Winter Days

It's been snowing here in New York,  and it's unbelievably lovely.

All cozy & blanketed in.  

The tree branches outlined in white.

A little more foliage depicted on the silver tree below.

Here is a necklace I hope to list in my shop soon:

Enameled Fans

Just sent these little pretties off to France.

Ink & Paper

Been drawing a lot lately

......in hopes of compiling & assembling some 2013 calenders!

Leaf Spectrum

Waiting Out the Storm

Inside, the pen & paper have been out. 

But outside.......the wild winds are whipping.

Girl with a Saw

Distracting myself in the studio while prepping for an upcoming show 

in Northampton, MA
TWIST

Girl with Puppet

Water

Illustration Friday's theme: Water

Fall Equinox

Graceful Swan

Last Friday evening my tank ran out of Acetylene, the gas that I use for soldering.  I suppose I should have been monitering it's levels better, but alas, I wasn't. And considering it was Labor Day weekend, I wouldn't be able to get a refill until Tuesday. My scenerio: I am in prep-mode for a big upcoming show, so this didn't exactly make me happy. But what to do!?  After my initial panic,  I instead decided to use this time to think creatively about design, to focus on certain tools & techniques that don't require heat, to basically think outside the box....or shift the creative grooves I have fallen into over time.

I have been loving it.

I pulled out the used Paragon kiln my parents had gotten me last holiday season, that had been gathering dust in the corner of my studio. Researched manuals online (since its lack thereof had sent it to the corner in the first place) & fired her up. I have been exploring the nature of kiln-fired enamels, experimenting with color, timing and temperatures. I had been torch firing my colors since I began using enamels, so this is a fun shift to incorporate. Been playing with my jewelers saw a bit more too. Here is a peak at one of my latest creations:

The swan symbolizes grace. In accepting life as it comes. 

To surrender to the rhythm of the universe.

Come visit me, and see the rest of my new work at Colorscape Art Festival in Norwich, New York this weekend!

Creative Fun

Painting our bodies.

Scenes from the art camp held at Briar Creek Studios last week.

Our region of upstate NY has had a severe drought this summer. 

So the kids made rainsticks  & just hours later, a  huge storm rolled in. 

Love the synchronicity of it all.

 I taught the kids how to hand-stamp copper circles from a sheet & then torch fire enamel designs onto the surface. We turned those little beauties into necklaces & then created intricately painted wooden displays from which they could hang.

 They immensely enjoyed the project. And the whole week for that matter.

Silver Feathers

Encouraging Creativity

Last week I taught two classes for kids ages 7 -13,  in Cooperstown, NY at their Art Association. Every year I teach at least one class somewhere in the vicinity of where I live....once upon a time teaching much more regularly. Now, with most of my time spent working on my own designs & building my own business I have less time to teach. Or rather, I make less time to teach. But I really do love it. 

I think creativity is vital to our well being, as humans. Just as exercise is to overall health, so is creativity. Even if it's not your main path in life, even if your career is in another field entirely, it will keep you balanced. However, when I teach, it's more often than not, to young kids. I love their ability to explore & play, their happiness in getting messy & using new tools. I love fostering that type of environment for them & hope that if I can make it fun.... than perhaps they'll hold onto that knowledge as they grow up and become adults.

Last week, the classes I held were a Collage/bookmaking class & also a Basic metalsmithing/Jewelry design class. Both went super well, especially the jewelry class, where I was worried slightly about the actual classroom layout & the fact that we were directly over the public library. We would be hammering for a couple hours straight, and I was concerned about the silent state of affairs below us. But it went great.

working away....

Collage & Bookbinding Class

This little fellow came in through the open window & hung out with us for a while too.

Metals & Jewelry Class

 Punching out brass circles

 Happy Camper with a beautiful necklace she'd just made.

Some super talented & creative kids in the class. 

And I shall be teaching HERE this week as well!

Camping in the Adirondaks

Summer Pinwheels

 As the temperature reached upwards of 90 degrees yesterday, my studio was a haven of coolness. 

And as I enjoyed the refuge of the cool concrete and brick, I constructed this fun, new series of pinwheel earrings from sterling silver, copper and enamel.

And these little beauties too:

My cats, however, spent most of the afternoon

attempting to stay cool in the shade of the picnic table.

Beautiful Blues.....

Inspired by my avian visitor last week, I went into the studio to create some new earrings. 

Hand cut copper feathers: 

Enameled with blues & whites and finished with a sterling silver wrapped rivet.

I gave one lovely pair to a friend for her birthday, and still have three left in the series.

(though I may have to keep a pair for myself!)

Super happy with the way they turned out!

Refresh

"Refresh"

Illustration Friday's theme

Blue Jay Visit....

                This was the view in my bedroom window, early one morning this past week.

How beautiful. 

Seriously. 

The color and the wingspan....sigh. And the beads that hang in the window, couldn't have been a better accent to the moment.  

It makes me happy.

*****

Have a wonderfully safe 4th!

New Earrings

For my craft show in Glens Falls, New York two weeks ago I made a new series of earrings that I love. Only a couple left of this wonderful bunch.  Hope to list them in my shop shortly.....

Street Art

Creating art in a more public manner, has been on my mind a lot lately.

I live in a relatively small upstate New York town.
It's technically deemed a city, but..... really, its just a large town.
And as I drive around town, I often see spots where my mind envisions murals or sculptural installations. I see splashes of colorful designs wanting to be laid out on bare concrete, as I wait at a stop light, or pass under bridges.

It's the way my brain works. I often remember sitting in the backseat of my parents station wagon,  as a kid, watching the trees pass by one after another, after another and so on. And I would start to draw imaginary lines connecting them all, doing loops and words and touching down on the trees as they passed.

Placing more art out into the tucked away spots, or some old sign post crying out for some beautification is a wonderful thing. How could something like that not enhance the community in which we live?

The above picture was snapped on a day's wander through Lima Peru in early 2011.
Walking down towards the cliffs that overlook the Pacific Ocean.
I love the way the mouse's umbrella catches rain from a cloudy piece of paper already there.
And how the cats paws leak onto the sidwalk.
Or even the way the blue was painted onto the metal window grate.

Secrets

Secrets {illustration friday's theme}

********

Craft shows and waterfalls

This weekend was a full one. Saturday I set up my booth all day at Art on Lark in Albany, NY.  And though it remained mostly gray, the weather was good to us. No strong gusts of wind and bouts of hail like the radio forwarned, thankfully. The day instead went well......met some new folks, sent many a piece of jewelry off to good homes & had delicious Indian food to boot. 

Then this afternoon: 

a mini adventure to a special new spot we've found. Heavenly, really. 

It is like resetting your internal clock to go commune beneath the waterfall on a warm, 

early summer day.  Reestablishes balance.

Pablo, king of the backyard

Another beautiful May evening in upstate, New York.

Today was a beautiful day.....

Native Design Necklace Collection

I have been quite inspired lately by Native American teachings and design. And I've recently finished a book called The Wind Is My Mother, by a Muskogee Indian Medicine Man, one of the last "trained" as such. His wisdom often insightful, speaking to a knowledge that lies within all of us. One of respect & awareness of the world around us.

Native teachings often remind us that we need to live in harmony or balance with nature and it's creatures. Not constantly polluting & disrespecting the earth on which we tread, the air of which we breath, the water that we drink.

And in tandem with this I have felt the pull of geometric design, of repeating patterns, but then I have always been drawn to pattern. Perhaps it speaks to the connection in all things,  a universal thread of sorts.

I hope to list these in my shop, unless they find their homes at a craft show first!

Sunny Days

Made these this week:

and

am enjoying this video: