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2011-10-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

ArtFest part 2

2009-04-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

This was the ArtFest bag that was given to all the participants. Isn't it super? Of course I really liked all the different patterns. Although this was only my second year in attendance, I agree with my friend Catherine who said this bag was the best one yet. She would know since she has been 8 times or so. On to Day 2 of classes of ArtFest 2009. My instructor was Michael Demeng who refers to himself as an assemblage artist who has a love affair with rusty things. His class had the biggest supply list of the three classes that I took this year. Aside from various different adhesives and other stuff to adhere things together like wire, we also brought recycled and "found" objects from yard sales, salvage centers, second-hand stores, etc. As I collected all of my treasures throughout the months leading up to ArtFest, husband extroadinare would always ask me what I was going to do with them. What a silly question! After 27 years together, one would think he would wise up and realize just how delightful something like an old electrical fuse can be and that there are limitless artful ways to use one. In addition to the trinkets, we were asked to bring a picture frame which would end up being the primary structure that everything else was built upon. I brought a framed mirror that I found at Tuesday Mornings in their clearance bin. As you can see from the picture above, I adhered some old kitchen drawer handles to both sides and bottom. These were purchased from Urban Ore, a most wonderful salvage yard full to the brim of stuff that other people throw out. I love it! Also the top piece that has a fleur de lis look is from Urban Ore. Next to this piece are those old nob & fuse electrical fuses that can be found in old homes like ours. But I got them at a garage sale because ours have been removed and upgraded so that we can have homeowners insurance. Then in the center where the mirror is, I first layed down some mesh to make it less shiney. On top of the mesh and hanging from a nail is an old metal frame that used to have a ceramic rose adhered to the center of the red corduroy fabric backing. I gleefully yanked off those roses and glued on Shiva & Shakti. In the Hindu spiritual tradition, Shiva represents the destroyer or transformer and Shakti is responsible for creation... quite the power couple, and I write that will all respect. Below them is Ganesh who is one of their sons. He is the remover of obstacles. Lastly there are fine copper wires laced through the top piece and looped around the handles on both sides. They were meant to be temporary while the top piece was being attached but then I decided I like them and now they are a part of the piece. Well, all that attaching and adhering took the whole day for me and that was only half of the process. I do admit that I really liked using the power tools and was more than willing to help my classmates who were more timid about weilding a power drill. Next there is still painting and adding patinas to make the piece look more cohesive... like it is all supposed to go together. But I am glad that I have a picture of it in this stage. Above I played around with the image in photoshop giving it a sepia tone look so I could get an idea of how I might apply the paint, etc. All in all, I am really happy with the piece. It sits right in front of my studio table watching over me while I create art. It is helpful to have Shiva, Shakti and Ganesh there as all their attributes are so much a part of the creative process. And below, here are 2 more pieces of lettering that I did from the first class that I enhanced using photoshop. I am really enjoying marrying the hand done work with the digital. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed it. Next is imaginary creatures!

Some Jewelry

2009-04-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

I have another post about ArtFest that I'm still working on but in the meantime, I thought I'd share some jewelry that I finished recently. It turns out that one of Todd's client's really likes handmade jewelry. So he mentioned to her that I made some jewelry and directed her to my blog. Well, she found a piece that she liked and inquired about purchasing it. The one that she wanted had already been sold but I had some pieces that were partly done and needed a bit more work to be finished. So her interested was just the kick in the pants that I needed to finish up a few pieces. Even though I have decided that I don't want to sell my work, it was fun to get out the tools again. The piece at the top is a pendant that I made of fused dichroic glass. After making the glass piece, I used the silver to "encase" it. It is so different from most of my work. More of a happy, shiny look versus the more urban feel that a lot of my jewelry has. I like both and it was fun to do something so different. I would like to do more with fused glass. This next one is actually 2 round "drapey" discs that I connected with little posts that you can't see. I really tried to photograph that part but just couldn't do it with my little "point-n-click." (Digital SLR on the b-day list and Christmas list.) You can kind of see that there are 2 layers in the photo below. The other interesting thing about this piece is the brushed finish that ends up looking like a shell. People often think it is Mother of Pearl because when the light hits it, lots of lovely colors reflect off the silver. This last one is a remake of the piece the client wanted. It has a moon stone in it. Get it? Moonstone as the moon in the trees? I had made the second one long ago and it just needed some finishing work. It is actually a design that my instructor, Hadar Jacobson came up with and was generous enough with her students to allow us to copy and sell. She is a wonderful teacher. Check out her blog to see her newest obsession - copper and bronze metal clay. She pioneered this new product and has been incredibly generous providing information to the metal clay community about the best ways to work with it. Some day I'll go back and take more classes from her. Well, that's the jewelry post. Hope you enjoyed it. More on ArtFest to come.

