Newness....

    New beauties in enamel, copper and silver.
    Dusted in two shades of blue with a delicate line pattern.
    The backside, enameled yellow-green.
    Sterling silver earwires.

    Working on some new jewelry displays.
    Carving wood.
    Painting sticks.
    And sewing up little linen display pieces.
    All for the new Catskill Mountain Artisans Guild in Delhi, NY which I recently became a part of.

  
     .....and yes, I am sitting on the kitchen floor in our new apartment.
  
     Here are a few other photos of the place:

   Feels like home already. 

Here's a little peek at a custom necklace I made for a friend last week....love the way it came out.

Beautiful weekend on the home turf.

Often it's the objects that have been discarded & left behind that catch my interest.
A beauty that has only been achieved through the weathering of time,
the rusting of metal or the frayed edges of life.

On our walk today down a mossy creek bed in Cherry Valley we just happened upon this beauty:

For real life?

{as my 7 year old niece would put it}

Yep, for real life.
A rusty old record player!

How incredibly rad is that?

The making of things...

Getting ready for this weekend's City of the Hills Art Festival in Oneonta:

Summer days....

Amidst packing, purging, sorting & moving I managed to find
some time to color my little bird in finally.

The Listening Bird 

And here are some of the ways I've been keeping cool this summer:

Exploring local creek beds. 

 There seems to be an endless supply of them in upstate NY.

Summer Evening

Work in Progress

LISTENING BIRD 

Drew the likeness of this little fellow recently. 

I have plans to transfer this design onto fabric soon.

Have you heard of the new sun printing dye by Lumi ?

You really should.

 (I will post some pictures of my experimentation & progress as I go!)

Rejuvenation

For a few days this week, Mr. Ryan & I went camping in the Adirondaks.  Deemed Land of a Thousand Lakes, by the Native Iroquois Indians, and only a couple hours away in the car, it truly is a magical place.  Last year we discovered a beautiful area, down a long dirt, on a branch of the Sacandaga River, with a secluded camping spot under long needle pines.

And this past week we went back to find it again. 

A much needed de-stresser for me. I could feel the calm returning to my

body while resting on the forest floor, tucked in our tent, far away from the computer 

& the buzz of humanity.

We arrived at Mud Lake, just as a storm was about to roll in. 

But it was a much welcomed shower with the heat & high humidity.

Built From a Dream

These rings were conceived in a dream I had, a little more than four years ago. I wrote it down because the image & setting of them were so beautiful, and then when I woke up I knew that I'd need to recreate them one day. Fast forward to a couple months ago; I was approached by a friend who is curating the wall space at an amazing summer theatre in Franklin, NY, to submit a piece for a "Marriage" themed show.

These seemed like a good fit. So I built them finally.

Sterling silver rings that each carry a petite, thin, tapered beeswax candle.

For you & me. 

Bodrum, Turkey

"Beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will sense them. 

The least we can do is try to be there" 

~Annie Dillard

In The Studio.....

Behind the scenes.....

...of my photo shoot this week...

Rings

Some beauties from the past. 

Rediscovered while going through my photography archives....

Cloudy Day Necklace

Spring!

Spring has finally just arrived here in upstate, NY....and with it comes creative days in the studio, hours preparing jewelry boxes, and the construction of paper flowers! I am one of three women organizing our first Mother's Day Pop Shop at the local Arts Council building, a gorgeous old Mansion set off Main Street. It will be a three day extravaganza....hosting an awesome local DJ and raffles & drinks on Friday night, a full craft show on Saturday and then special Mothers Day events for Sunday.

For more info about our event, find us on Facebook: pop shop Oneonta, or email us at holidaypopshop@gmail.com

And here is a sneak peak of what I have been making in the studio lately.....

Home Again

                            So much for my good intentions of posting more regularly on my trip!

                                                                              {sigh}

My winter travels this year were amazing. Beyond expectation. Turkey is a country full of history and beauty. The land, the people, the Mediterranean Sea.  I wandered around the streets of Istanbul the day prior to flying back to New York and felt clearly as though I'd be there again someday.

This Year's Travels...

Leaps and bounds seem to occur between my posts here on this blog! Always wishing to be more consistent, persistent and spontaneous with what I capture and share on this space.
I have been traveling now for two weeks in Turkey, with my love, Mr. Ryan. And while my winter escapes from New York State have taken me far and wide, they have never before brought me to the Middle East. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect or how it would be, but I must say it is by far exceeding my expectations as a culture, as a people, and as a landscape. It has been such a pleasure to be here, a region so steeped in history, a land where east meets west.

Hoping to have more regular photos and posts to share during the duration of my trip, which lasts until early April. For now, here are some pictures that capture bits and pieces.....