be happier - 

all of the patina work i have been doing has been headed here - 

to the uber talented, very very lovely shannon levart - aka missficklemedia!

she is creating a community of makers - and i thank her so much for including me in it... 

this opportunity has forced me to stretch, to experiment and learn more about the patinas, to explore wire forms, and create my own etched images... to push myself to be better than i am - for who would want to have anything sub-par in such a meaningful, high quality venture?

thanks, shan, for being one of those lights at the end of the tunnel - 

carving, etching & prayer/peace flags

i started carving in rubber block - and love it... 


om, lotus, feathers and a bear totem... i thought i would be using them on fabric for the peace flags project... 

but it seems i cannot escape the jeweler/metal worker mindset... and i'm ok with that... the whole idea for the project was to be interpretive - to send wishes for peace free in your own way... 

my first set of flags are on the small side, copper om and lotus buds alternating... connected in such a way that movement in possible... highlighted with floss in the correct color arrangement... one wrapped lapis drop at the bottom... 

you can read more about the project (and join in if you like) here... 

the dance

'i get up.

i walk.

i fall down.

meanwhile, i keep dancing.'

- rabbi hillel 

danse - henri matisse

the photo of the metal was taken yesterday...


i have had hillel's words in my life for decades - in the form of a lovely little watercolor... and have embraced thinking of life as a dance...


then i read this post by seth godin,


thought about matisse, 


and rejoiced in the fact that while we often dance alone, when we invite others in the complex richness is enough to make your heart swell near to bursting... 

leaving the nest

111 pieces travelling with the postal service to a new place... i will share it with you as soon as i can... 


some of you can produce this many pieces in the blink of an eye...  a completely new experience for me, a different way of working... i have great respect for those who can... 

and i was so pleased to receive my contributor copy of this in the mail... 

thanks again to erin and lorelei for the opportunity... 

alba nelly urbina

a.k.a. sparkafarian of moxie metal - 

as we all know, the work doesn't stop just because you have a finished product sitting in front of you - 


staging and photography come next

and alba has been helping me for a couple of years now...

i wanted to share her with you - 

earth day work

leaf earrings in brass - 2012

leaves with heavy verdigris application - 2012

the day was spent making leaves in different shapes, colors and sizes... 

we had some very much needed rain

and saw 'chimpanzee' at the movies... 

bits

(that's what my friend barry calls the pieces he works on... )

i love making bits... they feel very complete to me all by themselves - and i can leave them sitting on my bench for weeks... just looking at them as i pass by... but one needs to help them move forward... 

bits can also help to jump start a brain that has too many things it wants to do all at once... and the brain trips itself up... and then doesn't know what to do... 

so it was a torch fire week... there are lots of ways to play with fire... 

ways that i am so happy i am learning... 

i also realized that i am feeling very influenced by the koi tattoo designs i have been looking at - the fiery reds and golds are oh so far from my usual choices... but i do love working with them and appreciating the whole process - enjoying each step of the way... 

and then there is my grunge-y comfort zone... 

i love the grunge-y comfort zone... 


happy friday...

changes

 'the ground submits to the sky and suffers whatever comes.

tell me, is the earth worse for giving in like that?'