ArtFest 2009

2009-04-07T21:45:00.000-07:00

It has been just over a week since I returned and it is still hard to put into words all that I experienced at ArtFest this year. Pure, unadulterated bliss comes close. You might wonder why it was so wonderful for me. Spending time with 600 other artists for 4 days... all of us creating amazing works of art... appreciating the energy and power that was manifested... spending time with dear friends and making new ones... waking up every morning knowing that I would spend the day writing, drawing, painting, hammering, drilling, gluing... that each meal would be spent talking with many other artists about all the art we were making... that each evening I would go home feeling a wonderful exhaustion that comes from spending that day doing the thing I was born to do... then although exhausted, spending more time with my housemates, drinking wine and sharing our day with each other as well as the art we made that day... laughing until the wee hours of the night or actually the next morning... knowing that I would get to wake up the next day and do it all over again... all of this and more made me feel such happiness which at times left me wondering if I would burst with it. I feel the great fortune that has been bestowed upon me and my gratitude is immense. I know that I am at an apex and will be leveling out. So these days area sustaining and writing about them is important to me. I am glad to share them with you. The first day's class was called Tats & Graff taught by Lisa Engelbrecht. She is an amazing calligraphy artist who I have admired from afar for years. Although she is trained in the more classical forms of calligraphy, she also has mad street cred with Tattoo and Graffiti artists. She taught us lots of different ways to do lettering and tons of tricks. I had taken traditional calligraphy classes about 25 years ago and enjoyed it. Since then I have been looking for a teacher like Lisa. She is generous and encouraging and the work that she got out of all of her students was energetic and vibrant. I bought her book and have been carrying it around with me since I returned. Well, that's all for now. Next, day 2 at ArtFest!

Barack's Personal Message

2009-01-18T14:57:00.001-08:00

I'm getting pretty excited about having Mr. Obama for president. I really do feel that I can be a part of making our nation one in which peace, compassion, justice, diversity, understanding, and lots of other good adjectives prevail. I haven't really felt this before in my lifetime. I have been hopeful but really being a part of the change has seemed like a distant thing to me... not something that I could really be a part of. I appreciate that our president-elect is asking for our help. It is uplifting.

Michelle Obama - USAService.org

2009-01-12T14:39:00.001-08:00

I'm giving blood as part of the National Day of Service, Monday, January 19th, 2009. I really like the idea of everyone in our country coming together in service. Now really is a time to give if you can and there are lots of ways to do it... from simple to complex. There is a blood donation center that is a 5 minute walk from my house that I have been meaning to go to since I moved into my home 10 years ago. Silly, huh? I used to donate through the Blood Mobile when it came by the office but I haven't worked where one comes by for years. So this is the perfect reason to go do it... especially since it is something that I don't mind doing at all. I encourage you to think about what you can do too.

ArtFest Adventure

2008-04-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

Off we went into the wild blue yonder on our way to ArtFest. We hit the road on Monday, March 31 in the evening and drove for a few hours before checking in at our hotel. Then we set off Tuesday morning for the longest leg of the trip up. This was the beautiful view out the car window for a lot of the morning. It felt like Mt. Shasta was blessing our adventure.

That evening in our hotel room we worked in "Catherine's sweat shop" as we lovingly referred to it. She was putting the last touches on the jewelry that she planned to sell at "Vendor Night." So we helped out by polishing, tagging, and giving our approval of her prices, which is one of the most difficult things to decide.

I'm still unpacking so I'll have more to post soon but this is one of the pieces that I completed in Anahata Katkin's class. I'm obviously happy with the outcome. Here's a straight on shot.

And some detail shots.

This is me in the class... my version of heaven... art supplies everywhere & the people who love to use 'em!

More to come...

self portrait

2008-02-29T21:35:00.000-08:00

Although I am swamped with homework, fortunately I had to take some time away from it to create something for my page in this years ArtFest fatbook. This is what I ended up with. I learned part of this process in a workshop taught by Traci Bunkers. I took a picture of myself with my Quan Yin statue and enlarged it so that each quadrant was approximately 8" x 11.5". Then I collaged and painted each quadrant separately. After that I put the quadrants back together again. I planned on adding some more collage and paint to the whole thing at his stage but it went into standby mode while I got overwhelmed by textile design school. So there I was worrying about what I would do for my fatbook page and trying to think of something that I could be proud of but would not take tons of time that I didn't have. While I was looking around the studio for inspiration, I happened upon the unfinished portrait and thought it might work. I took a picture of it since it was too big to fit on my scanner then dropped it into Photoshop. I've been wanting to play around with my non-digital art in Photoshop for quite some time now but usually get stuck pretty quickly after it is scanned in. Not this time. I used the hue/saturation feature on lots of different parts of the image and messed around with the brightness/contrast some and this is what I came up with. I then croppped and scaled it down to the right size for the book and printed out 60 copies. I mailed them off to the host tonight. It will be so awesome to see what all the other participants have come up with.I'm really happy with this process and am inspired to do more of this kind of work. I think my new dog Foxy needs a portrait. She would make an awesome subject.

Final Abstract Scribble Painting

2008-02-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

This is my final Abstract Scribble design. I'm really happy with the way it came out. I really like the refinements of the linework and having each motif include 3 colors which came out of the collaborative process. Now on to the next assignments and workshops.

back to my textile design...

2008-02-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

Although my new dog, Foxy, has been the most awesome distraction from school, I am getting back to it. In this post, I showed you my motif and layout in black and white. The next step was to create color comps and here is what I came up with... This last one is what the client/instructor chose. She helped me refine my motif by adding some more purposeful line work and color accents. Next I will show you my final painting and some of the motifs I am working on for 3 new assignments.

Check out this great series

2008-02-17T20:50:00.000-08:00

From the website overview:

"AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2 again journeys deep into ancestry of an all-new group of remarkable individuals, offering an in-depth look at the African-American experience and race relations throughout U.S. history. Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. returns as series host, guiding genealogical investigations down through the 20th century, Reconstruction, slavery and early U.S. history, and presenting cutting-edge genetic analysis that locates participants' ancestors in Africa, Europe and America. Joining Professor Gates in the new broadcast are poet Maya Angelou, author Bliss Broyard, actor Don Cheadle, actor Morgan Freeman, theologian Peter Gomes, publisher Linda Johnson Rice, athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, radio personality Tom Joyner, comedian Chris Rock, music legend Tina Turner, and college administrator Kathleen Henderson, who was selected from more than 2,000 applicants to have her family history researched and DNA tested alongside the series' well-known guests."

For me this series does an excellent job of laying out the legacy of the dehumanaizing effects of slavery on our country as a whole for all races. The effects are still being felt today although we don't always make the link. Watching this series helps make the link as well as helping me to better understand the feelings I have about race issues.

Foxy meets the Snow

2008-02-08T18:59:00.000-08:00

Her name is Foxy...

2008-01-20T18:34:00.000-08:00

and she's the newest member of our family! I've wanted a dog for at least 15 years and finally here she is. When we lived in apartments in San Francisco our landlords were never OK with dogs. Then when we moved across the Bay and purchased our own home, our cat was a senior citizen and it didn't seem fair to him to try to introduce a dog into his sedate life. Sadly our cat died in April and we grieved the loss of him. He was 18 years old and had been a wonderful companion for us. Although we knew that we would eventually get a dog we took our time allowing ourselves to miss our kitty. After eight months, right before the holidays I started looking online at the local Humane's Society and SPCA as well as other rescues. I spotted Foxy on the East Bay SPCA's website right away and really liked her. I spent a few days fantasizing about her and the day I was ready to go meet her, she was adopted by another family. Although I was disappointed, I let it go relatively quickly knowing that the right dog would come into our lives and I assumed that it wasn't Foxy. So we kept looking online and visited a few shelters never finding the right dog for us. We had already planned to go look at some other dogs at the East Bay SPCA yesterday. Then the night before I checked the website to see if there were any new arrivals and there she was! So we met her and found out that she had been "surrendered" by the previous adoptive family because she played rough with their 6 year old daughter and they didn't have the time to train her to learn to play gently with kids. We were a bit concerned about this because our 7 year old niece is a big part of our lives. We see her almost every weekend and since she cannot have a dog where she lives, we decided to share ours with her. After talking with the trainers and spending some time with Foxy we felt that we would be able to work with her so that she would be a good member of our family. The next step was to introduce her to our niece today at the SPCA. They met and hit it off really well. So we adopted her! I'm not sure who was more excited, me or my niece. She had a good ride home in the car - no mistakes or car sickness. Since she was doing so good we went straight to the pet supply shop with her and got all the stuff - crate, food, toys, leash, treats, etc. That visit was pretty stimulating for her. Lots of smells and other dogs to get excited over. She is a Great Dane/Lab mix and is just over a year old which makes her an adolescent and she weighs 80 lbs. Needless to say we plan to put a lot of time into training her because we want and need her to be well behaved. We don't like dogs who are out of control anyway but with her size it would be really irresponsible to let her misbehave. She's been on 2 walks with us today and did really well with some corrective instruction from us. We also introduced her to her crate which she went into fine but didn't like staying there with us out of the room. She has an interesting whine, almost a yodel, which she used to try to get us to let her out but after 10 minutes she accepted her situation and calmed down. We'll see how she does tonight since that's where she'll sleep. She already tried to get on the bed and we definitely don't want an 80 lb. adolescent dog sleeping with us. Right now she is chillin' in the living room while I work on this post and my husband watches football. She's already fitting into our routine. We are so happy and are looking forward to having a wonderful life with her.