~ rumi

as water causes reactions with the elements, creating a weathered beauty of patina and texture... so too do tears, adding depth and beauty to our souls...

~~~

tears that follow the contours of the face, 

as droplets on branches, leaves & rock faces...

leaving behind changes for better or for worse (or even just because)... 

adding the color of joy and grief to our souls... 

pressing us to gratitude for being able to feel these things at all... 

experimenting

RAW 17

an open vessel, yet full of all that needs to be given...

reaching up and out into the world, 

yet true to and in tune with the essence of her Self...

from the depths of one's soul, the beginning of time,

yet ever present and knowable... 

the goddess

btw - rust

'i have always looked upon decay as being just as wonderful

and rich an expression of life as growth.'

~ henry miller

inspired by a trip to the eastern state penitentiary in philadelphia - 

findings have their place

diane cook and brass bouquet owner jill sponsored a 'with one finding' challenge through today (perhaps my only consistency in is life making a deadline on the deadline date)...

it is inspired by the leaf covered forest floor... shafts of late afternoon light... rich soil... and the forgotten treasures that lie beneath it... 

i had not worked in a vintage-y way in a long time... what drew me to this challenge was being able to alter the finding with, you guessed it, patina! shannon writes about this process in her color drenched metal tutorial... i riveted the filigree onto an etched piece of brass... in my stash i have some beads from a chandelier... and i used silks from lisa jurist ... 

'the essence of life is finding something you really love

and then making the daily experience worthwhile.'

~ dennis waitley

ever watchful

the goddess hera is most commonly known as the greek olympian wife of zeus... depicted as shrewish, she has gotten a seriously bum rap... for hera as a goddess predates even zeus... her mythology goes back to matriarchal cultures... a strong and powerful woman who was identified as the mother goddess... 


the peacock was one of her symbols... it was representative of her watchfulness over women... there is an eye in its feathers... 


when i work with these patina colors, i think of the peacock... and of hera... these earrings were designed to act as a talisman - to remind one of their inherent strength... strength to be used for good, for protecting oneself and others, for standing up for one's beliefs... 


citrine was chosen as a manifesting stone - assisting one to see clearly and then take action... 

'someday perhaps the inner light will shine forth from us,

and then we'll need no other light.'

~ johann wolfgang von goethe

inner sanctum revisited... i like the way these pendants can be touched, warming to the heat of the body... a glimmering blue topaz captures and glows with light... 

all in a(n x # of) days' work...

stop, start, stop, start... 


make components, set them aside... 


and then you have a day where some of them grow up... 

'moonlight is sculpture.'

~ nathaniel hawthorne

gratitude opens

embrace uncertainty

the nature of a woman

strong and beautiful... worn by time but gleaming with a patina that comes from experience and living... intuitive, soft, wise... moonstone and labradorite used for their metaphysical properties...

modern relic

the word 'relic' has to do with something that has survived... 

that makes us relics in our own way... surviving and learning by being open... 


underneath all of the patina, this ring has a very clean and modern edge to it... i was tempted to leave it alone - but it couldn't tell the story that way... 

i think that it displays the purity and tenacity of the human spirit... the depth of experiences gained to become who you now are... 

'do what you love.

know your own bone;

gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it,

and gnaw at it still.'

~ henry david thoreau

vibrant

'autumn turned brightly,

a running flame through the mountains,

a torch flung to the trees.'

~ faith baldwin

'vibrance' bracelet... like looking up through the fiery leaves into the crisp blue sky... 

'balancing act' earrings play upon the idea of fragile strength... soft, hand dyed fibers wrapped around fused, weathered and hammered copper rings... 

'the invariable mark of wisdom 

is to see the miraculous in the common.'

~ ralph waldo emerson

like wisdom buried in the depths of your being, yours to know if you lay down your fears and open yourself to it... earrings made from copper discs, hammered, textured, patina-ted and wrapped with sterling wire and pearls... 


don't forget to check the love my art jewelry blog on monday for our next giveaway...  

final step completed

it's all in the details... 


and what a difference this wax makes - 


shannon discusses the sealing phase in her patina tutorial and promotes a very specific wax... i understand why now... in articles i had previously read, minwax had been used... this is world's apart... 

my indigo isn't as vibrant as shannon's, so i know that i have lots to learn... but i am very happy with my first attempts at it on the bracelet... and it may turn into the first non-earring finished piece that i have made in a while!

musings on the first

the first of october is a special day in our house - it is both my mom's and my brother's birthday... 


these are for my mom - as you know, she lost her sister last friday and her mom this spring...

and then there are firsts...

'if at first, the idea is not absurd,

then there is no hope for it.'

~ albert einstein

emily works at a glass blowing studio, but she hadn't ever blown glass... the artists who work there have generally gone to college to learn how... some have even studied in other countries... and they too, take classes around the country... 

this weekend though, em took a 10 hr. glassblowing class... needless to say, she is hooked... bad... in the best kind of way, of course... we all know that wonderful feeling... she has a visual journal now... dreams about it, talks about it... it's nice... 

so now there are two very distracted females walking around the house, thinking of things that they can make (and none of those things include dinner!)

these are her first glasses... she gets it... she can see a finished design and understand the steps it takes to create it... she has a good grasp of her medium... em has been at the studio for over a year... and i think that really made a difference... she was able to mix colors and swirl them with the foreknowledge of what would happen... 

the boys already want to start interning there...


and here is some progress with my first patina-ting of metal... i bought matte permalac... 


cars and i are both installed with an ABS... cars have an anti-lock braking system... i have an anti-shine braking system...  it is an absolutely knee-jerk response... if there is a way for me to remove shine, i do it... almost as soon as i started doing enameling, i found a way to etch it...  give me metal, i antique it...


so matte is good - but i don't want flat and unattractive... have to see what the wax layer adds... 

but i do love this process!