Abstract scribble

2008-01-17T17:57:00.000-08:00

I'm done with my holiday break now and am back in class. Although it continues to be demanding, I'm still loving it. Our next assignment is called an Abstract Scribble. First we were instructed to use a big fat marker and create quick, simple line drawings of shapes that were abstract. This is what I came up with.

Then the client chose this one to be my motif.

Once the motif was selected, I reduced it and made a tossed layout.

The client approved the layout and I am working on color comps now. I'll post those when done.

The way we arrive...

2008-01-15T12:09:00.000-08:00

Although I don't plan on ever giving birth, this is a topic that is important to me as a woman. The film examines possible reasons why our country has one of the worst infant mortality birthrates in the developed world - I think it is the second highest. It looks at the way our western medical perspective can encourage pregnant women and their families to feel that birth is a medical catastrophe waiting to happen. In countries with low infant mortality birthrates, use of midwives, doulas, etc. is very high (approx. 80%) and home births are much more acceptable. My desire in writing about this topic is not to say that every woman has to have a home birth. Like most other women's issues, I really just want women to be informed about all the choices available to them and then make the decision that is right for them. I was privileged and honored to attend the birth of a dear friend who was very thoughtful in her delivery choices. Since she was an "older" woman her pregnancy was considered "high risk." Her insurance would not cover any aspect of a home birth. So she and her husband came up with a combination of a hospital delivery attended by a midwife, doula and a supportive friend (me). It ended up being exactly the right choice for them. The delivery was awesome and they welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. Afterward there was some difficulty in delivering the afterbirth and it was necessary for my friend to have additional medical care at which point we were all grateful to be in the hospital under the expert care of the doctors and nurses. Almost eight months later she and baby are thriving. Although this is a women's issue, it is actually something that we all experience in one form or another. We all have to come through that birth canal and that first ride should be the best of experiences.

dearest one...

2008-01-12T17:04:00.000-08:00

Today is the 44th birthday of my dearest one. I was 16 years old when we met and he was 17. All it took was staring into his beautiful baby blues for me to be a goner. He was and continues to be unlike anyone else I've ever met. He can have me laughing by uttering a single syllable - it's more the look in his eye and the tone of his voice. He's sensitive when necessary as well as pragmatic when called for. He loves his family fiercely and surrounds himself with loving friends. One of his best attributes is that he takes wonderful care of me. So on this day celebrating 44 years of his life, I am definitely the lucky one. Here he is with the only other "honey" in his life other than me... our niece.

Happy New Year

2007-12-31T19:47:00.000-08:00

A special gift from the Earth & Sun on the last day of 2007.

a white Christmas...

2007-12-29T19:38:00.000-08:00

the view from the window of our mountain house in the Sierras.

light, shade & shadow

2007-12-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

The last workshop I took in the fall session was called "Light, Shade, & Shadow." Although we learned about shading in the earlier workshops, this one was focused on shading from a more general perspective. We learned how light and shadows fall on different objects like rope and silk ribbon.

bamboo weaves & trellises

2007-12-26T17:01:00.000-08:00

This artwork came from a workshop called "Bamboo Trellises & Weaves." The main idea we learned about here was where and how to shade it to make it look like the bamboo was weaving under and over itself. I found that taking the workshops also helped me to learn more about working with gouache so that I began to feel more comfortable mixing colors and applying the paint. My classmates agreed that spending the day painting with gouache really sped up the learning curve.

to you and yours...

2007-12-23T19:27:00.000-08:00

May all beings have peace.

May all beings have love.

May all beings have joy.

May all beings have health.

May all beings have abundance.

vintage flowers

2007-12-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

The next workshop I took was called "Vintage Flowers." We worked from existing pictures of flowers as reference to draw pleasing bouquets of flowers. Then we painted the flowers using a "vintage" palette which means we added sepia to each color to mute it so it would have a faded look.

flower drawing

2007-12-22T20:53:00.001-08:00

The first Saturday daylong workshop I took in the fall session was "Realistic Flower Drawing." We brought in live Lillie's and drew them using various different pencils & smudging implements in order to achieve the shading. Although they are realistic looking, they are also somewhat stylized in that we changed the shading to adapt the image to the textile industry. Using the techniques we learned in this class, we can make realistic drawings of other subject matter that we may use in our textile designs. It is hard to give up one full day of my weekend but if I have to do so, making art is probably the best way to do it.

color

2007-12-21T18:10:00.000-08:00

After our layouts were approved, we moved on to the color stage. Our assignment was to create several different color comprehensive (comp) designs. A color comp is a small section of the layout that the designer paints and presents to the client for approval before the final design is created. The comp must contain enough of the layout so that one can visualize what the whole design will eventually look like. For instance, it would not have been enough of the design if I only showed one motif (flower). My color comps were about 5" square whereas my layout was 18"x20". We used existing fabric as reference for our color combinations which were chosen by our instructor/client. Below are the first 4 comps that I presented. In this first one I added little dots to the layout to make use of another color which is light green although it looks like they are the same blue as the flowers in these pictures. In this comp, I used the same colors as the first one but changed the motifs by allowing more of the backfround color to show through in between the petals and leaves. Although this one looks like it is black & white, it is actually black and cream.

Out of the above four comps this is the one that my instructor/client approved but she requested that I modify the leaves making them green.

One neat trick we learned at this stage was to use prepared acetate as a color overlay. Since the modification to my comp was simple, I was able to attach acetate to my comp and then paint the green color on it right over the leaves instead of making an entire new comp. All of the comps are hand painted so it is great to learn about time-saving measures like this.

With the addition of the green leaves, my comp was approved and I was able to move on to the final painting which you saw in this post. The shiny acetate made it difficult to photograph but you get an idea of what I'm talking about. That's it for this design. It took twelve weeks to complete! But that was because we were newbies. I have a feeling that things are going to speed up in January. Aside from this design, I took several day long workshops and I will post some of the work from them in the next few posts.

the process

2007-12-18T11:57:00.001-08:00

This was how the scribble flower design from the previous post started. Well, it actually started with a visit to the flower shop. Our assignment was to purchase a flower with a large face such as a lily or sunflower or Gerbera daisy, etc. and bring it to class along with the fattest black marker we could find. Once we were in class, we lined up all the flowers on a table and walked around it drawing the flowers individually. The idea was to be quick and try to fill the page which was 8.5 x 11. It was kind of like musical chairs as we stood in front of one flower awaiting the go ahead from the instructor, then we would draw furiously for about 3 minutes at which point she would tell us to stop and move on to the next flower. The above flowers are what I came up with and out of all those the instructor/client chose this flower as my motif.

Our next assignment was to reduce our motifs and create a "tossed" layout. The idea with a "tossed" layout is it is supposed to be reminiscent of having thrown the flowers in the air and letting them land where they will. In practice, it is more complicated. The goal is to have an evenly spaced design making sure that there are no "holes" or "alley ways" in the layout and each motif should rotate to aviod having a "Vegas slot machine" look. This is my layout.

My graphic design background gave me an advantage at this stage because my first layout was approved by our very demanding instructor/client. Some of my classmates who have not had any prior art background were required to do many revisions before having their layouts approved. I'm impressed with their efforts as this is a whole new world for them. Like many people, they have wanted to express themselves through art for ages but have been discouraged until now. It is exciting to see the flowering of creative expression that comes through us all. I continue to realize how fortunate I feel to have had parents who always encouraged me to be creative. That is not the norm and I will forever be grateful to them for that gift.

You may have noticed that I refer to my instructor as a client as well. That is because the school is structured in an effort to replicate the textile industry with the instructor acting as a client. I greatly appreciate this aspect of my education. It is my experience that most art education programs fail to address this important facet of an art career. In my next post I'll show you how we went from black & white layout to final color painting.

A new adventure

2007-12-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

Although I usually make no excuses for not posting on a regular basis, I actually do have a good one for this latest hiatus. I began a Textile Design program and it has consumed my free time in a wonderful way. We just finished the first course of seven. It's a 2.5 year long program and at the end of it I'll have a portfolio that consists of original textile designs that have been both hand painted and computer generated. In addition to classes every Tuesday evening we also have daylong workshops on most Saturdays. I'm on my holiday break now but we were assigned tons of homework due in January when I will start my second course. Then I will also add another evening class learning how to use Photoshop with textile designs. So I hope to do some posting about what I've learned so far before January when I'll get buried under classes and homework and my part-time work again.

This design is called a scribble flower and I hand painted it using gouache which is a water-based paint that is very opaque and has a flat matt surface so it simulates fabric better than other water-based media. It differs from acrylic paint which is also water-based but is less opaque and has a shinier surface. The mixed media art that I have posted in the past was all done using acrylics. We will be learning water color techniques for more transparent designs later. Although I have used gouache before, it was about 20 years ago in my undergraduate art program. It is a persnickety medium to work with but is also very beautiful. So I have been re-learning how to work with it. It is also hard to photograph but you get the idea (above). Another difference is the painting style I am learning is very "tight-handed" rather than "loose-handed" which is what most of the art I have done for the past 10 years has been. We will be working on looser designs later but it is important to know how to do both for the textile industry. I'll post more about how this design came into being and what I've learned in the weekend workshops soon.

We Can't Make It Here Anymore - by James Mcmurtry

2007-09-11T12:05:00.001-07:00

I'm feeling sadness and grief on this anniversary. This music and video say a lot and I'm sure that there are many who strongly disagree with the sentiments. I appreciate that there are many differing views... after all that is one of the things I love about our country. I hope that all who suffer may have peace.

Abundance and Sun Salutations

2007-08-28T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have been busy playing with photoshop lately but did take some time away from the computer to work on some non-digital art. I'll post some of the photoshop stuff when I have something interesting. This first piece is an affirmation that I have been thinking about, talking about and living for a while now... probably the last seven years. It started when we bought our first home and I felt so unbelievably blessed with good fortune. However, I was also a bit afraid that if I really enjoyed the abundance in my life, that it would somehow be taken away. So I started working on believing that there was enough abundance for everyone and getting rid of my "scarcity" mentality... thinking that there was not enough to go around. One of the most amazing things to come out of this shift in being and thinking is that I have my own studio to create and play in. It is truly a dream come true that I know many artists can relate to. I remember being 14 years old when I claimed myself as an artist and first dreamed of having a studio to work in. Aside from my fabulous art place, I have tons of other wonderful reasons to believe in abundance so this piece is like my offering to the goddess of Abundance. I think she might feel honored by the making of art. This next piece came out of my yoga class. We had a substitute teacher which always puts me in a bit of a snit because I love my yoga teacher and tend to idealize her - thinking that no other teacher has anything to teach me - which I know is just plain wrong. Usually the class is almost over before I can manage to stop the judgemental chatter that I have going on inside my head about how much better my teacher is than this sub. At the same time I am actually grateful that the sub is filling in so that I can attend the class. In this particular class we were doing a lot of sun salutations and I was getting cranky about it since I am very familiar with this series of postures and tend to do them on my own when not in class. Fortunately I was able to come to my senses and realized that sun salutations are beautiful and that my being familiar with them does not diminish that. I realized that this series is like a moving "thank you" to the sun for rising everyday and especially when practiced in a group setting like my class, it is a wonderful experience. It actually cracks me up now to think of how silly I was being. I'm also grateful to have come to the realization when I did so that I could actually enjoy the experience instead of being so cranky that I missed out on something sublime. I think the "come to your senses" fairy bonked me on the head in that class and I'm glad she did.

2007-08-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

The video below is my entry for the GPP Street Team Crusade #11. The song is "Lived in Bars" by Cat Power aka Chan Marshall. I love Chan's lush vocals and the video has such a friendly feelin'. Cat Power is often playing in the background while I am creating art in my studio. Her music is inspiring to me.

2007-08-02T18:51:00.001-07:00

a Strong Organically Grown Woman

2007-07-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 more mail art pieces. I like them so much that they may not make into the mail and might just become part of an art journal instead. I loved this woman and had her on the collage first not knowing what I would add. Then I looked at my apple and the lovely pink tape that was wrapped around it caught my eye. I carefully positioned it and realized how fitting the words "organically grown" were then added the lettering after. The silhouette of the warriors in the sunset seemed to want to be on this page because of the background colors. Next the totem image said "me too." When I was looking at the images the idea of all of us coming from Africa came to mind and I added the lettering. I'm very happy with both of these pieces and find that I really enjoy this process.

Mail Art & a Tape Journal

2007-07-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

This is the front and back of an art postcard also known as mail art. I did the backgrounds in Kelly's class this past weekend. She taught us lots of different painting techniques and we ended up with lots of large pages full of color. Afterwards we tore the large pages down into postcard sized sheets. I left some of my sheets large in case I want to do something in a bigger format. Then tonight I added collage and words. I'm off to mail it tomorrow to a dear friend who needs some reminding of how awesome she is. It was really fun to make and since I have all these great backgrounds from the class, it was quick as well. This is the journal that I made in the class on Sunday. We learned even more painting techniques to make lots of 12"x18" sheets. I liked working in such a large size - it loosened me up. Once we had 6 beautifully painted sheets, we added some plain white ones and stitched them together using a pamphlet stitch that Kelly taught us. Then we used tape to reinforce the front and back covers including decorative tape. The strip along the right side is camouflage tape that hunters use. My dad would like it. The top and bottom is small skeleton tape and the spine is tribal/tatoo tape. Now I plan to cover the rest of the white pages with art papers to create more backgrounds to collage onto. Although painting in the large format was exciting, I'm a bit timid about adding the collage since I am used to working in a smaller format. But it will be a good challenge.

#912 out of 1000

2007-07-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

Here's what I did this weekend. It is an art journal spread from the 1000 Journal project! I attended a workshop at Sanctuary Studio that was taught by the fabulous Kelly Kilmer. While at the studio we were given the opportunity to add work in one of the original journals from the project. They are no longer in circulation so it was a great opportunity. The project was recently featured in this ABC News webcast. So this is what I did! The left side is a collection of decorative tapes that we used in one of Kelly's classes. I loved them, especially the Jesus tape! Now I am on the lookout for cool tape. The other side is collaged papers and a bit if tape (in black). That was just a smidgen of what came out of the workshop. Next time I'll post some of the work from the classes.

Starry, starry night

2006-11-19T22:55:00.000-08:00

This piece includes etched bronze and copper tubing. I drew the image onto the bronze and etched it in a light acid bath. Then encased it in silver and soldered it in place. The side bails are copper tubing. The sun and flames were inspired by one of my favorite paintings "Starry Night" by Van Gogh.

More copper

2006-11-19T22:47:00.000-08:00

I got really excited about mixing metals in my jewelry making and this is what happened next. I lightly etched the copper to give it some texture and added carnelian, garnet and peridot gemstone beads.

Redux

2006-11-19T22:14:00.000-08:00

These 2 pendants are do-overs. I made the silver pieces almost a year ago and was not happy with them then. I felt they were too small but decided to hang onto them to see if I would be inspired to use them in other pieces. I am really happy now with the incorporation of copper. The one on the right also has garnets. I like the industrial look that the copper gives the pieces. Check out the post from June 14, 2006 to see what the silver looked like on its own.

Kyanite pendant and earrings

2006-11-19T21:28:00.000-08:00

This pendant is one of the first that I've made featuring semi-precious gemstone beads. The large focal bead is Kyanite and so are the dark blue ones. The light green beads are Phrenite. There are more of the same stones incorporated into the part of the chain that is not shown in the picture. It has a short neck length with the pendant resting right below the collar bone giving it a current look. I also made matching earrings with the same gemstones.

Beach glass? shell? pearl?

2006-06-22T22:31:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not this was a piece of beach glass. Actually I formed the clay over the beach glass. Then cut it in half and took the glass out and put the two halves back together and fired it. I have had a lot of interesting comments on it. People don't think it is silver at first. Some have thought it was shell or a huge pearl! I like that it is not immediately recognizable.

Circle of vines

2006-06-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

I didn't have any desire to make a ring but was taking a class in traditional metal fabrication and it was one of the projects. My friend said she thought it would be good to learn the skills necessary to make a ring and I thought she was probably right. This is the ring that I ended up making. (click image to see the design) I am very happy with it. I shaped wire into a vine and hammered it into a flat strip of sterling silver. Then hammered the leaf shapes using metal stamps and added the dots as ornament. Then I shaped the silver into a circle that fit my thumb and soldered it closed. After that I oxidized it so that the design would be black. It is a fairly beefy ring, thick and wide but the design is more feminine due to the floral symbols. I had a lot of help from my teacher and it would take a lot more practice in technique for me to feel comfortable making a ring like this on my own.

Tropical Paradise

2006-06-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

This is my "showiest" piece. It attracts lots of attention when I wear it. I love it. The gemstone is a Peruvian Opal. Be sure to click the image to see it close up so that you can see the tropical paradise landscape in the stone. Wish I was there right now! I also used copper in the bail at the top where the chain goes through. This is the first piece that I made matching earrings for and here they are. They include the Peruvian Opals and while I find them beautiful, they are not as exquisite as the one in the pendant. I bought these from a different source. These stones appear to be getting scarce. At least, I am having a hard time finding them. Although these look to be simpler in design than the pendant, they were actually quite a bit more difficult. For one thing it was hard to make 2 pieces alike enough to be earrings. Then when they were fired, the rate of shrinkage was different even though they were fired together. That is part of the inconsistency of the medium which is just something to know and work with. So the setting for the stone on one of the earrings had to be enlarged significantly by grinding which was difficult and tedious. I even ended up grinding the stone down a bit to fit. I recently took an additional class where I learned how to set stones using traditional metal fabrication which is more exact. I will post the product from that class when I am finished.

Fiber isn't the only thing that can be woven

2006-06-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

This piece was fun and exciting to create. (click on image to enlarge) First I created a square pillow shape. Then I textured strips and wove them together over the pillow. The rivets on the side are purely ornamental but look like they are holding the strips in place. My husband really liked this one and I might make him cufflinks using the weaving technique.

It's elemental...

2006-06-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

In most of the other pieces, I used texture to create the design. In this piece I textured the background then I drew in the design free-hand. (click on image for a better view of the texture and design) I used symbols that, to me, represent the elements of fire and air. It was fun to use my "drawing" skills in jewelry making which is more of a 3 dimensional art form. I plan to do more of this kind of work. Lots of ideas are cooking...

All tied up

2006-06-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

This is my second set of earrings. They are made by extruding the clay to make a long spaghetti like rope and then tying the knots. These are my new favorite earrings because they are so simple yet fashionable. I get so many compliments on them. People are really surprised to hear that they are handmade.

Byzantine rose

2006-06-17T16:36:00.000-07:00

One of my teacher's other students offered to teach a class in Byzantine chain making and I decided that chains are another area that I should learn about. This is the bracelet that I made in the class. I like the look of it and wear it almost daily. It is made of over 100 little silver rings that are individually connected. It took me about 3 hours to finish. The instructor said that she can do one in less that an hour and can watch TV while doing it. I'm not sure that I'm willing to make a lot of this kind of chain unless I can get to her level of skill and do it while watching TV.

Flaming heart

2006-06-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

Even though PMC is fine silver, it helps to know how to work with other metals. So my teacher offered an additional class in soldering base metals like copper, brass and bronze. This is the piece that I made using copper and bronze. I textured the background (click image to see the texture) by rolling the copper through a rolling mill with regular window screen mesh. Then I soldered all the pieces together with a small butane torch that can also be used in cooking for glazing. I really enjoy working with the torch and plan to do more soldering and incorporating different metals into my work.

Shadow box with carnelian

2006-06-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

My teacher named this the shadow box project when she was teaching it to me. (click image to enlarge) The gemstone is a carnelian that I put in after the piece was fired. The black between the 2 larger oval shapes is oxidized silver which basically means that I purposely tarnished it to achieve the black color, hence the shadow. This piece comes across a bit more formal and upscale than the other pieces so I wear it when I'm more dressed up.

Hinged earrings

2006-06-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

I wrote that I hadn't made many earrings but I have made 2 sets and this is one of them. (click on image to enlarge) One of the things I like about these is the hinge at the middle. It makes them have nice fluid movement. I also like the textures which I feel lend an industrial quality.

Moon in the trees.

2006-06-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

This is the next piece that I made. It is a dome shaped pendant with a moonstone as the "moon" in the trees. (click image for a closeup) I'm happy with the way this turned out. Note the bail, which is at the top of the pendant where the cable runs through, is like a branch. It was a good lesson in how to make a domed shape. I haven't made many earrings but I'm thinking of making some to go with this that will feature moonstones more prominently.

Wrinkles in time

2006-06-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

These are the next two pieces that I made. (click on image to enlarge) They are very simple and small. I'm not completely happy with them. I think they need some reworking. I would like them better if they were half again as big. I have them displayed on a brick so you can get a sense of the size. One thing that I learned with these pieces is that the clay shrinks about 30% during firing. So when I was making them, I had a hard time visualizing how much smaller they would be. When I photographed them I realized that they looked good together and am considering putting them on the same chain somehow. Another idea I'm having is to add more metal, either more silver or another metal such as copper in a different composition. I'll be sure to post it if I make any changes.

My first PMC piece

2006-06-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

"What is PMC?" you ask. It stands for precious metal clay. It is fine silver powder with an organic binder that forms a clay. After building the clay into pendants, earrings and other pieces, it is then kiln fired at which point the organic binder is burned out and you are left with fine silver. I started taking classes in November of 2005 and this was the first piece I made. (click on the image to see a close up) It is kind of like a quilt with various blocks of texture and shapes and includes a cubic zirconia which can be fired along with the PMC. It was so much fun to make and I became immediately hooked on this artform!

So why do I ask if you have rice?

2006-06-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

For my 40th birthday, my husband took me to Thailand to celebrate. One of the charming things I learned about Thai culture is that upon greeting a friend or an acquaintance in Thailand, the Thai people do not ask "how are you?" Instead the traditional question they ask is "do you have rice?" I find that and so many aspects of Thai culture charming. So much so that I wanted to name my jewelry business "do you have rice?" but my husband said "people will think you are in the food business." I reluctantly agreed. But decided to keep it for my blog name. So I plan to have pictures of my jewelry here and maybe my thought process. I will also post other creative ventures like the stitching that I have done, since I am always into anything that inspires creativity. I'm hoping that this blog motivates me to keep producing since it is my objective to have a real jewelry business and quit my day job some day. And I'll probably include some other random thoughts as well. So I hope you enjoy it and feel free to post comments! Oh yeah, the picture is from the grounds at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chaing Mai, Thailand which is exquisite.